The curled up quilt on the bed slightly moved. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Rachel sat up.
Her long, black hair fell down her shoulders. It caressed her snow-white skin, making her look like a
goddess. Her eyes were her best feature. At present, it was shining like the stars.
A slight frown appeared on her face. She was displeased at being awakened.
Shock was written all over his face. Blinking his eyes, he asked, "Were you sleeping?"
Rachel's glance went on him. She snapped, "What else should I be doing at this hour?"
Why couldn't she sleep? Did he want her to stay awake for him?
After pondering over it for a while, Jack asked again, "You have been sleeping all this while?"
How could she sleep! How could anyone sleep when they were mentally disturbed?
Jack was confused and didn't know how to react. Anyway, before he could say something, Rachel
spoke. "Turn off the light please. You may not want to sleep but I am quite sleepy."
His expression changed immediately. He took off his coat and said, "I want to sleep. What makes you
think otherwise?"
When Rachel was about to yawn, Jack raised his hand to take off his clothes. Her reaction changed
and now she seemed alert.
She looked at him straight in the eyes and warned, "Don't tell me you plan on sleeping without taking a
shower!"
From his actions, it looked like he would jump into bed any second. And if he did it, she wouldn't think
twice before kicking him off.
"Don't be hasty with your judgment. I am taking off my clothes to take a shower."
Rachel slightly lifted the corners of her mouth. Feigning a fake smile, she nodded her head and said,
"In that case, alright."
She let out a yawn and fell back in the bed.
Jack, on the other hand, went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Turning on the faucet, he let the warm water flow through his strong body.
His deep black eyes stared into the empty walls. In the state of seclusion, he replayed the scene that
had happened in the bedroom. Something was wrong with Rachel's behavior.
His eyes were full of unpredictable emotions. His earlier emotion of embarrassment and panic had
disappeared.
Rachel lay on her side. Like him, she too was deep in thoughts. She wasn't so heartless to fall asleep.
Her heart was brimming with rage and nobody could fall asleep in such a state.
Jack remained in the washroom for what felt like hours. He wasn't in a hurry to confront her.
Rachel was waiting for an explanation. She wanted him to pour his heart out and dispel all the anxiety
she was going through.
Patiently, she waited for his arrival.
Looking at the clock, she realized half an hour had passed!
Her heart sank deeper and deeper. She turned off the lights and lay down, lost in thoughts.
When she heard a knock on the door, Rachel cast a glance at the direction of the door. Quickly, she
diverted her attention to the other direction.
'Is he expecting me to call him in? If so, he shall remain there forever. No such thing will happen!' she
thought, fury getting the best of her.
Her eyes were dark and she couldn't care less about what he was doing outside.
To her surprise, after a while, Jack opened the door.
Soon, the familiar smell of body wash wafted in the air. In spite of her anger, she found some solace in
it.
She pretended to be asleep and didn't move an inch. Jack too remained motionless.
He didn't touch her and there was barrier between them. Internally, she admonished herself for
expecting an explanation from this careless man.
Her mood had turned completely sour.
It was best for him to be quiet and not bother her.
Now it was certain he didn't have anything to explain! If he did, he would have told her as soon as he
came.
Rachel closed her eyes and tried to suppress both her anger and sorrow. Her nose twitched. A feeling
of grievance began to spread in her heart.
She remained lying on her side and didn't move. And during this hard time, she prayed for sleep to
provide her with respite, but it wouldn't come.
Her motionless body deluded Jack into believing she had finally fallen asleep.
He moved an inch closer to her and let out a sigh. The sigh was barely audible but Rachel didn't miss
it. She heard it clearly.
Rachel She the bed sheet beneath her like it was her sole support.
"Rachel, I am sorry," Jack apologized. His voice came out as whisper.
Just when Rachel thought things couldn't get worse, he had made her angrier. His sorry proved he was
guilty. There was no confession, instead he accepted he had made a mistake!
Those suppressed emotions, at this moment, were all turned into a drop of tear, slowly sliding down
from her bright eyes and seeping into the pillow cover.
Rachel didn't sleep well the whole night. Her thoughts were a mess. Again and again, she wondered
the true meaning behind his sigh and apology.
She thought about it for a whole night, but she still couldn't figure it out.
The night passed quietly. The couple hadn't found a way to resolve the issue.
One was engulfed by anger whereas the other worried about making another wrong move.
They had an invisible barrier between them which their close proximity couldn't remove.
With all this worry, Jack too didn't sleep well. When he woke up the next day, he found that the bed
beside him was already empty.
He lifted the quilt, got up and walked out of the room with slippers on.
The scent of food drifted in the air. Somehow it made Jack feel a lot better. He tiptoed into the kitchen
and caught sight of her cooking breakfast.
If Rachel was in a mood to make breakfast, then chances were she had calmed down.
Even though he wasn't sure, he decided to take risk. With arms wide open, he embraced her from
behind, leaning on her cheek. He took a deep breath, and the fragrance of omelet filled his nostrils.
Until now he hadn't realized how hungry he was.
Rachel was unmoved by his actions. She was neither surprised nor repulsed.
After remaining in this position for a while, Jack said, "Well... like you said, our kitchen should be
renovated. Or we can move in to your place."
Rachel heard him, but made no effort to reply.
She merely stood there and turned the pancake turner in her hand, carefully working on the egg.
'Is she still mad at me?' Jack couldn't help but worry.
He put his arms around her slender waist, and gently kissed her on the back of her ear.
Her motionless body began to shake vigorously. Her white jade like ears turned crimson red.
With her elbow, she jabbed at the man who had dared to behave so shamelessly. "Stop it!" she
screamed.
Jack's eyes darkened and his Adam's apple protruded a little. With a slight smile, he lowered his head
and rubbed her neck like a dog.
"Rachel, I'm sorry. It's all my fault..."
Her hand that was holding the pancake turner paused. She lifted the corner of her mouth slightly, but
didn't reply.
She tried to pry his hands off her body and said, "Just let go of me. Why do you cling to me so early in
the morning? Can't you see I am busy?"
Jack loosened his hand resentfully.
He touched his nose and said, "No... I..."
Her eyes fell on his bruises. "Doesn't it hurt?" she asked.
"What?" It took him a few seconds to realize what she was referring to. He raised his hand and touched
his face. As soon as he touched it, he felt a pain so intense, he almost let out a scream.
His condition was worse than it had been yesterday. Last night, it was just red and swollen. But today,
everything seemed a lot more pronounced. He guessed his face must have looked terrible.
It did hurt.
He hadn't bothered to fix it last night. The whole time he was busy thinking about ways to fix his
relationship with Rachel.
The worst blow landed on his left face. Right now, there was a bruise on his cheekbone.
Since Jack hadn't bothered to look in the mirror, he had no idea how bad it looked. But from Rachel's
expression, he guessed it was pretty awful.
Rachel, on the other hand, realized he was oblivious to his situation. The first thing he had done today
was enter the kitchen. "Brush your teeth first," she advised.
When he went into the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and found that he looked quite
messed up.
When Jack came out, Rachel had already placed the breakfast on the table.
He looked at her and asked, "Why do you get up so early today? You don't need to go to work since it
is the weekend."
Rachel pulled up a chair and sat down. Without bothering to glance at him, she said, "I'm going to the
hospital."
After hearing her, Jack wanted to say he wanted to join her.
But he swallowed back the words. Truth be told, he didn't have the courage to go out in such a
condition.
Rachel seemed to understand what he thought. She glanced at him, half smiling, and mocked, "What
did it feel like to be a hero?"
He smiled awkwardly and poured some milk into his glass.
Rachel continued, "There is medicine in the medical kit. You can rub it on your wound. I am leaving and
won't return any time soon."
Jack bowed his head and took a bite of the sandwich, thought for a while, and said, "I...I didn't mean to
act like a hero last night."
Rachel paid no heed to his words.
Whether she believed it or not, Jack explained, "He punched me first for no reason." Instinctively, he
ran his finger on his face.
Rachel tried not to laugh.
"I had no idea why he beat me up so brutally. I did my best to remain calm, in spite of his brutish
behavior. But he just continued provoking me. So I lost control."
His explanation wasn't completely true. He deliberately avoided some key points.
Last night, there was a glimmer of hope in her heart. But today, it had been extinguished.
She kept her gaze on her place, just so he wouldn't see the disappointment her eyes were bearing.
It seemed that their marriage wouldn't go the way she had planned.
A chain of questions were exposed. Rachel couldn't help but analyze them.
It was beyond possible for her to have complete trust in him. And although Jack said he didn't care
about his ex-girlfriend, his actions contradicted his words.
And to make things worse, Jack was still trying to find an excuse for his behavior. Perhaps he didn't
want to love Celine, but his heart was having a tough time getting rid of her. Celine was still in there,
Rachel realized with some bitterness.
If Celina was in danger, Jack would leave everything behind and go after her. And the more Rachel
witnessed this, the more her heart ached.
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