“Mommy! Mr. Wade is going to propose, right?” Charlotte was a child of great mischief, and she immediately voiced Rachel’s guess.
“Propose?” Rachel froze. When she looked back, she saw Gloria standing at the dining area door, wearing a pink nightdress and holding a cup in her. hand. It seemed that she had woken up to drink water.
Rachel thought of getting away with it, but Gloria had already trotted in with her eyes shining. ‘Is he going to propose to me? Really? Here? When?”
Rachel coughed. “Gloria, you’ve misheard.” Since Victor didn’t tell them, it meant that he wanted to surprise Gloria. This was just great. Before he could surprise her, they had disrupted it.
“I heard it very clearly.” Gloria grabbed Justin. “You heard it too, didn’t you? Victor is going to propose to me!” Justin was helpless. “Yes, I heard it. Are you happy?”
“Meh, I’m okay. Not that happy.”
“Then, if he proposes, will you agree?”
“For someone like him, if it weren’t for me, he would never be able to get married, so I’ll reluctantly agree. I’ll be doing a good deed.” Gloria deliberately frowned, but there was irrepressible happiness in her eyes.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t hear anything. I don’t know what to prepare or how to prepare. I’ll go back and sleep first.”
“Hey!” Rachel called after her but didn’t manage to stop her. She turned around and asked Justin, “Is their information reliable? Why am I panicking?” “That guy has many ideas. He probably didn’t tell us because he was embarrassed.”
“That’s true.” Rachel nodded. “But, it’s amazing that the two actually got together. To be honest, the average girl won’t be able to stand Victor’s temper.”
“Gloria doesn’t have a good temper either.” “You’re oddly calm about this, and something. isn’t quite right here.’ Rachel teased him and said, “Shouldn’t you feel the dissatisfaction of having your little sister being taken away by another man?”
“Gloria will have to marry someone eventually. Instead of marrying someone from nowhere, it’s better to marry someone from Riverdale. We all know history, and we all live close by. It’ll make things easier if anything needs to be taken care of too.”
“That’s true.” Rachel nodded in agreement. “Charlotte, Samuel, this matter must be kept secret.” Charlotte immediately covered her mouth and. said, “I definitely won’t say anything.”
She glanced at Samuel, and when she saw that he didn’t respond, she stretched out her hand. and covered his mouth too. “Samuel won’t say anything either.”
Samuel was eating, so when Charlotte covered his mouth, he could only stare at them with his eyes wide open, looking like a little frog. Due to the accident the night before, everyone slept until noon.
The homestay owner made lunch, all of which were the town’s specialties, and there were even exquisite pastries from Riverdale. “What are we doing this afternoon?”
“We’re going hiking,” Victor answered while eating. I’ve drafted the plan. The red maple up on Triburg Mountain looks the most beautiful this season, and the mountain isn’t too high. So, we’ll go after lunch and descend the mountain before dark.”
Jolly piped up, “I know that place. People often propose on Lover Vista. It’s the slope that’s on the top of the mountain.”
As soon as she said this, Rachel glanced at Gloria with a smile. Gloria froze for a moment, then suddenly blushed. After lunch, the group set off.
The mountain wasn’t high, and the red maples all over the mountain looked like fire clusters. It was extremely enchanting. Halfway through walking, Rachel suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. For some reason, she thought of the fire that happened more than 20 years ago.
“Are you tired? Drink some water.”
Justin’s concerned voice sounded from her side. She returned to her senses, then took a sip of water and forced a smile. “I’m okay. It’s just the lack of exercise that’s getting to me.” “Give me the bag.”
“It’s okay, I can carry it myself-”
Before she could finish speaking, he took the bag from her shoulder and carried it as he walked forward. She had mixed feelings in her heart when she looked at his back.
She seemed to have seen such a scene more than 20 years ago. At that time, she had helped him leave the mountain. Then, after preparing food and drinks for him, she watched as he hurried off with a bag on his back. If it weren’t for the sudden fire in the mountains, perhaps everything that followed wouldn’t have happened.
“What are you thinking about?”
Jolly suddenly patted her on the shoulder, bringing her back to reality.
“Nothing.” “I think this mountain is higher than Victor claimed it to be, and the road isn’t very easy to walk on either.” Jolly leaned almost half of her body on Rachel, looking like she had jelly for bones.
Rachel tried to push her away as she was rather heavy. “You’re so heavy. If you can’t walk, ask Leroy to carry you. Why are you torturing me instead?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“What? Are you going to scold me for treating at friend as a backup again? I won’t take that lying down.”
“Oh, why are you holding a grudge for that?”
Jolly held her arm and coaxed her. ‘I said that out of anger, didn’t I? I’ll apologize to you, okay? And when we go back to Riverdale, you can choose any of the bags in my house.”
“Who cares about your bags?”
“You can’t buy those with money!”
“Keep them for yourself.”
Rachel rolled her eyes at Jolly before walking forward on her own. Jolly stuck to her like gum. “Chris, although I know there are certain things you may not like to hear, I think I still have to say them.”
“What is it?”
“What are you planning to do with Julian and Justin?”
“This again? Can’t I not want either of them?” “But, the problem now is that these two people. are by your side. One is blatantly chasing you, and the other has a daughter with you. Neither of them are people whom you can be just friends with just because you say so. Don’t you think so too? If you have to choose one, which one will it be?”
Rachel frowned, “This question is just a bunch of red flags. I won’t choose.”
“Deep down, it’s still Justin, right?” Jolly hit the nail on the head. “You don’t need to explain the grudges between you and him. In fact, the more grudges are involved, the more difficult it is for you two to call it quits. You’re just deceiving yourself by saying that you guys are even.”
Rachel couldn’t refute, but her frown deepened. She had to admit that she couldn’t accept Julian or anyone else for this reason. She didn’t know what kind of feelings she had for Justin.
But, after experiencing so many things, she couldn’t accept Justin again like nothing had happened. Jolly said, “There’s something I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it had nothing to do with you, but now I think you have the right to know.”
“What is it?”
“Justin has a marriage contract, which has been set since he was a child.”
Rachel looked at Jolly in surprise. How’s that possible? How could he marry her back then if he had a marriage contract? And how could he have remained engaged with Amber for five years?
Jolly was serious, a side of her that was rarely seen. “Frankie told me about it, and we all know her. She’s our old boss, Christine, whose real name is Ginny Tuscan.”.
Rachel’s brows shot up as she found it hard to believe.
