Chapter 353 Starting Over
Chapter 353 Starting Over
There was constant movement outside the car with the crowds ebbing and flowing, but the atmosphere within was so quiet. Looking at the fiery light in Jack's deep, unblinking eyes, Rachel could feel her face burning. She pushed him aside and said, "I don't want to talk to you!"
Jack lost his balance, and his head hit the window.
"Are you okay?" Despite her anger, Rachel couldn't help but be a little worried when she heard the muffled sound.
He seized the opportunity to slide his arms around her waist and pressed her against his body. "Rachel, what do you think am I doing? Don't you know that I'm declaring my ownership?"
Looking at the smile on his face, Rachel pushed him away, primly sat up, and mumbled, "Not in this way. You don't know how weird they looked at me today."
"Why don't you give me a love bite on my neck, too? I'll go to the company tomorrow and walk around from the first floor to the twenty-eighth floor. What do you think?" Jack craned his neck and leaned forward.
An unwilling chuckle escaped from her. "I don't want to do that."
No matter how angry she was, Jack never failed to make her negative feelings dissipate, leaving her in a happy mood.
Tracy received a call from Jack, who said that he would be back for dinner.
She checked the dishes one by one and clapped her hands. "Ah, how can I forget his favorite red wine?"
She told the maid to go to the cellar to get a bottle of red wine. It was not too late to open it up to let it breathe.
Even from where he was sitting on the sofa and reading newspapers, Jonathan could clearly hear his wife's chirping in the dining room. He shook his head helplessly and said, "What's with the excitement? Your son is just coming home for dinner."
"He said he will be bringing his girlfriend to meet us!" Tracy sat down on the sofa and handed a slice of orange to Jonathan. When the man shook his head, she ate the slice herself.
She sighed, "Don't you know how old our son is now? I've been asking him to find a girlfriend for ages, but he's never responded until now. He's finally willing to bring her. No matter what, I must make her our daughter-in-law."
Jonathan was speechless.
The maid took the wine bottle from the cellar and walked across the courtyard. On the way to the villa, she happened to see Jack and Rachel getting out of the car, talking and laughing. She was about to greet them when she noticed how Rachel's arm was naturally placed on Jack's.
Her eyes widened in an instant. She hurried to the living room and gasped before she could put down the wine, "Mrs. Fu...they..."
Tracy asked impatiently, "They what? Take a deep breath and tell me."
"Jack is back, with Rachel," she said. Seeing Tracy's lack of reaction, she quickly added, "It looks like they have made up, and they're on their way, hand in hand."
The air seemed to have solidified.
Tracy and Jonathan looked at each other, and husband and wife both saw a hint of worry in each other's eyes.
Before entering, Jack naturally placed his arm around her waist. As they stepped across the threshold, he called out as if he couldn't wait to say, "Dad, look who I brought with me."
"Oh, it's Rachel." Jonathan quickly hid the strange expression on his face and stood up with a smile. "You two are so bad. Why didn't you tell us that you two have made up?"
"Yes, it's a surprise," Tracy echoed.
Jack put his hand on Rachel's shoulder and said, "We've informed you as soon as we've just made up. What do you want us to do?"
Rachel asked with a smile, "How have you been these days?"
"We're good. It's good to see that you are back together," Jonathan said, wiping at the corner of his eyes. "Your mother was busy all afternoon preparing dinner when she received your call. Let's go to have dinner first."
The dinner was extremely pleasant.
However, on their way back, the frown between Rachel's brows never relaxed.
Jack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She smiled faintly, but the more she thought about the visit, she felt more unsettled. She couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong with them?"
"Not that I know of," Jack replied.
In the past, every time Tracy saw Jack, she either urged him to bring Celine back or tried to arrange blind dates for him. Thus, he never really visited home all that often.
Now, when Rachel asked, he found himself frowning and asked, "What's wrong?"
Without saying another word in reply, Rachel turned her head to look out of the window. She didn't know what to say.
After dinner, she and Jack sat in the living room while waiting for Tracy to bring the plate of fruits out, but the older woman did not come out after a while.. Rachel stood up to go to the kitchen to help Tracy.
However, before she entered, she heard Jonathan speaking.
"It's been so many years, and no one probably remembers it anymore. It's okay." NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
His voice sounded heavy. Rachel found herself transfixed.
Tracy said, "I don't know why, but I just feel uneasy when I saw that they've gotten back together. I feel like something is going to happen."
"What could happen? We were right about what happened that year, but it did not happen exactly as we thought it would. Even if she learns about it in the future, she can't blame us," Jonathan said seriously, cutting Tracy short. Then, he turned around and walked out of the kitchen.
Rachel pretended like she had just walked over and carelessly pulled her hair behind her ear. "I came over to see if I could help out."
"There's no need, thanks," Jonathan replied pleasantly enough, but he did not look so good. After saying that, he walked with the aid of his crane to the study on the second floor and didn't come down again until they had left.
Recalling the conversation she had just heard, Rachel couldn't help but wonder what had happened in the past. She instinctively felt that the conversation was about her. But why did Tracy seem so uneasy?
On the way home, Rachel turned her head to look at Jack several times. She gave starts and opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Although Jack's face remained expressionless, a seed of doubt was planted in his heart.
The sky was getting darker, and the streets were practically empty. Occasionally, they could see one or two young women or men jogging along the tree-lined road.
A black car slowly stopped by the wayside.
Henry hit the call button, but the recipient must have their phone turned off. He got out of the car and walked toward one of the residential areas.
In the afternoon, he received a message from Jack, telling him of his plans to go back to the Fu family house with Rachel to have dinner with his parents. Only Lea was at their home, so Jack asked him to bring her back as soon as possible.
However, when he rang the doorbell at the door for a long time and tried to call her name, but the house seemed completely empty. After knocking, he strained to hear any movement from inside the residence, but to no avail. Lea's phone was turned off, as usual.
He tried to call Rachel to ask about Lea, but both Rachel and Jack seemed to have turned off their phones at the same time.
What was going on?
Rachel rummaged into her bag in search of her phone. It was strange. She had just checked WeChat during dinner. Why couldn't she find it now? Did she drop it somewhere in the Fu family house?
She was about to ask Jack if he had seen it when she saw Henry standing outside of their house. "Are you here to pick up Lea?" she asked.
Henry nodded his head and asked anxiously, "Where are they now?"
"Isn't she at home?" Rachel asked curiously. "How long have you been waiting here?"
He replied, "A while. I called you to ask, but both your and Jack's phones were powered off."
"Well, I was afraid that you would call us, so we turned off out phones." Jack's tone was calm, as if he was talking about the weather. Under Henry's angry glare, he calmly took out two mobile phones from his pocket and turned them on.
He handed the pink phone to Rachel.
Looking at Jack strangely, Rachel asked, "Why is my phone with you?"
Jack smiled faintly and didn't answer. Instead, Henry punched him on the shoulder and said, "Some friend you are, Jack."
He looked at the puzzled look in Rachel's eyes and explained slowly, "He knew that I would pick up Lea and Rita this afternoon."
Rachel was at a loss for words.
Jack patted the wrinkles on his shoulder and said in a clear voice, "Of course. You have to pay me back for the damage your daughter has caused!" After saying that, he tapped Rachel and signaled for her to open the door first.
Rachel glared at him. She didn't expect that this whole time, he would still have this morning's events on his mind.
Henry was confused. "Rita? What did she do?"
A trace of blush crept up on Rachel's cheeks. She quickly opened the door and ushered Henry in. As Jack was about to pass, she blocked the door with her own hands and shook a fist at Jack. She fiercely whispered, "Don't you dare mention what happened this morning again, understood?"
As the two of them stood there whispering, Henry rushed in and pushed every room door open to have a look. However, Lea and Rita were nowhere to be found.
"Do you know where they could have gone? Rachel, what did Lea tell you?" Henry's voice sounded lost and confused.
Rachel also felt strange. Before she left for work today, Lea told her that she had nowhere else to go and that she and Rita would stay there. Rachel shook her head and walked to the balcony clutching her phone, preparing to call Lea.
"Her phone is turned off," Henry reminded her.