Joey silently held onto Rachel’s finger as if his life depended on it. Such action made Rachel know that
he was still worried.
Therefore. Rachel gently touched his head and bent down to level Joey’s eyes. Then, she raised her
other hand and slightly crooked her little finger. “Let’s make a pinky agreement.”
Joey’s eyes lit up when he heard these words. He excitedly hooked his little finger to Rachel’s, and said
in a serious tone, “You can’t go back on your promise.”
“If I go back on my promise, I will become a puppy,” Rachel replied with a smile. It had been their
tradition to make a pinky agreement. Joey believed in it more than he believed in Rachel’s verbal
promises because she had never broken a pinky agreement, not even once. Back then, the other
children of in the alliance teased Joey for this reason. They laughed at him and said that even signed
contracts could be breached. So pinky agreements weren’t credible at all.
But no matter what they said, Joey kept believing in pinky agreements. It was started by Abby and
Rachel. How could he not believe?
The three guys had different thoughts as they watched Rachel and Joey had their moment. Luke was
still in shock, while Carson seemed to be in deep thought. He touched his jaw with his thumb, squinting
his eyes as if he found something interesting.
On the other hand, Victor remained expressionless.
Ultimately, Joey agreed to do the examination with Lukas. Carson smiled and excused himself, saying
that he would go out for a smoke. Just like that, Rachel and Victor were left alone in the ward.
But none of them spoke. It was awkwardly quiet that the two could hear the footsteps outside. With her
back to Victor, Rachel could feel his intense gaze. It was hard to keep ignoring him in this situation.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to sort out the bed to keep herself busy. She also checked the time
on her phone every once in a while to see how long it had been since Joey left the ward.
Her ringtone suddenly broke the silence in the ward, saving her from an awkward situation.
Rachel sighed in relief as she looked at Andy’s name flashing on the screen of her phone. Without
hesitation, she answered the phone and walked to the balcony,
“Miss Bennet, are you still at the hospital?” Somehow, Andy’s familiar’s voice helped Rachel calm down
even just a little.
The wind blew her hair as she stood before the railing. From where Rachel was, she could see the
entrance of the in -patient department. Her eyes fell on the people coming in and out of the building.
“Yes, I’m still here,” Rachel replied calmly. No one could possibly guess that she wasn’t as calm as she
appeared to be. When Rachel learned that Jack fainted and he might have lung cancer, she didn’t
panic at all. And when she saw Joey crying hard for the first time, she was flustered but still calm. Right
now, all her thoughts were a mess, and she was somewhat upset.
And it was all because of Victor’s presence.
“How’s Joey’s cold? What did the doctor say?” Andy asked. “He’s fine. He just caught a slight cold.” As
Rachel spoke, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, ending her words with a smile. “That’s good.”
There was a brief silence before he added, “But Miss Bennet, it’s not a good idea for Joey to stay in
the Sue Garden all the time. Besides, the Sullivan Group has a lot of things recently. He has caught a
cold and had a fever only a few days after he went to the Sue Garden. Should we find a way to bring
him back? I haven’t seen him yet.”
Joey’s request suddenly occurred to Rachel. She tapped the railing with her slender fingers as she
thought about it. But in the end, she replied to Andy, “Let’s talk about it later.”,
“Okay.” What Andy said was merely a suggestion. If Rachel really wanted to take Joey back, she must
find a good way. One mistake and the little guy’s real identity would be exposed to the public, which
they didn’t want.
‘Joe, you’re putting me in trouble.’
So many thoughts were running through Rachel’s mind, but she calmed herself down and asked Andy,
“Well, you didn’t call me just to ask about Joey, did you?”
“I really can’t hide anything from you.” Her quick-wittedness made Andy smile.
“The law firm has just accepted a relatively difficult case. The client is in Carney, so I may have to go
there.”
Although Rachel didn’t like to pry into Andy’s life, she knew that he was now part of a large law firm in
Apliaria and had made a name in the legal profession. Andy had only accepted a few cases in the past
two years, but all of those were relatively difficult cases. Since Rachel came back to take over the
Bennet Group again, Andy had been helping her sort all the information regarding the company,
causing his work to be delayed. So she couldn’t complain when Andy said he was going on a business
trip. She teased him, “I thought you were going to retire.”
“Yes, I do have that in mind, but I can’t do it yet. I have to retire on the day when I become the chief
partner.” It was evident in Andy’s tone that he was also smiling.
Meanwhile, Rachel’s mood became lighter and lighter. “When will you come back? Can you attend the
shareholders ‘meeting?”
“If I complete this case quickly, I should be back tomorrow afternoon. If I can’t… The case is
complicated, so I’m still not sure how long it will take. But I will try my best to come back before the
shareholders’ meeting.”
“Okay. When are you leaving?”
“In one and a half hours.” As if on cue, the door of Andy’s office opened, revealing his assistant with a
stack of documents. He pointed at his watch, reminding Andy that it was time for him to go.
For a second, Rachel moved the phone away from her ear to check the time.
“Okay. Be careful on the way.” Just as she was about to hang up, Andy called her name.
“Miss Bennet.” Rachel didn’t say anything, She just put back the phone near her ear and waited for
Andy’s next words, “I’ll be gone for a few days, but if you need anything, just call me. I’ll come back
right away.”
After a moment’s silence, he continued, “If Victor…”
The news about Rachel jumping into the sea and dying four years ago was still vivid in Andy’s mind. It
really scared him.
He had been regretting that he wasn’t there for Rachel at that time. He thought it wouldn’t have
happened if he only paid more attention to Rachel. He should’ve taken care of her more. And now that
he would be gone for a few days, he was worried about her.
In particular, he knew that Victor still loved Rachel. “I know. Don’t worry.”
Knowing what was bothering Andy, Rachel comforted him. In the background, she heard the assistant
telling Andy that it was time to go. So Rachel hung up the phone and heaved a sigh before turning
around to go back inside.
To her surprise, Victor was standing behind her.
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