Chapter 163. Raphael’s Fear
Jacintha was being called a prostitute, a bitch, and a cheater all day long by people online. Her management company had just posted an announcement saying they would take legal action to protect her reputation. Shortly after, Jacintha discovered that Raphael had shared that announcement. She was rather surprised that he still cared about her affairs.
Just then, Raphael called. Jacintha immediately answered, “Hello?”
Raphael stayed silent. Jacintha called again, “Hello? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Raphael’s voice was cold. “I called the wrong number.”
Yet he didn’t hang up. Jacintha deliberately said, “Then I’ll hang up.”
“Don’t hang up!”
“You’re so hard to please. Raphael, you’re really overbearing!”
As soon as she finished, Raphael hung up in anger, just as she expected.
Jacintha let out a soft laugh. Not long after, Raphael texted her: “Talk to me.”
Jacintha replied, “About what?”
Raphael: “If Steven and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?”
Jacintha: …
Raphael: “Answer me!”
Jacintha: “Neither of you.”
Raphael: “I really should lock you up.”
Jacintha was speechless. She couldn’t understand why Raphael’s words always carried such a twisted tone.
After thinking for a moment, she sent him a voice call request. A few rings later, Raphael’s dissatisfied voice came through, “What do you want now?”
Jacintha said, “Do you know why I wouldn’t save you?”
Raphael sneered, “Because you don’t care about me?”
“No. Because you’re a great swimmer. I remember Sharon said you two used to go swimming every summer. She said you were the one who taught her how to backstroke.”
Raphael was instantly at a loss for words, even a bit guilty. After all, Sharon was his ex-girlfriend, and he had once treated Jacintha as her replacement. Raphael was afraid of nothing, except hearing Jacintha bring up the past. He absolutely didn’t want to relive the feeling of being met with her coldness and disgust. That feeling was worse than her hatred.
So Raphael tried to change the subject. “Forget it, I didn’t expect you to save me anyway.”
Jacintha couldn’t help but laugh. “Seems like you still think I have feelings for another man, huh? If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to say between us. Talk to me again when you figure out where you went wrong.”
After saying that, she immediately ended the call. Raphael felt his chest tighten painfully as he stared at the message interface for a long while. After a moment, he frowned and sent Jacintha a video call request. But instead of Jacintha, what appeared on the screen was only a white wall.
"Jacintha! Where are you?"
"I told you, I’ll only see you when you’re ready to apologize." Jacintha’s voice was firm. "You said a lot of hurtful things to me this morning. I really don’t feel like forgiving you right now."
Raphael fell silent at once. Lately, whenever it came to Jacintha, he could no longer keep his composure. Take this morning for example: when he saw Jacintha and Steven wearing matching outfits, his first reaction hadn’t been anger but fear. Fear of what? He was afraid that Jacintha would leave him.
After that brief moment of panic came a surge of fury. Ignoring the doctor’s and nurse’s advice, he checked himself out of the hospital and went to find Jacintha. All along the way, only one wild thought echoed in his mind: "I have to hide Jacintha away!"
In the past, no matter how much he had liked Sharon, Raphael had never had such a thought. Perhaps because, deep down, he knew that even when Sharon rejected him, there was still some hesitation in her heart. But Jacintha was different.
Jacintha seemed gentle and soft, but inside she was incredibly strong. Raphael had practically gambled half his life just to make her come back and accept his feelings one more time.
Yet even after they had officially confirmed their relationship, Raphael still couldn’t find peace. He always had the uneasy feeling that Jacintha could walk away from him at any moment. The less he could fully have her, the more he wanted to control her.
After a long silence, Raphael sighed and said, "Why can’t you just like me a little more? Sometimes I really wish time could turn back six years. That night, I would have loved you with everything I had, so you’d never have to be disappointed in me."
Jacintha froze for a moment, then said, "How much more is ‘a little more’? Isn’t what I feel for you already enough?"
"Everyone’s greedy," Raphael said. "You give me one candy, I taste its sweetness, and then I want two, three, even more every day..."
Jacintha laughed softly and replied, "Don’t rush. I have plenty of candy, but I can’t give them all to you at once. If you eat too many, you’ll get sick of them, you’ll grow tired. So... let’s just take it slow, alright?"
Raphael frowned slightly. Jacintha continued, “Try to believe me. Believe that I only like you, that I would never betray you. I’m not Sharon. She and I are not the same.”
After a long silence, Raphael finally spoke softly. “Alright.”
That night, they talked for a long time—about hobbies, habits, and even the smallest details of daily life. To outsiders, those topics might have seemed dull, but when one is in love, even meaningless words can become sweet.
Close to midnight, Jacintha was the one to end the conversation. She deliberately spoke in a stern tone, insisting that Raphael go to sleep.
Raphael suddenly said, “I’m sorry.”
Jacintha paused slightly and asked, “Sorry for what?”
Raphael answered quietly, full of regret. “I shouldn’t have compared you to Sharon, and I definitely shouldn’t have doubted you.”
Jacintha was silent for a while before saying, “Actually, I was at fault too. Cara once mentioned to me that creating a scandal could make me more famous, but I didn’t care. I thought it was my own business, so I didn’t tell you. But you’re my boyfriend, and this affects our relationship. I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”
Hearing that, Raphael—who had just been apologizing—immediately darkened his expression and said, “It’s good that you understand. I’m your boyfriend. From now on, whatever happens, you must tell me! Hiding things from me means you don’t trust me, that you don’t value me…”
“OK, OK, I got it already.” Jacintha laughed and cut him off. “Don’t push your luck.”
Raphael snorted, then suddenly remembered something and said seriously, “You should change your manager.”
Jacintha replied, “I can’t. My contract with the company is still valid for another five years.”
Raphael said casually, “Tomorrow I’ll have someone transfer your contract to my corporation.”
Jacintha looked a little confused. “Transfer my contract?”
“Yes. If you really want to focus on acting, then you have to leave your current company.”
Raphael had long been dissatisfied with Jacintha’s agency and her manager—especially after Cara deliberately paired Jacintha with Steven to stir up rumors.
Jacintha still didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Transfer it where?”
“To Wulfhart Entertainment Group,” Raphael replied, then added, “If you’re going to work for someone, you might as well work for me.”
Jacintha: “…”
Seeing her fall silent, Raphael grew slightly irritated. “What? You don’t want to?”
“It’s not that. I’m just thinking about how much money you’ll have to spend to buy out my contract.” Jacintha weighed her current market value.
She was fairly popular at the moment, but her fame wasn’t yet stable. She didn’t have many loyal fans, so her worth probably wasn’t very high. Still, the company wouldn’t let her go easily — proof of that was how closely Cara still managed her.
Raphael didn’t care much about those details. But knowing Jacintha’s pride, he said, “You don’t need to worry about the money. Consider it my investment in you. Just focus on acting and bring me that Best Actress award.”
Jacintha thought it over seriously before agreeing to Raphael’s proposal.
“Oh right,” she murmured, “don’t just apologize and then repeat the same mistake next time.”
Raphael frowned slightly, his tone earnest. “Got it. I’ll change.”
“Then from now on, if you make me angry, I’ll start deducting points. Once you fall below sixty points, we’ll break up.”
Raphael immediately asked, “How will you deduct them?”
Jacintha replied calmly, “Depends on my mood. If you only annoy me a little, that’s one point. If you make me truly furious, that’s ten.”
Raphael protested, “I want to earn points too.”
Jacintha laughed. “That depends on your performance. Do well, and you’ll gain points. Do poorly, you’ll lose them. You can grade me the same way if you want.”
Raphael reluctantly accepted this “scoring system,” but still declared domineeringly, “If I reach a hundred points, you have to marry me!”
Jacintha’s cheeks flushed. “If by then you still want to marry me, I’ll say yes.”
Raphael wished he could burst through the phone screen and pull Jacintha into his arms.
“Come find me tomorrow,” he reminded her, as if sealing their reconciliation with a promise.
Jacintha smiled softly. “Alright.”
The next morning, Jacintha brought Raphael’s favorite breakfast to the hospital. As soon as she opened the door to his room, she heard Lucas reporting to him, “I’ve finished the investigation. The one who paid the media to slander Jacintha was a member of Sharon’s team.”