My Darling, My Dearest

Chapter 336 Brazen-faced Jack

Cherry saw the interaction between the couple and smiled. "You know, I used to have a secret crush on Jack, but that was all in the past."

"You don't have to tell her that."

At her senseless words, Jack immediately frowned at the implication. He turned to Rachel and explained himself, "She was just an immature girl that time. The only thing she knew back then was to chase handsome boys around.

"It seems you've grown an even bigger head since the last time I saw you." Cherry slapped the back of Jack's shoulder heavily before turning to the other woman. "I hope you don't misunderstand, Rachel. This is just how I joke around."

"It's fine."

Rachel didn't think too much into their relationship. She just found the two very interesting. In fact, she never heard that Jack had a female friend before.

To be even more frank, she had never seen this side of him before—the one that was more playful without any inhibitions. Jack turned serious. "Isn't the exhibition over by nine?" he asked. "Where are you going now?"

Cherry rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, something had gone wrong with our hotel, so now my husband and I have to find another one. Otherwise, we will be sleeping on the streets."

"How many days will you be staying in the city?"

There was silence before she answered, "About a week."

"If that's the case, then you don't have to find another hotel." He shrugged. "You can stay at my place. I can ask the maid to clean the guest room. You're welcome to go there in a while."

Cherry's eyes widened in surprise. "And where will you live?"

Turning his head to glance at Rachel, Jack flashed a smile. "I can stay somewhere else."

The moment Rachel heard his words, a shiver shot down her spine.

After a while, the matter had been settled. Cherry and her husband would stay at his place while Jack would seek refuge somewhere else.

Once they said goodbyes, Rachel immediately removed his hand from her waist and furrowed her eyebrows. "You're lending your house to Cherry and her husband," she stated as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Where are you going to stay tonight?" Jack didn't answer. Instead, he simply grinned at her.

It was strange.

She furrowed her eyebrows. Seeing that she might not be able to figure it out herself, he sighed.

He pointed at her. "Your place."

What?

Her jaw dropped. "My place?"

"You said you cleaned up the study when Celia stayed at your apartment, right? I can stay there.

Now, Rachel understood why she felt uncomfortable earlier. It seemed that her subconscious knew what was happening before she could even predict it.

"Don't you have other houses?"

"Those houses have been vacant for a long time, so they're messy," he answered.

"You can stay at a hotel." When she thought that he was going to live with her, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

Although the two of them had been getting along in the past few days, living together might reopen the wounds they had tried their best to seal. Jack crossed his arms. "My ID card was lost, and I haven't found it yet. I can't check in without it."

"How about staying in your parents' place?"

"You know what kind of people they are. I'll be nagged to death."

No matter what solution she came up with, Jack would find something to counter it.

Even then, Rachel didn't want to agree. She had planned to go to eat at a Japanese restaurant earlier, but after learning what was going to happen, she had no appetite. When she returned to her home, she slammed the door to his face. Jack rang the doorbell outside, but she was still unmoved.

The reason why she had fallen in love with him three years ago was that she let Jack move in.

'Will I fall for him again this time?'

Although Celine had already left, what if there was some other woman clouding around his life? She had already told Lea that she was willing to set everything aside to start over with him.

However, the mere thought of letting him stay here made her flinch.

Jack didn't leave. Instead, he simply waited by the doorway. He knew that there were still doubts in her heart. Although he should've been more patient, he couldn't find himself waiting any longer. He

wanted to enter her life as soon as possible and let her accept him again.

As for all her worries, he believed that he could ease her in time.

Time would always be the best medicine. No matter what he would say, time would lead them to its final verdict.

Jack glanced at his watch from time to time. It seemed that he had waited outside for at least an hour. He leaned against the doorframe and listened carefully. There weren't any sounds echoing from the apartment, and the light that reflected at the crack of the door had faded into darkness.

Sitting in the dark this entire time, Rachel finally opened the door. When she saw that Jack was still standing there, her eyes widened. "Why are you still here?"

"I really don't have anywhere else to go," he said pitifully. "It will really just be a week. When Cherry and her husband go back, I'll move back out."

Seeing the desperate glint in his eyes, Rachel's heart softened. She motioned towards the living room. "Just one weak," she said firmly.

"One week. I promise." Jack immediately walked into the room, afraid that if he delayed any longer, she'd change her mind. Once he sat on the sofa, he sighed in relief. God knew how anxious he'd been while he was outside.

If Rachel didn't agree, he was afraid that their relationship would've stepped back, and she would sink back into her protective shell again.

Now, she didn't even know what she felt. Complicated feelings rose in her heart, but she shook them away. "I'll cook some noodles for dinner," she said lightly.

"Okay."

Seeing as he was here with her, he didn't even care if she decided to serve him poison.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Cherry. "Thank you for your help. You're welcome to stay all week. I'll handle everything."

The day when he accompanied Marcus into the furniture store, this was what he had been planning.

In the meantime, Rachel was washing tomatoes in the kitchen. She had absolutely no idea that this was all part of his plan.

Since Rachel had been in charge of cooking, the washing of the dishes fell on Jack's lap. She went to her room while he was cleaning up and carried a new set of quilt from the cabinet. Without saying another word, she spread it over the small bed in the study.

When everything was ready, she straightened her back. She was about to call for him, only to jump up when she saw him leaning against the doorway. She placed a hand on her chest. "Why didn't I hear you come in?" she murmured.

"You didn't notice me." He shrugged.

Looking at the way he was staring at her, she lowered her head and walked out of the room. "It's late. You should get to bed early," she said before heading to her bedroom.

However, he had other plans.

Half an hour later, Rachel found herself twisting and turning in her bed. She stared at the ceiling with her eyes wide open.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, slicing through the quiet atmosphere. She froze.

"Who is it?" she called out.

"Rachel, it's me." Jack slowly approached her bedside. "There are mosquitoes in the study," he complained. "I can't sleep."

She had never heard Celia complaining about mosquitos.

Rachel pursed her lips. "I should get my mosquito repellant."

"No need," he quickly said, stopping her. "I'll just sleep on the floor for tonight. I don't want to trouble you." Without giving her time to refuse, he spread out the cushions he had taken from the study and lied on the floor.

It was boring to sleep alone back in the study.

Seeing this, Rachel didn't even know what to say.

Considering that she still needed to head to work tomorrow, she forced herself to close her eyes and lie still. At this point, there was no use in arguing with him any further.

After a long time, she gradually felt herself sinking into the dark. That was when she felt her entire bed start to sink.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes only to see that Jack was trying to lie on the other side of the bed. She jolted up. "Aren't you sleeping on the floor? Why the hell are you on my bed?"

"The floor is too hard," he complained.

He had never slept on the floor before.

A few minutes ago, he had thought that as long as he could sleep in the same room as her, he would be satisfied. However, the cold floor was really uncomfortable to sleep on.

Recalling the time the two of them spent in the Fu family house, he quickly traced a line in the middle of the bed. "I swear, I won't cross this line." "No way!"

Rachel kicked him, indicating that he should return to the floor.

"Can't I sleep here for one night?"

"If you really want to sleep here, go ahead. I'll sleep on the floor or in the study." Rachel pretended to step out of her bed.

As a result, he had no choice but to compromise. "Fine, I'll go back to sleep on the floor." No matter how uncomfortable it was, he refused to head back to the study. He was already in the same room as her, so there was no way he was going back to square one.

However, when Jack woke up the next day, he could feel his body aching from the hard surface. With a grunt, he freshened up and headed to his office.

Austin was there to greet him when he arrived. After reporting today's schedule, he noticed that his boss was frowning. His right hand was stretched around his back, and his face was twisted into an uncomfortable expression.

"Mr. Fu?"

"Call Mr. Wang later and ask him to send the first draft in two days."

Jack folded his paper. However, just as Austin was about to open the door, he stopped him. "Wait, do you mind massaging my back?" Author's note NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

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Goose

Translator: Scarlett5555