There was one thing Rachel was sure of: since the day she fell into Victor's arms in public the workload
in the archive had decreased a great deal.It was time for lunch again one day.
"Urgh!"
Rachel gagged, throwing up everything she had just eaten into the washbasin.She gripped the sink's
edges hard as nausea assaulted her.
Abby rushed over and gave her a bottle of water to gargle.
"Miss Bennet, you've thrown up almost everything you have eaten.Would you like to eat a bit more?"
she asked with a frown.
Rachel groaned with tears in her eyes as the nausea subsided.
Then, she wiped off her drool and slowly washed her face.
It hurt Abby to see her so pale.
It was apparent that vomiting so hard had taken a toll on her.
Rachel knew it wasn't easy to bear a pregnancy, but she didn't think it would be this difficult.She had
vomited a lot in the past few days.
The baby in her womb had caused her a lot of physical stress.
"No, I don't want to eat anything now.Let's talk about it later," she said hoarsely.
Abby nodded and helped her out of the bathroom.
They walked carefully to the sofa in the archive and sat down.
Abby looked at Rachel's belly and pouted.
"Miss Bennet, you have endured so much to keep this baby.If it doesn't listen to you when it grows up,
I'll spank it on your behalf."
Rachel smiled and said, "You'll have to remember to keep your word, then.Don't back down when you
see its cute face."
"No way!"
Abby shook her head sideways vigorously.
"You have endured so much throughout this pregnancy, so this kid had best behave themselves.Miss
Bennet, look at yourself—it has only been a month, and you have lost a few pounds already!"she said.
Rachel smiled and said nothing.
Knock, knock Someone knocked twice on the door of the archive, interrupting their banter.
Rachel looked up to see a man in a suit walk in with two nurses.
"Who are you?"
Abby narrowed her eyes at the unexpected guests, especially the nurses.
She couldn't help but recall Andy's warning to Rachel; he'd said she would face many troubles if she
insisted on keeping the baby.
Abby was afraid that these strangers were up to no good, so she eyed them vigilantly.
The man straightened his glasses and looked at Rachel.
"I'm Wilson Patel, an executive of the personnel department.The company has arranged for every one
of its employees to get a physical examination today.I assumed you wouldn't have time to join the
queue waiting for an examination because of the heavy workload in the archive, so I brought two
nurses down here to conduct a simple physical examination of you," he replied.
Then, he glanced at the two nurses behind him, and they nodded in understanding and walked up to
Rachel with their medical kits.
Rachel eyed the nurses with suspicion.She looked at Wilson and calmly asked, "A physical
examination?"
"Yes," he replied.
"You may not be aware of this because you joined the Sullivan Group only recently.Our company
ensures that every employee undergoes a physical examination a annually."
The intense pressure from Rachel's stare had made him stutter for a bit at the end of his explanation.
A few thoughts crossed his mind as he furrowed his brows.
"Rachel, you're not hiding any infectious disease, are you?"
"Of course not! It's you who has an infectious disease!" Abby bellowed at Wilson in rage.
"I only asked a question.Why are you so angry? Is it because I guessed right?" Wilson snarled.
Abby's retort had caused his face to darken.
In anger, Abby balled her hands into fists and made to reply scathingly, but Rachel stopped her.
"Abby, don't."
"Miss Bennet…"
Abby murmured, simmering down.
She couldn't let him talk that way; after all, she had decided not to be as submissive as before because
Rachel was pregnant.
Abby was determined to protect her and the baby at all costs.
Unfortunately, it seemed her flair-up from before had caused Rachel even more problems.
Acting on impulse, she had uttered an offensive retort to Wilson's provocation, escalating the tension in
the room.
She looked at Rachel with guilt-filled eyes and slowly lowered her head.
Rachel was surprised to see Abby react this way.
During the confrontation with Ivy, she had acted timidly.
This time, however, she was much bolder in the face of provocation, refuting an unfounded accusation
fiercely.
She held Abby's hand and gently pulled her to the side.
Then, she looked at Wilson and coldly said, "Of course, I don't have an infectious disease.
But, one could ask the same question of you, Mr.Patel, because no one knows if you have one or not.
Besides, wouldn't you agree that it's rather strange for someone to accuse others of having infectious
diseases out of the blue?"
"Y-you! Are you insinuating I have an infectious disease?"
Wilson demanded in outrage.Her sarcasm, which he had understood right away, had pissed him off.
"Mr.Patel, I only asked a question. Why are you so angry?"
Rachel asked with a smile, hitting back at him with his own provocative words from earlier.
Wilson's face flushed red with rage A few moments later, he closed his eyes and sucked in a deep
breath to calm his raging nerves.
Then, after glaring at Rachel one more time, he signaled the nurses to start the examination
immediately.
As this was a regular check-up, it didn't take nurses long to complete it.
After taking two test tubes of blood from Rachel, the nurses left with Wilson.
The situation had Abby a little worried.
As she watched the three walk away, she whispered, "Miss Bennet, why did that man ask to examine
you? Is he up to something?"
Rachel didn't reply, though.Instead, she leaned back on the sofa and smiled at Abby.
"Miss Bennet, why are you smiling?" Abby asked, worried about her visible lack of concern.
"I'm just happy," Rachel said with a smile.
Then, she took a sip of water from the water bottle and tossed the gauze pad she used to stop bleeding
into the trash can.
"I'm happy my little Abby has grown braver and smarter." Abby pouted; she didn't want to be teased.
"Miss Bennet, are you making fun of me now?"
"No, I'm serious.I'm happy for you."
The look of worry on Abby's face hadn't faded completely, though.
Rachel noticed this and said, "You sensed something wrong, so how could I not, too? The Sullivan
Group indeed organizes a physical examination for all its employees every year.It's also quite normal to
invite medical professionals to carry out these examinations.However, something's off—these check-
ups usually take place in November."
"So, the check-up is two months earlier this year! There has to be something wrong.Do you know what
they are up to?" Abby asked with a frown.
"I don't know," Rachel said, shaking her head sideways.
She didn't sound too concerned, though.
"Then, why aren't you worried? That was a check-up.They took your blood! What if they find out that
you're pregnant?" Abby asked anxiously, unable to keep still.
Rachel gently pulled her down to the sofa.
Then, she peeled an orange and placed a quarter piece of it into Abby's mouth.
"It's useless to worry about this.If I had refused the physical examination, I'm sure they would have
used my objection as an opportunity to kick me from the Sullivan Group.Doing as they said was the
wisest decision we could make.All we can do now is wait and see what they do," she replied.
"Miss Bennet—"
"Don't overthink it, Abby," Rachel said, interrupting her.
She didn't want Abby to worry about the physical examination any longer.
However, that wasn't what on Abby's mind right now.
Her face contorted, and she quickly grabbed a wad of tissue paper and spat out the orange.
"Miss Bennet, this orange is too sour!" she mumbled, clearly aghast.
Rachel burst into laughter when she saw Abby's face.
In the CEO's Office on the thirty-third floor.
Ivan knocked on the door and waited a few moments before walking in.
He took a black envelope with a gold edge out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Victor.
"Mr.Sullivan, this is a letter of invitation from Mr.Schultz; he is inviting you to his birthday party."
Victor opened the envelope and said, "Do you know who else will attend?"
"Mostly students of Mr.Schultz, as well as some renowned business people and politicians of
Yaprye.Most of them were invited last year, too, I reckon," Ivan replied.
"But we notice the KD Group on the guest list this year.I suppose the mysterious project manager, who
returned from abroad two days ago and is now in Yaprye, is probably the one they actually invite."
When Victor heard the report, his face darkened.
He stuffed the envelope into his drawer roughly and growled, "Call them back now.Tell them I'll be there
on time."
"Yes, sir,"
Ivan acknowledged respectfully.
A thought crossed his mind before he could leave, though, and he asked, "Mr.Sullivan, do you need me
to ask Alice to accompany you to the birthday party?"
"Ask Rachel to go with me. We'll leave tonight," Victor said after thinking for a while.
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