Chapter 302: This Great Raka Jean
Ashley’s voice echoed through the school quadrangle, where many students and parents were idling. The sports game had ended yesterday, and today’s events mostly consisted of booths and other extracurricular activities.
Even so, the younger students still needed a guardian.
Ashley smiled when she saw that her son was with his classmates and that the parents from the same team who had been present yesterday were also there.
"Oh, your mom is here!" one of the parents called out with a smile.
Ashley almost skipped over to them. "Hey, guys!"
"Your son told us you’d come later," one of the parents chuckled. "But you’re early."
Ashley laughed as she casually joined them. The game yesterday had somehow earned her a few friends here, and she’d gotten to know them a little better.
"Anyway, you guys left early yesterday," Julius pointed out. "Everything okay?"
They all looked at her curiously. They didn’t know the details, but they had heard that a parent fainted. Since Ashley and Lucian had suddenly left, they assumed it had been Lucian.
Ashley maintained her smile and nodded. "Of course. We just had some things to take care of that we didn’t expect."
"Ahh..." the other parents nodded, not asking any further questions.
They knew better than to pry. After all, they understood that work always got in the way, even on days off.
As the parents resumed their conversations, Ashley flashed Primo a smile. They were having a little picnic, with the parents gathered on one side and the children on the other.
Primo smiled back before continuing with his food, silently showing Ashley that he was indeed eating properly.
Ashley then looked around the quadrangle and asked, "Have you guys seen Raka?"
The parents, especially Julius, furrowed their brows.
Then Julius blurted out, "Did he piss you off again?"
The other parents chuckled while Ashley bit her tongue.
"It’s not like that," she said with an awkward laugh. "I just... have something to ask him about."
"We haven’t seen him," one of them remarked. "But Raka is always present at these events. He’ll be here."
"If it’s something about the school, you can ask us. Save yourself from getting indebted to him."
The others nodded.
"He can be quite... a bit."
Again, everyone nodded.
Ashley darted her eyes between them and almost laughed at how carefully they were censoring their opinions about him. From what she knew, Raka was a nightmare for parents. Especially since many of them admitted they weren’t as exceptional as other parents or as wealthy as Raka’s standards seemed to demand.
"Haha," Ashley waved dismissively. "It’s not like that. Don’t worry about it."
They shrugged, assuring her that if it was something school-related, they could probably help. Ashley simply thanked them and continued idling with the group, occasionally looking around for Raka.
Minutes later, Ashley perked up as she spotted the very person she never expected to be so happy to see.
There, at the other end of the quadrangle near the building, was Raka.
Her eyes lit up.
She turned to the parents and then to Primo.
"Primo, can you wait for me here for a little while?" she asked.
Primo nodded.
Before Ashley could even ask the other parents to keep an eye on him, one of them said,
"Don’t worry about your son. We’ll look after him."
Ashley looked at the parents, who were smiling warmly at her.
"Thank you."
Having said that, she got to her feet and hurried toward Raka. But by then, Raka had already started walking away.
As she left, the parents and students watched her go.
"I wonder what she needs from him?" one of the parents couldn’t help but ask. "Did Raka piss her off again?"
"Is she really going to confront him?"
"Should I follow her?" another parent wondered aloud, looking at the others. "You guys know Raka."
Suddenly, Julius raised a hand as he got to his feet.
"Fine, I’ll follow her."
Everyone looked up at him. Even the children blinked innocently in his direction.
"We’ll meet you in the concert hall." Julius smiled and ruffled his son’s hair. "Go with them first."
Elliot nodded. "Okay!"
The other parents exchanged glances before nodding.
"If it’s Julius, Raka won’t be reckless," one of them muttered.
And with that, they let the matter go.
*****
Meanwhile, Ashley excused herself as she waded through the crowd inside the building. The booths were still active, packed with students and their guests.
"Ra—"
She stopped when a group of students suddenly poured out of a classroom and filled the corridor.
Stretching her neck, she caught sight of Raka stopping to speak with someone.
"Raka!" she called.
The surrounding noise easily drowned out her voice. Ashley huffed and pushed her way through the crowd until she finally reached him.
"Great!" Raka said. "I’ll see you on Saturday, then!"
"Raka!"
Raka, who had been about to continue on his way, furrowed his brows and turned. He watched Ashley jog toward him.
"Huh?" He scrunched up his nose.
He glanced at the person he had been speaking with and offered him a smile before the man left.
Once they were alone, he faced Ashley with a deep frown.
"What?" he asked. "As far as I know, we’re not on friendly terms for you to be calling me by my first name."
Ashley huffed as she stopped in front of him. Ignoring his greeting, she asked,
"Can we talk?"
Raka arched a brow and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. After a moment, he smiled and leaned slightly closer.
"No."
Then he immediately turned his back on her.
But the moment he did, a hand grabbed the back of his collar.
"Ack—"
Raka instinctively touched his collar and looked back, only to see Ashley holding it.
"What the—"
Just then, Julius finally caught up and stopped beside them. He glanced between Ashley and Raka before settling on the latter.
"You should talk to her," Julius hummed. "She’s not letting you go. I can tell by the way she’s holding your collar."
Ashley nodded and smiled.
"It’ll be a quick question." She huffed. "Just hear me out first."
"No!"
"About your research..." Ashley trailed off.
That finally made Raka pause. "I have some questions about it. It’s important."
Raka snickered. "I don’t care—"
"My husband’s dying," she blurted out.
That was enough to make Raka furrow his brows.
"Please," she whispered. "Just... hear me out."
This time, Raka blinked.
Ashley released his collar, and he slowly straightened.
He glanced at Julius, who looked just as shocked as he was, before turning back to her.
"What’s... his condition?" Raka asked, curiosity now clear in his voice. Then he sighed.
"Fine. This great Raka Jean will listen."
