The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 34: Compensation for Emotional Distress
Chapter 34: Compensation for Emotional Distress
The concert began.
Joanna Sutton’s good mood vanished.
Fortunately, the opening act was her favorite, Teacher Holt, a high-soprano singer.
The quality of the concert was indeed exceptional, far beyond the average performance.
Listening to the music, Rachel Royce gradually pulled her thoughts away from Tristan Sterling.
In truth, she wasn’t nearly as over it as she appeared on the surface.
Then, the next performer walked onto the stage. She wore a strapless, light purple evening gown, its full skirt adorned with tiny diamonds. With her hair in an updo and an exquisitely beautiful face, she seemed to glow with radiance.
From her angle, Rachel could see Tristan Sterling’s profile perfectly. His profound gaze was fixed on the girl on stage, utterly focused.
The moment Claire Ainsworth appeared, gasps of admiration rippled through the audience, and people quickly took out their phones to take pictures.
It was no wonder Tristan Sterling and Suzanne Sullivan were here. Many leaders were in attendance as well, likely all to support Claire Ainsworth.
Joanna’s expression soured. She turned to Rachel and asked, "Want to leave now?"
They were seated in the middle of the row, with people on both sides, making it inconvenient to get out. "Let’s just wait until it’s over," Rachel said.
On stage, Claire Ainsworth sat at the piano. As her slender, pale fingers rested on the keys, the orchestra’s accompaniment began.
The music was exquisite, a true feast for the ears.
Claire Ainsworth’s performance level was incredibly high; she was clearly a person of immense musical talent.
But Rachel couldn’t bring herself to listen with the same focus as before.
Joanna suddenly handed her a Bluetooth earbud. "Want to cleanse your ears?"
Rachel’s lips curved into a smile. She shook her head gently. "You wear it, Joanna."
The performance, which lasted several minutes, finally came to an end.
Thunderous applause filled the concert hall. The man in the front row clapped, a gentle, appreciative smile on his lips.
Rachel and Joanna were probably the only ones in the entire venue who remained still.
After Claire Ainsworth left the stage,
Tristan Sterling said something to Suzanne Sullivan, then stood up and walked off in Claire’s direction.
「Half an hour later.」
The concert was finally over.
Joanna waited until most of the crowd had left before helping Rachel up.
Outside the concert hall, the sky was a dreary gray, and a light drizzle was falling.
"I’m going to have to ask my senior for emotional damages after this."
Rachel laughed. "The professor might feel he’s being unfairly blamed."
"Better him than me feeling like I was sitting on pins and needles in there. It completely ruined my good mood." As Joanna spoke, her gaze fell to Rachel’s abdomen. "Our little darling had better not be affected by this."
Rachel couldn’t help but chuckle. "Her senses aren’t that developed yet."
As they were about to exit the main doors,
Joanna said, "I’ll go get the umbrella from the car. It’s cold out, so wait for me here."
Rachel nodded. "Okay."
Joanna went out the main doors.
Rachel sat on a bench in the public lobby to wait.
The audience members continued to file out of the concert hall.
Just then, she saw Suzanne Sullivan and a group of people heading for the exit.
Tristan Sterling and Claire Ainsworth were not with them.
’They’re probably off somewhere alone together right now.’
As he glanced in her direction, Suzanne Sullivan saw her too.
For the second their eyes met, Rachel looked away, turning her gaze outside.
Suzanne Sullivan silently withdrew his gaze.
Outside the concert hall, three cars were already waiting for the group.
They said their goodbyes to each other and got into the cars.
Suzanne watched the other cars leave but didn’t get into his own. Instead, he turned and looked back toward Rachel. She was just sitting there, seeming exceptionally still.
She was dressed warmly, which made her belly look even bigger. She must be due soon.
But who would have thought that the ordinary-looking pregnant woman sitting there was carrying the child of the top-tier Sterling Family? Yet there she sat, all by herself.
After a long moment of silence,
he lowered his eyes, retracting his gaze. Just as he was about to get in the car, he saw Joanna Sutton walking toward them with an umbrella.
Joanna saw Suzanne Sullivan too and couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes at him.
When Rachel saw Joanna, she walked out the main doors. A gust of cold wind hit her, making her shiver involuntarily.
Joanna closed the umbrella and adjusted Rachel’s hat and scarf. Bundled up in layer after layer, Rachel looked like a little bear.
"Let’s go!"
Joanna opened the umbrella again and linked arms with her, heading forward.
The pavement was wet and slippery, so Joanna supported Rachel as they walked very slowly.
From inside his car, Suzanne Sullivan watched their two figures slowly move away until he received a call from Claire Ainsworth. He then instructed his driver, "Let’s go."
Rachel got into Joanna’s car.
The two of them went to a nearby mall for afternoon tea.
With Christmas just a week away, the mall was filled with festive decorations.
Joanna accompanied Rachel for a stroll around the mall. As they passed a maternity and baby store,
Joanna asked if she wanted to go in and look around.
Rachel shook her head. ’There’s no need for me to prepare anything,’ she thought. ’I won’t even have the chance to be with her.’
Although Rachel tried her best to hide it, Joanna could still see the sadness and loneliness in her eyes. The child she would labor to carry for ten months would ultimately belong to someone else.
’And what is the child’s father doing right now? Parading his mistress all over town, showing off their love.’
Joanna couldn’t help but curse Tristan Sterling again in her head. She didn’t know how to comfort Rachel, so in the end, she said nothing at all.
In the end, Rachel couldn’t resist buying a golden safety lock pendant.
’I still want to leave something for my child.’
The sky had grown completely dark.
When Rachel was ready to go home, Zachary Dudley drove the car over, and Joanna saw her off.
「Back at the villa.」
The living room was quiet.
Rachel changed her shoes, went to her room to put down her bag, and then went to the kitchen to take a look. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
Florence Preston was on the phone with Rachel’s father.
Rachel overheard a few sentences.
When Florence saw her, she said a quick word to Allen Royce before hanging up and slipping the phone into her apron pocket.
"You’re back. It was quite cold outside today, did you get chilled?"
Rachel shook her head. "No. Is the contract signing not going smoothly for Dad?"
Allen Royce’s company had already negotiated an acquisition. The other party was a real estate company from Portington with strong capital backing. They were looking to expand their business and were set to acquire Wellspring for two hundred million. They were already at the contract-signing stage, but judging from the conversation, it seemed there was a problem with the signing.
Florence hadn’t wanted to mention it to Rachel, mainly to keep her from worrying. But since she had overheard, she explained, "The plan was to sign the contract on Monday, but the other party suddenly said they want to delay it. We don’t know the specifics yet. Your father is contacting people to find out the reason."
Once something like this is delayed, the signing becomes highly uncertain.
Rachel said, "Then let’s just wait for news from Dad."
Florence hummed in agreement. "You go rest first."
She had eaten snacks in the afternoon, so she wasn’t very hungry at dinnertime, but she knew she would definitely get hungry later.
After dinner,
Rachel sat on the sofa watching a movie.
She heard the sound of a car pulling up outside.
She had thought Tristan Sterling wouldn’t be back today, so she was surprised that he actually came home.
The man walked into the house.
