The single bed that he had moved to the master bedroom was pushed back into the study at Rachel's
insistence. Because of this, Jack had to sleep in the study for the next few days.
For several nights, he tried to sneak back into Rachel's room, only to find that she had already locked
the door.
However, when he tried to open the door this time around, it was unlocked. When he pushed it open,
he could see Rachel changing into her pajamas. Her loud shriek shocked him out of his reverie, and he
immediately closed the door.
Rachel's face turned bright red. "Don't you know how to knock?" she shouted as her glare darkened.
He didn't expect that he would catch her naked. "I'll pay attention next time," he promised. "Are you
decent now?"
"You can come in."
Glancing at the thick pajamas she was wearing, he resisted the urge to groan. 'Why not wear some thin
nightgown?' However, he didn't dare to express his thought.
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, feeling uncomfortable at the way that he stared at her. "Why
are you looking for me?" she snapped.
Although the two of them had already seen each other naked, it was still embarrassing for her,
especially since she wasn't ready to accept him yet.
His mouth twitched. "I cooked noodles."
"Oh, I've already eaten." Her voice lowered guiltily.
When she saw that Jack's face had darkened immensely, she protested weakly, "I didn't know that
we're supposed eat together."
Before she could finish her words, he slammed the door to her bedroom and stomped into the kitchen.
Without missing a beat, he poured the two bowls of noodles into the trash can and stalked out of the
apartment.
He didn't expect for her to act so coldly towards him. Jack had been there for her from day till night.
For her to assume that they would eat on their own was ridiculous.
Were all his efforts done in vain?
When Michael had been dragged out of the house to drink, he didn't need to question Jack to know
what had happened. He chuckled. "Who knew that you would have such a fragile heart?" he teased.
"What do you mean?" Jack gritted his teeth, looking like a spoiled kid who didn't get his Christmas
present.
At the look of his face, Michael couldn't help himself. He spat the wine he had been drinking and burst
into laughter. However, he immediately froze when the wine he had spat out sprayed all over Jack's
face.
'Shit!'
He didn't dare laugh. Instead, he grabbed a bag of tissues from the counter and offered it to him. "I
couldn't help it. Sorry," Michael murmured, but even then, he still couldn't hide the smile playing on his
lips.
"Could you be anymore disgusting?" Jack clenched his jaw and shot him a glare. He stood up and went
to the bathroom to clean up, but when he came out, he saw that Michael was slamming his fists against
the counter. The man let out a choked laugh as he downed his glass of wine.
"What's so funny?" he asked coldly.
"You're the CEO of MK Group, and you feel gutted just because Rachel didn't come back to have
dinner with you? Isn't that ironic?" Michael tried his best to straighten his back as he patted his friend
on the shoulder. "You've made a big deal out of it. You aren't even together at this stage. Before Rachel
agrees to date you, she's independent, and right now, it's best that you don't overreact."
Jack picked up a glass and gulped it all down, thinking about what his friend had just told him.
These days, he seemed to have become even more anxious as to what she did and where she went. A
part of him was still anxious and fearful that she'd leave him again. He sighed, ordering another glass.
This time, he wasn't willing to let her go that easily.
The next day, Rachel got up right on time. She yawned as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that had
streamed from her windows. When she opened the door, a body fell onto her feet.
She stumbled a few steps back, startled at the sudden appearance. Her lips twitched into a frown.
She bent down and patted Jack's cheek. "Why are you here? Didn't you go back to your room?" she
asked.
"Huh?"
Jack slowly stirred. When he opened his eyes and stared into her curious gaze, memories of last night
rushed back to him like a tidal wave.
It seemed that he had drunk too much with Michael last night. When he came back, he initially wanted
to apologize, but when he found that the door was locked, he squatted at the doorway. Due to the
immense amount of alcohol in his system, he must've fallen asleep.
He staggered up, dusting his pants. "Are you still angry?" he whispered.
"Why would I be angry?"
"Rachel Shen."
She froze. It had been a long time since Jack had called out her name so seriously.
Subconsciously, she looked up.
He was leaning more and more towards her, and his eyes were glazed over with an indescribable
emotion. "What are you doing?" She tried to push him away, but it was to no avail.
Rachel licked her lips tentatively, not knowing what effect it brought on the man in front of her.
Not being able to help himself anymore, he held her cheek and lowered his head again. His lips
brushed against hers. The kiss was nowhere near gentle. Instead, it was urgent and fierce, as if the
person had been craving it for so long.
It took a while for Rachel to realize what was happening.
Emotion rolled out of his gaze as he pressed her hands down and bounded her body into his arms.
Unable to struggle, she found herself suffocated by his kiss.
He kissed her relentlessly, like a general surveying the territory. He pressed against her frail body as he
deepened the kiss.
It was then that Jack had tasted the sweetness he had longed for, and he wasn't going to miss his
chance. Instead, he darted his tongue across her lips, wanting nothing more than to savor the moment.
Feeling the woman stiffen under him, he snapped out of it. He backed away, satisfied by the kiss they
just had.
When he finally let go of her, Rachel was still stunned from what had happened.
Her face changed almost immediately. She was so furious that she pushed him back. "What the hell
are you doing?" she demanded.
Her eyes were rimmed red and her hands were clenched. A growl bubbled up in her throat as she
glared at him. In all honesty, Jack found it quite adorable.
With an intoxicating smile playing on his lips, he held her tightly in his arms, regardless of her struggle.
"Let me go,"
she snapped.
"No!" Jack answered firmly.
Without another thought, Rachel stomped on his foot. Just as he loosened his grip, she took this
opportunity to push him away and head to her room, but he suddenly pulled her back into his arms.
He held her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye. "Can you accept me again?" he said lowly.
Panic flashed in her gaze. Although she tried to hide it, he could clearly see what was going on. The
smile on his lips turned bitter.
"I figured out the reason why you left three years ago. You've read the news about me and Celine."
She froze, not expecting that he would mention the past. She grabbed his hands and pushed them
away. "I don't want to talk about it," she said fiercely. "Let me go. I'm late for work."
Jack stood in front of her, blocking her way. "I used to think that there's no need to talk about the past,
but it seems that you're still holding onto it. It's time that we make things clear."
"Even if we do, that won't change us."
It wasn't until now that Rachel realized how much she had been avoiding her past. She didn't want to
talk about it. Hell, she didn't even want to think about it. In her mind, it was as if the past had never
existed.
She pushed him away and locked herself inside her bedroom.
Gazing at the locked door, he sighed. 'Forget it. I'll let her calm down first.' At first, he wanted to
apologize, but upon seeing how that had gone earlier, both of them needed some space to calm down
first.
Sitting on the floor, a part of Rachel knew that what Jack had said was right. Although she refused to
acknowledge what had happened to them, the news was still like a thorn in her heart, preventing her
from starting over again.
Just as she was thinking about it, Bill suddenly called her. "Rachel, you didn't go to work today?"
"No, I didn't." She had just asked the hospital for a day's leave.
"Let's go out," he offered. "I need to hide from Andy. He has been insisting that I go to this party, but I
really don't want to go. We can head to the park for a while."
After hesitating for a while, Rachel leaned against the door to make sure that Jack wasn't outside
anymore. "See you later," she said.
She might as well go for a walk.
The air in the suburbs was fresh. Rachel just spent the time listening to Bill about the movie he had just
watched last night. She smiled and asked questions from time to time, but usually, she just let him do
the talking.
Soon enough, it was already getting dark.
He glanced at his watch. "Finally, the party has just started. I don't have to go."
"Congratulations!" She grinned.
"What do you want to eat? It's my treat."
After taking two steps forward, he slapped his forehead in exasperation. "I forgot to by some medicine
for Andy. He says that he's been suffering from a stomachache."
"Go ahead."
Bill grabbed her arm. "Let's go together, so I can still treat you to dinner."
Sitting in the car, she watched as he trotted inside the venue. She rolled the windows down and
appreciated the gusts of wind blowing at her face. She closed her eyes and rested.
At that time, Jack and Michael also got out of the car.
Tonight's host was Michael's business partner. They had multiple projects together, so he had to come
to this party. As one of the shareholders of the company, Jack was also invited.
The two of them headed to the entrance when suddenly, Michael took two steps back and pointed at
the car beside him. "Is that Rachel?"
At the familiar voice, she froze. It was then that she understood what having bad luck entailed.
When she opened her eyes, she was met with Jack's frightening glare. "Why are you here?"
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