Rachel cleared her throat and continued with her unfinished presentation as if nothing had happened.
But because of this incident, the others couldn't help doubting her professional ability.
As a result, when all of them gathered to plan a dinner after the meeting, no one approached her. They
had decided to go to a small restaurant nearby, but nobody asked her to join.
Fortunately, she wasn't also interested in joining them, so she didn't care about their attitude towards
her. She quietly packed up her things and was about to leave. She planned to go back to the hotel and
order a take-out.
All of a sudden, a petite woman came to her and said in a sweet voice, "Dr. Shen, we are going to have
dinner later. Would you like to come with us?"
"No, thanks. I have something else to do later. Have a good time," she refused with a smile. She
noticed that they stopped talking to each other
and looked at her in disdain.
Rachel smiled at the woman again and walked out of the meeting room. But she was still able to hear
them questioning the woman.
"Why do you have to invite her?"
"Yes. She looks so arrogant and not easy to get along with. Imagine, she stopped halfway of her
presentation to look at her phone, but she didn't even apologize. If she joins us later, she'll only ruin the
atmosphere."
Before she entered the elevator, she heard the woman defended her, "You are all overreacting."
'She's right. Was it really a big deal?' Rachel thought. She had actually wanted to ask them but
eventually decided to let it pass. After all, they were all just strangers to her, and she would only spend
a week with them. She didn't need to waste her energy in considering their feelings. She'd better focus
herself on thinking about how to coax Jack.
"Miss, are you awake now? How do you feel?"
A clear female voice broke the silence. Rachel slowly opened her eyes and saw a strange face.
A woman wearing a nurse uniform was frowning slightly and staring at her unblinkingly. When she did
not respond, she asked again, "Miss, do you feel uncomfortable?"
"No, I don't," she answered.
When Rachel spoke, her throat felt uncomfortable, and her voice sounded hoarse. She looked around
and realized that she was in the hospital at the moment.
She got confused. Why was she lying in a hospital bed now? She was supposed to be in her hotel
room.
All of a sudden, she felt a faint pain at the back of her neck.
The nurse noticed the confusion on her face, so she shook her head and said, "I don't know what
happened. You were sent by a police car here, but you were alone. The police will come back later to
talk to you."
Rachel thanked the nurse and sat up slowly. She looked around but she couldn't see her bag. She
thought that the nurse might have kept it, so she asked, Excuse me, have you seen my bag?"
"No. You had nothing with you when the police sent you here."
Not long after the nurse left, a young policewoman came in with a pile of documents in her hands. She
put them on the bed and said, "Check these things. Are they all yours?"
Rachel looked through all the materials she had taken back from the meeting earlier. She got more
confused, so she raised her head and asked, "What happened?"
"You were robbed and almost got raped," the policewoman replied.
Robbed?
Raped?
Rachel's face immediately turned pale, and she shivered while trying to recall what had happened.
Unfortunately, she could only remember that she went back to the hotel after coming out of the meeting
room. After that, her memory was already blank.
The policewoman moved a chair to her bedside, sat down, and flipped through a notebook in her hand.
She then said slowly, "We received a report from someone, and then we rushed there. According to
him, he just got off work and was on his way home when he saw a man squatting furtively beside the
road, and you were lying on the ground, unconscious."
The policewoman stopped and took a sip from her thermos flask to moistened her throat first before
she continued, "He shouted from the other side of the road, so the man got scared and ran away. Since
the criminal was tall and strong, he didn't waste his time chasing him. Instead, he gave us a call."
Rachel broke into a cold sweat after hearing the policewoman's story.
She couldn't imagine what would have happened to her if that kind-hearted man didn't show up.
To suppress the fear in her heart, she took a deep breath. After calming down a little, she said, "I really
don't remember anything."
"Didn't you notice that someone was following you at that time?" the policewoman asked. "Because
when we rushed there, these documents were the only ones left. No bag, cellphone, wallet, or
anything, so we suspect that you were robbed."
Rachel fell silent, trying to recall everything carefully.
"I came out of the hospital and was about to go back to the hotel. The road was deserted, so I walked
very fast. I didn't notice anything."
No matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn't recall what happened after that anymore. She
shook her head helplessly and said, "I really can't remember anything."
"It's okay."
The policewoman smiled and put her notebook away. "Contact your family members and ask them to
come here. Since the criminal has escaped and hasn't been found, we need their help to finish some
procedures."
"Okay," Rachel answered. The moment she heard the word family, she only thought of Jack.
But with their current situation now, would he come here for her?
She wasn't sure about it, so she smiled awkwardly and said to the policewoman, "May I borrow your
phone? I will call my cousin."
Eric had just arrived at a newly opened bar with his friends. As soon as he sat down, his phone rang,
so he stood up again to answer it outside.
One of his friends teased, "Is that your girlfriend? Don't be a killjoy. If she asks you to go back, don't
agree with her."
"Are you kidding me? I'm single now."
Eric didn't want to lose face, so he canceled the call.
However, a few minutes later, he received another call from the same number. He felt strange this time,
so he took his phone and walked out of the bar to answer it. "Who's this? Why are you calling me at
this time of the night?"
"Eric!"
If it weren't for her low spirit, Rachel would have already cursed him. 'This brat!' she thought.
Eric's voice immediately softened as soon as he heard Rachel's voice. He asked, "Rachel, did you
change your phone number? I thought my friends were just pranking with me."
He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.
Rachel licked her dry lips before saying slowly, "I'm in a hospital in Brookmount City now. Do you have
time to come here tomorrow?"
"What? Why? What happened?" Eric asked immediately.
"I'll tell you when you get here. It's hard to explain it on the phone." She then added, "Don't let Jack
know about this."
"Why don't you want to tell him? Is something wrong with you two?"
he asked with a frown. However, Rachel had already hung up.
Since Eric had been outside for a long time, one of his friends came out to look for him. With a pungent
smell of alcohol in his mouth, he asked, "Are you trying to avoid drinking with us? Come back inside
now. You've already missed a few rounds."
He then stretched his hand and dragged Eric inside.
Unexpectedly, Eric shook his hand off with a frown. He stood silently for a moment, then suddenly
turned around and ran towards the parking lot. He said without looking back, "I have to go now.
Something urgent came up. I'll treat you guys next time."
Jack turned off his computer after reading the last document. He was about to stand up when his office
door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
Out of breath, Eric rushed to his desk and asked, "What happened between you and Rachel?"
"Nothing," he answered with a frown. He then looked up to him and asked, "How did you know?"
"It doesn't matter. Just tell me, did you and Rachel fight?" Fury was written all over Eric's face. He
pointed at his nose and added, "Don't forget what you've promised me before."
Jack shook off his hand and twitched his mouth. "We are fine. How about you? Why did you rush here
at this hour?"
He raised his hand and looked at his watch. "It's almost ten o'clock now. If I'm not mistaken, you should
be in the bar with your friends right now."
Being exposed, Eric blushed and his anger suddenly dissipated. He sat down on the chair beside him
and said, "Rachel called me just now. She asked me to go to Brookmount City tomorrow, but she didn't
want me to tell you."
"Why does she want you to go there?"
"Something happened to her, and she is in the hospital right now." With a gloomy expression and
slightly raised eyebrows, Eric added, "I don't know what happened to her. But judging from her voice,
she should be okay."
The sun was already shining bright outside. Rachel was awakened by a cleaner, who suddenly pushed
the door open and dragged the mop on the floor. She opened her eyes slowly and blocked the dazzling
sunlight with the back of her hand.
She didn't sleep well last night because everything that the policewoman told her kept coming back in
her mind. Until now, she still felt scared.
"Are you awake? Hurry up and get ready for breakfast," said the woman.
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