My Darling, My Dearest

"Really? Rachel is only in her twenties. She can't get married so early, can she?"

They chatted casually as they walked. Cara found it strange and felt that it was not a normal case. "Rachel had been hospitalized after the abduction, but Mr. Fu only visited her once. I don't think they are a couple." None of the other members of the Fu family or anyone from Rachel's family had ever visited her.

Besides, the hospital director informed the chairman of Rachel's situation, and the chairman gave Rachel a few days of leave. Normally, the chairman should've informed her family. Cara thought that the director should know something about Rachel's family. The chairman asked his men to stop the news from spreading in the hospital and give Rachel a holiday. Cara believed that the chairman did this to protect Rachel from gossiping.

After Cara said Rachel had something to do with the Fu family,

they began to talk about her. Some of them suspected that Rachel was an illegitimate child of the Fu family, and some thought that she might be a relative of the Fu family.

Cara immediately interrupted them before they could say any offensive words. She loudly cleared ■d

her throat to give them the signal. "Whatever you're talking about, talk about it in private. Don't talk about nonsense and rumors in the hospital."

Everyone nodded and stayed silent. "Rachel is a good girl and a respected doctor. Whatever her family background is, it is none of our business. Talk about it privately and discreetly, but never talk nonsense with her. If she finds out what you're talking about her behind her back, she'd likely have less respect for all of you."

"Yes, we understand. We were just goofing around. We will not talk about it in public." Mindy had personal knowledge of how good a person Rachel was.

She had helped Rachel with a small favor, and the latter Rachel had given her a precious gift in return.

How could Mindy find it in herself to offend a girl such as Rachel, who was so kind and generous?

Rachel had no idea that people were talking about her behind her back. She fastened her seat belt but had no idea where Jack was taking them. "Where are we going?" "A law firm."

"What?"

"We are meeting a lawyer."

"Didn't Dad say that he prepared the agreement for us? Why do we still need a lawyer?"

Jack briefly turned to her. He thought that his father was really cunning and domineering. He wondered what it was that he told Rachel to make ■d her agree to the divorce.

Most people could be persuaded easily through their self-interests. But Rachel was not the kind of person who could be persuaded by money.

He thought for a while in silence and remembered the divorce agreement that his father showed him in the study that evening.

He turned to Rachel briefly with a thoughtful look. "Has Dad ever showed you a document?" he asked in an inquisitive tone.

Rachel suddenly looked puzzled. She was not sure she knew what he was talking about. "What document?" she asked after she thought about it briefly.

"The document of our divorce agreement."

She was briefly stunned by his words. "No, he hasn't shown me anything," she replied hastily.

A confused look overcame him. He suddenly wondered how Jonathan persuaded Rachel to agree. If the agreement did exist, then Rachel had no idea what the conditions were in that agreement. He wondered what on earth that his father did to convince her.

There were words that he wanted to say. Words started to form on his lips but he decided to hold them back. "We sign the papers and..." he started to say but stopped himself abruptly.

Rachel remained silent as she waited for the rest of the words that he wanted to say but nothing came out. "And what?" she asked after a period of waiting. ■d

Jack wanted to talk to her about the possibility of "living together," but he felt that it was unnecessary.

There was fear in him that Rachel might laugh at what he would say. 'Are you serious that you want to live in my house?' he imagined her saying to him.

It became more embarrassing the more he thought about it. He gave it more thought and after some time of considering it, he made up his mind on what to do. "I'll go to your house after I sign it." "You mean, tonight? You will move in to my house tonight?"

"Yes."

Rachel was visibly shocked. "Don't you think that you're being hasty?" she asked with hesitation.

"Why hasty?" he asked with his eyebrows slightly raised.

She paused and thought about an excuse. She wasn't sure that what she said was the best way to handle the situation. "Where's your luggage?" she asked after a short silence.

"I don't really need that much."

Rachel was at a loss what to say.

The sudden silence between them puzzled Jack. He briefly turned to Rachel. "Well? What were you going to say?"

"Nothing," she replied silently.

What worried her was that Lea was still there. And maybe Lucas would be there later too. She was ■d

a little worried that if they met Jack,

it would be an embarrassing meeting.

A lot of thoughts suddenly ran in her mind. Rachel was not the type who was fond of explaining. Jack decided to stop asking questions and focused on driving the car.

Jack initially considered meeting his lawyer someplace nice, but he changed his mind to meet him instead at his place with Rachel.

When they arrived at the lawyer's office, a receptionist greeted them and led them to the lounge. As soon as they sat down, the door of the lounge opened again and a middle-aged man in a tailored suit came in with a folder in his hand.

Jack stood up and extended his hand for a handshake. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Zhuo."

"A pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. Fu.1' Noah Zhuo briefly shook hands with Jack and then turned to Rachel. He greeted her with a broad smile and a slight nod. "Mrs. Fu."

Rachel nodded back politely. "Glad to see you."

"Sit down, please."

When all three of them were seated, Noah Zhuo opened the file folder in his hand. He cleared his throat and slightly sat forward. "We all know exactly why the two of you are here today. Let's make this long story short and get straight to the point, shall we?" he said in a formal and serious tone of voice.

"Yes, go ahead," Jack replied in a similar serious tone of voice. He leaned forward and placed his hands on the table and crossed his fingers. ■d

Rachel nodded in agreement to what Jack said when Noah Zhuo turned to look at her.

"I will start by introducing myself first. I am Noah Zhuo, a lawyer of the JS Law Firm. I am the one assigned by Mr. Jonathan Fu to help you deal with the matter of your divorce agreement."

Noah Zhuo then proceeded to explain all the things that were specified within the divorce agreement, including the division of their properties after the divorce.

Money was not an issue to Jack. Fie had no objection at all even if he had to compensate Rachel with one hundred million.

When it came to divorce, women were always at a disadvantageous position. Fie involuntarily turned to look at her.

But Rachel calmly listened to Noah Zhuo. She looked like an obedient primary school student who listened attentively to the teacher's lecture.

Fler serious expression amused him. Fie took a deep breath and turned his eye away from her and back to Noah Zhuo.

Noah Zhuo concluded the discussion with the divorce agreement's specific details regarding the woman's compensation.

Once he was finished, he pushed the two copies of the agreement to both of them. "You can go through the document yourselves and you can ask me about any of the specifics that you want me to explain further once you're done reading."

They each took one copy of the divorce agreement and went over it. ■d

The first part of the document was very official and routine. After Jack breezed through it, he continued to the next page of his copy. What followed were the terms about the divorce agreement of the couple and the specifics regarding the division of the couple's properties. His father helped him with the division of the properties, and Rachel would receive a large amount from the divorce compensation. Jack thought that the old man was very generous to transfer shares of the MK Group to Rachel. He was relieved when he saw those terms. He harbored feelings of remorse for Rachel in his heart. He felt that money was not enough, and yet all he had to compensate her was money.

In his mind, he hoped that the more compensation she would get from the divorce agreement, the less guilty he would feel.

Rachel gave close attention to the first half of the divorce agreement, but breezed through the terms and conditions for compensation.

After they were both finished with reading the agreement, Jack and Rachel placed the two copies of the agreement back on the table at almost the same time.

The signature at the end of the agreement was not what Jack expected. It was simpler than an elaborate signature that he was conditioned to expect from his father.

He looked through the entire document carefully once more, but didn't find any loophole. ■d

It made Jack feel confused. He sat back, stayed silent and waited for the lawyer's next instructions.

Noah Zhuo patiently waited until Jack and Rachel finished reading the document. "Have you completed reading carefully through the agreement? If you have any questions regarding the agreement, please feel free to ask me."

"Nope," Jack answered flatly.

There was a momentary hesitation from Rachel as she remained silent after Jack gave his reply. "No. Thanks," she answered after she gave it some thought.

"Okay. Good. Please wait here for a while." Noah Zhuo stood up and went out of the room with the agreement. Rachel and Jack sat quietly and waited for him. Different thoughts ran in their minds.

Noah Zhuo came back after a short while and sat down with them once more. "I have spoken with Mr. Jonathan Fu just now," he began. "He said that you could sign the agreement now if you want. But the agreement will only take effect in a year."

"That wouldn't be a problem," Rachel replied immediately without hesitation.

On the other hand, Jack stared at the document, and rubbed them with his long fingers. "I'll sign it now, if it's all the same to you," he said soon after.

After they both signed the document, they both had a feeling of relief. It gave them a strange sensation that a heavy burden that they carried for ■d

a long time was taken off from their shoulders. It was a sensation that felt vivid to Jack.

The realization that it was all over made Rachel feel relieved as well.

Jack had to maintain an act in front of his family. He couldn't shake the feeling that his father came up with a sophisticated scheme to get what he wanted from him.

"Let's go," Jack said as he picked up the keys on the table.

"Okay," Rachel replied simply.

There might be calmness in her voice but in her mind, she wondered if Lucas was in her place. She knew that it was not a good idea to call Lea in front of Jack so she quickly texted her as they walked back to the car.

She waited impatiently when there was no response to her text message even after they'd been outside the law firm for a while.

Rachel felt anxious

as she wondered what was possibly wrong with Lea and Mendes.