Chapter 93 He Is Back
As soon as Rachel walked into the side building, Uma spotted her.
Uma was a bit surprised, "Mrs. Martinez, why are you back so early?"
"I forgot to take my tablet and an important document when I left this morning. I only remembered they were left in my room when I needed them this afternoon."
Her expression was gentle, especially those eyes that carried a warm smile, making her seem particularly approachable and naturally trustworthy.
Uma didn't doubt her words at all. After all, when she came over yesterday, there was indeed a tablet and a blue folder in her bag.
But whether she left them behind on purpose or by accident, only Rachel herself knew.
Rachel paused for a few seconds, then put on a curious and puzzled look, walked over and asked quietly, "Did something happen at the main building? When I came back, I saw it was quite chaotic over there, with quite a few people around."
Uma said, "Apparently the house's network was maliciously attacked by someone trying to steal important data from Mr. Martinez's office computer. Maeve is having people remove the virus and repair the firewall or something like that."
She showed just the right amount of surprise and concern on her face, "What about the data? Have Mom and Dad been told?"
"Not sure. Maeve's side is sealed up tight as a drum, can't get any information. But I've already told Ms. Wilson about it. Ms. Wilson was busy earlier,
but she called about ten minutes ago to ask about the situation. She should be on her way back now."
Rachel's breathing stopped.
Heather was coming back?
Radiant Beauty Spa was only about half an hour from The Martinez Manor.
Heather had called ten minutes ago.
That meant there might only be about ten minutes left.
There was time.
But she had to hurry.
"That's good then." She pushed down her thoughts and raised her hand to touch her belly, "Uma, I'm a bit hungry now. Could you please make me something to eat?"
Uma knew she was pregnant and smiled, "Mrs. Martinez, you're being too polite. What would you like to eat?"
What would take more time?
Rachel quickly weighed her options, "Beef stew."
Uma nodded, then hesitated, "That's fine, it's just that it takes quite a bit of time. By the time it's ready, it'll almost be dinner time.
How about I make you some pasta first? Trust me, the pasta is just as good as beef stew."
Pasta?
That was also a dish that wasn't so easy to make.
As long as she could keep Uma in the kitchen while she was in the study, that would be enough to prevent Uma from suddenly coming upstairs. If Uma discovered she wasn't in her room, that would be very troublesome.
It would raise Heather's suspicions to some degree.
As for what food to make, it wasn't really that important.
She smiled and nodded, "Alright, pasta it is. Thanks for your trouble."
"No trouble at all. You go upstairs and do your work. When it's ready, I'll come up and call you."
"Okay."
Watching Uma leave, Rachel lowered the smile in her eyes, turned around and entered the elevator.
Without the concern of cameras, she didn't hesitate and walked straight to the door of Heather's small study.
As she was about to enter the password, her hand paused. She took a tissue from her bag, covered her fingerprints, quickly entered the password, pressed down the door handle, and slipped inside.
She placed her bag on the coffee table and surveyed the height of the bookshelf - about 7 feet tall.
With just her own height, it would be absolutely impossible.
But in the entire study, the only thing she could move and stand on was Heather's office chair.
She bit her lip, moved the chair in front of the bookshelf, took off her shoes, and slowly stepped up.
But the height still wasn't quite enough. She didn't know which specific book it was, so she could only hold onto the bookshelf and try hard to stand on tiptoes to reach the books on the top right.
When she got to the fourth book, she felt that this one had a different texture and thickness from the previous three.
Opening the first page, it was indeed the account book.
She had memorized those few pages she'd photographed earlier by heart.
Today was overcast, and without the lights on in the study, the lighting wasn't very strong.
She only roughly checked the numbers on the first few pages. After confirming they were correct, she quickly photographed the remaining twenty-some pages one by one.
After finishing, she closed the account book, put it back exactly where it was, tidied up the books in front, then carefully got down from the chair and pushed it back in front of the desk.
After coming out, she closed the door and walked back to her room with steady steps.
Less than a minute after the door closed, while she was still calming the tension that had been lingering in her heart, there was suddenly a knock on the door.
Her shoulders trembled slightly in fright.
"Mrs. Martinez, your pasta is ready."
Uma's voice came from outside.
Rachel was slightly stunned.
It was ready so quickly?
Her heart suddenly tightened.
That was close!
If she had come back half a minute later, she might have been exposed.
She let out a long breath, trying hard to suppress that trace of relief and tension at the bottom of her heart, trying to relax herself.
Looking up at the documents and tablet on the table not far away, she pressed her lips together, walked over, and opened the tablet and documents to make it look like she had been working.
Then she opened the door, a calm and composed smile spreading across her face. Without asking much, she responded with a "okay" and went downstairs with Uma.
She looked around the room, walked to the dining table and sat down, asking, "Where's Mom? Not back yet?"
"Ms. Wilson is already back, but she's at the main building right now."
Rachel's heartbeat instantly became unsteady.
Was she being held up by Maeve?
Thank goodness, thank goodness.
She lowered her eyelids, loosened her grip on the utensils a bit, and tasted the pasta.
Halfway through eating, Heather's figure appeared in her field of vision. She put down her utensils, stood up and called out, "Mom, you're back."
Heather was stunned for a moment, a trace of doubt showing in her eyes, "You're back so early today?"
"I accidentally left my tablet and documents this morning, so I came back to check some information. I happened to be hungry, so I had Uma make me a bowl of pasta."
Rachel met her gaze, her expression normal, "Mom, how is it? Is the firewall situation serious?"
Heather glanced at the bowl on the table, nodded slightly, her brow slightly furrowed, her tone flat, "It's fine, just a hacker intrusion. We caught it early, no need for us to worry about it."
The implication was that Maeve would handle it.
It seemed Heather must have suffered a bit at Maeve's hands.
Now that Gavin wasn't home, even if she was upset by Maeve, there was nothing she could do.
Rachel asked with a smile, "Would you like to try this pasta?"
"You eat. I'm going upstairs to change."
With that, her steps paused, and she turned back to look at Rachel, her gentle expression somewhat dark and inscrutable, "The house has no internet and there's a virus. Your tablet wasn't infected, was it?"
Rachel's hand hanging at her side stiffened slightly, but the smile on her face didn't change, "I was worried about that, so I used my phone's hotspot."
The doubt in Heather's heart kept deepening and growing.
Rachel stayed here last night, and the next day the house network was breached, and she came back so early?
Such a coincidence?
She didn't believe it.
Most coincidences were just premeditated acts.
If it was premeditated, what was Rachel's purpose in doing this?
Her eyelid twitched sharply.
If The Martinez Manor's entire network firewall was breached, that meant all the security cameras couldn't be used.
The camera outside the study hallway.
Could it be?
Her breathing hitched slightly, but her face remained gentle, "That's good then. You go ahead and eat."
With that, she quickly went upstairs.
Rachel clearly saw the change in Heather's eyes and knew she was suspicious, and was amazed by her perceptiveness.
But she carefully went through the details of the study in her mind - she shouldn't have left any traces.
Thinking this, she finished the pasta with peace of mind.
After Heather went upstairs, she went straight to the study, confirmed that the password lock on the door showed no signs of being breached or cracked, then went in to look around.
Even the position of the office chair hadn't changed. She looked at the account book on the bookshelf, and likewise found nothing unusual.
Her eyes darkened.
Was she really overthinking it?
The Martinez Manor's network firewall wasn't fully restored until after nine in the evening, and that's when Steven came back.
When Rachel opened the door, he was wearing a dark gray coat, his tall figure upright, his features handsome, and those eyes behind his glasses still gentle and deep.
They reflected her bright and beautiful face, his voice soft, "Honey, I'm back."
Rachel looked at him, the expression on her face dazed for a moment.
He was back.
Did he mean his body and mind had returned to her?
But she didn't need it anymore.
Dirty things should be thrown in the trash.
She forcibly suppressed the disgust and rejection welling up in her heart, showing just the right amount of surprise on her face, "Didn't you say you'd be back in two days? Why are you back today?"
"Mom called me yesterday and said you were lonely at home alone and came to The Martinez Manor.
I thought about it carefully, and I have been neglecting you during this time."
Steven took her hand, gently caressing her cheek with his other hand, "Honey, it's all my fault. I'm free tomorrow, wherever you want to go, I'll go with you."