Stunned, Rachel explained, “I just wanted to bring Samuel home earlier. People in the cafeteria are watching.”
“So what if they’re watching? I have nothing to be afraid of. Do you?”
“Why should I be afraid?”
“Then, eat.”
She became speechless upon hearing Justin’s reply.
“The first wife’s always the best. They have to get back together, seeing that they already have two children.”
“What a match made in heaven! They look so good together!”
“Everyone in Miss Chris’ department loves her because she has such a good temper.”
“Now that Charlotte’s biological mother has returned, her bad temper has no doubt improved. A child is always best parented by her real mother because a stepmother would only destroy her.”
One after another, the people in the cafeteria plunged into a discussion and offered their comments. Meanwhile, Amber, who had come all the way to bring Justin some food, was trembling as she held onto her phone outside of the office.
“Miss Amber, Mr. Burton is not in his office at the moment. Would you like to wait?” Gloria asked carefully, obviously afraid to tell Amber the truth.
Looking up from her phone, Amber pretended to be calm and smiled. “It’s alright. I’ll leave since he’s not here.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll see you out.”
“There’s no need. The elevator’s here already.”
Watching Amber enter the elevator, Gloria sighed in relief and turned to her colleague to say, “What’s Mr. Burton doing with Miss Chris and Miss Amber at the same time? It’s causing us a dilemma.”
“What dilemma? Haven’t you realized that Miss Amber hasn’t come to the office for some time already?”
“That’s true.”
For the past few years, Amber often brought lunch for Justin when she was free and staked her claim on him. However, she either did not come or did not manage to see Justin these days even if she came. What’s happening?
Quietly, Gloria’s colleague said, “I don’t think she’ll be his fiancée much longer.”
Right then, Amber threw the thermal container into the rubbish bin when she came out of the elevator. A loud ‘boom’ echoed in the parking lot.
As soon as she got into her car, a grim expression was reflected in the rearview mirror. How could that bastard be Justin’s son? Did he lose his memory? How could he side with Rachel? What kind of tricks is the b*tch playing?
“Miss, shall we head home now?”
“No. To the Burton Residence.”
“Yes, Miss.”
With that, the white car was driven out and gradually disappeared from the monitoring range of the parking
lot.
In the cafeteria, Samuel had crumbs all over his mouth after devouring an entire plate of fish and chips.
“Burrp!” He burped satisfactorily and rubbed his belly. “Charlotte, stop giving me so much food. I really can’t eat anymore. I feel like my stomach’s about to burst!”
“I’m your older sister, so you better listen to what I say!”
“Well, you don’t look much older than me.”
Hearing this, she crossed her arms and put on a serious look. “I’m still your older sister regardless of that. You need to know your manners, so stop grumbling already, okay?”
“Fine, I won’t grumble anymore. Happy?”
“Now, that’s a good boy. Have a meatball.”
“I really can’t eat anymore…” Seeing how she kept feeding him out of love, he cried as he patted his belly, “I’m turning into a ball!”
Upon hearing this, Rachel couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Alright, stop feeding him already, Charlotte. He’s had enough. He’ll get sick if you keep feeding him.”
“But he’s too skinny.” Charlotte shook her head. “Mommy, it must have been hard for you to raise him all alone.”
“It was alright. Samuel has always been a good boy.”
“Obedient children don’t live good lives. Daddy said that we don’t need to be obedient children.”
Hearing that, Rachel froze. Though it was a childish remark, it sounded pitiful if carefully considered. Samuel never had to endure any hardships while staying with me, but he did not have a father while growing up. Besides that, Jolly had to juggle between work and study, so she did not have time to take care of him. Hence, it was understandable for him to be an obedient child.
Noticing the strange look on her face, Justin remarked, “Raising a boy is very much different from raising a girl. Boys should be more sensible.” Without waiting for a reply, he stood up. “I see that we’re done here. Let’s
go.”
Rachel held Samuel’s hand while he held Charlotte’s. At the same time, Charlotte held Justin’s hand. Together, the family of four walked out of the cafeteria as the people around them spectated admiringly.
Before falling asleep at night, Charlotte told Justin, “Daddy, I want to go hiking during the weekend.”
Closing and putting the fairy tale book aside, he responded sternly, “I’m not free this weekend. We’ll go next week.”
“But I’ve already made plans with Samuel. I’ll just go with him if you can’t come.”
“Samuel?”
That means Rachel will be going too, he considered thoughtfully.
“Do you want to go, Daddy?” She studied his expression. “Daddy?”
“We’ll see. I might not have time.”
After saying this, he tucked her into her blanket. “Alright, you should go to sleep now.”
Extending her small arm out of the blanket, she held his thumb and spoke softly, “Daddy, I’m really happy I got to meet my little brother today.”
“You like having a little brother?”
“Yeah, now I have a little brother to grow up with. I’ll protect him when he’s young, and he’ll protect me when he’s older. Besides, we have Daddy and Mommy…” She was clearly tired as she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep before finishing her sentence.
Gently patting the blanket, he stared at her adorable face for a long while before closing the berth curtains and leaving
The next day, Rachel had taken a half day’s leave. The old city had been demolished and high-rise buildings had been rebuilt. Alleyways from five years ago had also disappeared. Following the path in her memory, she found herself arriving at an empty public bookstore.
Just as she was about to leave, a familiar voice sounded from behind. “Rachel?”
Rachel froze. When she turned, she saw Janice holding a stack of old books at the entrance of the bookstore. The interior of the bookstore was almost the same as the old tailor shop.
As Janice poured Rachel a cup of tea, she said, “I thought my eyes were playing games on me. When did you come back?”
“For quite some time now. I’ve been meaning to contact you, but I didn’t know what to say, so I came here to look for you. I’m actually very surprised you’re still here.”
“What a coincidence! It’s my day off today; otherwise, it’s my grandfather who usually takes care of the shop.”
“Yes, what a coincidence.”
Catching sight of Rachel’s silence, Janice questioned, “You received all the emails I sent, right”
“Yup.”
“I saw you on the news a few days ago. To be honest, I knew you were back. I was just waiting for you to find me. Hans was right for trusting you. You even came back to investigate his death.” Janice sounded
determined without the slightest hint of doubt in her statement.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel confessed slowly, “I wouldn’t have looked for you if I wasn’t in trouble.”
It did not end well for those who were involved with Rachel in the past. Hence, she did not want to drag Janice into this.
