After the morning meeting on Monday, Jolly followed Rachel around as she told Rachel her itinerary, “There is a charity donation ceremony in the afternoon. Hudson Pharmaceuticals has received an invitation letter, mainly to donate medical supplies in poor mountainous areas. How much do you think we should donate?”
Rachel glanced at the contents of the document. “Donate ten mobile medical vehicles first, and then supplement the funds according to the situation of the charitable foundation.” “Okay, but you have to go to the banquet in the afternoon.”
“Can I not go?” “You have to go. This is an important event for the company to gain favor. Don’t think of how utilitarian it is that charity is related to business. This is also a good time to carry forward the spirit of charity.”
“You said all that, but I didn’t say I wasn’t going.” “I thought you seemed distracted early this morning, and you’re so listless. What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be happy? You just got proposed to and received a big diamond ring.” Jolly said and reflexively grabbed Rachel’s hand but suddenly froze when she didn’t see the ring in question. “Where’s the ring?”
Rachel retracted her hand. “It was troublesome to wear, so I didn’t wear it.”
“Nonsense.” Jolly frowned.The secretary behind her cast them a curious look. Jolly closed the office door and asked sternly, “What’s the matter with you? Don’t tell me you are already regretting it.”
“No, you’re letting your imaginations run wild again.”
“Then why did you take the ring off?” Rachel was helpless. “It’s really inconvenient to wear it, and you know that I don’t like wearing things that are too valuable on my person. What if I lost it?”
“No, you have a problem.” Jolly put down all the folders in her hand, and they landed heavily on the desk. She turned around and stared at Rachel. “Tell me honestly, what happened to you and Julian? Why did you suddenly agree to his proposal?”
Rachel, who was being stared at, felt guilty. She coughed lightly, tried to avoid Jolly’s intense gaze, but was caught by her anyway. “Look at my eyes and answer me!”
She continued coughing. Rachel choked and said slowly. “Actually, I didn’t agree to Julian’s proposal.”
“What?” “Don’t get mad!” Rachel took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I refused at first. I am really grateful to Julian, but he should find a woman who loves him more wholeheartedly than me. But Julian said that he hoped I could give him a chance to give us a try.”
“Try? How are you going to try?” Jolly’s eyes narrowed. “Julian is also a showman. Does he want you to try what marriage is like with him?”
“That’s not what he meant. He meant that he hoped that I could leave the relationship with him as a friend and view him as a potential partner romantically and try it out for a while.”
“So you agreed?” “There may be some things that really need to be tried. If we try and find ourselves compatible, we will be together, and everyone will be happy. If not, then we’ll separate as soon as possible, and we won’t waste any more time on this pursuit.”
Jolly let go of Rachel. “Why is Julian doing this? He clearly knows that you are grateful to him. Isn’t this just him just pressuring you under the banner of trying?”
“Don’t say that. Julian is not that kind of person.” “Well, I’m just saying… You know… Jolly waved her hand. “The more I think about it, the less I can make sense of this. After Julian became the president of the Burton Family, I always felt that he was caught up in his own thoughts, and he wouldn’t hang out with us anymore. There’s just something different about him.”
“The Burton Group has much to worry about, and there are few people who support him, so it’s understandable why he acted that way.” “I hope it’s just that.”
Rachel glanced at the time. “It’s getting late, so I’ll go first.”
“Where are you going?” “We were just talking about it. Did you lose your memory? Don’t I have to go to the charity donation ceremony this afternoon? Shouldn’t I go home and change my clothes?”
Rachel side-eyed her in exasperation. “I’ll be going.” When Rachel left, Jolly scratched her head and wanted to say something but hesitated. Try? Is it possible to attempt to agree to a marriage proposal?
The charitable donation ceremony officially started at 2:00PM. Rachel went alone, and Julian was waiting for her by the entrance.
This was the first public appearance of the two groups. Rachel had a unique identity. She was married to Justin before, and now she was a ‘friend’ of Julian again. Many media reporters on the scene were waiting for the first shot of them.
“President Hudson, there are rumors that you and Present Peters are not friends but lovers. Is this true?” “Are President Peters and your ex-husband really cousins? Why does he have Burton Group’s equity?”
“Please respond.” “I’m sorry, we’re only here today for the charity donation ceremony. If you have any questions, we’ll have a separate interview later.” Julian’s assistant immediately went up and stopped the reporters.
Meanwhile, white noise filled Rachel’s mind. She rarely made public appearances, so she didn’t know that there was so much speculation about Julian in the industry, not to mention the speculation about her relationship with him.
“Are you okay? Did that scare you?”
Julian took her hand as they avoided the reporters and walked into the lobby. She shook her head. “I’m fine.” “Have reporters been following you since you took over Burton Group?”
“It’s much better now. When I first took over, there were people at the door. They questioned my identity, my relationship with the Burton Family, my relationship with my cousin, and even made up the story between my mother and the Burtons…”
“I didn’t know any of that.” No wonder Julian was always busy before. Not only was he busy, but he also didn’t want to implicate them, so he seldom came to visit.
Julian smiled slightly. “It’s okay. It will pass. By the way, how much does Hudson Pharmaceuticals plan to donate this time?” Before Rachel could speak, a girl’s voice suddenly came from a distance. “I want to see the president of Burton Group! Let me go. I want to see him!”
“Security, hurry up and stop her. What are you doing?” Rachel looked into the distance curiously, but the rushing security guards blocked her vision,. and she couldn’t see the troublemaker.
“What happened?” she asked. Julian took her hand. “Don’t look. They are all reporters, trying to get interview material, take some photos, and come up with nothing more than something sensational.”
Rachel nodded. “It’s been hard on you.”
“It’s okay, let’s go. The ceremony is about to start, so let’s go in.” “Okay.” Before entering the banquet hall, Julian signaled at the assistant behind him. The assistant nodded in understanding. After Julian and Rachel entered, he strode toward where the commotion was coming from.
“What’s going on? Why is it you again?” The assistant frowned at the person who had come. “Didn’t I tell you last time? You need an appointment to see our boss. Do you have an appointment?”
The girl was still young. She looked like a high school student of 16 or 17 years old, with her ponytail crooked and a backpack on her back, but her temperament was strong. She shook off the security guards. “What appointment? Your president killed my brother! I’m going to ask him to find out what happened! He’s a murderer!”
“What nonsense are you talking about? We can sue you for slander!” “My brother died here in Riverdale! Your president handled the funeral. They’re not related, so if he didn’t kill my brother, why would he help?”
The assistant was slightly taken aback and could not help but ask, “Who is your brother?”
“Hans Egerton!”
