At noon, Rachel arrived at the hospital's canteen and ordered a set meal for Lucas. She texted him of
her location. Not long after, he hurried over, looking incredibly disheveled and exhausted.
Seeing that he drank up all the iced coffee in his cup in one go, Rachel asked, "What's going on?"
Lucas slowly raised his head, displaying the bags under his eyes. "It's a long story."
She paused, waiting for him to continue.
"My father didn't agree with my relationship with Iris. In order to make sure that I don't have time to be
with her, he transferred me to the emergency department." A bitter smile threaded across his lips. It
was as if his father was asking him to make a choice—his lover or his parents, and he didn't want that.
Rachel moved her lips, but she couldn't say a word. Instead, she placed her own coffee in front of him,
implying that he could drink from it.
It was difficult to fight against one's own family when it came to a relationship.
Without any hesitation, he took a sip. Her coffee was black and bitter, but it wasn't as bitter as the
chuckle that slipped past his lips. "If you have the time, talk to my father," he said pleadingly. "He
always seems to listen to you."
At this point, he couldn't think of any other option.
"Okay."
Although she agreed, Rachel had no idea how to bring it up. How was she going to persuade his father
when she was just an outsider?
However, she didn't expect that James would call her up into his office before she could even go to
him.
She knocked on the door tentatively. "Come in," the man called.
She walked inside to see that James was playing chess. Without raising his head, he motioned to
opposite seat. "Have a seat."
When she did, he finally stopped playing. A smile graced his features. "Do you want to know why I
transferred Lucas to the emergency department?"
"I was curious," she admitted, unsure as to why he would ask her such a question. "But I already
know."
"Really? Did Lucas tell you?" James stood up indifferently. "Do you know who Iris is?"
"I know her."
Rachel didn't ask any more questions. It was better for James to do the talking. Besides, he wouldn't
have called her here if he didn't have anything to say about it.
There was silence for a moment, before he said, "Lucas has always been a rational man, but when it
comes to relationships, he doesn't think straight.
The girl my wife introduced to him before was none other than Iris' cousin. She actually likes Lucas,
but..."
James trailed off with a sigh.
Rachel found that she was loss for words.
The Ying family was under Rick's control, not Iris' father's. Of course, there was no way Rick could bear
the fact that Iris had just grabbed the man his sister liked.
Now that Iris' family was declining in terms of economic status, the only person Rick had yet to deal
with was Lucas, who decided to salt the wound by dating another girl in the Ying family.
James walked over and picked up one of the white chess pieces and placed it on the edge of the
board. "Like this chess game, the Zhou family are the black pieces. We could only anticipate for what's
to come, and if we commit one wrong move, we can lose it all."
After leaving the office, Rachel couldn't help but feel the heaviness in her heart. Back then, she had
believed that money could lead to happiness, but it seemed that money could rule one's basic
emotions.
It would be difficult for Lucas and Iris to continue their relationship.
While she was lost in thought, a figure rushed into her and spread her arms around her shoulders
tightly, startling her.
Just as Rachel was about to push the person away, her feminine voice sounded incredibly familiar.
"It's been a while, Rachel. Don't you miss me?"
Taking a closer look, Rachel sighed in relief. "You could've scared me to death!" she said
exasperatedly. "We haven't seen each other for so many years, and the first thing you do is scare me."
"I was a little bit excited." Celia laughed sheepishly. "I've already graduated, Rachel. I'm already
working in the hospital."
"Which department are you in?"
"Guess." She winked.
Rachel shook her head. "I don't want to guess. Forget it."
Celia grabbed her arm before she could retreat. She jumped two times in protest. "You're no fun," she
protested. "I'm in your department."
She was amused by the woman's words. All her worries drifted to the back of her mind.
"Congratulations!"
"Is that all I'm getting?" Celia pouted.
"What else do you want?"
"How about inviting me to dinner tonight?"
When Rachel agreed, Celia made sure to finish all her work today as quickly as possible. From four
o'clock in the afternoon, she would spend every half an hour going into Rachel's office and leaning
against her door frame. "Are you done with your work?" she'd complain. "I'm starving."
When she pushed the door open for what seemed to be the fifth time, Rachel sighed helplessly.
"You've become more and more like a child after so many years," she noted. "I don't even know how
that's possible."
"I'm entering my rebellious stage, don't you know?"
The two of them were talking and laughing as they walked out of the hospital. However, just as they
arrived at the entrance, a woman rushed over towards them. The next second, Rachel could already
feel her arm burning.
Her exposed skin had turned red.
"Are you okay?" Celia shrieked.
She stared at the woman who had already been restrained by the security guards. "What the hell's
wrong with you?"
Wanting to vent out in anger, she was about to rush over and slap that woman, but Rachel hurriedly
stop her. "Figure out who she is first," she gasped out.
"You got lucky this time, Celia Xu! You should've expected what would happen after you stole someone
else's boyfriend!" As the woman was taken away, she spat at them in disdain.
Rachel furrowed her eyebrows
as she processed the woman's words.
Celia lowered her head and gazed at Rachel's scalded arm. There were already blisters forming
around her skin, and she couldn't help but feel guilty. She was the one who was supposed to be burnt
like this, not her friend.
At that time, Rachel had been looking for something in her bag, so she wasn't that quick to react.
"I'm sorry, Rachel," she whimpered.
Rachel was stunned.
"Help me with the wounds first."
There were tons of people in the emergency department. Even if it was already time to get off work, the
line was incredibly long still.
The two sat in the waiting room. Enduring the pain in her arm, Rachel turned to Celia. "What's going
on?"
"I didn't steal her boyfriend. She misunderstood."
She was afraid that Rachel might not believe her so she raised her four fingers up in the air. "I swear."
"What misunderstanding?"
Celia shrugged. "I had a boyfriend when we were in college. It turns out he was two-timing the both of
us! As soon as I knew about it, I broke up with him immediately!"
Upon remembering this, she was so angry that she gritted her teeth.
"I told that woman what the man had done, but I didn't expect that she would blame me for it. She said
how much of an honest man her boyfriend was, and that I was the one who seduced him."
The more Celia talked about it, the angrier she became. "She better not show up the next time, or I'll
definitely hit her."
She waved her fists up in the air in exasperation.
Rachel sighed. "You're so silly. How could you say that to the woman face to face?"
"Well, I'm not sitting back and let the man live a good life! No way in hell!"
Celia was actually just like Lea when it came to right and wrong. She didn't hold things back. Perhaps,
that was why Rachel felt a sense of familiarity with her.
With a smile on her face, Rachel nodded. "Fine, but I'm not going out with you anymore. I fear that it
might be acid the next time I get drenched instead of boiled water."
"Never again!" Celia agreed. She leaned against Rachel's shoulder. "Why are all men so evil?"
As soon as she finished her words, a familiar voice sounded from behind. "Rachel?"
She turned around to see Marcus standing among the crowd. "Why are you here?"
"An employee accidentally broke her leg during working hours, so I came here to have a look." Marcus
didn't expect to see her here.
His gaze immediately fell onto her arm. "What happened?"
"I got scalded by accident." Rachel didn't really care much about her injuries.
Celia was so enamored by the man in front of her that she forgot what to say. 'The man's so
handsome!' she thought as she stared into his dark warm eyes.
She whispered, "Rachel, is this your friend?"
"Have you forgotten?"
"Forgotten what?" Celia furrowed her eyebrows.
Marcus' lips twitched as he held out his hand. "I'm Marcus Ji. My car hit your brother by accident that
year."
On the viaduct, Jack stepped on the gas and rushed into the hospital at the fastest speed.
After taking care of her wounds, Rachel walked out of the consulting room to see Jack. "Why did you
come here?"
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