Chapter 96 Black Coffee
Benjamin walked forward with his arm around her for more than ten yards, only stopping when he heard the sound of a car engine starting behind them.
Rachel also heard the car driving away. She let out a long breath, and as she looked up, her eyes met his deep, dark gaze.
Their eyes locked in the air for a few seconds before Rachel quickly pulled away from his embrace, awkwardly scratching her cheek.
"Sorry about that, it was an emergency situation, I..."
Benjamin nodded, indicating he didn't mind, then expressionlessly adjusted his cufflinks and casually asked, "Did you drive here?"
Rachel didn't see any displeasure on his face and replied, "I took a cab."
Ever since Steven stopped letting her drive, getting around had become really inconvenient for her.
She either had to take cabs or borrow Carol's car.
"Let's go, it's on my way." Benjamin's voice was flat as he walked toward where his car was parked.
Rachel paused.
Come to think of it, although Stargaze Gallery and Azure Sky Law Firm weren't on the exact same route, the entire path was a straight line with no turns needed.
From here, it seemed like you would pass by Stargaze Gallery.
Since it was on his way, she didn't make a fuss about it and followed him.
The drive was smooth and easy. In about twenty minutes, they arrived at the entrance of Stargaze Gallery.
Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt, thanked him, and pushed open the car door to get out.
Benjamin watched her figure disappear from view, his thin lips pressed into a straight line.
After a long while, he finally looked away, restarted the car, and after passing an intersection, he called Adrian Grey, the top executive of the Grey Group.
"Check all the transport vehicles under the Nelson Group. Once you find them, send me the vehicle types and license plate numbers."
The Grey Group and the Nelson Group had cooperated for so many years. Although the two families were now at odds with each other.
They still knew each other's business inside out, so checking wouldn't be difficult or time-consuming.
Adrian and Benjamin were about the same age and old classmates. As soon as he got into a contract dispute with the Nelson family, he went straight to Benjamin.
Benjamin hadn't wanted to take this case initially, since he had other cases on his plate. But he couldn't resist Adrian's persistent reasoning and emotional appeals, even bringing up the ancient history of Benjamin borrowing an eraser from him in elementary school and never returning it.
In the end, he really couldn't stand Adrian's nagging and agreed.
After Adrian agreed, he added, "The families of the victims and injured have been pacified. As for the Nelson family, what do you plan to do next?"
"No rush, we'll talk about it next Friday." He reminded him, "I need that vehicle information tonight!"
Adrian couldn't help but ask, "Why are you suddenly checking transport vehicles?"
The call had already ended.
Adrian was speechless.
Back at the law firm, Nathaniel came up to him and reported all the phone calls and emails received that morning.
Benjamin nodded casually to show he understood, and Nathaniel said, "I'll get you a cup of coffee."
"Okay."
He responded flatly, and as Nathaniel reached the door, he suddenly called out, "Wait. Not black coffee."
Nathaniel paused, then nodded, "Yes."
About half a month ago, Benjamin seemed to have stopped enjoying black coffee.
He would frown every time he drank it.
Benjamin had been drinking black coffee since he went abroad to study. Who knew if it was psychological or something else.
After talking with Rachel in this office last time, he found it bitter. But he didn't expect that every time he drank it afterward, it would taste especially bitter.
He'd tried so many times, but today he didn't want to try again.
Just after five in the evening, Rachel had just finished touring the exhibition setup progress with Wayne and Carol. Before she could give instructions, Steven's figure had already appeared outside the exhibition hall.
"Not done yet?" Steven looked at her warmly and asked with a smile.
"Not yet, why are you here?"
"To pick you up."
Rachel's lips moved as she forced a smile, "Then wait for me a moment."
"It's fine, no rush, take your time."
Rachel looked away and continued giving instructions to Wayne and Carol. More than ten minutes later, she went upstairs to get her coat and bag before coming down.
Steven first took her to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner.
She stood at the supermarket entrance in a daze for quite a while.
It seemed that after graduating from college, the two of them hadn't been to the supermarket together anymore.
They had been in a long-distance relationship for over a year back then. Not long after Steven returned from abroad, he proposed to her. After marriage, Steven joined a company under the Martinez Group for training and couldn't spare the time, nor did he think about this.
"Does it feel nostalgic?"
Rachel snapped out of her thoughts at his gentle voice. She smiled faintly, not answering his question, but instead remarked, "It really has been a long time since I've been to a supermarket."
With that, she walked inside.
Steven paused. Perhaps because too much guilt had accumulated in his chest these past few days, he kept trying to find something to convert or numb it. In the end, he discovered that only the little moments with Rachel could overcome this guilt.
He caught up with Rachel, a smile appearing in his eyes as he asked softly, "Do you remember the first time we went to the supermarket together?"
Rachel heard this and instinctively looked up at him.
She suddenly understood why he had brought her to the supermarket.
Missing the past?
Making up for what his affair had taken from her, or from himself?
Come to think of it, although they'd been together for six years, the most carefree and sweet time was during college.
Back then, they often went to the supermarket together, buying their favorite fruits, snacks, bread, and other things.
Those things might indeed be worth remembering.
But there wasn't much need for it.
This ironic and sad ending didn't deserve those beautiful and vibrant memories.
Was he using past feelings to bind her?
How ridiculous.
"It's been a while, I don't really remember." She naturally grabbed a shopping cart, not wanting to continue this topic. The more they talked about it, the more ironic it felt.
She casually changed the subject, "Let's make steak tonight."
Steven heard this, and a flash of disappointment crossed his eyes.
Didn't remember?
Had she really forgotten?
Or did she not want to remember?
No way.
Six years was indeed quite a long time.
Not remembering was normal.
Yes, that's right.
He comforted himself this way and smiled in agreement, "Okay. I'll buy it and cook it for you when we get back."
Perhaps influenced by Steven, she lacked enthusiasm. After one round, she hadn't bought much.
Most of the items were things Steven said she used to like or love to eat.
Steven's attempt to please her was too obvious.
So obvious that it stirred up some annoyance in her heart.
But she couldn't show it, so she made an excuse, "Let's check out. I've been getting tired easily lately, I want to go home and rest."
"Okay."
Steven paused, waited in line to pay, then took her hand and walked toward where the car was parked.
Rachel pressed her lips together, struggling to control herself from pulling her hand away.
When they reached the car, she seemed to have reached her limit and pulled her hand back, "You go put the things away?"
With that, she opened the passenger door and got in.
As soon as the door closed, her phone in her bag suddenly chimed with a notification.
[Nancy is suing Kira Ashworth for slander and defamation, damaging her personal reputation. The case will be officially filed this afternoon. The police will examine those photos and tomorrow will confirm that they were composites.
Kira will face nine months in prison and $64,000 in compensation for emotional distress and medical expenses. Heather will secretly bail out Kira.]
Kira?
This name was unfamiliar to her.
But it wasn't hard to guess who it was.
The woman Heather had specifically found to act in this drama.
Nancy's move today might catch Heather off guard, but not enough to make her panic.
It made sense that Heather would bail out Kira.
Although those photos were composites, the fact that Nancy was a mistress, given her family background and current financial situation, that BMW could barely be explained away.
But what about that villa in Scenic Bay Estates?
Worth twenty to thirty million dollars—she couldn't rob enough banks to get that much money.
Not to mention all those designer brands she wore.
Since Heather had made her move, the label of mistress pinned on Nancy would never come off in this lifetime.
She wasn't worried about that part though.
When they got home, Steven went straight to the kitchen without even changing his clothes, while Rachel went back to her room to lie down for a bit. When she came down for dinner, Nancy had just returned to Scenic Bay Estates from the police station.
As she passed through the gate, the security guard looked at her with a strange expression, but still managed a smile, "Ms. Gonzalez, when you left with the police this afternoon, the door wasn't closed.
I closed it for you. Also, there's a package that arrived for you this afternoon. Please sign for it."
Nancy caught the flash of disdain in his eyes. She clenched her fists, using what little rationality remained on the edge of explosion to suppress the anger in her heart.
She'd been holding it in all afternoon, she couldn't give up now.
She had always presented herself as gentle and soft.
Besides, this afternoon's incident had definitely caused a huge commotion. She needed to use others' words to restore her innocence.
With this thought, she smiled gently, her pure and charming eyes glistening with tears. Combined with the injuries on her beautiful face, it couldn't help but evoke some sympathy.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble this afternoon." Her voice was sweet and soft, with a hint of choking, "I'm really sorry."
Seeing her like this, the guard did feel some pity, "What did the police say?"
"The case about that person damaging my reputation has been filed."
Did this mean she was really innocent?
The guard smiled, "Then you should hurry home and rest. You need to take care of those injuries on your face too."
Nancy thanked him, signed for the package, and went home.
As soon as the door closed, she flew into a rage, smashing several vases and decorations in the house onto the floor.
Only after the pent-up frustration in her chest had mostly dissipated did she stop.
Her eyes stared viciously at the mess on the floor.
She didn't believe that the person behind all this would stand by and do nothing when they saw that bitch Kira go to jail!