My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 50

"I wouldn't even care if the woman was a street cleaner. I just want you to replace someone who really loves you," Jonathan said.

After a thoughtful moment of silence, Jack said, "Father, most street cleaners are over forty years old nowadays..."

When his father heard that, he almost spat the tea out of his mouth. After clearing his throat, he said sullenly, "That's not the point!"

"Then... since you already agreed on our divorce, why should I spend a year with Rachel?"

Instead of answering him directly, Jonathan stood up and walked over to the desk. He fished through the drawer until he found a certain piece of paper, which he took out and put it in front of Jack.

The title at the top of the page, which was in bold, caught Jack's attention. He looked at the divorce agreement and his fingers tightened. Jonathan sat down again, and said, "You should sign this agreement first. I'll prepare another one for Rachel and let her sign it later."

He placed a pen in front of Jack, but the latter was in no hurry to sign. He was carefully reading through the contents of the agreement.

There was nothing unusual in it. Jack didn't care about the money or the property that they would compensate Rachel with. He read through ■3

the provisions of the agreement, one after another.

He finally found something in the document that made him raise his eyebrows. There was no date on which the agreement would take effect.

But that was exactly what his father wanted.

Jack said, "The agreement has no date to say when it will take effect."

With a smile on his face, the old man said, "It will come into force exactly one year after you sign your name."

Squinting at his father, Jack said, "Why should we wait until a year later?"

"Didn't I tell you? I have a request."

Jack nodded, and said, "Tell me."

"For the next year, I want you to live with Rachel and take good care of her. Even if you are despised and abused by her, you can't lose your temper at her, scold her, or move out."

Jack got angrier with every word his father said. What the hell was the crazy idea behind this? He would be forced to live with Rachel before the divorce!

"Oh, yes. Additionally, you can't be involved with any woman except Rachel!" Jonathan added smilingly.

Jack's mouth was twitching with disbelief. He replied coldly, "Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not kidding. Seriously, if you can agree to this, I'll have the document sent to Rachel for her signature." ■3

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't you think it's a ridiculous idea? Is it necessary?"

The old man nodded seriously, and said, "Yes."

Jack put down his pen, leaned back, and said after a pause, "Let me think about it for a while."

"You don't see the sense of it?" Somewhat disappointed by his son's reluctance, the old man said, "If I were you, I would quickly agree to this proposal. Anyway, it's not such a big deal.

I'm sure that when Rachel sees this agreement, she won't hesitate to sign it."

Jack still kept his poker face.

Seeing this, Jonathan continued trying to persuade him. "Besides, do you really feel wronged?

I don't think it's a big deal. You owe her a lot. A young girl just twenty years of age blundered into this loveless marriage with you. You are having fun with your woman, and she never even has a boyfriend. What's the most valuable thing a woman has? Youth! Her youth!" The old man made such a strong gesture as he emphasized his point that he knocked against his beloved board.

"How precious her youth is! How can you compensate her for spending five years in vain? Think about it. You should compensate her for a year. Then you can be free." Having said that, Jonathan stood up and turned around. "I'm going to take a walk."

Seeing him leave, Jack was at a loss for words. He had never known his father to be so talkative ■3

before. His father would make quite a good salesman!

Perhaps his father had better not retire. With his energy, he could continue to fight well for the business for more than ten years longer. Perhaps even Jack was no match for his father.

Feeling weary, Jack rubbed his forehead with his fingers. His old man's idea about the divorce really gave him a headache. He felt as if there was a big cake in front of him, which had tempted him for a long time, but a deep pit lay in front of it.

Maybe he could take another road to reach his prize, but he hadn't been able to replace the way. He couldn't resist the temptation for much longer.

The old man knew perfectly what was in Jack's mind. He had presented this cake to Jack, and set a trap for him.

Then it was up to Jack whether to fall for it or not.

He was really free to choose.

Jack closed his eyes and leaned back, lost in thought.

'A

woman who really loves me?

What is a woman who really loves me?' Jack didn't understand why his father had become so romantic.

Maybe Celine wouldn't be the one he would marry in the end, but he would certainly never fall in love with Rachel. ■3

For so many years, he had never loved Rachel at all. How could he suddenly fall in love with her in just one year?

What a joke!

The situation seemed pretty clear to Jack at that moment. What Celine couldn't give him, he wouldn't get from Rachel. But he didn't know that this would be a slap in his face before long.

Rachel took three days off before she completely recovered from her illness. In that month alone, she took more days off work than she was supposed to take in one year.

On the day when she returned to the hospital, her colleagues came to her. They were all relieved to see that she was in good spirits despite her pale face.

Rachel had seldom asked for leave, but in the past month, she had asked for leave many times.

After Mindy, the head nurse, helped Rachel replace an apartment for Eric and got an expensive gift in return, her attitude towards Rachel changed a lot. The sense of alienation she had felt before faded away. It felt like there wasn't so much distance between them as before.

When almost all the other people had left, Mindy whispered to Rachel, "Dr. Shen, have you touched anything evil recently?"

Rachel was slightly shocked. Something evil? She thought for a moment, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Mindy blinked her eyes and pointed her fingers in the air. She then showed her the Buddhist ■3

pendant on her neck.

Rachel suddenly understood, then she said with a smile, "No. You're imagining too much. I don't believe in that sort of thing."

But Mindy disagreed. She said, "Something devilish is happening to you. It's not about whether you believe it or not. Look at what you've been through this month."

She counted with her fingers and said, "Eric got hurt. You were almost kidnapped. Then you got sick. How often does that happen to a person? Too many bad things happened in just one month. It can't all be coincidence.

I think, whether you believe it or not, you'd better go pray to the Buddha."

"Pray?"

"Go to a temple and pray!"

Rachel tried to appear to be listening politely,

but she really couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe why a nurse would believe in ghosts.

The series of events began when Jack suddenly stepped into her life. All of her bad luck had something to do with him. She believed that staying away from Jack was the only solution.

Rachel went back to work as usual. Meanwhile, another person had heard that she was back, and came to visit her.

When her day's work was almost done, Rachel was taking an X-ray film of two patients back to her office. As soon as she sat down, a little head ■3

popped into the door of her office quietly. "Rachel..."

She looked up and saw that Mendes was peeking at her at the door. Rachel smiled and waved to him. "Come in!"

Mendes cheered up and walked to the office table. He blinked at her and asked, "How did you get sick?"

"I caught a cold and had a fever." Rachel put her hands under the armpits of the little fat boy and lifted him to her knees with difficulty. He was really heavy.

Mendes poked her face with his finger and smiled curiously. "Did you catch a cold because you kicked your quilt away at night?"

"Ha-ha! That's not the case." Rachel rubbed her forehead.

A chuckle came from the door, and a clear male voice answered for her, "Yes, that's exactly the case."

She looked up and smiled. "Hi, Lucas."

Lucas had also started working there. The nurses of the hospital found him really dashing and handsome in his white uniform.

Lucas was tall and slim like a model, and with his white gown, he looked like the leading actor in a popular TV series.

The face mask he wore only revealed his deep eyes and his straight nose. Compared to everyone else at the hospital, Lucas was the one who was most likely to be considered a heartthrob. Personal attractiveness aside, Lucas and ■3

Rachel were the two most outstanding doctors among all the recent hires at the hospital.

Rachel's major was neurology, but for some reason, she applied for transfer to the surgical department.

Everyone in the hospital knew that she and Lucas were on good terms. Although they were fellow apprentices, there was a rumor that they were romantically involved.

At the very beginning, it was unclear whether they were really a couple. But as time went by, everyone began to realize that they were just friends, not lovers.

People had no idea about Rachel's family background, and she had never mentioned it in conversation, because she kept a low profile. However, there were rumors that she came from a notable family.

Rachel was a graceful lady. Although the handbag she carried looked ordinary, a few sharp observers noticed that it was from a famous international brand, and would have cost as much as a whole month's salary of some nurses in the hospital.

Besides, Rachel drove her own car, which was not cheap.