Without the experience of taking care of children, Jack didn't intend to look after Mendes, so he just
said, "I'll tell you when he wakes up."
"Sorry to trouble you. I'm leaving now," Rachel said.
With a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, he said, "You're welcome."
It was the busiest morning since she had first moved into the house. The house was full of vitality, not
as cold as usual.
When she reached the door, Rachel looked back at the house.
More than ten years ago, she had a lively and warm family. It was the sort of house in which her mom
would wake her up every morning, cozy and loving.
She had a father who had always spoiled her. At that time, she had not been as cold and aloof as she
was now.
Rachel couldn't clearly recall the details of her past.
Time went by quickly. In the blink of an eye, the anniversary of her parents' death would be very soon.
No one knew that the grief of losing both her parents had lingered in her heart for so many years and
had never faded.
Now, the warmth and happiness she had experienced in her family were a distant memory.
Since Jonathan left Rachel's place, Jack also moved out and didn't stay there anymore.
Rachel breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. With Jack elsewhere, she didn't have to stay under the
same roof with him. This helped her avoid some discomfort and embarrassment.
She described her situation to Lea as being like a pit she couldn't climb up from.
Now she was going deeper into the pit. She didn't tell Lea about her feelings, because she thought Lea
would just call her an idiot again.
Rachel made up her mind to keep her distance from Jack from now on.
The weekend came soon. The party was in the evening. Rachel dressed herself up, and she called
Lucas after she was ready.
Lucas told her he was on the way. Ten minutes later, Rachel received his call.
His car was already downstairs. When Rachel came downstairs, the backseat window of the car was
rolled down. There was a beautiful woman sitting inside, who lifted her hand in greeting.
Rachel was slightly taken aback, but she smiled. She was about to open the door of the back seat.
However, the women stopped her and said, "Sit in the front."
Rachel walked to the front, opened the door and sat down in the car. After she fastened the seat belt,
she turned around and asked with a smile, "Why are you here?"
Lea said, "I just come along for the ride."
'Come along for the ride?'
Rachel looked at Lucas, thinking that this trip wouldn't be a peaceful one.
Lucas realized what she meant. He shook his head helplessly and said with a regretful expression, "I
let it slip."
"So, you wouldn't have let me know if you hadn't let it slip? Aren't we friends?" Lea asked.
"We're not really going there for fun!" Lucas answered.
"I don't believe you!"
In order to prevent the two of them from bickering, Rachel quickly changed the topic. She asked Lucas,
"Who did your mother introduce you to?"
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Lucas' face. He cleared his throat and said with a little
embarrassment, "She is the Hawk Pharmaceutical Company president's sister."
'Hawk Pharmaceutical Company?' In recent years, the medicine industry had developed rapidly. It was
not surprising that Lucas' mother would become interested in that family.
Rachel still remembered that a few years ago, Hawk Pharmaceutical Company also suffered some
major financial losses and it almost went bankrupt.
Later, Rick Ying, the company president's eldest son, came home from abroad and took over the
company. It took a few years, but eventually the company recovered, and then it became stronger than
ever before.
As Rachel worked in a hospital, it was natural that she knew something about this family.
However, since Lea was an airline stewardess and seldom stayed in Ninwell City, she didn't know
about the recent ups and downs of business in the city.
She seemed to have heard the name, but couldn't remember clearly. She tapped her fingers on the
back of Rachel's seat and asked, "Tell me more about Hawk Pharmaceutical Company."
So Rachel told Lea what she knew as simply as she could. After listening carefully, Lea was still
confused about their business and blurted out, "I don't know how big their business is. Is it a company
bigger than MK Group?"
She spoke so fast that she forgot that MK Group was under Jack's control.
It was not until she finished her words that she remembered whose she was talking about. Fortunately,
Rachel gave no sign of being upset by her comment, and continued to explain, "MK Group is different,
it's involved in various sectors."
Lea nodded her head. Lucas added, "It's undeniable that in the past few years, MK Group has also
developed very well under Jack's management. Like Jack, there are a few other young men running
big companies, such as Cheng Group's president."
When she heard the name of Cheng Group, Rachel's heart gave a slight tremble. She couldn't help
thinking of Wendy, who had committed suicide by jumping off a building.
Not very long before that day, she had attended Wendy's engagement party. Soon after that, Wendy
stopped breathing.
Being a professional doctor, Rachel was used to facing death. But whenever she thought about Wendy,
she felt awful.
Rachel remembered Wendy as a woman who was so gentle and beautiful. She closed her eyes and
finally realized something.
Wendy always had a gentle smile on her face, which was very similar in expression to her mother's.
When Lucas saw that Rachel had suddenly fallen silent, he cast a glance at her and guessed that she
might be upset by the mentioning of Jack.
So he said tentatively, "Rachel?"
"Yes, what?" she asked and looked at him. "What's up?"
"You suddenly stopped talking."
"Well... I was thinking about something."
Lea decided to stay quiet.
Lucas' mother had persuaded him to meet the girl from the Ying family. It was a little embarrassing for
young people to have blind dates in this day and age.
Unable to talk his mother out of it, Lucas reluctantly agreed to attend the party hosted by the Ying
family.
But he wasn't very serious about this meeting.
No matter whether he wanted to meet the girl or not, he didn't want to make his mother unhappy. He
just needed to attend the party, and whether they liked each other was their own business.
Her mother was worried about her son's personal life, because Lucas always kept alone.
Over the years, he had no female friends except Rachel and Lea. He didn't even have a girlfriend.
When Rachel married Jack, they held a ceremony abroad in a low-key way, and few people in the
country knew about it.
The news got around only after Tracy, Jack's mother, spilled it out.
Therefore, there was no hope for Rachel and Lucas. Besides, after observing secretly for a while,
Lucas' mother was pretty sure that her son didn't love Rachel.
As for Lea, she was too extroverted to be Lucas' girlfriend. His mother knew her son would never love
a girl like Lea.
Lucas and his mother had the same visual taste, so she had seriously considered Rachel as a possible
daughter-in-law. But Jonathan, that cunning old fox, stole an ideal daughter-in-law away from her.
She had put a lot of time and thought into arranging this blind date for her son.
Sometimes she even worried whether her son was gay. If Lucas had known what his mother was
thinking,
he would have been irritated at her.
Rick Ying was the host of the party. Most of the participants were businessmen, and the rest were
friends of his younger sister, Claris Ying.
Another purpose of the event was to celebrate Claris Ying's birthday, which hadn't been announced to
the public.
Lucas came in with two pretty women. They caught everyone's attention almost instantly when they
entered the hall.
Rick Ying, who had just received the news of their arrival, hurried downstairs. He was in his early
thirties. He had a handsome face and he wore a silver grey suit.
He had a smile on his face, but he had a relaxed and confident bearing. He didn't put on a show of
being overly eager to welcome his guests.
Rick Ying extended his hand, and Lucas politely shook it. He smiled and said, "Welcome, Dr. Zhou."
He turned his eyes to the two beautiful women next to him. His smile was not lessened, but a trace of
doubt appeared in his expression.
With astonishment in his eyes, Rick Ying asked, "May I know names of these two beauties?"
"Rachel Shen."
"Lea Ye."
With a gleam in his eyes, Rick Ying led the three inside the house. To make friendly banter, he said,
"Dr. Zhou, you are so lucky to have two beautiful women at your side."
His tone of ridicule was not irritating. Lucas curled his lips and replied half-jokingly, "It's normal to bring
just one beauty. Having two of them is better for impressing the crowd."
His words made the other three laugh all together. Rachel thought to herself, 'Rick is a very sociable
man.'
Then Rick Ying led them around the banquet hall and made brief introductions to the other guests.
The banquet was hosted in the villa of the Ying family. There was a sad story attached to this villa.
Rick Ying's father had a serious illness when he was in his middle age. Because of that illness, Rick
Ying and Claris Ying travelled overseas with him in their childhood, leaving the company in charge of
their uncle.
A few years after his father died, the company slowly crumbled as a result of the uncle's
mismanagement.
The company suffered a severe loss. So Rick Ying came back and brought the company back under
control. He bought sixty percent of the company's shares, and the board of directors made him the new
president of the Hawk Pharmaceutical Company.
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