The more she heard, the darker Amber looked. She did this on purpose. She humiliated me in front of everyone just to get back at me.
A white sports car suddenly stopped before her car, and out came a man and a boy with curly hair. They talked about something, then the man picked the boy up and went into the lobby. Just before they were gone, Amber remembered something. If she was right, she had seen the same car in front of Burton Group before.
On the other hand, the recording took more than two hours, but it eventually came to an end.
“Good job, guys. We’re done.” Rachel told Lisa to give everyone the snacks she bought, then she looked at the time. “I have something to settle, Lisa, so I’m going ahead. Keep an eye on things here.”
“No problem. Go ahead, Chris.”
Rachel left in a hurry with her phone in hand, but she didn’t leave the studio right away. Instead, she went into the pantry on the ground floor and saw Samuel sitting beside the window, drinking his juice.
“Mommy!” Samuel opened his arms the moment he saw Rachel.
Rachel hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry for asking you to wait with Samuel,” she told the man beside the boy.
The man was wearing a suit, but he answered politely, “It’s fine, Miss Chris. This is my job.”
“Where’s Jolly? Why’d she suddenly ask you to take Samuel here?”
“She seems to have something to settle, but she told me nothing. Though she said she’d be back by seven.”
Rachel frowned. “She couldn’t have gone to a club again, could she?”
The bodyguard said nothing, but Samuel looked at her. “Mommy, clubs aren’t open so early. Jolly won’t even get to drink if she is there, so she’s safe.”
“You cheeky boy.” Rachel patted his head. “How’d you know the club’s opening hours? Did Jolly tell you?”
Jolly’s bodyguard then sent Rachel and Samuel home, but unbeknownst to them, someone kept watching them until the white car was out of sight. Only after that did they leave in the opposite direction.
Rachel noticed the stack of junk food on the coffee table the moment she came back. Jolly was a carefree person; she didn’t pay too much attention to the children’s food, so they ate what she ate.
“Do you want anything, Samuel? I’ll make it for you.”
“Egg sandwich, then.”
“Sure.” Rachel took out two eggs and a bottle of mayonnaise from the fridge. “You don’t ask for much, huh?”
Samuel stared at her. “Your egg sandwich is the best, Mommy.”
Before she could say anything, her phone rang. When she saw who the caller was, Rachel hesitated before taking it. “Hello?”
“Mommy!” a girl said sweetly, but there was a hurried tone in her voice. “Why aren’t you back yet? I’m
still waiting for you. It’s dinnertime.”
“I have something to do here, Charlotte,” Rachel answered. “I’ll be late, so can you go ahead without me?”
“No! I want you here!”
“Be a good girl, Charlotte. I’ll be right there after I’m done.”
“I’m not eating if you’re not here!” Charlotte replied angrily and hung up.
“Hello? Charlotte?” Rachel looked at her phone and frowned.
“Is that Charlotte, Mommy?” Samuel asked.
Rachel stared at Samuel in disbelief. “How do you know about Charlotte?” I’ve never talked about it with him.
Samuel answered, “I heard it when you were talking with Jolly, but by accident, of course.”
“Why didn’t you tell us then?”
Samuel answered as maturely as he could. “You and Jolly would have told me if you wanted to. Since none of you did, that means I don’t need to find out about it, so I didn’t bring it up.”
“You cheeky boy.” Rachel touched his nose. “What else are you hiding from me then?”
“It’s… a secret!”
“You have your own secrets now, huh?”
The boy grinned. “You should make the sandwiches now so you can go to see Charlotte as soon as possible. She’s going to starve if you aren’t going back.”
“Sure. You go to your room then.”
Samuel obliged. When he heard the water starting to boil, he closed the door and opened a folder in his PC. There was nothing but a man’s photo in it. Samuel stared at the photo for the longest time, mumbling, “He’s ugly. And there’s a scar on his face. Julian’s more handsome than he is. Heck, even Hernandez looks better.” Samuel sighed. Well, he is my dad. What choice do I have?
Someone opened the door after Rachel made the egg sandwiches.
Jolly had changed into her slippers. “Something smells nice. What did you make?”
Rachel crossed her arms and stared at Jolly interrogatively. “Don’t change the subject. Where did you go? Why’d you suddenly send Samuel to me?”
“Nothing. A friend asked me out, but it’s going to cause a lot of misunderstanding if Samuel was there. Makes it hard to talk, you see.”
“A friend? Who is it?”
“You don’t know him.”
“Is it him?” Jolly was unreliable, but she would never abandon Samuel, unless that man was involved.
Rachel didn’t even say his name, but they knew who she was talking about. Thus, Jolly looked away in
guilt. “What are you talking about? There’s no way I’d see him.”
“I didn’t even say who it was. Why’d you get nervous?”
“I-I’m not nervous. I’m not talking to you. Where’s Samuel? I want to see him.”
“He’s in his room.” Rachel took her apron off. “Forget it. I’m going to Charlotte’s place. The sandwiches are done, so have dinner with Samuel.”
“Sure.”
Rachel was still worried, so before she left, she told Jolly, “You should think this relationship through.”
Jolly waved at Rachel without even turning around. “I know, I know. You’re starting to nag. I told you | didn’t see him.”
“I hope so.”
Night was descending on the city, and Justin was still in the hotel. However, he was talking to someone on the phone this time, though a frown creased his forehead.
“She humiliated me in front of everyone! And she canceled my show just because she’s friends with the director! You know how hard I worked for it, Justin!”
Justin was getting a headache from Amber’s crying. “You called me just for this?”
“This is important! She stopped me from developing any medicine, and now she canceled my show! That’s too much! Even the staff members were talking about me behind my back!”
