My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 39

Although Jack's words seemed harmless, Rachel was on alert after the previous incident. She kept wondering if something was wrong and secretly checked herself again.

Pretending not to notice her suspicious eyes, Jack leaned back and looked out the window. Even his profile looked cold and handsome, hard to get close to.

Francis' engagement banquet was held on the second floor of Seaside International Hotel. When Jack and Rachel reached the venue, they found that it looked grand and magnificent. On the first floor, there was a thick red carpet leading from the entrance to a heart-shaped door to welcome the guests.

The two of them followed a waiter upstairs. Just before the last step, Jack suddenly stopped, took Rachel's wrist, and linked arms with her.

Rachel's heart skipped a beat, but she had no time to think about it as Jack immediately resumed walking forward, pulling her along with him.

When they entered the banquet hall arm in arm, they drew the attention of many people.

It was a western-style party, so all of the guests were drinking and happily chatting with each other.

Jack and Rachel walked in quietly without making an entrance, but as soon as they arrived, the host of the party was informed. ■3

Francis raised his eyebrows and waved the messenger away. Then, with his fiancee, he walked over to the guests who had just arrived.

"Mr. Fu, here you are! Mrs. Fu, long time no see..." Francis snapped his fingers as he greeted them, summoning one of the waiters. Then, he took two glasses of champagne from the tray in the waiter's hand and handed it to them, his eyes lingering on Rachel for a moment.

Then, he introduced his fiancee to both of them before taking Jack aside to talk to him privately.

Francis' fiancee, Wendy Wen, was a sweet and beautiful girl. Although she never treated people differently based on their identity and status, she knew that there was a difference between a normal guest and a distinguished one.

Soon, the other guests at the party began to notice Rachel. They didn't know her as she had seldom taken part in these occasions.

A group of them went up to Wendy to greet her, and then fixed their eyes on Rachel. Noticing the shift in their gazes, Wendy warmly introduced Rachel to them. "This is Mrs. Fu."

Upon hearing that the woman standing in front of them was Jack's wife, the expressions on their faces changed. They immediately went over to her and greeted her with warm smiles. Wendy, who was supposed to be the star of the banquet, was pushed to the side and awkwardly neglected all of a sudden.

As for Rachel, she didn't know any of the socialites who were enthusiastically greeting her, so ■3

she felt a little embarrassed by the sudden attention on her.

Most of the socialites seemed good-natured and tried to include Rachel in their mellow conversation, but Rachel felt awkward and out of place.

However, they all just continued talking as if they hadn't noticed Rachel's discomfort.

Wendy, who had been left outside this circle, felt a little embarrassed after seeing the attention shift to Rachel. She quickly looked around for her fiance but he was nowhere to be found.

She hesitated for a while and wondered what to do. In fact, she could see that Rachel wasn't enjoying the attention at all.

She was right, of course. Rachel didn't like being surrounded by strangers. Although she was trying to be as polite as possible, she couldn't pretend to be warm and friendly like these socialites. In their eyes, her cold and distant attitude made her seem arrogant and rude.

While Rachel was wondering about what to do, a soft voice interrupted her from behind. "Mrs. Fu."

Rachel turned back and saw Wendy standing nearby with a meek expression on her face. She immediately walked away from the crowd, and it wasn't until a second later that she remembered she had to excuse herself.

When the crowd heard her apology, they all just nodded understandingly and watched her leave with Wendy. ■3

Once she was out of sight, however, they began whispering among themselves.

"No wonder she can't keep a man by her side."

"It's true. Everyone knows that Mr. Fu has a secret lover and seldom goes back home."

"Yes, it's all because of her attitude. How can she act like she's above us? Humph, she would just be a nobody without the Fu family's support."

Finally, one of the women said, "Hush. You're all correct, but I think it's better not to talk about this in public. But I'm looking forward to their divorce..."

The group of socialites decided to replace a quiet place to sit where they could gossip about this matter at length. Meanwhile, Rachel and Wendy had already walked to the other side of the hall.

Rachel didn't like parties like these. She preferred traditional parties where guests would have dinner at a round table. At such parties, there was no need to drink or walk around to greet people. She could just eat in peace.

She knew almost nothing about the people here. If they were just having a traditional dinner, she wouldn't mind.

But now, they kept approaching her and making small talk, which was hard for a quiet person like her to adapt to.

Rachel and Wendy chose a quiet corner and sat down together. The first thing Wendy did after sitting down was rub her ankle, and a trace of unbearable pain appeared on her beautiful face. "Miss Wen, did you sprain your ankle?" asked ■3

Rachel with concern.

Wendy looked up and nodded, pursing her lips in embarrassment. "It hurts, but it doesn't matter."

Her voice was soft and thin. For some reason, Rachel felt that there was something wrong.

Before she could put her finger on it, however, Wendy asked, "Mrs. Fu, what would you like to eat?"

Being addressed as Mrs. Fu made Rachel feel extremely uncomfortable, so she immediately smiled and said, "My name is Rachel Shen. You can just call me Rachel."

Wendy was surprised to hear this. Then she nodded and flashed a smile.

As Rachel watched her, she couldn't help but think that Wendy was a delicate woman who would be swallowed up by the people here.

Confusion clouded her heart as she thought about everything that had happened since her arrival.

It seemed that the people at this banquet did not have the courtesy of taking Wendy seriously.

They only cared about their own interests. As soon as they had learned about Rachel's identity, they had ignored the legitimate hostess of the party and surrounded her instead. Rachel had never come across such people before. Even if they only cared about their own interests, how could they act so obviously? After all, it was Wendy's engagement party.

After sitting in silence for ten minutes, Rachel set her glass of champagne down on the table and ■3

turned to look at Wendy.

Even before conning here, her plan had been to keep a low profile and leave once the banquet was over.

So for her, things were going according to plan.

But why wasn't Wendy entertaining the guests, or walking around with her fiance, or even sitting with her friends?

Her behavior just didn't make sense. Sitting in this small corner, Rachel and Wendy were like quiet princesses that had been forgotten in the bustling world. They were just watching from afar as people dressed in elegant clothes clinked their glasses and chatted happily.

Finally, Rachel couldn't help asking, "Miss Wen, why aren't you mingling with the guests?"

A shy and embarrassed smile appeared on Wendy's face. "I... These people... I don't know any of them."

Her voice was low and soft, like thin ice on the surface of a pond in the winter.

Rachel was surprised to hear this.

How could all the guests here be strangers to the hostess? However, considering that she had also met Wendy only minutes ago, she didn't think it was proper to ask any more questions.

The two of them fell into awkward silence once again.

After a while, Rachel thought of something else to say, but when she turned to look at the woman beside her, she realized that she was lost in her ■3

thoughts.

"Miss Wen?" Rachel called her name softly.

"Miss Wen?

Wendy..." It was only after hearing her name three times that Wendy reacted.

"What?" she asked, slowly coming back to reality.

Rachel was going to suggest that they should get something to eat, but before she could, Wendy abruptly stood up with a nervous expression on her face. Her eyes flitted around, as if searching for something. A moment later, they paused and darkened.

Rachel stood up too and asked, "What's wrong?"

A smile emerged on Wendy's lips, and she shook her head as if nothing had happened. "Nothing. I saw an acquaintance. Let me show you around, Rachel."

Rachel paused for a moment and then answered, "Okay."

She was really not used to such parties, and it was embarrassing for her to walk around with the hostess, but she had no choice.

At that moment, there was a waiter frantically looking around the hall. Upon seeing Wendy, his eyes lit up and he strode toward her. "Miss Wen, Mr. Cheng is looking for you."

Wendy seemed surprised to hear this, but she nodded and then turned to Rachel. "Rachel, do you ■3

want to come with me? Mr. Fu might be there as well."

Seeing the hint of a request on Wendy's face, Rachel couldn't say no, so she nodded her head in agreement. They followed the waiter to the back of the hall, where there was a door to a private room.

As soon as the waiter pushed open the door, the clattering sounds of people playing mahjong came through. Wendy's body seemed to stiffen in nervousness as she walked forward.

Rachel hesitantly followed her inside.

When they entered the room, someone laughed and said, "Wow, our Francis' babe is here."

Francis, who was sitting at the table, looked up. FHis eyes were full of affection as they fell on Wendy.

The voice of that man drew everyone's attention to the door. Flowever, most of their gazes passed the gentle Wendy and landed on the woman behind her. FHer refined facial features and graceful temperament immediately attracted most of their attentions.