The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 20: Being Too Popular Isn’t a Good Thing
Chapter 20: Being Too Popular Isn’t Always a Good Thing
After a long moment, Rachel Royce finally put down her phone.
"Going back?" Julian Jennings asked. He had overheard what Tristan Sterling said on the phone.
After a moment of silence, Rachel Royce said, "I should go back."
’I should see what he has to say.’
「Forty minutes later.」
The car arrived in front of the villa’s main gate.
"Are you staying here tonight?" Julian asked.
Rachel Royce said, "I don’t think so. Could you please wait for me here, Professor Jennings?"
Tristan Sterling wouldn’t care whether she stayed or left. He considered every extra word spoken to her a waste of time, so their conversation wouldn’t be very long.
Julian Jennings hummed in agreement.
Rachel Royce walked to the main gate, entered the passcode, and pushed the door open, stepping into the villa.
Upon entering the living room, she found the house brightly lit.
Tristan Sterling was sitting on the sofa. His handsome and noble figure exuded an invisible, oppressive aura.
Rachel Royce walked up to him and asked, "What is it?"
Tristan Sterling pushed a contract from the coffee table toward her. "Sign it."
Rachel Royce’s heart clenched. She subconsciously tightened her fists and took a quiet, deep breath before sitting on the sofa across from him and picking up the agreement.
However, when she picked it up and looked, it wasn’t a divorce agreement. It was a non-compete agreement. A closer look revealed it was a contract prohibiting her from working in a related industry for three years. It stipulated that she would be periodically paid no less than fifty percent of her previous average salary.
Although she had been demoted for over half a year, she had been Tristan Sterling’s assistant before, so she was well aware of the company’s major internal plans.
But this was something he could have easily had Sandra Chapman contact her about, to have her return to the company and sign the agreement. His making her sign it personally likely carried a threatening, warning undertone. He was probably worried she would go to Julian Jennings’s company.
Rachel Royce picked up the pen and signed without any hesitation. After the baby was born, she was going to the United States and had no plans to work in a related field for the time being.
"Done."
The contract was in duplicate. She kept one copy for herself and handed the other to Tristan Sterling.
Tristan Sterling looked at the signed contract. Rachel Royce’s handwriting was fluid and graceful, not only beautiful but also full of strength.
He did appreciate her handwriting.
But looking at the writing alone, he couldn’t connect it with the woman in front of him. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
Rachel Royce put her copy of the contract away. As she was about to get up and leave, something occurred to her. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "About what happened with Joanna today, I apologize on her behalf. She didn’t mean it."
Tristan Sterling’s dark eyes were ice-cold. "Do you think your words carry any weight with me?"
Rachel Royce’s gaze dropped instantly, a wave of humiliation washing over her. She clenched her fists, regulated her breathing, and insisted, "My words may indeed be lighter than a feather, but there are still things I have to say. If Miss Ainsworth hadn’t provoked her, and if she hadn’t been the one to strike first, Joanna was just protecting herself."
As she spoke, the man’s expression grew colder and colder. Rachel Royce felt as if a hand were squeezing her throat, making it increasingly difficult to breathe.
"Rachel Royce, don’t think that just because someone shows you a little respect, you have the right to discuss her rights and wrongs here. You are nothing to me."
In an instant, all the color drained from Rachel Royce’s face. His words were like sharp blades plunging deep into her heart, a raw and excruciating pain.
Tristan Sterling watched her with a cold, indifferent expression.
With a trembling hand, Rachel Royce pushed herself up. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "I’m sorry."
Saying this, she started walking out of the living room. She wanted nothing more than to flee this place quickly, but her feet felt too heavy to speed up. When she finally reached the doorway, she leaned a weak hand against the frame to steady herself. A faint discomfort stirred in her lower abdomen. The baby inside her, likely sensing its mother’s distress, gave a kick.
Rachel Royce quickly placed a hand on her belly, her brow furrowed.
The man in the living room got up and went straight upstairs, completely unconcerned with whether she stayed or left.
Rachel Royce stood in the doorway for a while to compose herself. Only after the baby in her belly quieted down did she continue outside.
She walked out into the yard.
She sat on a bench to rest for a moment, trying to calm herself down.
「A few minutes later.」
Having composed herself, she walked out of the villa.
She got into the car.
Julian Jennings asked, "What did he want?"
Rachel Royce took the contract from her bag and handed it to him. "He had me sign a non-compete agreement."
Julian Jennings took the contract, glanced over it, and handed it back to her. "Tristan Sterling knows what you’re capable of. He’s probably wary of you. But in any case, you don’t plan on working in a related industry for now."
Rachel Royce hummed in agreement.
Julian Jennings started the car and drove away.
It was already ten o’clock when he dropped Rachel Royce off at Rosewood Estate.
After getting home and tidying up, Rachel Royce lay down to rest.
She rested at home for two days. Florence Preston accompanied her to the yoga studio and on walks every day. Rachel Royce felt her steps were not as heavy as before.
After that, she went to Kingsland University.
Julian Jennings had arranged a workstation for her right across from his. Her main tasks were to assist him with his teaching duties, organize relevant course materials, and answer student questions. Julian Jennings didn’t have many classes each week at the moment. He was also no longer serving as a graduate student advisor this year, so he wasn’t at the university most of the time.
This meant Rachel Royce’s workload wasn’t heavy, and she could manage her time on campus freely.
After finishing his morning classes, Julian Jennings arranged Rachel Royce’s relevant tasks.
During this time, quite a few students came to the office to ask questions.
Just like always, Julian Jennings was extremely popular. In reality, he was a very strict teacher with a terrible temper—the kind who could scold someone to tears. Moreover, passing his class at the end of the semester was incredibly difficult, an absolutely hellish level of difficulty.
It was precisely this reputation that scared off many students.
But there were still enough outstanding students whose enthusiasm couldn’t be deterred.
This was mainly because Julian Jennings’s looks were simply too exceptional, and he was indeed a very capable professor.
Two years ago, Julian Jennings went viral online because of a candid photo a student took in class. That year, the university’s application rate skyrocketed, which severely affected his work and personal life.
After that, Julian Jennings strictly forbade cell phones in his classes. Any violators would be failed immediately.
It wasn’t until two in the afternoon, after he had answered the students’ questions and assigned Rachel Royce’s work, that Julian Jennings finally left the university.
「That day.」
Rachel Royce received a call from Joanna Sutton, asking if she wanted to have dinner together that evening.
The two had been in constant contact over the past two days. They had hit it off right away and found they had a lot to talk about.
Rachel Royce agreed.
「After getting off work at five.」
Joanna Sutton drove up to the main gate of A University in a rather flashy red Ferrari.
Rachel Royce got in the car.
"How does it feel to be an assistant?" Joanna Sutton asked.
Rachel Royce said, "It’s pretty good. The professor is as popular as ever. Even when he’s scowling, it can’t dampen the students’ enthusiasm."
Joanna Sutton laughed. "Looks are everything. Who can blame them when he’s so devastatingly handsome? Back when we were students, the line of people chasing him could have stretched from the school all the way to France. He got so annoyed he even shaved his head into a buzz cut and always wore a scowl, but it was no use."
Rachel Royce was surprised. "That really happened?"
"That’s not all. He even scolded a girl who confessed to him until she cried. And he used me as a human shield. I was public enemy number one for a long time because of him."
Rachel Royce couldn’t help but smile. "I guess being too popular isn’t always a good thing."
