My Darling, My Dearest

Eric was suspicious when he heard that Jack and Rachel were going to be living together.

He put the rag down and grabbed Rachel's hand, leading her to the balcony.

Mendes, being a child, didn't know what was happening. This seemingly secret conference confused and intrigued him.

His interest grew when he saw Eric suddenly pulling Rachel into the balcony.

As much as he was curious, he was nervous, too. He promptly followed them and asked anxiously, "Where are you going?"

Rachel patted Eric on the arm, a signal for him to wait. She stopped walking and turned around. "We just need to talk. Can you stay here while we do that? We won't be long." Mendes frowned and asked, "Can't I come with you?"

It was difficult to refuse the request of a child who was as cute as a bun, but Rachel immediately responded, "No."

Eric felt sorry for the little boy. He had thought that she would let Mendes come. He was only a child, after all.

"Stay here and wait for me, okay? We just have to talk for a bit in the balcony, and I'll be back before you know it." Although Rachel had not given in to ■d

the boy's request, she continued to talk to him patiently.

He was too young to understand what she meant. Even so, he didn't like that she was acting so secretive.

He only wanted to be part of things.

Mendes looked at Eric and then at Rachel as the two were about to leave. Pouting, he said reluctantly, "Okay, you go ahead."

Rachel was amused by the fact that the child was clearly hurt. "Be a good boy and wait for me. It'll only be a moment, sweetie."

Mendes looked at her with a hint of reluctance in his eyes. It could be difficult at times to convince a little child, but although he pouted, at least he was reasonable.

Lowering his voice, Eric asked, "How long will he be staying here?"

"Someone's picking him up tomorrow night." Lucas had already returned, and he had called Rachel earlier to let her know that he was going to pick up Mendes the following night.

Although she liked Mendes, Rachel no longer wished for him to stay any longer than he was scheduled to.

Honestly, if anything happened to the child, it would be difficult to explain things to his parents.

They hadn't shown up so far, though.

When Eric heard her response, he blurted out, "So let me get this straight. You will be left alone with Jack then?" ■d

"Yes..."

"Rachel, what's wrong with you? Why are you two living together all of a sudden?" Eric was agitated now. "Jack is playing you for a fool. He's not exactly an angel. Haven't you realized that by now?" Rachel nodded silently, afraid that she was causing him to worry too much. "It's okay. Don't think about it. We're getting divorced soon."

"Getting divorced? Are you kidding me? What's going on?" Eric asked in disbelief.

Rachel found it difficult to explain the details to him. She had learned that sometimes, it was better not to let people know everything.

This way, they would not have everyone's eyes on them all the time.

This was definitely something that Eric would do, so Rachel simply told him that she and Jack were going through a divorce.

She did not, however, tell him exactly when everything would be finalized.

For Eric, it seemed as though bad news just kept piling on. "Rachel! Think it over! It's not safe to live alone with a man, especially given your situation." Eric huffed.

Rachel nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what I was thinking. So, are you going to move in with us to protect me?"

"Move in with you? You mean live with you and Jack? Be in the same house with that guy?"

Eric stammered in his shock. "There's no room ■d

for me here. I don't think so."

The smile remained plastered on Rachel's face. "There's a study downstairs. I think you would find it convenient."

"The place I rent right now, it's...quite expensive." Eric struggled to come up with a response. He would never want to live with the man who almost cut his hand and threatened him.

He felt this way even though he knew that Jack had done what he had done because Eric was trying to use Celine to get back at him.

That bastard had, after all, married Rachel and then treated her poorly afterward.

Eric, knowing that he was not as powerful as Jack was, had planned to bring his brother-in-law down in a cunning, less obvious way, but failed. Along the way, he had almost gotten himself seriously injured.

It was no longer a big deal. Although Eric knew that he had somehow brought this upon himself, he had not meant to in the beginning. Even so, Jack had dealt with him so ruthlessly.

Eric could continue to talk about Jack behind his back, but he was afraid to be in the same room with the guy, more so live with him!

He tried his best to reason out. "Rachel, I already have a place of my own. Do you remember how much that house has cost you? You don't want to be throwing away that kind of money. Besides, this place is too far from where I work."

After hearing his excuses, Rachel finally said what she was thinking. "You're afraid to face Jack, ■d

aren't you?"

After a moment of silence, Eric nodded, clenching his jaw.

Still, he disapproved of Rachel living with that monster. He said, "I find it strange, though, how he's in such a hurry to move in."

Of course, Rachel couldn't tell him about the deal. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder and said vaguely, "It's just for show. Don't worry."

'For show?' was confused. He wracked his brains, trying to figure out what Rachel meant. It was clear that she did not want to divulge too much. Wrapping up the conversation, she said, "That's it. coming months, if you want to come by, you can call me, or you can meet with Jack."

Eric kept silent.

The floor-to-ceiling windows rattled slightly. Both of them turned their heads to find Mendes grinning and waving at them.

Since it looked as though Rachel had already made up her mind, there was nothing left for Eric to say.

She had wanted to tell him the truth without telling him too much. She wanted to avoid the shock and embarrassment of him popping up in the house one day and learning right then and there that she was living with Jack.

Thinking ahead, she had preferred to tell him about it now than to have to explain it to him in the case he accidentally found out. ■d

When the two of them came out, Mendes did not forget to inquire about the discussion. "What were you whispering about?" the boy asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"It's a secret. Shush."

"Okay," he said. His lips curled in

disappointment.

The more she hid things from him, the more curious he grew, it seemed. When Lucas called, Mendes took the phone with him before retreating to a corner and confiding to him in a low voice.

After listening to him for a time, Lucas finally understood. He said, amused, "Okay, okay. We'll talk again tomorrow, and this time, it'll be our secret. We won't let her know."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Mendes exclaimed in agreement as he nodded repeatedly and vigorously in his little corner.

Eric studied the little boy. Confused, he asked, "Rachel, whose child is he? Why do I feel like I've met him before?"

Rachel, who was busy preparing dinner, casually turned around and said, "Guess."

Eric was speechless.

Aside from Michael, Jack had told no one about the divorce. He was sure that Marcus and Henry would come to know in the following days.

One of the two had gone abroad for business, and Jack didn't want to go through the trouble of making an overseas call to notify him.

The day after he had sprained his foot, he could ■d

walk normally again. However, his forehead injury was still discernible on his otherwise attractive face.

Jack did not pay much mind to his appearance. However, he knew that going out in public with such an injury would attract a lot of unwanted attention and pave the way for speculation. Things could get out of hand very quickly. As a result, he decided not to go to work.

Instead, he spent his day working on issues between him and Celine.

They had not talked since she had walked out on him several days prior.

He was determined to talk to her this time, but he couldn't reach her.

He guessed that she was still angry, so he drove to her apartment. It was empty.

It was clear that she had been away for quite a while now. Her clothes were still strewn about on the bed, and two pairs of shoes were scattered by the door. It was as if she had gone back and forth between these two pairs, and, unable to decide, went with a different pair altogether.

Jack stood there for a while, confused.

On the way to her apartment, he had been worried that she would still be mad at him. While driving, he tried to come up with the best way to talk to her.

He had not expected that Celine would be happy in his absence.

Four years prior, Celine's indifference was the ■d

very thing that had attracted him. Now, here he was. She had left him feeling tired and alone.

Patiently, Jack redialed her number. It rang for a long time until finally, Celine picked up.

"Hello..." Her voice was hoarse, and she spoke slowly and sleepily.

Jack glanced at his watch. It was past ten in the morning. Where was she sleeping?

"Hello? Jack?" She seemed to have realized who was calling.

"Where are you?" he asked in a low voice.

Without thinking, she replied, "I'm at home."

"I'm in your apartment right now. Where are you?" Jack repeated the question. His voice was menacing.

His words brought Celine back to her senses. She sat up in her bed, panic coursing through her veins. She lifted the quilt and jumped out of bed. Then she walked toward the window, swept the curtain to the side, and looked at the view. The boundless sea touched the blue sky, and the water glistened with the sunlight.

She had come out to the sea with a group of people the previous day. In the group was a young man from a rich family. It was a man who had once pursued Celine, a man whom Jack had warned.

She had come here upon the invitation of a friend. Before the trip, she had no idea that this young man owned the boat that they were sailing in. Celine was overcome by guilt now. She did not dare to tell Jack where she was