"Is he here too?" asked Lucas. He seemed surprised from the look on his face.
Neither he nor Rachel noticed that Claris was gnashing her teeth.
'How dare they flirt with each other in front of me! Do they have no respect for me at all? What are they
thinking acting so lovey-dovey in front of me?
This bitch!' Claris was so angry that she let go of Lucas' hand.
She stay behind them and listened to every word they said with contempt.
The two of them were so indulged in their conversation that they didn't notice Claris' expression.
Ever since they got here, Lucas barely paid attention to her. He was so focused on Rachel that he
might've forgotten that Claris was there too.
What irritated Claris all the more was the way Lucas talked to Rachel. His voice sounded so gentle. It
was completely different from the way he used to treat her, cold and distant.
The mixed feelings of envy and grief welled up in Claris' heart. She couldn't believe how angry and
helpless she felt right now.
Lucas' eyes were covered with a layer of shadow. He pressed his perfectly-shaped lips together and
said in a soft voice, "You wait here, and I'll go over there and take a look."
When she heard what Lucas said, Claris said, "I'll go with you!"
Lucas frowned and looked at her. "There's nothing for you to do there. You can wait here."
Claris bit her lower lip and her eyes turned red. She felt so betrayed and wronged that she was driven
to tears.
Lucas saw that she was crying, and couldn't stand seeing her like this. He sighed and said in a soft
voice, "You should wait here. I just need to do something, alright?"
Claris pursed her lips and reluctantly agreed.
Lucas was about to pat Claris' head when he realized something. He looked at Rachel, who was
staring at him.
His face turned slightly red. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his lips to clear his throat. "I'll go
have a look. Don't worry, I won't be long."
Obviously, he said these words to Rachel. Before she could say anything, Claris interfered. "Okay, don't
take long," she said.
Lucas was left speechless.
Rachel didn't know what to say either. Both of them decided to just let it go.
After he left, Claris turned around to look at Rachel. The more she looked at her, the more upset she
felt.
Claris would felt much better if Rachel looked ugly. But she was a pretty woman.
'Wait, why does it seem like I've seen this woman before?' she thought.
While Claris was sizing Rachel up, the latter reached out her hand and said politely, "Hi, I'm Rachel
Shen."
Claris smiled back and shook her hands. "Nice to meet you. I'm Claris Ying," she said in the sweetest
and most innocent voice she could. She even tilted her head to the side to look more genuine.
When they shook hands, Rachel remembered where she heard her name from. She was Rick's sister,
and Lucas and she had a blind date at the Ying family's banquet.
So many things happened on that banquet that her memory of it was a little hazy.
Claris sat beside her and nudged on her shoulder. "Aren't you nervous?"
Rachel looked at her, a little confused. "Nervous? About what?"
"Aren't doctors most afraid of this kind of medical trouble?"
"I haven't done anything wrong, I don't have to panic," Rachel said with a faint smile.
Claris didn't have anything snarky to reply to Rachel this time. "I see. Well, you're not wrong," was all
that she could say. To avoid being too obvious, Claris tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at
Rachel. She tried to look as friendly as possible. "Don't worry, Lucas can solve this, he always does."
Claris portrayed that she and Lucas were close to make Rachel jealous, but she didn't see any different
reaction from Rachel.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two of them. Rachel had nothing interesting to
tell her, and Claris was too occupied by the thought of embarrassing Rachel.
Rachel looked aloof when she didn't say anything. Claris couldn't think of anything snarky to say
anymore. She was also intimidated when she saw Rachel's poker face.
The tension rose with every passing second.
The silence continued for a few more minutes until Claris summoned the courage to talk. "Miss Shen..."
"Just call me Rachel," she interfered.
"I-I see," Claris stuttered. She forgot what she was about to say midway into her sentence.
She fidgeted with her purse and it reflected her discomfort.
When she was trying to recall what she was about to say, Rachel broke the silence and said, "What's
up? You don't have to worry, you can tell me anything."
Claris was surprised at how reassuring she was. She never would've thought the woman she despised
could be so kind.
She noticed how beautiful the side of her face was and it caused an image to flash in her mind. She
remembered where she had seen her before. "Rachel, aren't you Mrs. Fu?" Claris asked with a hint of
hesitation in her voice.
Rachel smiled and nodded at her. She wasn't really trying to hide it.
Her admission reminded Claris of a lot of things. She had been back from abroad for some time.
She found out several things after that banquet,
including gossip about his brother's business partner, Jack. He was an important guest, which made
him the talk of the party.
The siblings had also investigated his background, and that was why they had also invited Celine to the
banquet.
Thinking of that, Claris suddenly felt that Rachel was a big threat to her. She was married, but her
relationship with her husband was not good. Moreover, she was so close to Lucas. This could really
ruin her chances of having Lucas for herself.
Even if she hadn't met Rachel, she had heard about her more than once from Lucas. She knew that
they had been friends since childhood and worked in the same hospital. She knew Lucas had been a
great friend of Rachel, and that they had been taking care of a child together.
So she couldn't believe they were just friends. There was no way that it was nothing more than
friendship.
A few moments ago, Claris' suspicions were confirmed when she saw how intimate the two of them
were. The look in their eyes were enough to make anyone think of them as a couple.
Claris felt so overwhelmed by her emotions that it became harder to breathe.
Rachel was still as calm as she was minutes ago. She seemed like she was off in her own world,
unaware of her own surroundings.
Claris glanced at her and saw that she was looking at somewhere far off. 'What is she thinking? Is she
thinking about Lucas?'
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Claris couldn't take it anymore and blurted out the
question she had been dreading for the past few minutes, "Rachel, what's going on between you and
Lucas?"
Claris covered her mouth, instantly regretting what she had said. Rachel was startle by the words that
came out of her mouth.
The corner of Claris' mouth twitched and she stuttered to explain. "What I meant to say was...what do
you think of Lucas?"
Rachel didn't know if Claris' question got any easier to answer. She was too embarrassed to answer,
and thought about what she should say.
She didn't want Claris to assume the wrong thing, and she also didn't want to sound like there really
was something going on between them.
She had always had a good impression of Lucas. In all honesty, he checked all the boxes in her criteria
of choosing her boyfriend. She even thought that if she managed to solve her meaningless marriage,
she and Lucas could finally be together.
However this childlike dream had disappeared from her mind some time ago. She always thought that
she would feel sad when she heard from Mendes that Lucas had a girlfriend.
But the truth was, she was more curious and surprised, but she wasn't sad.
That was when she knew that she wasn't in love with him.
What did she feel about him if not love?
Rachel had never thought about it before, and she battled with her own thoughts.
Claris felt anxious whether she had been too impetuous or not. Her question was too direct and she
didn't even hesitate. She wondered whether Rachel would think that it was a strange question to ask.
So she kept thinking of what she could say to alleviate the awkwardness that they were both feeling
right now.
However, Rachel had been unresponsive for a while now.
When Claris looked at Rachel, she finally spoke.
"Why do you want to know how I feel about Lucas? Anyways, we're friends."
Her voice was getting softer and softer, almost inaudible.
Rachel's answer made Claris more convinced that Rachel had feelings for Lucas.
Claris felt her pulse rising; she stared at Rachel so intensely that it startled the latter. "Rachel, you can't
do that!" Claris threatened.
"Do what? What do you mean?"
'You bitch!' Claris shouted in her head. She was so angry that she raised her voice. "You're married!
You have a husband!" Rachel was unhappy at her words.
"Yes, I'm married. But does this have anything to do..." Before Rachel could finish, Claris interrupted
her.
"So don't get too close to Lucas! You should watch how you act around him!" Claris was
hyperventilating and her hands were shaking.
Rachel's mouth twitched. Over the years she had known Lucas, no one had ever said anything like this
to her.
She stared at Claris, trying to recall what happened earlier. She remembered how Claris tried to be
close to Lucas; and now that she thought about it, she remembered she heard her voice before. It was
the same voice she heard on the phone when she called Lucas.
Then she realized that this girl might be Lucas' girlfriend.
Rachel didn't know what made Claris misunderstand her relationship with Lucas. "Lucas and I have
grown up together. We..."
However, Claris interrupted her again. "I said don't get close to him! You're already married! I know
Lucas is a good person, but stop taking advantage of his kindness and mind your manners!"
Rachel wanted to interrupt her, but Claris kept bombarding her with so many things.
"Your husband is the president of MK Group, isn't he? "I know about the Fu family's prestige in Ninwell
city. Maybe you should think about how this would affect your family's reputation. Perhaps you want
find another man just because your relationship with your husband is not good. Please think this
through! You're going to get yourself in so much trouble." Rachel was ready to give her a piece of her
mind,
when they heard someone's voice come from the door. "Miss Ying, perhaps you should think twice
about poking your nose into my business? Does my family have anything to do with you?" It was Jack.
He was slowly approaching them, and Claris felt the heavy pressure that he carried with him.
She could no longer say a word. Why was he here?
Jack sat beside Rachel and put his arm around her shoulder. "We don't have a good relationship?
Where did you hear that? Perhaps you've forgotten that slander is against the law."
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