My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 35

Rachel came back and said, "Tell me the truth. Did you know that something would happen to me?"

Jack stood quietly for a long moment, saying nothing. Rachel stared at him in the eye, waiting for an answer. Eventually she ran out of patience. She waved her hand and said, "Forget about it."

Rachel turned around primly and walked away. It was not until her figure disappeared across the road that Jack withdrew his gaze and went inside.

The situation became clearer two days later. Rachel was told that these people were hired to deal with Jack. Their purpose was to kidnap her and threaten Jack.

The man behind this had run away, and the police were trying to catch him. Rachel thanked Jonny and hung up.

After that, Jack did not come to her again, nor did he explain clearly.

Rachel stayed quiet for a few days to think it through. She was not angry about being kidnapped. She was angry that Jack had approached her for some evil purpose. It made her feel so distressed and foolish.

A few days later, Jonny called and said that the main culprit had been captured, and mentioned that Jack knew about it. Jack was ready to visit the police station. Jonny asked if she would come and learn about the situation. ■3

Hearing that, Rachel refused. She wanting nothing to do with this matter now. She would let Jack deal with it himself, and she wouldn't get involved.

After resting for two or three days, Rachel went back to the hospital. When she was making the rounds, she found Mendes1 plaster had been removed. When he saw her, he cried and rushed to her with great enthusiasm.

Rachel was flung back two steps by the force of Mendes' push. When she saw this, Celia was furious. She pulled the boy to the side and told him forcefully, "Don't move!"

But Mendes paid no attention to her. He kept wriggling like a small bug. Unable to control him, Celia had to threaten him, "I won't care about you if you break your arm again." Mendes pouted his lips, and finally stopped moving. Rachel couldn't help but smile.

Celia released her brother. When she saw Mendes walking towards Rachel, she couldn't help but feel jealous. "Whose brother are you? It's obvious that I've been taking care of you all day long. Why are so being so close with Dr. Shen instead?"

Mendes didn't have the time to listen to Celia's self-pitying chatter. He was so excited that he held Rachel's leg tightly, and said, "Rachel! I missed you so much!"

Celia couldn't stand seeing her brother's stupid expression, so she turned around with her hand on her forehead. ■3

Compared to the other children, who were afraid of the doctors, Mendes was a freak. His favorite person in this hospital was Rachel.

Rachel touched his soft hair gently. When she went back to her office, he trailed her like an eager puppy.

When several nurses saw Mendes, they couldn't resist coming over to him and playing with him. When Rachel came out of her office, he had received a lot of fruits and snacks.

With them in his arms, Mendes walked up to Rachel and said happily, "Rachel, here is one for you."

Rachel bowed down and pinched his face. She said with an indulgent smile, "Just e? You are too mean."

"Well... how about two?"

After a moment's thought, he continued with reluctance, "You can choose whatever you like."

Rachel deliberately chose some of his favorite things, to tease him. She said, "I want these, okay?"

The boy got a little upset. He bit his lips, unable to be happy about giving those away, but couldn't say no.

With a sigh, she put them back in his arms. Then she shook her head and said, "Since you don't want to give them to me, I won't force you."

"It's not like... I..." Ultimately, he just couldn't speak. He only whined to her, pitifully, "Rachel..."

Rachel tried not to laugh. When she was about to speak again, she heard a familiar voice behind ■3

her, saying in a slightly teasing manner, "You are bullying a child again."

Rachel was stunned and turned back quickly, with her eyes wide open.

Lucas hadn't seen Rachel for a long time. After a long journey from overseas, he stood in front of her again. He looked a little thinner than before. He raised his hand and shook it in front of her eyes. With a playful smile on his lips, he asked lightly, "What's wrong? Can't you recognize me?"

Someone cried out, "Dr. Zhou!"

As Rachel looked at the slender figure in front of her, she smiled sweetly. "Lucas!"

She was overwhelmed with surprise.

"Why didn't you tell me when you came back? I would have picked you up at the airport." Rachel offered him a cup of tea. Lucas took it over, blew on it and took a sip. "You're really surprised, aren't you?" Rachel looked him up and down, and said, "Other people put on weight when they go abroad! Why do you seem to have lost so much weight?"

Lucas smiled, "I went there for training, not to take a holiday like them."

Sitting on a chair, Mendes was sitting next to Rachel and looking at Lucas with curiosity.

Lucas noticed his shy glances. With a graceful smile on his lips, he waved at the child and said, "Come here, little boy."

Mendes' eyes lit up with surprise at what Lucas said. He stood up, took a seat in front of Lucas and ■3

looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Who are you?" asked Lucas.

The boy replied clearly, "I'm Mendes Xu!"

Rachel couldn't help but burst into laughter at this cute little scene.

She was free at noon, so they were able to have lunch together. When Celia came to replace her brother, she received a call from her father.

When she was answering the phone, Mendes sneaked back to Rachel's office and kept pestering her, unwilling to go back to the ward.

It was obvious that Celia was very irritated when she hung up the phone and didn't see Mendes there. She even panicked for a moment, but then she heard a voice from Rachel's office. She felt relieved, and rushed into the office.

"Mendes Xu!"

The boy was frightened by her angry voice, and he scrambled to hide himself behind Rachel.

Celia was in a bad mood, and her brother's naughtiness really provoked her. She intended to drag him out from behind Rachel.

Mendes didn't want to be pulled away from Rachel, and he was even more reluctant to go with Celia when he saw how angry and aggressive she was.

His fat little body was as flexible as a monkey, so it was hard for Celia to grasp him. Afraid that she would hurt him if she grabbed his injured arm, she dared not use her full strength to pull him. ■3 Rachel tried to coax Mendes to go with his sister, but he wouldn't listen to her. No matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't leave her office.

"I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back!" he cried.

Celia was so angry that she thumped the table. "Where can you go if you don't go back?"

There was a moment of silence before he said in a small voice, "I want to go home. I want to see my mom and dad."

Standing at the table, Celia's eyes turned red. She shouted at him, "Your parents don't want you anymore! Don't even think about it! Are you going to South America to replace your dad yourself?" Celia's voice was sharp and sarcastic, but mixed with sorrow. Rachel was shocked. She quickly pulled Celia aside and handed her a piece of tissue. Rachel whispered, "Don't cry, what's wrong?" But Celia couldn't hold back her tears, and she kept wiping them away.

Meanwhile, Mendes continued to be naughty. He went under the table to hide. Hearing what she had just said, Rachel guessed that a family matter was the reason for her sudden emotional outburst. Lucas just came over when Rachel was about to pull Celia inside to have a talk. He was standing at the door and raised his hand to knock, but he was a little stunned when he saw the scene inside, so he just walked in.

He raised his eyebrows, looked Rachel in the eye and asked her, "What's wrong?" ■3

Rachel pointed at the direction of the office table, and then took the crying Celia into the lounge room. She closed the door and turned around to ask Celia carefully what had happened. Outside the office, Lucas went to the desk and looked around, feeling puzzled, but he didn't replace anything out of the ordinary.

When Lucas was about to walk away, he suddenly heard a low sob coming from beneath the table. It sounded lonely. He quickly identified where it had come from, walked around the table, and squatted down. Lucas found the boy hiding under the table. The boy was squatting in the corner, biting his lips and crying. He was a little scared to see a man suddenly squatting in front of him.

Lucas' heart softened. He extended his hand to him and said, "You can come out now, big guy, okay?"

Celia was not a very mature person. She was little more than a child herself, so how could she take care of such a naughty little troublemaker?

She had hardly ever felt the warmth of love from her family. With her sad childhood, being in charge of Mendes was not easy for her.

The marriage of her parents was not a love match. They were courteous to each other. They didn't quarrel with each other, but they didn't love each other either. Her father was busy with his work, and her mother didn't pay much attention to her.

However, after her mother died, her father ■3

brought back his illegitimate child, Mendes. Celia had sometimes envied Mendes, thinking that he would receive more love from their father.

What Celia minded most was not that her father had an affair, and that his affair resulted in an illegitimate child.

Celia envied the boy immensely. But she was an adult, and had passed the age when she needed the warmth of a father's love.

She never imagined that her father would abandon his child and went abroad to work. To make matters worse, Mendes was injured in the kindergarten. His nanny had no contact, so she had to call Celia. Then Celia found out that the boy's mother couldn't be reached. She didn't know who broke off the relationship first. Was it was Mendes' mother, or his father?