It was late when Rachel and Justin arrived at the homestay. So, they retired to their rooms to rest.
When Rachel arrived in her room, Regina had just finished her bath and was now sitting on the side of the bed while applying medication to her leg. The room smelled of safflower oil.
“Let me do it.” Rachel noticed how clumsy she was and could not resist approaching her to help. Regina’s eyes brightened. Regardless, she feared she would say something that angered Rachel, so she closed her mouth obediently and stretched out her leg. She hissed as Rachel applied the ointment.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.” Regina shook her head at once. Rachel did not ask further, but her movements became gentler as she massaged the medication onto Regina’s twisted ankle.
“This medicine is for invigorating the blood and releasing stagnation. It’s only effective if you massage it onto the spot.”
“Is it also Eastern medication?”
“I think so.” Rachel nodded. “Most medications currently on the market are no longer purely Eastern, but are mixtures of both Eastern and traditional medication.”
“I’ve heard my dad say that Hudson Pharmaceuticals produces Eastern medication, although their sales aren’t good.”
“He mentioned that to you?”
Regina nodded carefully. Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t have any pressure to hide her true self; maybe she wasn’t so wary of Regina because they were family.
“The market for Eastern medication hasn’t been so good in the last few years. And it’s not just Eastern medicine; the market for Eastern medical practitioners isn’t doing well either. So except for some middle-aged or older people who still believe in them, the younger generation’s more willing to trust Western doctors.”
“Why?”
“Part of it is because of the bad market reviews regarding Eastern medicine. As a result, many people have pretended to be Eastern medical practitioners to scam others, leading to their bad reputation. The other part is because the main aim of Eastern medicine is to regulate the health of the body, and thus it doesn’t act as fast as traditional medicine. That is why it doesn’t fit into the fast pace of modern life.”
It was a while before Rachel realized she had said too much. Regina was only sixteen and might not fully grasp what had been said.
“Never mind, I’ve said enough. Rest early.” Rachel placed Regina’s leg back onto the bed and placed the medication back before getting up to prepare for bed.
It was already late. The bedroom lights were off, and the room plunged into darkness. Rachel turned over before hearing Regina’s voice coming from the other bed. “Rachel, are you awake?”
After a few seconds of silence, Rachel answered, “Mm-hmm.”
“Can I sleep with you?”
Rachel didn’t reply.
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.”
“Stop moving around. Doesn’t your ankle hurt?”
Rachel’s words made Regina pause as she pushed off her blanket.
The room was dark, and Rachel could not see Regina’s expression. Nevertheless, she could still feel the girl’s disappointment through her silence.
“Are you asleep?” Rachel couldn’t help but ask.
The voice coming from the other bed was muffled. “I miss my mom.”
Rachel was stunned as she suddenly remembered what Justin had said during their evening walk. Regina’s mother, Natasha, had died of cancer two years ago, meaning Regina was only fourteen. She was only a child, then.
After a moment of silence, Rachel moved toward the inner side of the bed to create some space. “Do you want to sleep here?”
Regina froze, but there was immediately the sound of movement as she climbed onto Rachel’s, still wrapped in her blanket.
“Sleep.” Rachel could not say more than that. Her own mother had died in front of her when she was eight, but she had had a fever and could not remember what had happened. So maybe it was for the best.
She did not know how to comfort Regina; even if she did, she wouldn’t. If she did so, it would be an insult to her mother’s memory. So, she chose to be quiet.
Regina was still as she leaned on Rachel’s arm through the two layers of blankets. “Rachel, don’t hate me, please?”
“I don’t hate you.”
“But you don’t like me either.” Regina’s voice sounded reluctant. “Once you know me for a longer time, you will.”
Rachel sighed inwardly. “Sleep.”
People in their youth always had this bizarre confidence. They thought that life was too long, so they had plenty of time to attain all their goals. They believed that they could be a billionaire, go up to the moon, save the world, or make everyone like them. Rachel slightly envied Regina’s youth and naivety. Maybe if she were Regina’s age, she would believe that the future was rife with potential.
A grand private room of a nightclub in Riverdale.
“Is this what you mean when you said you would partner with me and help avenge my brother?”
The woman was clad in a black leather coat with an expression cold as ice. On the table before her were expensive bottles of wine. Julian faced her, sitting rigidly as he frowned. “There were some issues which I didn’t expect. We should be grateful that we didn’t cause Rachel any real harm.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rachel’s father is alive and has connections to the Yatruinian royal family.”
“What did you say?” Sabrina nearly laughed out loud. “How gullible do you think I am? Find a better excuse if you want the woman you fancy to escape from me alive. The Yatruinian royal family?”
“If you don’t believe me, fine. Just don’t blame me when anything happens.” When he was done talking, he poured some wine into his glass and helped himself with the alcohol.
She didn’t want to play around anymore. “Since our partnership has failed, we will deal with everything after this ourselves. I hope you won’t stop us, or I won’t be kind to you.”
As soon as she said those threatening words, she didn’t hesitate to leave. While Robin watched her leave, he couldn’t help but ask, “President Peters, are we just going to let her leave? We haven’t even discussed the terms of our partnership.”
“Due to the current situation, it can’t be done now. So even if she’s willing, we can’t do it either.”
“Why?”
“Which do you think is worse: crossing her or the Yatruinian royal family?”
Robin froze, then immediately understood. “But President Peters, by now, they definitely know we were responsible for kidnapping Justin and Rachel at the airport. Haven’t we already crossed them?”
Julian sipped a mouthful of wine, his brow heavy with irritation. “Let’s see how it goes first.”
Robin shut his mouth when he sensed how indecisive Justin truly was.
On the other end, Sabrina had just exited the nightclub and entered a black Porsche. “Who exactly were the people who took Rachel and that man? Have you looked into it?”
Her lackey was seated on the passenger seat and answered respectfully, “Mr. Peters’ side replied to us, saying that it was Rachel’s sister from a different mother.”
“How does that relate to the royal family? Have you inquired about that?”
“Well…”
Sabrina had just arrived in Riverdale to work discreetly. She couldn’t just let her people show up all over the place, so they had gotten the information about the airport incident from Julian’s side. However, they still weren’t sure about the details.
She had lost her patience and said coldly, “Investigate who Rachel’s biological father is—as quickly as possible.”
“Okay.”
