My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 81

Washing dishes was such a simple task that there was no reason for Jack to be wasting so much time on it. Curious to see what he was doing, Rachel stood up and walked toward the kitchen, taking light steps.

She stopped at the door and quietly looked inside. Jack was standing next to the sink, still scrubbing the dishes with detergent.

There were only a few dishes to be washed, but he was treating them as if they were antique treasures, scrubbing them carefully with his slender and beautiful fingers.

This tall man dressed in a shirt and a pair of suit pants was a striking contrast to the warm light of the kitchen.

However, there was something strangely peaceful and soothing about the look of concentration on his face as he washed the dishes. All of a sudden, an image of him wearing an apron popped into Rachel's mind.

She continued to linger at the door and watch Jack as he washed off the detergent, and then rinsed the dishes once more with water.

At this, she frowned. She had always known that he was meticulous, but at this moment, she couldn't help but replace him fussy. Were her dishes that dirty? It was not as if they were in a fast food restaurant. ■d What was more, Jack didn't stop there. After he washed thedishes, he turned and fumbled around the kitchen until he found the automatic disinfection cabinet in the middle of the cupboard.

He squatted in front of it and thought for a while. Then, he reached out and tried pressing several buttons on the disinfection cabinet. After that, as if having made a decision, he nodded and placed the washed dishes inside.

Rachel was completely stunned at this scene.

Since she had grown up in Jack's house, her habits were also more or less prudent, like his.

And yet, it seemed that they had their differences. Having seen enough, Rachel tiptoed back to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"I put the dishes into the disinfection cabinet and sterilized them," he announced as he left the kitchen and sat opposite her.

"Okay," Rachel said, pretending as if she didn't already know. After a while, she couldn't help but add, "I've already had my dishes regularly disinfected."

"So?"

Jack raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I disinfected the dishes just the day before yesterday.

After that, I was the only one who used them, so they wouldn't be..." ...dirty.'

She didn't say the last word, but Jack more or less grasped what was going on in her head.

"I didn't mean to be rude or insulting. It's just a ■d

habit of mine," Jack explained.

Even when he had dinner with Celine, he required his housemaid to disinfect the dishes every single time they were used, not just on a regular basis like Rachel did.

Such a need for hygiene could be described as his personal preference, or even a mania.

Rachel shrugged to show that she hadn't taken any offense, and then prepared a cup of scented tea and pushed it in front of him. "I'm used to drinking scented tea, but I don't know if you like it." Jack was not too picky when it came to beverages, so he replied, "I'm okay with it." Then, after a pause, he added, "I don't think we have to keep being so formal with each other."

It was true that they had always been at loggerheads, but at this moment, they were being quite friendly with each other.

Rachel felt a little embarrassed after hearing his words, so she immediately took a sip of tea to hide her uneasiness. "Urn...you said you have something to discuss with me, right? We can talk about it now." This sudden change in their relationship from open hostility to mutual cooperation was still a little hard for Rachel to accept, but since Jack was being unusually polite to her, she was following his cue.

The decor in her house was warm and inviting, except for her bedroom, which seemed to be a little cold.

The floor of the living room was covered with soft carpet. Light poured on the transparent glass ■d

tea table, which reflected a little glow.

Rachel tilted her head to one side, and that glow disappeared.

"I've figured out a way to go through with the divorce in advance," Jack said slowly.

Rachel looked up at him with surprise on her face. "Is that really possible?"

"It will be if you cooperate with me."

The conversation between the two of them was diplomatic; both of them knew that they were walking a thin line as they had to maintain civility while trying to break free from each other. Without responding, Rachel lowered her head and took another sip of tea with a faint smile in her eyes.

The idea that Jack had come up with had taken him the whole afternoon to consider. He didn't know why he had such cowardly thoughts in the first place. For the first time in his life, he needed to rely on a woman for something.

He felt a little embarrassed to even ask Rachel for her help. However, he could not think of any other way either.

"When my father comes here, we should pretend to be a good couple in front of him."

"What?" Rachel didn't follow.

"You know that he won't give up easily. Even though we've signed the divorce agreement, we still need to figure out whether it can be realized at this time next year. Besides, I want to solve this matter as soon as possible," Jack explained. ■d

However, all this talk about the divorce agreement only confused Rachel even more. 'Why bother with the agreement when we've already signed it?' she wondered.

Rubbing her temple with her fingers, she said reluctantly, "Jack...you don't have to do that. If you want, you can talk to Dad. I'm not in a hurry."

She had already been in this marriage for about five years, so she didn't mind waiting one more year for the divorce.

In fact, she couldn't understand why Jack was so concerned about the matter. It was only then that something occurred to her.

"Are you in a hurry to marry Celine?" she asked hesitantly.

Jack's expression changed instantly. He pursed his lips unhappily and his dashing eyebrows furrowed across his forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you? The divorce has nothing to do with her," he said, raising his voice.

"This is the first time you've told me this," Rachel said coldly.

For a moment, Jack was speechless, and then he apologized in a softer tone, "I'm sorry, you're right. I told Michael several times."

He didn't try to give Rachel any other excuses.

It was true that in the beginning, he had planned to marry Celine as soon as he got divorced from Rachel.

In fact, he wanted to get a divorce because he wanted to enjoy freedom. ■d

But nobody would believe him. In their eyes, he was completely free.

Jack hadn't told anyone that although the marriage failed to stop him from dating other women, he would feel trapped on the inside.

Since Rachel continued to be silent, Jack continued, "Anyway, the only thing we need to do is to get along well with each other in front of him."

Rachel felt like she was stepping into a huge trap. "Will Dad believe us?"

Jack briefly explained his plan. He had always been good at scheming, and he didn't want to waste this chance.

After listening to his words, Rachel thought for a while and then asked another question. "Did you break up with Celine?"

All of a sudden, Jack's eyes became cold. Rachel thought that she had hit a sore spot and that he wouldn't answer her, but unexpectedly, he said, "We've been ready to take a break recently." 'Take a break?' Rachel kind of understood what he meant, but she had never expected them to break up so easily.

She recalled Celine appearing in the hospital earlier, accompanied by a man. She also thought of the first time when she had seen Celine; at that time, it was Jack who sent her to the hospital. Back then, he held her in his arms like he was holding a treasure. But at this moment, it seemed as if he didn't know or care that Celine was badly injured. ■d

Rachel blinked her eyes and stared at the wound on Jack's forehead. 'This couple is really in a dilemma,' she thought to herself.

Rachel lowered her eyes and gently blew on the tea in the cup.

Jack wanted a divorce as soon as possible, but he seemed to be very clear that it was not because of Celine.

After thinking for a while, Rachel asked tentatively, "So you have a new girlfriend?"

Jack's face darkened again and a single word came out of his thin lips. "No."

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "Whatever. As long as you don't cause any more trouble, it's fine with

me.

ii

They had always pretended to be friendly in front of Jonathan, but she wanted to see how far Jack would go to make him buy their act.

Now that they had spent their first day of living together peacefully, Rachel told Lea all about it on the phone.

On the other side of the line, Lea sneered, "Is that so? Are you two still putting on a show?"

Rachel rubbed her forehead and yawned. "I feel like I'm falling deeper and deeper into this huge hole."

"Yes, you are," Lea agreed.

Time flew. The next two days, Jack stayed at home, getting documents brought to him by his secretary. Rachel was a little curious about the reason why Jack wanted to work in her house these days, but it was only when she happened to see him in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror and raising his hand to touch his forehead with a frown, that she realized why.

It seemed that Jack cared about his appearance a lot.

On the third day, Rachel received a call from Jonathan asking how she and Jack were doing.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Jonathan asked, "Did Jack tell you? I would like to visit you today."