Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 450 Sand on the Heart Raymond floored the accelerator, not even pausing to contemplate why he was so worried. He was bordering on a panic attack.

What should've been an hour's journey took him only forty minutes. Yet not long after crossing sdistance, he heard a sound from behind. A massive boulder had tumbled down, blocking the path home.

However, he didn't stop and pushed on towards the Sandbar. The visibility on the road dwindled to near nothingness; he practically had to bulldoze his way through to get to the front of the bungalow, instantly spotting the parked car outside. He hurriedly opened his vehicle's door and walked over to knock on her window. There, Selena was hunched over the steering wheel, clearly frightened.

Alone, stranded in the wrath of a dust storm, the relentless tapping on the windows only grew more intense. "Selena!" Raymond called out, rapping harder on the glass.

Selena was still in a daze when she heard someone shouting. She turned her head and locked eyes with Raymond as he stood outside her window. A bright flash crossed her mind, disbelief settling in as she hastily opened the car door. But before she could utter a word, a mouthful of dust invaded her space, filling her mouth and nose.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Raymond yanked her out, slammed the car door shut, and quickly unlocked the door to the small house with his keys.

Once the thick door closed behind them, the howling winds were silenced; their eerie cries left outside.

Having never experienced this, Selena was still coughing, and her face was smeared with dirt. A swipe with a tissue revealed a yellow stain.

Raymond wasn't faring much better himself.

After a minute of coughing, Selena suddenly remembered something; she grabbed Raymond's arm, spinning him around to make sure he was unharmed. Only after confirming he was fine, did she release a sigh of relief. "Mr. Montague, you really shouldn't have come." His brows knit together at her remark, leaving him looking slightly puzzled.

"You thought I cfrom the mansion?" That was exactly what Selena had assumed.

Raymond's eyelashes drooped, "I was actually just a mile away from you." She let out an "Oh" in realization.

"It was still too risky, stepping out in this weather-" Before she could finish, he cut her off sharply, "You're one to talk about risk?!" Selena fell silent, only managing to squeeze out after a long pause, "I was worried about you, too." Had anything happened to him, the Montague family would never have forgiven her.

But now it was Raymond who fell silent.

With a slight arch of his eyebrow, he seemed oddly uncomfortable.

He pushed her away, "Go wash your face." Selena nodded and hurried to the sink inside, earnestly washing her face and even rinsing her mouth with clean water. After she finished, Selena took a seat on a nearby chair.

"Mr. Montague, you should get cleaned up as well." Raymond had never been so disheveled before. His suit had gathered dust, and a layer of grcovered his cheeks.

He approached the sink and washed the grit from his face.

Since the Ridgefield's caretakers had only cleaned up this bungalow during the last couple of days, there were no spare clothes here so for the tbeing, he had to remain in his sand covered suit. Previously, this place had only basic utilities.

Now, this 500-square-foot space had becunusually cozy amidst the sandstorm.

Once he finished, he also took a seat, facing Selena in silence.

Neither of them knew what to say. As the window and the skies were stained with wind-driven sand, an awkward silence enveloped the room.

Selena walked to the window, breaking the awkward stillness.

"This is my first tseeing something like this." Sitting back in his chair, Raymond let out a dry laugh. He was about to speak, when a loud noise from outside interrupted him.

Selena turned to look just as a distant tree toppled over, her expression turning grave at the sight.

The dust storm proved more ferocious than she'd anticipated. She thought hunkering down in her car for the night would suffice, but without Raymond showing up with the keys and leading her inside, she might have been swallowed by the howling wind. "Mr. Montague, thank goodness you came. I saw a tree out there topple over in the wind; everything else is just a blur." Visibility was terribly low; she could barely make out the silhouette of that tree.

They didn't dare open a window, but the sound of the wind and sand pelting the glass was unmistakable.

Dust storms like this were a rare occurrence here.

The house, though modest in size barely over five hundred square feet-had passed numerous om inspections, and the windows were wer fortified with several layers. Selena, frightened, closed another window when she heard Raymond behind her chide, "Scared now? What were you thinking when you drove out in this?" Her cheeks flushed. She had tried calling Raymond several times but got no response and, seeing the sky turn ominous, feared he and the others might get stranded.

Had there been an accident involving Raymond in Ridgefield, not to mention the liability for those in charge, she and the Fair family would be directly impacted!

But she couldn't deny it; the moment she saw him outside the window, her 5m heart felt as if it too was coated in dust, each heartbeat grinding the gritty particles, simultaneously tickling and tormenting her.