Henry chuckled and said, "It seems like you will have to spend more time with Eric now."
"No need. People are gossiping about Michael and me, thinking we are a couple," Marcus said.
Michael had actually fled abroad to avoid the blind date arranged by his father for him. Right now, he
sneezed several times while in bed. He felt a sudden chill on his back, so he quickly pulled the quilt and
wrapped his body.
Lea leaned on Henry's shoulder. With a smug smile on her face, she said, "Since we all played as
matchmakers for the two of you, you should prepare generous red envelopes for all of us."
"That won't be a problem," replied Marcus.
Celia raised her head and said in a low voice, "Lea, you are very wealthy. Why do you still care about
the red envelopes?"
"Wow! You haven't married Marcus yet, but you are already helping him save his money," Lea teased
Celia.
The ward filled with joyful laughter and happiness for a while.
When the two couples bade goodbye, there were only Jack and Rachel left in the ward. She took the
apple that he peeled, took a bite, and sighed. "Celia finally got her happiness."
Jack nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. He then bent over to take a bite of the apple in her
hand.
She pushed him on the shoulder and said, "If you want to eat, peel one for yourself."
"I don't want to." He winked and smiled.
"Let me do it for you." She was about to take the fruit knife,
but he held back her hand. He poked his forehead and said, "Why are you so ignorant when it comes
to romance?"
Seeing the smile in his eyes, she soon realized what he meant. But then, she quickly changed the
topic. She asked in confusion, "By the way, I've always been curious. Marcus was about to elope with
Celia that day, but why did he suddenly change his mind and decide to marry Eden after going back
home?"
"Do you really want to know?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. When she nodded, he pointed at his
cheek and smiled. "Kiss me first, and I'll tell you right away."
Rachel pursed her lips and kissed him on the cheek helplessly. "Can you tell me now?"
He sat back and held her in his arms. Resting his chin on her head, he sighed deeply and started,
"When Dylan was still working in a TV station, he used his power to embezzle a large amount of
money. Their leader found out about it, but gave him a chance to make amends. However, he had
already squandered the money."
"Did he use it for Bertha?" she asked with a frown. She had been wondering why Bertha was willing to
be with Dylan, who had nothing but two children to take care of.
Jack pinched her nose and said dotingly, "Can you be a little less smart sometimes?"
After pausing for a moment, he continued, "It was the Zhou family who helped him deal with that matter
thoroughly. But after that, his relationship with the Zhou family was cut off."
"The Zhou family?" A hint of surprise flashed across Rachel's dark eyes. "No wonder James looked a
little strange when he saw Celia in the hospital."
Jack nodded, "This matter had been completely suppressed since it happened. But Marcus' father got
the information and evidence from somewhere. He used them to threaten Marcus. If Marcus continued
his relationship with Celia, he would hand over the evidence to the authorities. We could already
imagine what would happen to Dylan."
Rachel couldn't help but shiver upon hearing all the information from Jack. She leaned against his
chest and asked, "Where is the evidence now? Does Marcus' father still have it?"
"When Marcus agreed to announce the wedding in public, he got the evidence from his father as a part
of their deal. He then destroyed it."
"I'm glad he did that." Rachel felt like she was riding a roller coaster. For a while, she was hung in the
air and shaken violently. Now, she finally returned to the ground and calmed down.
The whole ward fell silent for a few seconds. The more she thought about everything that he told her,
the more strange she felt. She turned her head, grabbed his collar, and asked with a frown, "Have you
known all of these for a long time? Why didn't you tell me?"
Jack hurriedly put his hands near his ears and begged, "Honey, you're wrong. I just found out about it a
few days ago."
When Rachel was discharged from the hospital, she rested at home for two more days. She wanted to
go back to work, but Jack didn't agree, insisting that she needed more rest.
At first, she tried her best to change his mind several times but failed. Seeing that he was unwilling to
let her go, she gave up.
Today, she was hanging the laundry on the balcony when her phone rang. When she checked who was
calling, she was surprised to see Eric's name on the screen. She answered it immediately. "I'm
surprised that you have time to call me today."
She suddenly wondered what he had been doing these days. He never showed up since the last time
they'd met in the cafe that day.
Eric rubbed his forehead and answered in a tired voice, "Rachel, I've been working overtime these
days. I even haven't slept last night."
With a frown, she asked again, "Why are you so busy these days?"
"Well, do you still remember, I told you before that my mom is coming back?" He sighed slightly and
added, "She said she would be here next month, so I worked overtime to take a few more days off next
month. But I didn't expect that she would come earlier than we have agreed."
Eric's mother was not the type of person who would play by the rules.
Although Rachel had never lived with her, she could tell what kind a woman her aunt was since she left
Eric and went abroad alone.
"When will she arrive?" Rachel asked.
"Today," answered Eric.
Rachel was also startled. She was about to say something, but Eric continued, "Her plane will land in
about half an hour. I call you to ask for a favor. Can you go to the airport now? I'm afraid that she will
lose her temper if she waits for too long."
His mother was known not only for being unreliable but also for being a nagger. Whenever she felt
unhappy or unsatisfied with something, she would shout regardless of where she was or who was
around her.
After hanging up, Rachel drove to the airport. Although there was no traffic jam all the way, it still took
her one hour and a half to get there.
She ran to the arrival area and looked around, but didn't see someone familiar to her. She was about to
turn around to check somewhere else when a familiar voice suddenly reverberated in the air. "Don't you
have any sense of justice? Why did you throw your trash here? Don't you see that trash can right next
to you?"
The voice was definitely Linda Shen's, Eric's mother and her aunt.
She followed the voice and soon found her aunt standing not so far away from her, pointing at a young
man in his twenties. She was blabbering on and on as if she had no plan of stopping.
The young man looked helpless with shoulders sagged. He tried to explain, "Madam, I just accidentally
threw the banana peel away. Now that I've picked it up and thrown it into the trash can, isn't that
enough? Aren't you tired of talking a lot?"
"Of course, I am tired. I even get more tired every time I see some young people like you becoming
more and more impolite."
Linda shook her head helplessly and added, "I'm just trying to remind you that you can't throw your
trash anywhere you want. If everyone does like you, then what is the use of trash cans? And that's a
banana peel. What if someone steps on it and slips?"
She kept chattering again.
While she was still lecturing the young man, Rachel trotted back to her car and took the unopened
bottled water. But when she came back inside, her aunt was nowhere to be seen again.
Eric finally got a free time, so he went to the bathroom with his phone. He dialed Rachel's number and
asked instantly, "Rachel, have you picked up my mom?"
"I haven't found her yet." At first, Rachel thought that she had seen the wrong person just now. But
when she saw the young man who had been scolded standing in one corner, looking embarrassed, she
was certain that she had indeed seen her aunt.
She asked, "Do you have her phone number?"
"No. She always changes her phone number and I haven't gotten the latest one from her."
Eric became restless. He couldn't help frowning as he tried to think of other ways to help Rachel find
her mother easily. However, he heard his director's voice outside of the bathroom. "Eric, why are you
making a phone call in the bathroom?"
Rachel heard the director's voice clearly from the other end of the line, so she decided to end the call
and continued to look around the airport alone.
Finally, she found her.
Linda Shen was in a Chinese restaurant, wolfing down a bowl of noodles.
Rachel entered the restaurant and sat opposite her. She called in a low voice, "Aunt Linda."
Linda looked up and tilted her head for a long time as if trying to recall something in her mind.
Eventually, she asked, "Who are you?"
Rachel was a little stunned.
She couldn't understand why Linda Shen didn't recognize her, but still, she introduced herself. "I'm
Rachel Shen."
Linda Shen just nodded and went back to her food. Rachel waited until she finished eating. Seeing her
bowl empty after a few moments, Rachel stood up and was about to tell her they would go back home.
However, Linda Shen suddenly said, "I haven't paid the noodles yet. I don't have money in my wallet."
Rachel's mouth subconsciously twitched. She paid the bill and drove Linda Shen to the hotel that she
had just booked.
When Eric got off work, he rushed to the hotel. Rachel and Linda Shen weren't there yet, so he waited
in the lobby for a while. The moment he saw Rachel's car stop at the entrance, he rushed to help take
out his mother's luggage from the trunk. He then turned to Rachel and sincerely, "Rachel, thank you so
much today."
"Don't mention it. We are family, after all." But Rachel was still wondering why her aunt seemed to have
changed so much.
She seemed to have forgotten everything in the past, and she was like a different person now.
When they had finally settled Linda Shen in her room, Rachel couldn't help telling Eric that Linda Shen
didn't recognize her in the airport earlier. He then told her the whole story. According to him, Linda
Shen was accidentally hit by a beer bottle falling from the sky on the head when she was traveling. She
was on the brink of death for a while but fortunately got her life back. But aside from the injuries on her
body, her memory was also affected. She had forgotten many things in the
past.
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