Chapter 144 Rachel, Do You Love Me?
No!
Whenever he imagined Rachel being with another man in the future, having nothing to do with him anymore, never seeing each other again - that picture in his mind.
That suffocating pain would swallow him like a tidal wave.
Heather was going to prison, and he would most likely be kicked out of the Martinez family too. He would have nothing left.
All of this was because of Rachel.
This marriage was his last bargaining chip.
If he lost this too, he would truly have nothing left.
So what if she was the whistleblower? So what if she deceived him and used him?
It didn't matter.
None of that was important.
He could rationalize it, find reasonable explanations for her, and try hard to forgive her, to be understanding.
The most important thing right now was that he couldn't be without Rachel, couldn't leave Rachel.
He had to keep Rachel locked by his side, for the rest of his life, belonging only to him.
Yes, that was it.
He pressed his palms down and slowly stood up from the floor, sitting back down in his chair.
His confused and chaotic mind was left with only that single voice - "can't lose Rachel." What excuse should he find for her, and how should he keep her by his side next?
He couldn't figure any of this out, and the pain in his heart hadn't lessened one bit.
Time passed both quickly and yet seemed endless.
When he finally pulled himself out of that complex, dark abyss, the electronic clock on the office wall already showed 1:20.
Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling window, the entire city's outline was reflected in the brilliant neon lights.
Steven raised his hand mechanically, hesitated, then picked up his phone from the desk and turned on the screen.
He realized that four hours ago, Rachel had sent him a WhatsApp message.
[What time are you working until? Have you eaten dinner?]
He froze, his eyes dark and unclear.
He'd been sitting there since the afternoon, thinking about many things, but now he couldn't seem to remember what exactly he'd thought about.
Only confusion and heartache remained.
He pulled himself together and got home after 2 AM.
The entire villa was wrapped in a quiet atmosphere.
Looking at the house's layout and familiar decorations, his mood was incredibly heavy.
The lights on the second floor were off. He went upstairs and turned on the hallway motion sensor lights.
After lingering at the master bedroom door for a while, he gently pressed down the handle.
The hallway light seeped into the dark room. He walked to the bedside and looked at Rachel's peaceful sleeping face in that dim light.
He pressed his lips tight, his shoulders slumping down.
In this moment, he suddenly realized that if Rachel was the whistleblower, then the whole thing about asking Matthew and Michael for help was just her fooling him, too.
He laughed at himself.
The thread of hatred splitting from his chest lingered in his heart, but was quickly covered by his intense and genuine love.
Even if this relationship was mixed with so much calculation of interests, he couldn't convince himself to stop loving her.
Rachel had also worked overtime until after 9 PM last night.
The day's busyness left her exhausted. After taking a shower, she symbolically sent Steven a message, then threw herself onto the soft, comfortable bed and fell asleep.
The next day, when she woke up, it was already 8:30.
After the opening ceremony of the joint exhibition, the rest of the exhibition was just receiving regular visitors, so she no longer needed to watch over it constantly.
After washing up and changing clothes, she came downstairs and smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen.
Steven came out of the kitchen carrying breakfast as usual.
The only unusual thing was his somewhat pale face, and his thoughtful eyes that made her heart sink with complexity.
This look in his eyes seemed different from the past couple of nights.
She frowned slightly, walked to the table, and asked with apparent concern, "Why do you look so bad? Didn't sleep well last night? What time did you get back?"
Hearing this, Steven - perhaps because he now knew the truth - felt like her concerned expression was covered with a layer of falseness and disguise.
It made him feel it wasn't real.
But the emotion in his eyes was quickly covered with gentleness. He said softly, "Got back at 2. There were lots of things going on at the company, so I came home late. Are you going to the Stargaze Gallery later?"
"Yes, but no rush." Rachel pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Eat your breakfast first."
Steven responded, buttered a piece of toast for her, and scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Eat more. You've been tired these past days because of the opening ceremony. Rest more these next few days. For things at Stargaze Gallery, if you can leave them to Wayne and Carol, just leave them to them."
For some reason, Rachel caught something unusual in his tone.
He was equally gentle and attentive, his voice full of patience and concern.
But...
It was just different.
The table fell quiet for a while. She was eating breakfast silently, thinking about what felt different about him.
Suddenly, Rachel heard Steven's light voice in her ear, carrying a bit of nervousness and anticipation, "Rachel, do you love me?"
Rachel froze, her hand suspended in mid-air, looking up at him.
It wasn't like he'd never asked this question before.
But usually not at the dining table.
She laughed lightly, "Did you work yourself silly? Why are you asking this out of nowhere?"
"I want to know." Steven looked at her, his expression serious.
Rachel glanced at the maid wiping the table and vases in the living room, pretending to be embarrassed as she glared at him.
"There are other people here. Control yourself. Hurry up and eat, your spaghetti is getting cold."
She changed the subject.
Steven's eyes dimmed, his heart feeling like it had a saw stuck in it, constantly pulling back and forth.
Perhaps because the pain had continued from yesterday afternoon through midnight, he felt somewhat numb now.
He lowered his eyelids, trying hard to hide the sad emotions showing in his eyes. The meat sauce pasta on his plate didn't seem to have any taste either.
This meat sauce pasta was what she'd said she wanted to eat yesterday morning.
He hadn't slept at all last night, and couldn't sleep.
He got up after 6, quickly washed up, and started cooking the pasta.
He tried hard to swallow the bitterness in his throat, his eyes flickering slightly, opening his mouth again hoarsely, "Rachel, let's... have another child. This time, I promise I'll take good care of them, okay?"
Rachel met his deep eyes and saw longing and hope in them.
But the emotion on her face faded, as if some sad memory had been triggered. She looked away evasively, "We'll see."
Steven's heart sank.
He knew bringing this up now was a bit inappropriate, after all, Rachel had just had a miscarriage recently.
But he was too panicked inside right now, desperately needing an answer from her to stabilize himself.
Her reaction now made him feel guilty and somewhat uneasy.
It really wasn't suitable for her to get pregnant now.
Then what other way could he use to tie her to his side?
He lowered his eyelids again, apologizing softly, asking her not to be angry.
Rachel felt this version of Steven was a bit creepy.
What could cause such a change in him? She shuddered.
She had a vague guess in her heart, but still wasn't sure.
After breakfast, she didn't let him drive her. She called the driver and left Moonlight Estate.
Rush hour was already over, so the car drove all the way smoothly. When they were almost at Stargaze Gallery, her phone in her bag suddenly chimed with a text notification.
Rachel froze and took it out to look: [Steven has found out you're the whistleblower for Radiant Beauty Spa, and he knows Benjamin is your lawyer too. Be careful!]