The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 71: Meeting the Person You Don’t Want to See
Chapter 71: Seeing Someone She Didn’t Want to See
When Rachel Royce came out of the restroom, Tristan Sterling was gone.
She found Julian Jennings and June Jennings.
She told them that Thomas Sterling was treating them to dinner that evening.
June Jennings sighed. "And here I was hoping to fleece my brother for a meal."
Julian Jennings chuckled. "Then I suppose I’ve dodged a bullet today."
June huffed. "You can run, but you can’t hide. Rachel, what do you want to eat? We should think about it in advance. We have to make my brother treat us next time to make up for it."
Rachel couldn’t help but smile. "Alright, then. When I get home, I’ll take a good look for anything that flies in the sky or swims in the sea that I haven’t tried before."
Julian said, "Just don’t eat me out of house and home."
"..."
There was a fireworks show at six o’clock.
The three of them watched the fireworks display before leaving.
That evening, Thomas Sterling treated them to dinner at Orchid Gardens.
After dinner.
The group said their goodbyes.
"Drive safe, Professor," Rachel said.
Julian hummed in agreement. "You should get some rest as soon as you get back."
Rachel got into Thomas Sterling’s car.
After a full afternoon of fun, Rachel was exhausted. She leaned against her seat, feeling drowsy.
Thomas didn’t disturb her.
Suddenly, Rachel’s eyes snapped open, and she asked, "Has Tristan Sterling decided to remarry?"
Thomas glanced over at Rachel. "I haven’t heard anything about that. Why the sudden question?"
’Tristan and I aren’t divorced yet. We’re still legally husband and wife, so it’s impossible for him to marry Claire Ainsworth.’
’But this relationship has to end sooner or later.’
Seeing Rachel’s worried expression,
Thomas said, "You’re worried about little Melissa."
Rachel hummed in confirmation.
Thomas said, "To be honest, my cousin has always been a pretty cold person, ever since we were kids. He’s not even that close with my second aunt and the others. And while the Sterling family looks harmonious on the surface, my older brother and him have actually been fighting for control behind the scenes. But frankly, my brother is no match for him. If he wanted to take over the Sterling family’s businesses, he absolutely could. The only thing stopping him is our grandparents."
"When it comes to being the most ruthless and cold-blooded person in the Sterling family, that would be my cousin."
"But ever since little Melissa was born, even my mom says he’s become more human. I heard from my dad that my cousin transferred half of his assets into little Melissa’s name."
Rachel was shocked.
He had actually transferred half of his assets to Melissa, and she was only five. Although Rachel didn’t know Tristan’s exact net worth, she knew it had to be a terrifying, incalculable number.
"My two nephews adore little Melissa, and they have a great relationship. Because of her, the tension between my older brother and him has even eased up. He’s even helped my brother out. So now, little Melissa isn’t just important to my cousin; she’s an incredibly important presence for the entire Sterling family."
Back then, no one could have imagined that the daughter Rachel gave birth to would change Tristan so much.
Listening to Thomas’s words, Rachel understood what he meant. No matter what happened, Melissa would be well taken care of in the Sterling family. Her position was surely unshakable.
She let out a breath. "As long as she can always be happy, that’s all that matters."
Thomas looked at her, seeing the helplessness and sorrow in her eyes. He knew Rachel desperately wanted to see her child.
’But in what capacity could she see her?’
Thomas drove Rachel to her villa.
Before getting out of the car, Rachel picked up a bag and handed Thomas a Minion Bob water bottle.
Thomas took it and looked at it in his hand. "It’s actually pretty cute."
Rachel pushed the door open and got out. "You should get some rest early when you get back, too."
Thomas hummed in assent. "Good night."
The new week was a flurry of activity, her schedule packed with work tasks and appointments.
When she saw an interview scheduled for Tuesday morning, Rachel felt a headache coming on.
But it was work, and she couldn’t get out of it.
’It seemed she and he were just naturally incompatible. Even when she appeared before him with a completely new identity, they still couldn’t have a normal conversation.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
’Oh, well.’
’What must be faced, must be faced.’
’She had to face the difficulty head-on. She had overcome so many greater hardships over the years, what was there to be afraid of now?’
「Monday night.」
She had dinner plans with Julian Jennings, mainly to discuss work-related matters.
As luck would have it, she ran into Tristan Sterling again.
’She didn’t know if the heavens were playing a cruel joke on her. Back when she had wanted to see him, she never could. Now that she didn’t want to, she kept bumping into him.’
Fortunately, however, it was just a brief encounter. He nodded in acknowledgment to Julian, and Rachel looked away, but she could clearly feel a cold, sharp gaze sweep over her.
’He must completely resent her now.’
Tristan and his group walked away.
Julian looked at Rachel’s tense, grim expression and asked, "What’s wrong?"
Rachel composed herself and said, "It’s nothing. I just saw someone I didn’t want to see."
Julian said, "It’s inevitable that you’ll run into him again in the future. Just think of him as the biggest obstacle on your path forward. As long as you face him calmly, no future difficulty will seem like a difficulty to you anymore."
Rachel looked at him and curled her lips into a smile. "Professor, when you put it like that, it actually makes a lot of sense."
Julian said, "I believe you can do it."
"Mhm!"
"..."
After dinner, she returned home.
Rachel went over the materials for tomorrow’s interview one last time.
’At last week’s summit, he had publicly made things difficult for her.’
’And now, she had offended him even more.’
’Tomorrow definitely wouldn’t be smooth sailing. It would be another tough battle, so she needed to build up her energy and get to bed early.’
For her, going to bed at midnight was already early.
She got up at six in the morning.
Exercising to get herself in the right state of mind was essential.
After jogging with Thomas, eating breakfast, and getting ready, she left for the office by car at eight-thirty.
At the office, she confirmed the procedure one last time before setting out.
The interview was scheduled for ten o’clock.
Her team needed to arrive early.
At nine-thirty, she and the photographer arrived at Cedarwood Group.
Standing before this familiar skyscraper again, Rachel felt as if a lifetime had passed.
The receptionist badged them into the elevator.
They arrived at the president’s floor.
An assistant first led them to a lounge to wait.
On the way to the lounge, Rachel saw a children’s slide, a swing set, a rocking horse... It was a miniature children’s playground.
Rachel paused.
Seeing her suddenly stop, the assistant explained, "President Sterling had this built for his daughter. Our young miss is also at the company today."
Rachel’s heart suddenly clenched. She composed her expression and said, "It seems President Sterling really dotes on his daughter."
’Thomas had said that he often brought little Melissa to the office. She had wondered if she might see her today, feeling both hopeful and nervous.’
’And now she heard that little Melissa was right here.’
’Her sense of anticipation grew even stronger.’
She tried hard to steady her breathing as she followed the assistant into the lounge to wait.
「Twenty minutes later.」
The assistant returned and said, "Miss Evelynn, this way, please."
Rachel, who had now calmed down, acknowledged with a sound and followed the assistant to the president’s office.
The assistant pushed the door open, and the sweet, milky scent of a child wafted out.
"Please!"
