Chapter 259 Scattered Baskets

Chapter 259 Scattered Baskets
The Port Vila Market was alive with color and chaos. Brightly colored umbrellas shaded rows of wooden stalls piled high with fresh produce, woven baskets, handmade jewelry, and fragrant flowers. The air smelled of ripe mangoes, coconut, grilled fish, and earthy kava. Vendors called out in Bislama, laughing and bargaining while reggae music played from a nearby speaker.

Leitana was in heaven.

She dragged Ravial through the crowded aisles by the hand, her small fingers wrapped tightly around his much larger one. Her other hand rested protectively on her growing bump as she bounced excitedly from stall to stall.

“Mi Ravial, look at these!” she gasped, pulling him toward a stall overflowing with bright tropical fruits. “Fresh papaya! And these mangoes—smell them!”

Ravial stood like a dark statue amid the bustle, tall, blindfolded, and dressed all in black. He wrinkled his nose at the overwhelming mix of smells and noise, clearly uncomfortable with the pressing crowds.

“We could have sent the staff,” he muttered. “This place is…”

“Beautiful!” Leitana finished for him, beaming as she held a ripe mango under his nose. “Dis one is perfect.”

He sighed but leaned down obediently, inhaling. His lips twitched despite himself.

“You’re enjoying this too much,” he grumbled, though his hand stayed firmly on her lower back.

People stared openly at the striking pair: the towering, imposing man radiating power being led around by a tiny, glowing pregnant woman who barely reached his chest.

Leitana didn’t notice. She was too busy bargaining in rapid Bislama with a smiling old woman selling handmade shell necklaces.

“Mi take three!” she said happily, then held them up to Ravial. “For Mama, for Marita, and for Rosie!”

Ravial added them to the growing collection of baskets he carried—one full of fresh fruits, another with root vegetables, and a third with colorful fabrics she had insisted on buying “for the new house.”

“You do realize we have staff who could have done all this,” he said dryly as she pulled him toward another stall.

Leitana stopped, put her hands on her hips, and looked up at him with mock sternness.

“I do not want staff to choose for me. Dis is fun, mi Ravial! Mi never got to do dis when mi was small. Now mi have money, mi husband, and mi baby… mi want to enjoy it.”

Ravial stared down at her for a long moment, then exhaled, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

“Fine,” he said, voice softening. “But if one more person tries to sell me ‘lucky charms for the blind man,’ I might burn the market down.”

Leitana giggled and tugged him forward. “Yu no burn anything. Yu just carry de baskets and look handsome.”

They moved deeper into the market, following the strong scent of the sea. In the fish section, Leitana’s eyes lit up at a stall with beautiful reef fish still twitching in buckets of seawater.

“Mi Ravial, look! Dis one is perfect for soup!”

The seller, a middle-aged woman with a bright smile, greeted her warmly. After some lively bargaining, Leitana proudly paid and lifted the still-flopping silver fish with both hands.

“Mi go cook am with coconut milk and cabbage tonight. Yu will love it!”

Before she could say more, a man in a hurry shoved past her, slamming hard into her shoulder. Leitana gasped, stumbling forward. The fish slipped from her hands and flopped onto the dusty ground.

The seller shouted after the man, but he didn’t stop.

Leitana winced, one hand going to her shoulder while the other instinctively protected her belly.

Ravial moved like lightning.

He dropped the baskets—fruits, vegetables, and fabrics scattering across the ground—and in two strides he was on the man. His large hand clamped down on the stranger’s shoulder like a vice, yanking him back.

The entire market seemed to freeze.

Ravial towered over him, blindfolded face calm but radiating terrifying danger.

“You shoved my wife,” he said, voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “Apologise to her right now… or I will break every bone in your body, one by one. Do you understand?”

The man’s face went pale. “I—I’m sorry!” he stammered, voice shaking. “I didn’t see you, ma’am! Please forgive me!”

Ravial released him with a small shove. The man stumbled away quickly.

The market slowly buzzed back to life with whispers and stares.

Leitana looked up at Ravial, a mix of concern and love in her eyes. “Yu didn’t have to do dat,” she said softly, touching his arm. “Mi okay.”

Ravial turned to her, expression softening instantly. He cupped her face with both hands, thumb brushing her cheek.

“No one touches you,” he said quietly, with absolute finality. “Not even by accident.”

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then crouched to gather the scattered baskets as if nothing had happened.

Leitana watched him, heart full, before turning back to the seller with a small smile.

“Sorry about dat… mi take de fish anyway.”

The woman laughed nervously. “No problem, my girl. Your husband… he is something else.”

Leitana glanced at Ravial, who now carried everything again, tall and protective beside her.

“Yes,” she whispered with a loving smile. “He really is.”