Unfortunately, finding an apartment that was both cheap and cozy was extremely difficult for fresh
college graduates like Celia.
It was therefore fortunate for Celia that Rachel agreed to check the Internet for any information
regarding apartments for rent. However, even with Rachel's help, the search for a new apartment was
still difficult.
A week quickly passed by. When she arrived at the hospital early in the morning, Rachel happened to
see Celia who walked towards her with a suitcase in one hand and two bulging bags on the other.
Rachel hurried towards Celia and helped her carry the two bags. "The apartment was due today?"
"Yes. I have no choice but to go straight home after work. So, I brought my stuff here. Can I put them in
your office, Rachel?" The thought of the family that she'd be going to after her shift made Celia feel
depressed.
She understood that having a stepmother was like having a stepfather as well.
Her father didn't really care too much about her before, but he seemed to have gotten worse. He never
sent Celia a single message or called her since graduation.
Celia had called her father the day before and told him that she would move back the next day. He took
the matter lightly and didn't even properly welcome her back. "We placed some things inside your
room. You come back tonight and clean it up yourself," he had told her flatly.
Rachel understood that it must be like walking towards execution for Celia. She wanted to say that her
study room could become a guest room if she made some changes to it.
However, the thought only reached the tip of her tongue, and returned to the bottom of her stomach
before she could say anything.
She remembered that Jack visited her from time to time, so she decided not to invite Celia to live with
her. She thought that Celia was at least going back home.
Rachel placed Celia's luggage in one corner of her office and then turned to her. "If you really don't
want to live at your father's house, you can keep looking for an apartment."
"Okay. I'm going back to work now, Rachel."
Seeing that there was nothing really wrong with her, Rachel didn't think about it too much anymore.
Before she got off work that day, she checked the patients at the wards once more. On the way home,
she went to the supermarket that was along the way.
When she got home, she was greeted by Jack who patiently waited for her. "You knew I was coming,
so you went ahead and bought a lot of things to welcome me back here?" he said with a childish grin.
"It's not for you," Rachel replied. She suppressed the smile on her lips as she opened the door to her
apartment. Jack helped her bring the bags of the things that she bought from the supermarket inside.
"Help me wash these things if you want to eat. I'm going to change my clothes," she announced.
"Sure. No problem."
Jack watched Rachel walk to her room as a warm smile found its way to his lips and eyes.
When Rachel finally came out of her room, he was almost finished with his assigned task. "Do you still
need my help?" he asked playfully.
"I wouldn't mind if you plan to help," Rachel replied instantly. She remembered that Jack's cooking
skills were not worse than hers at all.
"Okay, you can wait for dinner while you relax on the sofa," he suggested with a slight grin. Jack
caressed her cheeks and gently massaged her head before he let her go to the living room.
Rachel watched Jack helplessly as she smoothed her messy hair. She then turned around and went to
the living room to relax on the sofa. She took the remote control and casually scanned the different
channels.
Not long after, an appetizing smell coming from the kitchen reached her nose.
She swallowed hard when she smelled what Jack was cooking. She quickly picked up the cup on the
table and drank some water.
A few minutes later, she became restless and was about to go to the kitchen to check out what Jack
was cooking, but her phone rang. She answered her phone and Celia's voice came from the other end.
"Can I stay at your home for a night, Rachel?"
"Sure, do you need me to pick you up?" Rachel asked in a concerned voice.
"No need. I'm already downstairs," Celia replied.
Rachel opened the door and saw Celia coming out of the elevator doors with her suitcase. Her eyes
were obviously red and bloodshot even from afar. She bit her lips as she walked out of the elevator.
When Celia saw Rachel waiting for her, she rushed towards Rachel, hugged her at once and then burst
into tears right away. "Rachel, I don't want to go back there. There is no place for me in that house
anymore."
Rachel tapped Celia's back to comfort her. "Let's get you inside first," she suggested gently as she took
Celia's suitcase and helped bring it inside her apartment.
Each family has its own problems. Rachel paused and turned to Celia after they got into the apartment.
"The study room has not been cleaned yet. You can sleep with me tonight. Fortunately, it's my rest day
tomorrow. I'll clean the study up and buy you a bed that you can use."
"Thank you, Rachel. I am off tomorrow too. Let's clean it together," Celia replied between sniffles. She
abruptly cried out hard, and kept sobbing that lasted for a while.
Suddenly, Jack came out of the kitchen with a dish in hand. "Time to wash your hands, Rachel," he
shouted out at her with an impish grin.
He noticed that Celia was sobbing on the sofa. She looked so depressed and Rachel kept trying to
comfort her.
He prepared three dishes and one soup and set them all at the table. He then pointed at the study.
"Can I use the computer? There's something that I need to deal with real quick," he said hurriedly. He
left the two friends and hurried to the study.
Rachel watched Jack walk away with eyes filled with gratitude. She then turned back to Celia and
comforted her. "What happened, Celia? Can you tell me?"
Tears welled up in Celia's eyes even before she moved her lips to speak. "It really hurts, Rachel," she
managed to say in between sobs.
After the end of her shift, Celia had left the hospital via taxi and gone to her father's house. When she
got there, she went to the bathroom and took a cloth that she planned to use to clean her old bedroom.
When she was about to exit the bathroom, she heard the front door open.
Then a familiar voice came forth from the direction of the front door.
It was her father's third wife. She used to work with him, but she quit her job and opened a children's
clothing shop instead.
She seemed to be talking to her friend.
"No one uses this room anymore. I'll clean it for you later. You can use it. You don't need to worry about
anything else," she said to her guest.
"Thank you for letting me stay in your house. That jerk is obsessed with gambling all day long. Now, he
even lost our only house!"
Celia frowned as she listened to the conversation between the two. 'What does she mean? Is she
going to let her friend use my room?' she wondered to herself.
She turned off the tap and walked out of the bathroom. "Who said that no one would use this bedroom?
I'm moving back in tonight!" she declared.
"Oh, it's you. Why didn't you tell me that you are back?" Celia's stepmother pretended to be
embarrassed at the turn of events. "I'm really sorry. You didn't tell me in advance. I've already asked my
friend to live in that room."
Celia was so angry that she stomped her feet loudly on the floor. She pointed angrily at the door of her
bedroom. "This is my room! Why do I have to report to you when I want to come back to sleep in it?"
"Then you should never have rented another apartment. Now that you're renting an apartment of your
own, why can't I use it?" Celia's stepmother replied in an indifferent tone. She then pointed at the sofa.
"You can always stay at the sofa. You're young. It doesn't matter if you sleep on the sofa for a few
nights."
"What did you just say? You want me to sleep on the sofa?" Celia asked in an irritated tone. She felt so
angry that she pushed her stepmother back. "Don't assume for a minute that you own this house after
you married my father!"
Unexpectedly, Celia's push was quite strong. Her stepmother was thrown out of balance and she fell
hard to the floor. Her father happened to come back and saw his wife fall to the floor.
The rest of what happened afterwards was more than obvious.
Celia's swollen eyes were full of tears as Rachel listened to her. "Don't worry about it too much. Your
father must have acted impulsively. You can stay here until you find an apartment. I live alone anyway.
At least here, you'd have a companion," she said as she tried to cheer Celia up.
Celia was an adult, but was still a child in nature.
She looked like she was bullied. "But he can't hit me and throw me out of the house. He never took
care of me and never did his duty as a father," she complained.
She was even looking forward to her father's love and care when she went back home.
Rachel had been an orphan since she was very young. Although the Fu family took care of her ever
since she was orphaned, she was used to being independent. She never bothered others with
anything, nor did she expected anyone's care.
Because of this, she found it hard to understand how Celia felt at that moment.
Celia's tears kept falling down like rain, and all that Rachel could do was gently tap her shoulder. "Let's
have dinner first. There's delicious food waiting for us tonight," she suggested to distract her from her
situation.
"Okay," Celia agreed. She did her best to smile and stop herself from sobbing.
"Did Jack cook all of these dishes on his own, Rachel?" she asked and forced herself to sound happy.
"Yes. Go ahead and try some," Rachel offered.
She went to the study and called Jack to dinner. When she turned around and was about to leave, he
grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the study. He jumped to his feet and held her tightly in his
arms.
Her cheeks blushed red right away.
"Jack, what are you doing? Let go of me!" Rachel said but didn't make a move to free herself from
Jack's warm embrace.
"Why did she come to you?" Jack asked. He blew on her hair that fell on her forehead.
"Can you stop being so childish?" Rachel said as she pretended to be irritated. "She's going to live with
me for a few days. Don't visit me while she's here."
Jack's face suddenly sunk when he heard Rachel's words. "Are you afraid?" he asked.
"You know very well the answer to that!" Rachel retorted.
Celia suddenly called out from the dining room. Rachel immediately pushed Jack away, straightened
her clothes and went back to the table.
Jack thought of ignoring what she just said to him, but he was afraid that she would get angry. He
admitted to himself that he was such a coward when it came to Rachel lately. Each time they met,
nothing else seemed to matter anymore.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda