Being the favored goddaughter of Richard and Marilyn, Rachel received special treatment from them. Even though Rachel was late to dinner, Marilyn purposely reserved a big bowl of meatballs for her which made Jolly jealous.
“Mom! I’m your biological daughter!”
“I thought you prefer takeaway food over my cooking?” Marilyn rolled her eyes at Jolly. She then looked over at Rachel with a smile on her face and said, “Rachel, have more of this.”
“Marilyn, don’t be too worried about me since I just choked on smoke. I’m fine now.” Rachel chuckled as she chewed on the food.
“I’m not worried about it since it has all passed. In the future, I hope everything will be smooth sailing for you .”
“You’re not worried about it? When you found out that something happened to Chris, you dragged dad and both children over to the hospital at Somerset Mountain and refused to let Rachel get her treatment there while insisting on bringing her back to Riverdale so that you could be more at ease. Mom, what if her condition got worse on the way here? Have you thought of that?” Jolly complained.
“Hey! You shouldn’t make such an ominous remark!” Marilyn glared at Jolly and hit her hand.
Seeing that, Richard explained in Marilyn’s stead. “We have taken into consideration the lengthy journey back, but considering that the cause of the wildfire is unknown, it might be unsafe to leave Rachel and Justin there.” Richard clearly reasoned why both of them went through the hassle of transferring Rachel and Justin, who were unconscious at that time, back to Riverdale.
Everyone’s expression was serious while they were on the topic.
“The police haven’t given a definite result on this matter. If everything goes well, I am afraid that the case will be closed, with the reason being the villagers burning incense for their rituals. What do you think?” Richard added.
Hearing that, both Rachel and Justin turned to look at each other. Actually, she had already discussed the matter with him. However, he refused to reveal to her how he would take care of it, so she decided not to question his arrangements.
“Let me take care of this matter.” Someone said before Justin could say anything.
When Rachel looked up, her eyes met Lionel’s deep gaze. “Dad.”
“Rachel, you don’t have to worry about this. I will take care of it. I understand that it might be inconvenient for Justin to deal with since it involved his family, but I won’t let this matter slide.”
“You already knew about it?” Rachel was surprised because only Justin knew that Julian was behind the wildfire since she only discussed it with Justin. But when she recalled how she and Justin were abducted by Julian’s men when they were back from Enistan, she realized that Lionel already knew who was behind it. Thus, he could easily infer that Julian was behind the wildfire incident too.
“I will not let anyone hurt my daughter right in front of my eyes. A domestic and foreign business convention will be held this weekend, and I will be meeting him there,” Lionel uttered firmly.
Rachel was worried about it, but as she was about to say something, Justin stopped her. He grabbed her hand under the dining table.
“Mr. Hudson, you have a say in this.”
The atmosphere in the dining room was rather tense as they discussed such weighty topics.
Jolly, who was quietly savoring the meatballs in Rachel’s bowl, suddenly asked, “You’re still calling him Mr. Hudson? Shouldn’t you address him in another way?”
Upon hearing that, Rachel blushed.
“That’s right. You should be addressing him in another way. Since both of you had gone through a few near-death experiences together, I think you should get married again so that we don’t have to keep worrying about the both of you.”
“There’s no rush for this.” Lionel coughed a few times out of awkwardness.
Hearing that, Marilyn was about to say something but was interrupted by Richard. He shook his head slightly, signaling her not to get involved in it. Everyone who wanted Justin and Rachel to get back together was seeing it from an outsider’s perspective. They saw the changes that Justin had made for Rachel and felt that he had changed for the better.
However, Lionel, being Rachel’s father, wouldn’t have wished for her daughter, whom he loved to marry a man who had wilfully hurt her countless times.
“Oh my, the dishes are getting cold. Let’s dig in.” Marilyn immediately ended the awkward topic.
Everyone then started eating, except for Rachel, who looked over at Justin worriedly. Instead, he held onto her hand tightly, trying to comfort her. When he looked into her eyes, it was as if he was telling her that no matter the obstacles they’d face, he would never let her go.
To him, loving someone meant that he would constantly worry about her if she wasn’t at his side, and he should be confident that he was the only one that could give her happiness.
After dinner, everyone went on to do their own thing. Richard and Lionel clicked well since they had common interests in fishing and playing chess. As they chatted about it, they decided spontaneously to go fishing. There was a huge lake with pebbles on the shore near the summer villa, which was a great fishing spot. It was also a perfect spot for an outdoor barbeque meal.
Since Rachel and the others were bored at home, they decided to go over for a barbeque, seeing it had been a while since everyone had gathered together. They started preparing for it and ended up bringing a big pile of ingredients and equipment over.
“Jolly, please be quiet. You’re scaring all the fishes away.” Richard chided.
“Your fishing skills are poor, but you blame me for it.” Jolly grumbled as she arranged the items with her lips pursed.
“Initially, I almost caught the fish, but they swam away because of the clunking sounds.”
“Fine, I’ll be quieter and not disturb you and your fishes.”
“I think my dad’s andropause is getting more serious. Should I get him a doctor and prescribe some medicine for him?” Jolly then looked at Rachel and whispered.
“Are you sure that he’s going through andropause? Or he just couldn’t stand you?” Rachel laughed.
“Couldn’t stand me?”
“Look over there if you don’t believe me.”
Jolly then looked over in the direction that Rachel was looking at skeptically. She noticed that Charlotte and Samuel were throwing rocks into the lake, which had created big splashes. However, Richard and Lionel, sitting by the lake with fishing rods in their hands, looked at the children lovingly and weren’t angry about it.
“Charlotte, be careful. Don’t fall into the lake.” Richard reminded the little girl.
Jolly couldn’t believe that Richard could tolerate the big splashes but couldn’t stand the clunking sounds that she made which barely disturbed him fishing. “That’s unacceptable! How could a father throw his daughter aside after having grandchildren?” Jolly was fuming with anger.
