Eric scratched his head and sighed. "Rachel, can't you even say something nice to make me feel
better?'
Rachel smiled and answered, "No."
Eric's mouth twitched as he thought inwardly, 'How cruel!'
After seeing Eric off, Rachel stood in front of the elevator for a while.
She thought for a moment before she turned around and went back.
While walking back to the apartment, she suddenly stopped and slapped her forehead. She had totally
forgotten Lucas! It had been a good long while since the last time she saw him.
When Rachel got home, she immediately looked for the letter that James sent her.
She had told James before that she would think about his offer to go abroad for further education. But
that was already a month ago.
Since James had not reminded her about it, it also slipped her mind.
Rachel was still looking for the letter when Jack entered the room. He couldn't help asking, "What are
you looking for?"
She was stunned for a moment, but as soon as she came back to her senses, she turned around and
asked him, "Have you seen a folder with the hospital's name on it?"
Jack thought for a while then answered, "I think it's in the study."
Rachel stood up immediately. "Where is it? I need it."
"I'll get it for you," Jack offered. He then turned around and walked out of the room. Rachel followed
him quickly.
It didn't take long for Jack to find the folder. As soon as he handed it to Rachel, she checked everything
inside. After making sure that nothing was missing, she felt a little relieved.
Rachel put the folder away. She couldn't go abroad to study this time, so she thought of sending it back
to James in the hospital.
She couldn't be away for one year as of this moment.
Jack noticed that Rachel looked a little cautious, so he asked, "What is so important about that folder?"
Rachel replied vaguely, "It's an important document from the hospital that I've almost forgotten. Good
thing they called me earlier to remind me about it."
Hearing her explanation, Jack said casually, "Then send it back to them immediately."
"Yes, I will," she answered.
The next day, Rachel called James who was now at the hospital.
When James heard that Rachel would send the application form back to him, he took a deep breath
and asked confusedly,
"Why not? Is it because of Jack?"
Rachel felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, she was only talking with James on the phone. At least, he
couldn't see her facial expression.
"No, it's not because of him," she denied.
James had already known that Rachel and Jack were together now.
Jonathan told him about it when they had dinner one time.
During their dinner, Jonathan told him the whole story excitedly. It was very evident how delighted he
was.
It had been Jonathan's dream that Jack and Rachel would end up together.
That was the reason why he arranged their marriage. Actually, James hated Jack and Jonathan
because of it.
For him, it wasn't right to sacrifice Rachel's youth for that ridiculous marriage.
There was no love between Jack and Rachel at that time, so James thought that they would separate
sooner or later.
However, he didn't expect that they would fall in love with each other after getting married for five
years. Apparently, Jack became a good husband to Rachel.
At his age, James was not into romance anymore.
His only concern was Rachel. He didn't care what was going on between her and Jack, but he just felt
that she had rejected his invitation too soon.
He thought that women were really fickle, especially when it came to love. Once they fell in love with
someone, they would lose their minds easily.
Although James didn't know what was in Rachel's mind, he felt that he needed to convince her, so he
said plainly, "Rachel, if you are refusing my offer because of someone else, you better think it over first.
You are not a child anymore, so I hope you don't mind me telling you this. I'm just being realistic."
Rachel replied, "Of course not."
Then James added, "You have your own life. If you give up your dream for something unreal, I think it's
not worth it."
What he wanted to say was, Rachel was giving up the opportunity to go abroad for further education
just because of love.
Everyone knew how obsessed she was in being a doctor.
James was afraid that she would regret her decision in the future.
Rachel listened to him quietly. His words were simple but it was some sort of a warning: don't give up
yourself for love.
She knew that he didn't want her to regret in the future and blame Jack for it in the end.
It seemed that almost everyone around her didn't agree with her relationship with Jack.
Maybe because they had all witnessed how Jack had treated her and their marriage over the years that
they didn't believe he was capable of changing.
For them, Rachel was the only woman who could endure being with him.
It didn't look wise, but she seemed to have been blinded by love.
But did she really love him to such extent? Rachel didn't think so.
Being with Jack made her feel secure, but it didn't necessarily mean that she couldn't live without him.
Perhaps they just misunderstood her, so Rachel firmly said to James, "It's not what you think. I made
this decision, not because of someone else. I'm just doing this for myself."
Then she added sincerely, "I'm only twenty-five years old, but I have worked so hard in the past years
because I want to be as good as the others. After rushing things for so long, I've finally done a good job
in my profession. I've saved many people's lives.
But I also get tired. For now, I just want to have some rest.
Maybe I'll regret this decision someday.
But I'm still young. I still have a lot of opportunities. I just realize that it's not worth exchanging my youth
over success."
The moment she finished talking, a burst of laughter was heard from the other end of the line. Then
James said, "Okay, okay, I must agree with you. You indeed don't have to work so hard. As an
excellent doctor, I also agree that you deserve some rest."
Rachel said jokingly, "I think my experiences in life already made me a few decades ahead than other
people of my age."
They continued chatting for a while. Before hanging up the phone, James sighed and said, "You seem
to have changed a lot now."
Rachel smiled sheepishly and asked, "Really?"
James replied, "Yes. You're not this talkative to me before.
I think you have been influenced by the people in the hospital. Now I'm wondering if it's a good idea
that I let you work there."
Rachel was surprised. She didn't notice any changes in herself.
Until bedtime, James' words still lingered in her mind. Then she thought of Jack. Since she had spent
most of her time with him, he would definitely notice if she had really changed.
She wanted to ask him, but unfortunately, he went out again that evening.
Before leaving, Jack told her not to wait for him because he would come back home very late.
Rachel didn't ask anymore. She just nodded to him and saw him walk out of the house.
But when she was about to close the door, Jack quickly blocked his hand to stop her.
Rachel was shocked by his sudden movement, but when she came back to her senses, she scolded
him,
"Don't you want your hand anymore?"
"Don't be angry," Jack said as he awkwardly stuck his head through the small opening of the door. "I
just want to ask if you want to go with me," he added.
Rachel looked at her watch. It was almost eleven o'clock, so she shook her head and said decisively,
"You just go by yourself."
But Jack still tried to persuade her, "Come on. It's so boring to drink there alone."
"Drink?" Rachel's eyebrows arched slightly.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Jack quickly corrected his words. "I mean, it will be so boring to sit
there alone."
But Rachel didn't change her mind. She glanced at him and said indifferently, "You can hire a bar girl to
sit with you."
Jack shook his head profusely and said, "I want my wife to accompany me."
Rachel was touched a little.
There was a sudden warmth in her heart.
Jack continued to peep through the small opening of the door. He looked like a kindergarten child who
didn't want to go to school alone and begging for his mother to go with him.
Rachel shook her head immediately. She didn't know why she had such an imagination.
She softened her voice and said to Jack, "You go now. Anyway, it's a business meeting right?"
Jack felt a little disappointed because his attempt to lure his wife failed. He slowly drew his hand and
head back and said, "Then I'll go now."
"Okay," Rachel replied.
"Don't wait for me. I'll be home very late." It was already almost eleven o'clock, so obviously he couldn't
come home early.
"I know." Rachel grew a little impatient.
After pondering for a while, Jack said between clenched teeth, "How can you trust me to go out alone
so late?"
Rachel looked at him strangely and asked, "Why not?" She thought that Jack wasn't a kid anymore. He
was old enough to take care of himself. Why did she have to worry about him?
But Jack looked disappointed. "Rachel, you..."
He stopped talking midway.
They had been talking at the door for more than ten minutes, so Rachel didn't know what else he
wanted to say.
"What?" she asked confusedly.
"Nothing. Just have a good sleep. I will try to come home immediately." Jack then waved his hand and
turned around.
Rachel was about to tell him not to drink too much, but he was gone too quickly.
She was about to call him, but she changed her mind.
Jack was in a hurry to leave, so she wouldn't bother him anymore.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda