Stuck in you

Chapter 129 The Talk

Rachel didn't realize just how popular she was now. She spent the whole morning just dealing wave after wave of people.

Although she had already been officially transferred here, not all the necessary procedures had been finalized because of the events of the past few days.

After everyone had left, she filled a glass with water. She was about to take a sip when she heard a knock on the door.

She sighed and put the glass down. She turned around and her eyes widened when she saw the man standing by the door.

"Uncle James," she greeted him happily.

"Why are you here?"

"Something has happened at the hospital. So I came back to deal with it."

Rachel understood what he meant. James looked at his watch and said, "By the way, it's almost time for dinner. How about we go downstairs and have dinner together?"

Although he had known the whole story, James still did not believe what Executive Fang had told him.

He had not expected Rachel to be involved in this kind of issue. But he never doubted her.

Right now, he simply wanted to know what Rachel thought about the incident. Besides, he already had someone check the story out. When it came to matters involving the hospital, James gave it his all.

In addition to Rachel being taken away the previous day, another thing shocked people.

They hadn't known that Rachel was a married woman.

The day before, many had been watching. After the man who had claimed to be Rachel's husband had left with her, he was all that the nurses could talk about. The conversations mostly revolved around how good-looking he was.

Some had guessed that he could pass as an actor, while some had speculated that he was perhaps a model.

Someone in the department produced a photo of Jack attending an event.

This photo caused another debate. In this photograph, published by the media, the man's identity was clearly indicated. The caption read: Mr. Jack Fu, president of MK Group.

The man in the photo wearing a slick suit was the exact same man who had appeared in the hospital the day before.

People started talking. It was expected of them to not know Jack's identity, but they all knew about MK Group.

This whole time, they had thought that Rachel was single. Occasionally, they had teased her and Lucas about being a couple.

To everyone's surprise, she was actually married! Looking back, they realized that she had never really talked about her family before.

People in the hospital didn't know much about her and her family. Now, they didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

Rachel didn't know that she was now the subject of everybody's fascination. Most of the private conversations among the hospital employees had something to do with her.

She was unaware of all the disturbing rumors that had spread about her, but James wasn't.

Although it seemed that he seldom cared about what went on in the hospital, this could not be further from the truth. He had someone reporting hospital matters to him at all times.

As long as the issue was not serious, James did not feel the need to be at the hospital. In the beginning, Executive Fang had privately dealt with the matter. Later on, when he realized the gravity of the situation, he immediately contacted James.

Although he was yet to be filled in on the details, James had heard about the rumors.

Each time he heard something new, he grew angrier. They had been slandering Rachel right under his nose, and he didn't even know it.

It made sense that he had no knowledge of such things because he seldom went to the hospital. However, what was Lucas' excuse of not telling him? He was always at the hospital.

He had instructed Lucas to take good care of Rachel. When James learned about recent events, he had almost asked his son over to teach him a lesson.

Even with all of these things in mind, James didn't mention a word to Rachel. While they ate, he gradually changed the topic. The two talked about Sheila instead.

He wanted to know the whole story, and Rachel kept nothing from him. She told him all that she knew.

After listening to her talk, he furrowed his brow. He said solemnly, "Don't worry. I will take care of this."

Rachel slightly shook her head. "This has nothing to do with me. The patient's family didn't even report it to the police."

"They didn't?" James frowned. After some thought, he asked, "Why has the police come then?"

They wouldn't have come if they hadn't received a report. James' eyes darkened. "I'll get someone to go to the police and find out what's going on."

"Jack is looking into it now," said Rachel.

Hearing that name piqued James' curiosity.

"So, he is involved in this?"

Upon hearing the question, Rachel paused, suddenly feeling embarrassed. She nodded and faltered, "He came here yesterday."

James wanted to know what was going on between Rachel and Jack, but, on second thought, he made no mention of it. He was afraid that what he was doing was bordering on gossiping.

Even if there was nothing between the two, his son didn't have a chance with Rachel.

James felt sorry for her. She was the perfect girl, but that cunning Jonathan had gotten his hands on her.

James sighed, sorry that his son had grown up with Rachel but had not made her his wife.

The meal ended quietly. Feeling uncertain, James had Rachel taken back to the hospital in his car.

Before she got out of the car, he called her attention and said, meaningfully, "Rachel, if anyone here harms you in any way, don't hesitate to let me know."

Rachel thought that he was referring to the things that had happened in the past two days, so she didn't take him seriously. Smiling, she said, "Don't worry, Uncle James. My colleagues are easy to get along with. I don't think I'll be having a hard time."

James was confused. Didn't Rachel know that people were talking about her behind her back? Was she just trying to put him at ease? A growing number of people from the hospital had been saying things that were hurting her reputation, but she didn't seem to be affected by it. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

After they had said their goodbyes, James instructed the driver to take him home. During the ride, he dialed Lucas' number.

The phone rang and rang. Finally, someone picked up. "Lucas," James said.

"Hello?" a clear female voice said from the other end of the line. "Hello, Lucas isn't here right now. When he returns, I'll ask him to call you back."

James was stunned. He knit his eyebrows as he thought, 'Why is a woman taking my son's phone call?'

Calmly, he replied, "Okay. Please have him call me back later."

"Got it. May I know who's calling, please?"

It was at this point that James suspected that he had dialed the wrong number. He brought the phone down for a moment to check the number. It was his son's! Why was this stranger asking who he was? Wouldn't Lucas have his father's phone number saved on his contacts list?

As James wondered about this, he heard the muted voice of the woman asking who he was.

He had just placed the phone back against his ear and was about to respond when he heard another voice. It was a man's voice this time. "Miss, shall we wait for your boyfriend to be back?"

The woman answered, "Yes, please. Let's wait for him. Thank you."

After the waiter left, Claris said into the receiver, "Can you tell me your name, please? Lucas will call you back."

"James Zhou," came the brief reply.

'James Zhou?' Claris was shocked. When she snapped out of it, James had already hung up.

When Lucas returned, he saw her sitting in her chair with a strange expression on her face. "What's wrong? Why do you look so lost?"

Claris raised her hands and hid her face behind them. Lowering her head, she said, embarrassed and regretful, "I just answered a call to your phone. It was from your father."

He took his phone. He never saved phone numbers of family members and close friends as he remembered their numbers by heart.

It was understandable that Claris wouldn't know. Lucas asked her if his father had mentioned anything.

"He didn't," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "I asked him what his name was, and he said it was James Zhou."

Her reply came after a long pause.

The feeling of humiliation began to consume her.

Amused, Lucas said, "Don't get too excited. My father doesn't bite." He stood up, grabbed his phone, and said, "Wait here. I'm going to call him back. I'll only be a moment."

Claris nodded. As soon as Lucas had walked away, she slumped over the table.

She was far from excited. In fact, she was worried that James had heard the waiter refer to Lucas as her boyfriend.

Her face turned crimson with embarrassment. She had asked Lucas out today as an excuse to spend some time together. He had seemed to have been avoiding her.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had something that he needed her to do, he would not have accepted her invitation.

Without Lucas' knowledge, she had told the waiter that he was her boyfriend.

Although she liked Lucas, she was not brazen enough to introduce him to people as her boyfriend while he was right there.

Claris was afraid that Lucas's father would tell him what he had heard.

Seeing Lucas talking on the phone made her anxious. After some thought, she made a decision. When he returned, she would confess to him.

She didn't think it was a big deal. She believed that Lucas would understand.

Claris shuffled restlessly in her seat. After a while, he returned. He didn't look so good.

She was about to ask him about it when he said, "Sorry, I can't accompany you today. I have to go."

She stood up without realizing it and asked, "What happened?"