Ryan's sweet words took Wendy by surprise.She suddenly felt dizzy with excitement.
Blushing, she raised a hand to her chest, as if to calm down the wild beating of her heart.
‘'Oh, my! Whoever said that the strong and silent type of men are dull?’' She sighed inwardly.
"I thought he was simply not interested in flirting or even that he just wasn't good at it...But look at him!"
Wendy's mind was still spinning.
She still held the phone in her hand, staring blankly at the text.
She couldn't think of a good response! She kept typing only to delete everything moments after.
She took a deep breath and finally typed.
"Is Luke there with you, Ryan?"
His reply came a moment later.
"No!"
"Well then, who is coaching you? Your flirting has improved immensely..."
"I wasn't flirting..." Ryan replied.
"Then what was that?"
"The truth."
Wendy's heart picked up the pace again, threatening to burst out of her chest.
She rubbed her face nervously, thinking, ‘'Oh, boy! What am I supposed to do? He's back to his usual
relentless pursuit.No! No! We can't keep texting.I am not strong enough to resist for long.
As she made up her mind, she sent him a text saying, "I'm really tired.I think I'll go to bed now."
"Sleep tight"
Wendy didn't reply.
She locked her phone and threw it on the bedside table as if it might scald her fingers.
Then she got up and closed the curtain, turned off the lights and went back to bed.
She laid there, under the covers trying in vain to stop thinking about Ryan.
Meanwhile, in the villa right opposite Wendy's, Ryan noticed the lights in her room going out.
His cold eyes had softened a bit, holding a trace of tenderness.
He could picture her blush when she read his text as if she had been right in front of him.
He lowered his head and read her text again, smiling.
He remembered a time before he met Wendy, when he almost never sent SNS messages.
He didn't like that way of communication and thought it was simply too much effort.
He preferred phone calls, which could carry a message clearly, and more importantly, save some
precious time.
But now, he was eager to text her again.
It didn't feel like a waste of his time anymore.
On the contrary, he was enjoying it so much that he wished he could slow down time.
Even though her lights had been off for a while and she was probably already asleep, he still waited for
a few minutes.
When he didn't receive any other texts from her, he finally put the phone back into his pocket.
He closed the curtain and turning around, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
Then he went to his huge bed.
Right there, under the grey cashmere quilt, were several of Wendy's clothes.
Ryan picked up a T-shirt and inhaled deeply.
Enveloped by her scent, he felt so peaceful and happy that sleep claimed him almost instantly.
During the next few days, everyone was really busy.
First, Reese moved out of Wendy's villa.
But in all honesty, Wendy didn't really help her sister that much.
Ryan had made all the necessary arrangements for Reese.
He got her a job and even found a cozy apartment for her.
Wendy felt grateful for everything he'd done.
Reese's new apartment wasn't very big or luxurious, but it was new and bright and in a good
neighborhood.
The rent was reasonable and it was close to Reese's new workplace.
Good thing Ryan hadn't found some prestigious maisonette or something equally flashy for Reese.
Wendy knew that her sister would most definitely refuse to take it.
But Reese really liked her new apartment now.
And then there was the new school of Ray and Precious.
After a very thorough interview, the school finally accepted them both.
It was one of the best private bilingual kindergartens of the country.
It was amazing and as expected, the tuition was astronomical.
Or at least, that amount seemed astronomical to Wendy.
It was a five figure number after all.
Wendy was taken on a tour of the premises and was informed in detail about the school's curriculum.
By the end of the day, she was convinced that it was really worth the money.
The English teachers were all native speakers, and their flawless British accent gave off an air of
sophistication.
And the food there was magnificent.The kindergarten opened at half past seven every morning, as the
classes began at eight.
At ten o'clock, the kids had a midmorning break, where they were served sweet and savory snacks.
Rumor had it that the chef who made those snacks once worked in a Michelin restaurant.
They had lunch at half past twelve, where all the dishes were freshly made, the menu planned by an
expert nutritionist After learning-and seeing- all this, Wendy just knew that attending this school was the
best for the two kids.
Then, all she had to do was talk Ray into it.
"Go to school?"
"Yes, Ray.School! There are many wonderful teachers at the school and many children too.You can
play with them, make new friends."
Ray frowned and said nothing.
"You don't want to go?"
"Children are too...childish!"
Wendy was stunned.
She rubbed her forehead and sighed inwardly.
‘'Oh, baby! You are only three years old! You are a child too.”
Wendy knelt before her son and looked at him in the eyes.
"School is so much fun.If you don't like to play with the other children, you can still play with your
teachers.They know a lot of things and can teach them to you."
Ray still looked unhappy.
He lowered his head and muttered, "I am having fun staying at home alone.I've learned a lot of things
here too."
"Uh..."
Ray stood up and took Wendy's hand.
He led her to the study, where he began searching for something on the bookshelves.
Soon he fetched a stack of exercise books of grade one to grade six.
"Baby, where did you get these?"
"I asked Uncle Ryan to get them for me.Go on, Mommy.Open them and have a look."
Confused, Wendy found a math exercise book for sixth -graders.
She turned a few pages her mouth hang open all of its own.
The handwriting was definitely Ray's.
He had done this all by himself! Wendy silently looked through the exercises in the book, and found
that Ray could do all of them! Wendy was stunned.
She turned a few more pages and found that there was not even one mistake in what Ray had written.
The last page held a really intricate math problem that even Wendy wasn't sure how to solve.
But apparently, Ray did.
Her mind was spinning! She swallowed hard and asked, "Baby, did you do all these?"
"Yes!"
‘'Oh my God'’
Wendy couldn't believe her eyes.She always knew Ray was really smart, but she didn't expect this! 'He
is not just smart.
He is a genius! My son is a genius!' Overjoyed, Wendy went through the English exercise book next.
Since Ray grew up abroad, he was fluent in daily conversation in English and could write a little as well.
It was also a grade six English test, and she didn't find anything wrong in Ray's answer.
And his handwriting was extremely neat and tidy, nothing like what you would expect from a child of
barely four years.
Wendy looked at the Chinese exercise book again.
There were many unfamiliar characters in the Chinese exercise book, but Ray knew all of them and
understood their meanings.
Wendy was struggling to calm her breathing.
"Ray, where did you learn all that?"
Ray silently indicated the books in front of her.
"So you learned everything all by yourself?"
Ray nodded.
"Yes, Mommy."
'Oh my God! Unbelievable!"
She closed the book, having already made up her mind.
It would be such a waste of talent to have a genius like Ray attend kindergarten and play with children
there!
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda