Rachel wanted to scatter the powder that Nancy had given her onto the buttons of the keypad. With a mini-flashlight that she brought around everywhere, Rachel ensured that every number on the keypad had been covered with some powder before she shut the wardrobe and left the room.
It began to rain in the evening, and the skies were dark by the time Justin got home. He saw a figure sitting in his living hall the moment he entered the house. “What are you doing here?”
Rachel looked up from the magazine she was reading and replied in a matter-of-factly tone, “Did you forget that I sent Charlotte back earlier?”
Justin seemed rather displeased. “What I meant was, what are you still doing here?” Charlotte got home hours ago. What time is it now? Justin thought.
“Well, I did you a favor, right? Why can’t you offer me dinner or something?” Rachel said.
“Don’t you have food at home? Do you need to eat here?” Justin was obviously annoyed. “You’d better not think that you’ll be able to gain control over me just because you managed to win Charlotte’s heart. What happened in the past is in the past. I’m not someone who likes looking back.”
“You’re thinking too much.” Rachel shot a glance at the room upstairs. “Charlotte has a slight fever, and I stayed back because I was rather worried.”
Justin’s pupils shrank a little after he heard what Rachel said. When Rachel tucked Charlotte into bed earlier, she had already realized how the young girl seemed rather unwell. After taking Charlotte’s temperature, Rachel found that Charlotte had a slight fever. It was probably because Charlotte had dressed too thinly for a windy day out.
g to the room, Justin took the young girl’s temperature once more. His fatherly gaze was filled with tenderness as he gently placed his large palm against Charlotte’s tiny face. Charlotte was half awake as she let out a soft mumble. “Mommy…”
Justin’s face fell a little. Rachel was too far to hear what Charlotte had said, but she assumed that Justin was worried because of the grim look on his face. “Don’t worry, it’s only normal for kids to have mild fevers and headaches. She’ll be a lot better after she gets some rest,” Rachel said.
He simply responded with a slight nod. The rain only got heavier by the time they left Charlotte’s room and went downstairs. “I’ll leave now,” Rachel said.
Justin glanced out the window before he replied, “You didn’t leave when the weather was good earlier, and you’re telling me that you’re leaving now when it’s raining. Are you expecting me to make you stay?”
“Honestly, no. I would’ve left if Charlotte didn’t have a fever, and I don’t need to worry now since you’re home,” Rachel uttered. “I have food waiting for me at home,” she added to prove her point.
Just then, the sound of a car’s engine rumbled by the front entrance. Rachel took an umbrella from the porch as she walked out. “Can I borrow one of your umbrellas? I’ll return it to you someday. My ride is here, so I’ll make a move now.”
As Justin saw her walking out with the umbrella, he couldn’t help but follow her to the living hall, where he glanced out the full-length window by the side. He could clearly see the woman’s back as she walked out and got into a car. Someone’s actually here to pick her up, huh? Justin frowned. Could I be overthinking this?
At the same time, Rachel got into the passenger’s seat of the car. Nancy drove her home at an extremely slow speed as the wipers could barely wipe off the heavy droplets of rain on the windshield. “The rain is so heavy tonight. This could’ve been your perfect excuse to spend a night there. You might’ve even managed to get some evidence by tonight, right? Why did you insist on getting me to
pick you up?” Nancy asked.
“Even you can tell that this weather is the perfect excuse for me to stay, so don’t you think Justin might’ve considered that too?” Rachel asked in return.
“Were you afraid that he’d get suspicious of you?” the driver asked.
“Yeah.” Even if Rachel had managed to find a way to stay the night, Justin would’ve been eyeing her the whole time. Furthermore, he might not have gone to his safebox on the same night, and she wouldn’t have had a chance to do much even if he did. That was how Rachel concluded that there was no need for her to stay
Nancy sighed. “What a shame. This was a perfect chance. What are you going to do now? You can’t say that you’re going over to visit your daughter, right? Doesn’t Justin hate it when you get close to Charlotte?”
Rachel tightened her grip on the umbrella handle. “There’ll be a lot of other chances in the future.”
The next day, Rachel paid a visit to Justin’s office after they got out of a meeting in the afternoon.
Knock-knock. “Come in,” Justin uttered from inside.
“President Burton.” He lifted his head when he heard Rachel’s voice.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
She shook the umbrella she was holding in her hand. “I’m here to return your umbrella.”
“I thought you would’ve used the umbrella as an excuse to visit my place again. What’s this? What’s the rush?” he asked as he pushed his signed documents to one side of his desk.
“Do I seem to you as someone who’s that desperate to achieve something?” Rachel asked as she placed the umbrella into the holder beside the door. “I’ll leave now that I’ve returned the umbrella.”
“Wait,” he muttered.
“Is there anything else?” Rachel asked.
“Are you busy after work today?” She froze after she heard what he said. “Charlotte mentioned that you haven’t finished teaching her how to bake cookies, so she told me to invite you over after work,” he continued. An exasperated look surfaced on his face when he saw how quiet Rachel seemed. “You can forget about it if you’re busy,” he said.
“I’m free,” she hastily replied.
“Well, it’s set then. I’ll see you in the garage after work.” Justin continued to look at his documents after he finished his sentence. He only lifted his head again after he heard his door being shut. Confusion gathered between his thick eyebrows as he gazed at the door.
Justin never had a good impression of Rachel. The main reason for this was because she had completely abandoned Charlotte five years ago, so he had always thought of Rachel as an irresponsible mother. But Charlotte seems to like her a lot, and she does take good care of Charlotte whenever they’re together. Was my previous impression of her formed due to my personal biases?
Both Justin and Rachel headed home in one car after work. A tiny figure dressed in red was waiting by the front entrance, and they could see the young girl before they even arrived at the house. “Mommy!”
Charlotte flung herself into Rachel’s arms the moment Rachel stepped out of the car.
Rachel nearly fell backward. “Ah! Charlotte, why are you out in this cold weather when your fever hasn’t gone down?”
“I’m all better now. You can feel my forehead if you don’t believe me.” Charlotte held her head up toward Rachel, who beamed and went along with the young girl’s orders. She pressed one hand against Charlotte’s forehead while pressing the other against her own. “You’re right. It does seem like your fever has gone down.”
“I wasn’t lying, was I, Mommy?”
“Well, you should still be a little more careful. You should stay home just for these few days.”
“Ahem!”The sound of someone coughing came from behind them while they talked. Rachel didn’t need to turn around to picture the grumpy look on Justin’s face. Instead of looking back immediately, she gave Charlotte a wink before shifting her gaze to Justin.
Charlotte immediately got what Rachel meant. “Daddy!” The young girl held her arms wide as she ran toward Justin. “I want you to carry me!”
“Isn’t Mommy the only person you care about? Isn’t she the only one you want?” he asked in a flat tone.
“No way! Daddy and Mommy are supposed to be a pair. I like both of you. I like you two equally.”
“Equally?” Justin was clearly displeased at her answer. Rachel hadn’t been around in the past five years, and he had taken care of Charlotte all by himself. How could Charlotte show equal love toward both of them?
Charlotte was an extremely observant child, so she clung onto Justin’s thigh the moment she realized the darkening look on Justin’s face. “Carry me, Daddy! Carry me!” she cried as she looked up at the man.
He couldn’t help but give in when he glanced at his adorable daughter, who looked almost like a porcelain doll. Then, he lifted her into his arms, and she moved toward him immediately. Smooch! Once Charlotte kissed him on the cheek, all traces of anger melted off his face immediately. “Daddy you’re the best! My dad is the best dad in the whole wide world!”
