Rachel didn’t finish her words, but half of her sentence was echoing within the woods. At this moment, Justin froze for a moment before taking his next step, which was nearly at the same time when Rachel became stunned. However, he didn’t turn around and just let the weird atmosphere persist for a few seconds before changing the subject.
“Be careful. It rained a few days ago, so the cobblestone path is a little slippery.” Only then did Rachel snap out of her daze. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”
Then, they walked together in the direction of the parking lot. Just then, Rachel asked, “Old Mrs. Holt’s condition comes and goes. Is it really suitable for her to stay here alone?”
“When she was clear-headed, I talked to her about letting her stay in a nursing home, but she rejected the idea. She said that it’s quiet in the woods, and there are too many people in the nursing home, so she refused to move.”
“She looks quite friendly, though. Does she not like the liveliness?” “People tend to have their own thoughts when they age. She’s really stubborn, so I’m not sure either.” Hearing that, Rachel nodded and looked as though she had something on her mind.
Justin thought that she was worried about the shares of Hudson Pharmaceuticals, so he comforted her by saying, “Don’t worry, Old Mrs. Holt said that she’s going to make a will. Since Evan doesn’t treat her well, I guess the shares won’t likely go into his hands.”
“That’s not what I’m thinking.” She shook her head. “I’m just thinking that she has worked her whole life for others, but she doesn’t have any children beside her in the end; she’s just like my grandma.” “Perhaps they don’t regret it.”
Rachel was startled by his words. Then, Justin continued, “Although Old Mrs. Holt doesn’t have a child of her own, her husband showed a lot of affection toward her when he was alive. Even when he made his will before his death, he was thinking about her. I think it’s already sufficient to have a person always having you in their mind like this in your life. Just like Grandma, she treated your mother as her own daughter, right?”
It didn’t necessarily mean that a person’s life would be happy even if they got married and had a child. Sometimes, a good relationship with family and friends could embellish a person’s life. When compared to the lives of those married couples who were always arguing and having unfilial children, the complacency that the former achieved was real happiness.
“If Grandma is still alive, she won’t regret not having her own biological child. What she’ll hope for the most is for you to live a good life. Am I right?”
When Rachel heard that, she answered with a nod, “Yeah, you’re right.” The thing that Grandma hoped for the most was for Rachel to live a good life. She was trying hard to get over it too. “By the way, what’s your decision regarding the charity foundation?”
“I’ve thought about it. I have quite a lot of free time now, and I think it’ll be good for me to find something to do. Also, there’s a charity fundraising campaign that I’ve been in charge of, so I decided to listen to your advice.”
“In that case, do you know that… Julian is running for the election too?”
“I heard that.” “You should’ve heard about his approval rating, then.” “Yeah, Frankie told me about it.” Looking at his rock-solid poker face as usual, Rachel took the weight off her mind as well.
“You seem like you have your own thoughts about it already. I’ll wish you luck, then.” From an objective point of view, Justin had the experience and connections in charity, so he could carry out the duty handily. If this was a fair election, he would get the vice president’s seat.
However, there was never complete fairness in this world. Sometimes, people had to give in to Machiavellian maneuvers. Justin was someone who had been through such principles, so Rachel believed that he had prepared himself for it. When Rachel returned from St. Ignatius Church, it was already nighttime.
As soon as she entered the house, she could smell pizza. She put down her car keys and walked into the house while taking off her coat before ranting, “Jolly, did you feed the kids junk food again? Is it so hard to just make pasta?”
Jolly was lying on the couch, watching a drama as though she was stuck on the piece of furniture. There was still unfinished pizza and drinks on the coffee table. Rachel simply took a piece of the pizza and put it into her mouth..
When she saw that, Jolly rolled her eyes at Rachel. “You’re enjoying it too, so you can’t scold me for it.” “By the way, you’ve already declared your relationship with Leroy publicly, so when are you moving out? Why are you still staying here?”
“Why? Do you not like it now?” Jolly turned over. “We split fifty-fifty to purchase this house, so I have the right to access half of it.”
“Fine. You’re saying like I’m chasing you away. I’m just afraid that you’re always away from Leroy, and there might be an appearance of another woman.”
“That’s funny. Even before another woman appears, I think my parents are going to separate us first.” A startled Rachel asked, “Mr. and Mrs. Carter still haven’t agreed to your relationship?”
“Yeah.” Jolly nodded and sighed resignedly. “I don’t understand. I never knew there was a rule about not dating people from the entertainment industry in my family. My parents just don’t like everything about Leroy. What’s wrong with them?”
“Even his face? Don’t they like his face?” Jolly nodded. “They said that it’s a flaw for men to have pretty faces.” “Ryan is good looking too.” Rachel used the best son-in-law candidate in Jolly’s parents’ eyes as a benchmark.
“That’s exactly what I said. Do you know what my mom said? She played along and said that his face was just right. She even asked me to think about marrying him again.”
“Really? He has already been married two times. Are you sure she doesn’t mind?”
“God knows!” Jolly was rolling her eyes to the back of her head. “I don’t even want to go home now. Ryan is like a plaster sticking to the living room of my house. I get annoyed every time I see him.”
Rachel shook her head upon hearing that. She was really impressed by Ryan as he hadn’t given up yet after receiving the cold shoulder from Jolly for such a long time. As expected, a son was more important than anything else in men’s eyes, and the mother’s status would only rise after giving birth to a son.
As they were talking, she looked at the vase on the dining table from the corner of her eye. “Did you buy flowers?”
In the vase was a bouquet of gorgeous, budding white roses. Under the yellow light, they looked extra beautiful. The flowers were not there yet when she left the house this morning.
“Oh, that? Mrs. Gibson brought it here.”
“Mrs. Gibson?” Rachel had surprise written all over her face. Since they didn’t have time for chores, they hired a permanent cleaner once a week to clean the house. Mrs. Gibson was a great worker since she was serious about her job, but Rachel had never heard of a cleaner growing flowers.
“Yeah, I saw her putting the flowers into the vase quite professionally. She said that she saw the vase and found it beautiful when she came here previously. Since it would be a waste if it was left empty, she bought a bouquet here.”
Hearing that, Rachel seemed to have something on her mind. “She’s really attentive. We should increase her pay next time.” “You decide. I have no comment.”
After she showered, Rachel came out of the bathroom and grabbed her phone by the bedside. Immediately, she saw an unread message. ‘President Hudson, are you free tomorrow night? Let’s have dinner together.’
There was only silence at her end.
