Chapter 3
Rachel was in no mood to talk to him. She was exhausted, and didn't want to engage in any small talk. 'Today was my first night shift. I'd better get some rest when I can so I can adjust properly,' she thought to herself.
For ten days straight, Rachel worked on the night shift. Because of this, all she wanted to do most of the time was to sleep. On one particular day, it wasn't that busy at the hospital, and so she could afford to take a nap at her office. However, as she was about to fall asleep, her phone suddenly rang. At an instant, she sat up and grabbed her phone.-
Looking at the screen, she saw that it was her brother calling.
"Hello?" Rachel's voice was a little hoarse.
"Sis, please come here and help me! Hurry please... They'll kill me..." Eric Shen sobbed.
Rachel frowned, fully awake by now. "Where are you?"
"I'm in JH Bar. Come here quickly."
Rachel hung up the phone, heaved a deep sigh and walked to the office next door.
"I got a thing to do and need to get off work earlier. Can you cover for me?"
"Okay, no problem."
It was late at night, and the lights dimly lit the
roads.
Rachel drove to the JH Bar.
Entering the bar, Rachel was greeted with colorful, flashing lights and loud music. It was hard to see people's faces. The dancing hall was full of coquettish women. The noise of the music, laughter, and whatnot was highly irritable for Rachel.
She had only been to a place like this for a couple of times, and she came only because she was looking for someone.
Rachel went up the stairs to the second floor of the bar. Along a long hall, there were several private rooms. The area was padded with soft, red wool, muting the noise from downstairs.
It was one of the most famous hot spots in the city. Even though it looked like an ordinary bar, it was said that it had the best DJ and the most beautiful girls went here to have a good time. The second floor was more like a completely different world. As soon as Rachel stepped foot there, the loud music from downstairs was muffled. The rooms here offered its occupants a decent amount of privacy. Once the doors were shut, only the waiters were allowed to come in and out of the rooms as they pleased.
Seeing that no one was around, Rachel thought that she would be able to get in without any problems. Rachel walked to the private room at the end of the corridor, pushed the door open and calmly walked in. To her surprise, the lights inside were as bright
as day. Rachel squinted, her eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness.
After a while, she looked around the room, and saw that she knew most of the people who were there.
The room smelled like pine wood. There were pieces of antique furniture, including a sofa which looked like it was made out of solid mahogany. At the other end of the room, there was a folding screen decorated with an array of sculpted flowers and birds. However, the brilliant, bright light ruined the supposedly classic and elegant atmosphere.
Rachel stepped in further, and saw a couple of strangers sitting on beanbag chairs in the corner. On the other side of the folding screen, she saw Jack was leaning on the couch with Celine. It looked like Celine was back to her usual self. She looked much better than when Rachel had seen her in the hospital the other day.
On the floor beside them, was her brother, Eric Shen, his face pressed against the carpet. "What happened here?" Rachel said with a frown.
"Sis..."
"Rachel?"
Eric Shen and Michael spoke almost at the same time.
Michael was sitting on the sofa and looked at Rachel with his eyes wide open. "Is this man your brother?" Then he turned his head and looked at Jack sitting on the couch. 'So, wouldn't that mean that this is his brother-in-law?'
Meanwhile, Jack just stared blankly at Rachel. The room fell silent. Michael looked back at Eric from Rachel and back to Eric again.
The more he looked at the two, the more he could see their resemblance.
"He was holding Celine's hand and trying to take her somewhere," Michael explained, breaking the silence.
Rachel couldn't believe that Eric would do something like that. But soon, she had processed the situation and began collecting her thoughts.
"Sister, I didn't mean it. I really like Celine. I just wanted to pull her away," Eric retorted weakly.
Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no denying now that he had admitted it. It was obvious that he liked Celine. 'Didn't he know that Celine was the apple of Jack's eye?' "Jack, he is young and thoughtless. Please let him go. I promise it won't happen again."
With a cigarette in one hand and a goblet in the other, Jack cautiously swirled the wine in his glass. The wine in the glass was as red as blood. Although he was looking at her direction, he seemed not to pay attention to Rachel. After a long time, he said slowly in a flat voice, "Sure, I'll let go of him! But he has to pay for what he had done to Celine."
Rachel's heart sank along with his words. She could feel the suppressed anger in Jack's words, but she wanted to give it another shot.
"Jack, this is my brother, Eric. He has always been a reckless and naughty boy ever since his childhood. You two used to play and get along so well. Have you forgotten about that?" Rachel said through her teeth, her words slow and sure.
Hearing this, Eric froze, his eyes wide.
Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'This coward playboy kneeling on the ground was one of Jack's playmates? What an amazing world!'
However, it seemed that Jack paid no attention to her at all. He stared at Eric for a while and then looked away. "And what of it?"