Chapter 314: Her Choice

Chapter 314: Her Choice

The next morning at 7:30, daylight was already bright.

Last night's puddles reflected the blue sky, like scattered broken mirrors on the ground. The sunlight seemed freshly washed, exceptionally clear and transparent.

Rachel didn't really have a biological clock. Normally, if she managed to wake up at 7 or 8, it was either thanks to an alarm, or because she'd gone to bed early the night before, slept enough, and naturally woke up.

Last night she hadn't gone to bed early, plus she was exhausted, so she'd slept the whole night deeply.

But she was very aware of where she currently was, so the moment Benjamin came out from washing up, she sat up, her eyes still half-closed.

She looked like she hadn't slept well.

Benjamin walked over and reached out to pinch her cheek. "It's still early, sleep a bit more."

"What time does your grandmother usually have breakfast?"

"Seven o'clock."

Rachel struggled to open her eyes to look at the vintage clock on the distant wall, somewhat shocked. "It's already 7:30..."

Benjamin chuckled softly. "It's fine. Grandmother usually gets up early, so her breakfast time is early too. Breakfast is eaten in each person's own courtyard, no need to rush. Sleep a bit more, and when you wake up, I'll have the kitchen send food over."

Hearing this, Rachel's tense body slowly relaxed.

That was good then.

She nodded and, without further concern, lay back down to sleep.

Benjamin helped her tuck in the blanket, readjusted the room's air conditioning, then tiptoed out of the room.

When she woke again, it was already 9:30.

Without that heavy drowsiness from the morning, Rachel didn't linger in bed. Just as she threw off the blanket, Benjamin, who had been sitting on the distant sofa with his legs crossed looking at a tablet, turned to look over.

"Awake?"

He set down the tablet and walked to the bedside. "Hungry?"

"A bit."

"Then go wash up first, I'll have someone bring breakfast."

"Okay."

Rachel responded, slipped on her slippers, went to the walk-in closet to get a set of clothes, then went into the bathroom to wash up.

When she came out after changing, two servants were placing breakfast from trays onto the coffee table.

There were five or six items on the table, all in double portions, looking very delicate.

She sat down and first tried a spoonful of oatmeal porridge. The texture was smooth, and it tasted quite good.

Feeling that empty sensation in her stomach had gone, she asked what was on her mind. "You haven't eaten yet?"

"No, I was waiting to eat with you."

Benjamin asked, "Coffee or milk?"

Milk...

Hearing that word, she couldn't help but think of Steven drugging her milk. Ever since learning about that, she'd felt a deep aversion to milk.

She frowned slightly. "Coffee."

"With sugar?"

"Yes."

Benjamin scooped two spoonfuls of sugar from a small dish into the coffee, stirred it evenly, then pushed it in front of her.

After the two quietly finished breakfast, Benjamin took her for a stroll around the courtyard, then they to Jessica's courtyard to say goodbye.

Giselle happened to be in the main hall too.

After they exchanged greetings, Benjamin said they were preparing to return to southern Dawnlight City.

Jessica still tried to keep them for lunch before leaving, but Benjamin politely declined, using work at his law firm as an excuse.

Jessica couldn't say much more and raised her hand for a servant to bring up the things she'd prepared in advance.

Besides eight gift boxes, there was also a bouquet she'd taken a liking to in the greenhouse yesterday afternoon.

Jessica even took two gifts wrapped in red silk from a servant and stuffed them both into Rachel's hands.

"Rachel, these are gifts from Benjamin's grandfather and me. Although his grandfather has long passed, he always had this on his mind. Today we can finally fulfill his wish."

Rachel froze. Those two gifts dazzled her eyes.

She had actually overlooked this point.

As Benjamin's girlfriend, on her first visit to his family, she was supposed to receive meeting gifts from his family members.

By rights, besides Jessica, Aurora, as well as Jacob and Eileen should all give her a gift.

It's just that, not only had she not thought about this at all, even if she had, she didn't have any expectations from the Rivera Family.

Since they were meeting gifts, it would seem affected if Rachel refused.

She accepted them graciously. "Thank you, Mrs. Wright."

Benjamin's aunt Cordelia Wright also stood up at the right moment and gave her two gifts.

"Rachel, this is my token of appreciation, I hope you don't think it's too little."

Rachel paused, accepted them, and thanked her with a gentle, natural smile.

In her heart, Cordelia still had some reservations about Rachel, especially her divorce, which was like a barrier she couldn't get past.

She always felt that someone like this wasn't worthy of her nephew.

But she wouldn't be foolish enough to show those thoughts openly, otherwise it would damage the Wright family's reputation.

So with these meeting gifts, she wouldn't be stingy either.

"We're all family, why be polite? Today's gifts were prepared hastily, if there's anything inadequate, I hope you'll understand."

"Ms. Wright, you're too kind."

"Next time have Benjamin bring you to visit me."

"Okay."

After the pleasantries, Rachel and Benjamin still went to Harmony Manor to go through the motions.

They didn't see Aurora, Jacob, or Eileen, and even Miranda didn't show up.

Only Betty came out to mention that Aurora wasn't feeling well.

After leaving Harmony Manor, regarding the Rivera Family members' dismissive attitude and the grievances she'd suffered.

Benjamin felt it very necessary to apologize to her. These troubles that she shouldn't have had to bear were, at their root, all because of him.

Thinking of this, his mood grew somewhat heavy.

"I'm sorry for making you suffer."

Rachel stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at him.

She suddenly recalled yesterday's exhaustion pressing on her heart, nearly making her collapse and want to escape.

A deep complexity crept into her heart again.

Under his intense gaze, she suddenly didn't know what to say.

If she said this wasn't his fault, it seemed right, yet also not quite right.

But this was easy to explain—she had willingly come with him to the Wright Manor. Suffering such humiliation from his mother, uncle, and aunt without turning and leaving, she herself was also part of the problem.

Before coming, she had already learned about Benjamin and his family situation.

Plus Aurora had approached her before, so before coming, she was somewhat mentally prepared.

She pressed her lips together, and after a long while finally spoke. "Benjamin, I'm with you simply because that person is you. I chose to follow my heart, so accompanying you to the Wright Manor, I don't regret it either. But people's endurance is limited."

The shadow left by her previous marriage still lingered, and she was afraid of repeating the same mistakes.

It was only because she felt he was worth it, seeing him firmly standing by her side, that she suppressed all her concerns and chose to try with him.

But if something like yesterday happened again, she couldn't say what decision she might make.

Once certain things surfaced, no amount of suppression would be useful.

She wasn't trying to avoid it; rather, she hadn't sorted out her own thoughts or had time to organize them to discuss this issue with him.

Hearing his sudden apology, that complexity that had left and returned inexplicably surged up.

So in the end, she couldn't hold back and said it directly.

Although it sounded somewhat ambiguous, she knew Benjamin understood clearly.

Benjamin gripped her hand tightly and responded in a low voice, "I know. Thank you."

Thank you for not getting angry and leaving on the spot yesterday, thank you for still being willing to hold him, thank you for being able to honestly tell him your feelings now.

That the Rivera Family members could treat Rachel with such an overbearing attitude was also because they didn't really respect him.

Rather than looking down on her, it was more that his position in the Rivera Family members' hearts was negligible.

The Rivera Family members didn't care whether such difficulties would embarrass Rachel or make him sad and hurt. They just wanted to pour all their prejudice against him onto Rachel, who seemed much easier to bully than him.

Two servants walked past. That conversation had no chance to continue.