Chapter 337 I Won’t Die, but She Will
Rachel drove home in the night without taking any detours. The moment she closed the door behind her, her hands holding the car keys trembled slightly.
“Why are you only back at this hour?” Jolly had been waiting for Rachel inside the house. “I was so worried. I was about to contact Janice if you still have not returned. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She immediately noticed that Rachel’s complexion was terrible. “What happened?”
Rachel tossed the car keys aside and sat down. Afterward, she briefly recounted everything that happened tonight to Jolly.
Jolly was petrified. “I can’t believe that they set up a trap within a trap! Wouldn’t you have died if you had believed that Lila is Coraline and accepted the phone together with the route map!?”
“You’re wrong.” Rachel shook her head. “If I had kept the phone and the route map, I would not have died, but Coraline would have died instead.”
“Coraline? Didn’t you say that Lila is not Coraline?”
“No. She is Coraline.”
Everything that happened tonight from the time she received the note Coraline stuffed in her hand at the entrance of the private room to the blurry address written on the note to the instructions to head to the public phone booth to receive the call—all of these were part of Dillon’s trap.
On the other hand, the route map in the phone hidden at the public phone booth was the trap set up by that ‘Master Porter’.
The trap that Dillon set was insignificant as it was just a foolish one that his father had used as a diversion.
“In the underground garage, Lila made a gesture with her hand before she pointed her gun at Justin.”
“What gesture?”
Rachel imitated the hand gesture for Jolly to see. “The meaning of this hand gesture is ‘hit me’.”
“She asked you to hit her?”
“Of course not. She didn’t actually mean for me to lay a blow on her. Rather, she wanted me to reveal the phone and the route map she gave me to Dillon. She wanted me to turn around and betray her.”
Jolly was confused. “I still don’t understand. What does that mean? She’ll be fine if you expose the fact that she gave you the route map?”
Rachel explained, “I believe that she is being suspected by the higher-ups. Combined with the fact that this ‘Master Porter’ wanted to confirm my position, they decided to set up the events of tonight. If I had handed the route map to the Riverdale Investigation Bureau, it proves that I knew ‘Lila’ from the beginning, which would have exposed her as a result.”
“I get it. Assessing your sincerity and intent to cooperate is secondary because the main point was to confirm whether ‘Lila’ is a spy.”
“That’s right. I’m just a new cooperation partner. If I’m not suitable, they can just cut off all contact with me. There’s no need for them to do anything to me. That’s because I don’t understand anything about their organization. However, that’s not the case with ‘Lila’ as it’s obvious that she knows too much.”
“Oh, my God.” Jolly suddenly felt a belated sense of fear washing over her. “If you had not seen that hand gesture…”
Rachel was also filled with the same lingering fear.
If anything went wrong tonight, Coraline would have disappeared from the face of the Earth forever and the Riverdale Investigation Bureau would never be able to locate her again.
Luckily Rachel was able to confirm one thing when Coraline made that hand gesture. Lila Hart was indeed Coraline Harper. Not only was she still alive, but she was also continuing with her duties as a spy. I have to tell Janice about this.
It took Jolly a while to recover from her shock. As she walked barefooted to the fridge, she took out a beer and muttered, “No, no. This is too stimulating. I need a drink to calm my nerves.”
Rachel craned her neck. “Get me a bottle too.”
They each held a bottle in one hand, sat on the carpet, and toasted each other.
“What are we celebrating?” Jolly was at a loss for words.
Rachel replied, “Let’s celebrate surviving today instead!” After some consideration, she added, “And celebrate the fact that Coraline is still alive.”
Her eyes reddened slightly when she said those words. It was precisely because she learned that Coraline was still alive that she didn’t have the patience to say anything to Justin even though he was blocking her car. She was impatient to return home and share this good news with Jolly.
As the two of them drank, they gradually relaxed.
All of a sudden, Jolly burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. I just suddenly thought about that Burton scum. He suffered a beating for no reason today. That’s karma!”
At the mention of Justin, Rachel frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you are feeling sorry for him.” Jolly furrowed her eyebrows. “You’re not allowed to be soft-hearted.”
“No. I was just thinking about what he said to me today.” Rachel turned to the side and took out a document from her bag. “This is the list of assets that he gave me.”
“What?!”
“He hopes I will withdraw the lawsuit and surrender the custodial rights over Charlotte to him. I can meet her anytime. Moreover, he will transfer all the assets under his name to Charlotte in the form of a will.”
Jolly was stunned. “All of his assets?” How many billions is that worth?! There’s no denying that Justin really is the perfect father when it comes to his daughter. “Did you agree?”
“I said I will consider it.” Rachel glanced at Jolly, her gaze suddenly becoming firm. “Do you think I can give up on Charlotte’s custodial rights, though?”
Jolly immediately felt relieved. Picking up the beer bottle from the table, she tapped her bottle against the bottle in Rachel’s hand. The bottles knocked against each other and made a muffled sound, which caused the beer head to splash slightly and scatter bubbles. It was as though they were celebrating their victory in advance or to kick off this grand carnival.
…
Three days later, the Riverdale Courthouse sent out mediators to formally oversee the out-of-court settlement only to be rejected by Rachel.
Justin had called Rachel multiple times on her phone, but nobody answered. It was not until two days before the court hearing that the phone call was finally connected.
He sounded extremely anxious over the phone call. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
She sat in her office with a calm expression and watched the steam rising from her cup. “I’m sorry. I was very busy recently, so I had no time to answer your calls.”
“Are you avoiding me?”
“You’re over thinking things. I am not.”
Her cold and indifferent attitude had become the norm. He had no choice but to accept the reality and dropped the topic. “Didn’t you say you will consider my offer? Why did you reject the out-of-court settlement?”
“I have yet to make up my mind, so I can only allow the necessary court procedures to flow naturally. I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that.”
“I really do not wish to meet you in court. As you know, the attorneys will do anything to expose the other party’s shortcomings. Do you really wish for us to be like this? How will Charlotte blame herself when she grows up and learns about this?”
Rachel picked up her cup, blew on the foam at the top, and took a sip. “Regarding your document, I believe there are certain areas that can be revised. If you agree to it, then I can withdraw the lawsuit.”
Justin didn’t even stop to think and immediately agreed. “No problem. I’ll do it.”
“You haven’t even heard my request.”
“I will agree to any of your requests, as long as you withdraw the lawsuit.”
Those words left her feeling stunned. Nevertheless, she quickly recovered and glanced at the calendar on her desk. The court hearing was on the day after tomorrow. “Alright, then. I have some time tonight. Why don’t we meet up for dinner together and have a good talk?”
The voice on the other end of the phone could almost be described as ‘overwhelmed by feelings of love’. “No problem.”
