Chapter 86 She Waits to Watch the Show
Rachel stared at the line of text, her furrowed brow slowly relaxing.
What a coincidence, right?
She had just laid the groundwork with Heather, and tomorrow Steven and Nancy's affair would be exposed.
If Hestia knew about this, it meant Heather would know too.
Perfect. She had planned all along to use these two to expose the matter, then use Heather's methods to deal with Nancy and ruin her reputation.
As for herself, staying in an innocent position was enough.
The next day.
Hestia followed Nancy to a restaurant. When she saw Steven and Nancy laughing and chatting together, her mind went blank.
She stood frozen in the distance like she'd been turned to stone, staring blankly as Steven put his arm around Nancy's waist.
Steven and Nancy.
The two of them.
They were actually betraying Rachel.
Even though she hadn't spent much time with Rachel, she could tell from their interactions that Steven and Rachel had a good relationship.
So why would he cheat?
And with Rachel's friend, no less.
Nancy was usually so friendly to Rachel too. How could this happen?
After a long moment, her thoughts gradually returned. She looked up and saw Nancy feeding something to Steven.
Her breathing stopped. She instinctively felt that Heather had to know about this. Biting her lip to suppress her chaotic thoughts, she quickly grabbed her phone, zoomed in, and took a picture.
She didn't stay there. Without even caring that she hadn't eaten lunch, she requested time off from her supervisor on WhatsApp, hailed a taxi, and headed to Radiant Beauty Spa.
As soon as she walked through the spa's door, Juniper saw her and came over with a smile. "Ms. Sharp, what brings you here at this time?"
"Where's my Aunt Heather?"
"Ms. Wilson is having lunch with some clients at a restaurant. She left just half an hour ago. Is it urgent? Should I call Ms. Wilson?"
Hestia opened her mouth. This couldn't be shared with outsiders.
She shook her head. "No need. It's not that urgent. I'll just wait in Aunt Heather's office until she gets back."
Juniper said apologetically, "Only Ms. Wilson knows the password to her office door. How about you wait in our guest room?"
Hestia nodded.
The guest room was next to Heather's office. It wasn't large, but it was luxuriously and elegantly decorated.
Juniper brought her some pastries and fruit.
After waiting for over an hour, she finally heard footsteps outside. Looking up, she saw Heather standing at the door, smiling and asking, "Hestia? Juniper said you came over after noon? Have you eaten?"
Hestia quickly put down her teacup and walked over. "Aunt Heather, I have something very important to tell you."
Heather stared at her for a few seconds, then led her into the office.
Before she could ask what was so important, Hestia had already thrust her phone in front of her, showing a photo.
Although the photo was zoomed in, it was still fairly clear. She recognized Steven's profile at a glance.
But she didn't recognize the pretty, innocent-looking woman across from him.
Both were smiling. Even with a table between them, the photo clearly showed how intimate the atmosphere was, not to mention what the photo itself implied.
Remembering how confidently she'd said she understood Steven when Rachel mentioned something was off with him yesterday.
And the result?
Did she really understand him?
She had also thought Steven was deeply in love with Rachel and would never cheat.
Now, it felt like her face had been slapped hard, burning with pain.
Heather gritted her teeth, her expression filled with anger. "Where did you take this photo? Do you know this woman?"
"At a restaurant. This woman is Rachel's friend. She currently works at Stargaze Gallery. Her name is Nancy."
Hestia went on to repeat what Rachel had warned her about some time ago, and mentioned the waffles from that morning.
"That's why I found her suspicious. How could it be such a coincidence that Rachel said Steven made those waffles, but they were the same as the ones Nancy brought? This morning I saw her take a call, speaking in this sweet voice. When she went out at lunch, I followed her, and I didn't expect..."
Heather frowned, picking up on something. "Rachel warned you?"
Hestia nodded, then asked hesitantly, "Aunt Heather, do you think Rachel might have known about this beforehand?"
Heather didn't answer right away, her expression unreadable.
Rachel had actually warned Hestia to stay away from Nancy.
Could it be that Rachel had noticed something but wasn't sure, so she wanted to use them to investigate?
Then why not investigate herself?
Was she afraid to face the truth, or was she reluctant to let go of her relationship with Steven, yet wanted to use Heather to get rid of Nancy?
If that was the case,
Rachel was definitely not as gentle and innocent as she appeared.
After sorting through these possibilities in her mind, her angry gaze returned to Nancy in the photo. She sneered. "Even criminals know not to target people in their own neighborhood. She sure has some nerve."
"Aunt Heather." Hestia moved her lips.
"You did well with this." Heather said. "But don't make a fuss about it yet. Wait until I get to the bottom of this. And be careful—especially don't let Rachel find out. When you get back to Stargaze Gallery, act normal. Don't deliberately avoid Nancy."
She felt a bit disappointed in Steven for cheating.
The Parker family behind Rachel could be either an asset or a burden to Steven.
Besides, the Davis family was a scholarly family with deep roots, and now they even had a diplomat.
They absolutely couldn't be offended or made enemies of.
Moreover, the Martinez family already had three enemies constantly watching them from above.
One wrong step, and they'd fall into an abyss.
So Steven and Rachel absolutely could not divorce!
Nancy!
She rolled the name around in her mind, a flash of ruthlessness in her eyes.
When Rachel heard from Carol that Hestia had taken the afternoon off, she guessed she must have gone to Radiant Beauty Spa to report to Heather.
Nancy was in a great mood all afternoon, humming as she walked.
When they ran into each other, Nancy would greet her in a particularly cheerful and smug tone. Rachel just smiled gently without saying anything.
Anything she said would be pointless. Just waiting to watch the show was enough.
Around 4:30 in the afternoon, Benjamin suddenly sent a message: The juice test report is ready. It's with me.
Rachel was surprised and immediately asked: Are you at the law firm? Should I come find you?
Benjamin: At home. Let's have dinner together tonight, at Azure Kitchen. My treat, as thanks for the other day.
Rachel didn't refuse: What time?
Benjamin: Whatever works for you.
Rachel: 6:30?
Benjamin: Sounds good.
Rachel left Stargaze Gallery at six. She didn't have the driver take her—she borrowed Carol's car instead.
It happened to be rush hour. She was stuck in traffic for about ten minutes and arrived at the restaurant past the agreed time.
When the server led her to the private room on the second floor, Benjamin was already there leisurely sipping coffee.
Today he wasn't wearing a suit, but a black sweater and casual pants. Less business-like, more relaxed and homey.
She walked in and said apologetically, "Sorry, I got stuck in traffic."
Benjamin nodded slightly at her and took the menu from the server to hand to her. "Order first."
Rachel nodded. She didn't hold back, picked three dishes, and returned the menu to Benjamin.
Benjamin closed the menu and gave it back to the server, smoothly naming two more dishes.
Once the server left, Rachel took a sip of coffee and asked as if making small talk, "Do you come to this restaurant often?"
"Not often. Two or three times." Benjamin pushed a manila envelope toward her. "The results came this morning. Betty messaged me, and the courier arrived around four this afternoon."
Rachel was a bit surprised. She unwound the string on the envelope while asking, "Didn't they say half a month? How is it so fast?"
By her count, today was only the seventh or eighth day.
"I expedited it. Results came in two days, then it went through review."
Rachel pulled out the papers inside. There were tests for sweeteners, total sugar content, pesticide residue, and total phenol content reflecting antioxidant properties and synergy with vitamin C.
Further down were routine tests for chemical additives and such.
After looking at both pages, she didn't really understand.
Benjamin glanced at her furrowed face and raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "The juice contains chemical pH levels. The carrier content isn't high, but the radiological purity is very high.
What Nancy put in should be some kind of radioactive drug. This type of drug is usually used in clinical medicine for cancer, heart, liver and kidney disease, as well as skin conditions and placental localization."
Placental localization.
This usually refers to being unable to determine the uterus position in late pregnancy.
But used on pregnant women early on, it would cause fetal deformities.
Rachel pressed her lips together. Her fingers holding the paper lost some color. She frowned and said, "I secretly checked who Nancy's been in contact with these past few days. There's no one suspicious, so where did she get this stuff?"
Benjamin finished her thought. "The dark web."