My Darling, My Dearest

Chapter 421 Someone Unimportant

After expressing his thanks, Jack quickened his pace. He frowned slightly as he felt his movements pulling at the wound in his abdomen.

He pressed the elevator button with one hand as his other hand clutched at his stomach. When he finally arrived at the administrative department, there was no sign of Rachel. He only saw a young woman sporting a ponytail eating something out of a bento. She was giggling to herself while watching what seemed to be a TV series on her tablet.

He raised a hand and knocked gently on the table, asking, "Hello, is Rachel Shen here?"

The girl put down her bento and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Shen stepped out of the office not long ago."

"Did she go to the canteen?"

The girl shook her head and said, "No, I heard that someone's treating her out to lunch. She went to a restaurant called Moo Shu on the street next to the hospital."

"Okay, I see. Thank you."

He turned around to head to the restaurant, but a nurse who entered the office behind him saw his pale face and the sweat beading his brow. Worriedly, she asked, "Sir, are you alright? Maybe you should sit down first and rest for a bit..."

"No, thanks." Jack just wanted to find Rachel as soon as possible.

He was thinking that there was something wrong with her so she couldn't come to the hospital to see him. However, if she were well enough to be going out to a lunch with other people, then maybe he had been overthinking things.

He wanted to ask her if he no longer held even the slightest place in her heart.

In the restaurant, Rachel looked at the many dishes laid out on the table and felt slightly embarrassed. "Jimmy, you're being too polite. This is too much!"

Jimmy scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "I wanted to order more dishes, but the waiter told me that what I've ordered were enough for all of us."

"Yes, it's a bit of an overkill to order these many dishes."

Their party consisted of only three adults and a child, but Jimmy ordered a grand total of twenty dishes.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Rachel frowned and asked, "Why isn't the nanny here yet?" "I'll call her to ask.'1

Jimmy went out with his phone and soon came back with a faint smile on his lips. "She said that something came up with the parents of the child she is taking care of, so she has to stay and take care of the child. Forget it, Dr. Shen, let's have lunch."

"That's unfortunate," Rachel murmured.

Looking at the dishes on the table, she had no choice but to pick up her chopsticks and start eating.

Jimmy was a talkative man. Knowing that Rachel was with child, he told her about some interesting tidbits he had picked up during his wife's pregnancy. Whenever he heard his name mentioned during the conversation, his son would stop eating and turn to look at his father. "Dad, was I really so naughty at that time? How come I don't know this?"

The child's innocent questions served as an ice breaker, making the meal less awkward and more familiar.

Jimmy picked up some vegetables and put them on her plate. He said slowly, "I've noticed that you barely ate any veggies, but you really should eat more of them. My wife didn't like to eat vegetables when she was pregnant, and she was picky about all kinds of food. During her antenatal examination later, the doctor told her that the baby was undernourished, so she changed her eating habits after that." "I used to like vegetables, but my palate has changed a lot when I got pregnant."

With a slight smile tugging at the comers of her mouth, Rachel picked up some vegetables to put them into her mouth. Suddenly, her chopsticks were grabbed from her hand and thrown to the floor.

She looked up into Jack's burning eyes. "Rachel. I didn't know you're living such a carefree life right now," he said with an unpleasant sneer.

The veins on her forehead throbbed. The last thing Rachel expected was for Jack to make an appearance at this restaurant.

Looking at his pale face, Rachel was about to ask him what was going on, but then, the door of the restaurant swiveled open, and Scarlett barged in. She stood by the door and looked around, ignoring the waiter who approached her. After locking eyes with Rachel, she militantly walked toward their table.

Rachel had to swallow back the question burning on her tongue. With a faint smile on her face, she said lightly, "Not bad."

"You!"

Jack stretched out his hand to pull Rachel up from the seat, but then his body shook and stiffened from the pain he felt all over.

Panic and worry clouded Rachel's eyes as she watched how weak Jack was at that moment. She was about to throw an arm around him to assist him when Scarlett took a step forward. She held his

arm with one hand and the back of his waist with the other. She asked worriedly, "Jack, are you okay?"

'Yes, he is still with her. He doesn't need me, after all'

Rachel silently placed her hand on her lap under the table and said expressionlessly, "Mr. Fu, as you can see, we are still having our meal. If you don't have anything else to say, please don't disturb us."

The more pain that Rachel felt, the crueler her words were.

Her response was exactly like that of a hedgehog, complete with spikes bristling all over when injured.

While lashing out to make him bleed, she also hurt herself all over.

Rachel calmed down, picked up another pair of chopsticks and smiled at the stunned father and son. "Don't let someone unimportant affect our appetite."

'Someone unimportant...'

Jack stared at her, stunned. He escaped the hospital in his condition to look for her, and yet here she was, saying such harsh words.

The fire in his eyes suddenly went out. With difficulty, he placed his hand on Scarlett's shoulder and said, "Scarlett, let's go."

At those words, every cell in Scarlett's body became excited. Still, she restrained herself from crowing her victory and said gently, "Jack, slow down."

She carefully helped him get into the taxi. Scarlett went around to the other side, opened the door, and was about to get in when Jack coldly bit out, "Get out!"

Scarlett couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. "Jack..." Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Her fragile voice did nothing but to irritate Jack further. He frowned impatiently and said coldly to the caregiver, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "You, too—get out. From now on, you don't have to take care of me again."

"What? Why?" The nurse's eyes widened.

Compared with other caregiving jobs, this job was much more relaxed. Moreover, the salary was three times higher than that of other nurses. She considered this job as a blessing, but she did not expect to be fired in this way.

She was reluctant to leave and appeared to have something else to say, but Jack had already closed his eyes to block out the sight of the two of them. He said coldly and expressionlessly, "You know exactly why. What did I tell you when I came out of the hospital?" Gritting his teeth to endure the pain from his abdomen, he ordered the driver with a single word, "Drive!"

With her head lowered, Rachel forced herself to eat the food before her. Still, she couldn't stop herself from looking out of the restaurant window. The taxi was already gone, but Scarlett and the other woman remained standing by the roadside.

She frowned tightly. Jimmy, who was sitting opposite to her, looked at her silently and said, "Dr. Shen, I don't mean to interrupt, seeing as it was your private affair and all. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that gentleman your husband?"

The sound of Jimmy's voice interrupted Rachel's thoughts. She looked away and nodded. "But we're in the process of getting a divorce," she said lightly.

Jimmy picked up a pitcher of water and poured some into her cup. He said carefully, "It is never easy for two people to be together. It's better to clarify any misunderstanding before things get worse."

"There is no misunderstanding." Rachel took a sip of water to moisten her throat and then picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth. With a faint smile, she said, "I'm full, and I do have to return to the hospital. Please stay and enjoy your meal."

Jimmy knew that she wanted to end the topic, so he said nothing further. He looked sideways at his son, who was still munching on a piece of sweet and sour spareribs, and asked, "Are you full? There are so many leftovers. Let's have them pack these up for dinner later."

The boy nodded heavily.

Looking at this interaction between father and son, Rachel looked down at her belly, a pang of sadness and helplessness surging in her chest.

Jack returned to the ward and doffed his coat. The stitched-up wound in his abdomen had been torn open, and his clothes were blood-soaked. Fortunately, his coat was thick enough to hide the sight.

When the doctor came in to check up on him, he frowned as he saw his state and was thinking of a few choice words to say while dealing with the wound. Knowing the patient's identity, however, the doctor thought twice about his words and said seriously, "Mr. Fu, your wound is not completely healed yet. You can't get out of bed anymore, okay?"

"I understand,"

Jack replied tonelessly. He had rested for a while in bed, but his face appeared even worse than before.

The memory of standing by the restaurant door watching Rachel talking and laughing with that man was like a sharp knife stabbing into Jack's heart. In comparison, his bodily pain at that moment was not even worth mentioning. He had hoped that Rachel could tell him that there was an unavoidable reason for her not to visit him, but she ended up calling him as someone of no importance in her life.

To her, it didn't matter if he were fatally injured or bled to death by the roadside—it was none of her business.

Jack's pale face was beset by fatigue and a profound sadness.

After leaving the restaurant, Rachel didn't go back to the hospital. Instead, she made a call to the director, asked for half a day's leave, and headed straight home. She lay in her bed, her mind a huge, confusing mess.

She thought back to what Jimmy had said. Was it really possible that there really was a misunderstanding between her and Jack? 'Should I go find him and talk to him to make things clear?'

After a long while of trying to make sense of her thoughts, Rachel got out of bed, put on the coat she took out from the cabinet, and headed downstairs. She was about to head out when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Julie came out of the kitchen in a hurry. She wiped her hands on the apron and opened the door. She stared at the man standing outside with a briefcase in his hand and asked, "Who are you looking for?" Author's note

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Translator: Scarlett5555