Chapter 972


    "Santiago, what''s the story with you and Miss Anson?" Marissa asked as she sat on the big couch


    in the living room. Her expression was cold.


    It was obvious that she was not happy with Raeleigh.


    She had not invited Raeleigh to sit with them. Raeleigh stood next to Santiago. He was sitting on


    the couch as he gently stroked Raeleigh''s hands. He briefly swept his eyes across the entire room


    and realized that everyone seemed nervous. The servants had no idea what was going on. They


    were only aware that Santiago had a crush on someone else''s girlfriend.


    And at that time, he was so full of pride that he brought Raeleigh back.


    Raeleigh stood still. She looked as if she had been bullied. She knew that Santiago had his own


    tricks, and all she needed to do was to y along with him.


    Santiago pretended as if he did not hear Marissa''s question. It took him a long time before he


    turned to look at Marissa. He said, "I thought I just told you. I like Raeleigh. I want to marry her."


    "Nonsense!" Marissa mmed the table in anger.


    The people in the house were so scared that they


    neither dared to speak nor make a sound.


    Santiagoughed and asked, "What? Do you think I''m joking?"


    "How old are you? Jepherson isn''t married and yet you''re already thinking about getting married?"


    Marissa was furious. She found it ridiculous that he actually brought a girl home and told her that he


    wanted to marry her. What was he thinking?


    If it were someone else, then she would have let it go. However, this was Raeleigh they were talking


    about. She was the person who made Deanna run away.


    Anger coursed through Marissa''s veins.


    "If Jepherson won''t get married, then does mean that I can''t either? What does it have to do with me


    if he doesn''t want to fight for love?" Santiago''s face was full of displeasure. He was unhappy.


    Marissa''s face turned pale. She then said, "You''re only in your teens. Why are you in such a hurry?


    Besides, Deanna is missing now. Aren''t you worried about her?"


    "Deanna is Jepherson''s future wife, not mine. She has nothing to do with me. The person I want to


    protect is Raeleigh. She will be my future wife. I can''t neglect Raeleigh''s feelings just because of


    our family''s rtionship with the Whalen family." "Raeleigh put her cell phone aside while we were


    in a conversation. Deanna caught sight of our conversation. Then, she took Raeleigh''s phone away


    to peek at our messages. After that, she even threw Raeleigh''s phone away. I don''t understand.


    What right does Deanna have to do that? Does she want to be my wife and not Jepherson''s?"


    Marissa was stunned. "What did you say?"


    "I said, Deanna chose not to sleep that night and tried to peek at Raeleigh''s and my text exchanges.


    After she read the conversation, she threw away Raeleigh''s phone and ran out of the room. What


    does all of these have to do with Raeleigh?"


    "You cannot me this on Raeleigh just because Deanna is from the Whalen family."


    "Deanna is human, but so is Raeleigh."


    Marissa quietened down and was a little confused.


    She looked at her grandson, Santiago, and then at Raeleigh. "Raeleigh, is he telling the truth?"


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    Raeleigh did not answer immediately. Santiago then said, "Give me your phone."


    Raeleigh did not want to give him at first. However, she eventually took out her phone and handed it


    to him. He opened their conversation and showed it to Marissa, "This is her inbox. Have a look."


    Marissa opened it and realized that there was only one conversation in the inbox. It had the name


    Richards.


    Marissa frowned and asked, "Deanna has misunderstood the whole thing, hasn''t she?"


    "How would I know?" Santiago did not care at all.


    "You guys are to me as well. You should have used your full name, not just Richards. Then, we


    wouldn''t have this problem, would we?" Marissa was not only unhappy with Raeleigh, but also with


    Santiago.


    Raeleigh knew very well that this matter was orchestrated by Jepherson. She used Jepherson''s first


    name when she texted him, but right then it was changed to Richards. It showed that Jepherson


    knew everything that was going on here.


    "She should have thought it through before running off. How is this Raeleigh''s fault? If Deanna does


    end up marrying Jepherson, and she so happened to have seen a girl texting a person named


    Richards, is she going to assume that the girl is texting Jepherson?"


    "How many times would she have to run away then?"


    Marissa was stunned for a moment. She thought


    about it carefully and realized that Deanna was


    indeed a little impulsive. She would rather run


    away than to face the truth.


    ording to what Santiago had said, it seemed like she loved running away on impulse.


    "Alright, I get it. You can go now. Don''t stay here and be an eyesore." Marissa stood up, intending to


    head back to her room to rest.


    Raeleigh could feel that there was a huge disparity between her and Deanna''s status in the


    Richards family.


    She remained standing during their entire conversation. No one even bothered to invite her to sit


    down. If she were Deanna, she believed that she would not be treated like this.


    "Grandma." Santiago rose to his feet. Marissa turned to look at Santiago and asked, "What do you


    want?"


    "I know that at home, men are seen as superior to women, and we have to respect our elders.


    However, I hope that you can give some respect to Raeleigh. I''m human and so is she. This is not


    Raeleigh''s fault. You can''t even be bothered to look at Raeleigh. I think that you think poorly of me."


    "I, think poorly of you?" Marissaughed. "What are you saying?"


    Marissa looked at Raeleigh and snorted. "It seems like you''ve been living afortable life recently.


    You ought to know where you stand in this family. Don''t think that you can bring back whoever you


    want into our house. I didn''t drive you out because of your mother. I am very disappointed in you.


    Your mother is such a good person, yet she gave birth to someone like you. In my opinion, it is your


    father who spoiled you."


    "I don''t think my family has spoiled me, but I know there are a lot of people who look down on me."


    Santiago was full of defiance. Marissa sneered. "Let me tell you this, if you want to have a casual


    fling with this girl, then it''s fine. I will not say anything, but I will not allow you to marry this girl. You


    should give up before it''s toote."


    After saying that, she turned around and left. Santiago held Raeleigh''s hand tightly.


    Raeleigh felt sorry for Santiago. He was also part of the Richards family and shared the same


    mother as Jepherson, yet he was treated badly.


    It was not a surprised that Santiago had received such a treatment from his family.


    "Let''s go." Santiago held Raeleigh''s hand and left quickly. He did not care about what Marissa had


    said.


    Santiago went to the garage after exiting the


    manor. He opened the garage door and stood


    there for a while. Then, he drove Jepherson''s


    favorite car out of the garage.


    Raeleigh got into the car and Santiago made his way out of the manor. However, he was stopped


    by the butler at the door.


    "Mr. Santiago, you cannot drive this car. This is Mr. Jepherson''s car. Furthermore, you don''t even


    have a driver''s license yet. If you get caught..."


    "Scram!" Santiago spat. The butler shuddered in fear. Santiago then stepped on the elerator and


    the car roared to life. The butler did not dare to stop him. Santiago was like a wild horse that had left


    its reins. No one dared to provoke him.


    The butler then quickly got out of the way as Santiago drove out of Richards Manor.


    When the car finally stopped, Raeleigh turned to look at Santiago. He then got out of the car and


    went into a nearby convenience store to buy a bag of chips and a packet of cigarettes. He tossed


    the bag of chips to Raeleigh as soon as he got into the car. Then, he lowered his head and took out


    a cigarette before lighting it up and putting it in his mouth. He took a drag and leaned back on the


    chair. He rested his hand, that was holding the cigarette, on the door and held the steering wheel


    with the other.


    The streetmps were brilliant and dazzling. The soft glow enhanced his handsome face. However,


    it could not bepared to his current state of loneliness.