Chapter 139


    "Hey, what are you thinking about?" Lea poked Rachel gently to get her attention. "Why didn''t you


    reply to him?"


    Rachel snapped out of her stupor, turned to Lea and then frowned. "Why? Did he talk to me?" she


    asked and wondered what Lea meant.


    "Yes. He spoke to you a few times, but you never responded to him. He probably felt embarrassed


    and went to the bathroom."


    Rachel raised a hand to her forehead and massaged it slightly as she shook her head. There was


    silence as she tried to get her bearing back. She hesitated to give Lea a reply. She went there just


    to have a meal. She never expected that it would turn out like this.


    The stranger opposite her stared at her with glittering eyes. Rachel had seen that kind of look many


    times before but she never knew what they actually meant.


    Earlier during dinner, the man tried to start a conversation with Rachel, but whatever topic he


    brought up, she politely declined them all. And Lea could not understand what was wrong with her


    friend.


    "Why don''t you answer me?" Lea asked urgently. "So, do you like him or not?"


    Rachel hesitated and thought about Lea''s question. "What do you mean by liking him? Isn''t he


    your friend?" she asked with a puzzled look.


    "Yes, he is," Lea replied. "So, what do you think of him? He''s single."


    "Didn''t you say that you like Henry?" Rachel asked her friend in confusion. She didn''t get it.


    Lea was confused. "What does it have to do with me and Henry?" she asked frowning. "I am asking


    for your opinion on him. Whether he''s okay to you or not."


    Rachel never understood what Lea meant until she saw the expression on face. As it turned out,


    Lea introduced her a blind date.


    The realization of the situation brought mixed feelings to Rachel. She was unsure how to react. She


    sat there and stared nkly at the table. The man soon came back to the table with an uneasy


    smile. She looked down awkwardly and avoided looking into the man''s eyes.


    She felt awkward because she did not know how to react to the situation that she found herself in.


    She answered the questions that the man asked her as briefly as she could. Lea even helped


    facilitate some of the questions.


    The thought of getting into a situation that she had no control of made Rachel wonder if she should


    be embarrassed or angry.


    But Rachel''s responses helped prevent making Alex Xiao feel even more ufortable. Lea


    initially told him that Rachel was a cold girl by nature so he expected half of the trouble he was in.


    However, as time wore on, Alex Xiao quickly realized that Rachel wasn''t really interested in


    talking. ''She is indeed a cold beautiful girl,'' he thought as he sighed with a sunken heart.


    After dinner, Alex Xiao did not waste time to give an excuse to leave. His car drove slowly away as


    Lea watched. "He''s still so handsome," she eximed.


    ''Is he really handsome?'' Rachel didn''t think that he was that good-looking, but she was convinced


    that he was akin to a well-educated schr.


    "So, what do you think of him?" Lea asked as she turned to her friend.


    "He''s a little talkative," Rachelmented dismissively.


    ''Of course, he was trying to start a conversation with you,'' Lea thought to herself when she heard


    her friend''sment.


    When they got to the car, Lea thought to build up Alex Xiao to Rachel. "Alex came back to conduct


    a y for a local theater. He is the director for a Russian theater. He gave me a few tickets for that


    y. I think they''re visiting the day after tomorrow."


    "A y?"


    "Yes."


    "Go watch it with Henry, then. No need to bring me along," Rachel said with curled lips.


    "Why can''t I watch it with you? I have two weeks left on my holiday. It might be winter the next time I


    get back. Why can''t we spend more time together these days?"


    "You don''t even blush anymore when you lie."


    "I am not lying," Lea replied tly.


    "Don''t you want to go out on a date with Henry?" Rachel asked with a slight concern.


    "Spending time with Henry is different with spending time with you," Lea replied. Her shoulders


    started to droop as she spoke.


    "Why? What''s the difference?" Rachel asked wondering.


    Lea paused and there was a moment of silence between the two friends. "I can still look for another


    man if I lose him, but I can''t find another best friend," she said in a heartfelt tone of voice.


    Her words made Rachel want to reply that there was no way that she''d lose her. But a sudden


    thought stopped her from saying anything further. After a moment of brief reflection, she understood


    exactly what Lea meant.


    Lea must be thinking that she would eventually lose her if she and Jack started a rtionship.


    She wanted tofort Lea, but she knew that it would all be in vain after what happened.


    Rachel realized that what she did made Lea feel frustrated. It was like she jumped head first into a


    pit. And it made Lea so afraid for her sake.


    Rachel tried to cheer Lea by changing the subject. "Do you really believe I will not be able to find


    someone to love?"


    Lea curled her lips into a pout and replied with so much concern in her voice, "Is there a reason why


    you seem to be avoiding to look for someone to love? I am worried that you might not want to


    find someone to love, Rachel."


    There was a momentary silence between them. Rachel contemted the words that Lea said while


    Lea thought about the right words for what she had to say next. "I thought that you were in a


    rtionship with Lucas, but I was wrong. What''s wrong with Lucas and you? And why did he


    suddenly have a girlfriend?" she asked bewildered.


    "You know about it?" Rachel was surprised. She only found out about it the day before. Lea


    sounded like she knew about it earlier that she did.


    Lea realized that she made a mistake by letting that information slip. She suddenly looked awkward


    and lowered her voice. "I saw him and a woman at the fountain square the other day."


    Lea did not give the details of that meeting by the fountain square, but Rachel could guess that Lea


    saw something that led her to believe that the girl that Lucas was with was his girlfriend.


    Rachel curled her lips and raised one eyebrow as she tried to recall the event. "I saw them


    yesterday. But it''s no biggie, we are just friends, anyway," she quickly exined herself. She


    involuntarily touched her nose, a little embarrassed.


    She felt lucky that Lea didn''t know that she had even nned to be with Lucas before.


    "I really thought before that you had a crush on Lucas. I thought that you two were on the right


    direction," Lea confessed.


    Rachel smiled awkwardly as she cleared her throat. "Well, let''s not talk about it anymore," she


    suggested.


    "Okay. Then, what do you think of Alex?" Lea asked changing the topic.


    "Not bad," Rachel replied casually, shrugging her shoulders a little bit.


    Lea curled her lips a little bit. "That''s it then. Let''s watch his y the day after tomorrow!"


    Rachel was at a loss. She didn''t know how to respond to Lea''s enthusiastic suggestion.


    It was obvious to Rachel that her friend worried too much about her love life. Rachel lowered her


    head and unconsciously took out her phone.


    There was a notification for two missed calls, and both of them were from Jack. She rubbed the


    screen of her phone with her fingers for a short while.


    The name of Jack awakened emotions in her that she was notpletely familiar with.


    Lea''s question suddenly shed in her mind. "Did you fall in love with him?" she had asked.


    She didn''t tell Lea the answer, but deep down, she knew the answer was positive.


    Sometimeter, while alone in her house, Rachel took a deep breath as she stared at her phone.


    She reflexively dialed back Jack''s number and the phone screen indicated that the call was being


    connected.


    She immediately cancelled the call and she instantly felt relieved. But her phone suddenly vibrated


    while she held it in her palm.


    Rachel suddenly felt nervous when her phone disyed Jack''s name as the caller. She hesitated


    for a long time and positioned her finger above the button to cancel the call.


    But the system canceled the call automatically when the wait time was up.


    Rachel was at a loss. She felt so nervous. It was like she was in the middle ofmitting a crime


    and she was about to get caught in the act. She started to panic and didn''t know how to handle the


    situation.


    She decided to just put her phone back in her bag, but it vibrated again as soon as it was in her


    bag. She suspected that it was a call from Jack, so she decided not to answer it.


    But her phone kept vibrating inside her bag. She got up and poured herself a ss of water. She


    slowly drank the water and then proceeded to clean the kitchen with a duster cloth.


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    When she got back to the living room, she saw a garbage that was lying around and bent down to


    grab it to dispose of it properly. But when she bent down, she heard a buzzing sound that came


    from inside her handbag on the sofa.


    ''Was Jack calling on the phone all this time?'' she wondered instantly.


    Rachel put down everything that was in her hands, sat beside her bag and took out her phone.


    The buzzing ended just as she took out her phone from her bag. There were six registered missed


    calls. And none of them were from Jack. She checked the list of missed calls. Some were from the


    hospital and some came from James.


    Rachel returned James'' call immediately.


    When the call got connected, James never asked her why she did not immediately answer her


    phone. "Rachel, the media has started to investigate the situation. Can you take a few days off until


    the matter is settled?" he said urgently.


    She was stunned momentarily, but replied to him immediately as soon as she recovered. "Okay,


    Uncle James. What is the situation now?"


    Jack had told her that he would provide her with the result of the investigation once it wasplete.


    Rachel suddenly remembered how Kevin''s behavior was strangely odd. She wondered if Kevin


    indeed had done something wrong.


    But she knew that she had no evidence so she shouldn''t make assumptions about it.


    "Dr. Kevin is being investigated. The hospital is being reorganized. I am personally taking care of


    most of the things here now. And I think that things are getting worse in the hospital right now."


    Rachel listened to him attentively. Wherever there was light, there would always be darkness. But


    every gray area must be limited within the rule of order.


    If one of the involved parties became too paranoid, things would easily go out of control.


    "I am aware that you have been wronged recently. I have taken actions to correct this and took


    actions on some people in the hospital. I admire that you have a very good temper, but that doesn''t


    mean that people can just bully you whenever they wanted," James exined in a serious tone of


    voice. Rachel remembered that Cara came to apologize to her so she immediately understood what


    James meant with what he said.


    They exchanged a few more words, and James finally ended the call.


    She lost both her parents at a young age. But there were exceptionally nice people in her life that


    made sure she would be taken care of. Because of this, she never truly lost the life of a wealthy


    family even after she lost her parents because of these people.


    She might have lost her family, but Jonathan, James and other people gave her the love and


    support that she needed. They taught her what she needed in ce of her parents.


    Because of this, Rachel was very grateful to them.