“Are you ready?” George glanced at Rachel who was struggling to zip up the mesh blue straight gown she wore. George walked up to her and zipped the gown properly.
“Thanks” Rachel smiled nervously
“You should have asked me to help instead…” George remarked, fixing his cufflinks.
“I’m really not into this whole family lunch thing.” Rachel furrowed her eyebrows in disapproval. George’s mom, Patricia had stated there was a family lunch this afternoon to celebrate the anniversary of Imperial Hub Limited. Rachel sighed, she hated the idea of sitting with the whole family, especially Judith and Morris. They made her want to spit on something.
“I know. I know” George reached for her hand and patted in gently. “I know you still remember the lunch party after our wedding and how it turned out. I wish I could cancel this one, but it’s about the company. Some things have become a tradition.”
Rachel sighed again. It seems like she was going to be sighing a lot today. “At least, I’m glad we’ve been able to spend some time together since you’ll resume work tomorrow” She winked at him and kissed his cheek.
“Me too…” George chuckled and interlocked his hand with hers. ” It’s time for us to go”
~~~~~*~~~~~
George took three large pieces of shrimps and placed them in Rachel’s plate as she munched through the different delicacies that filled the table. He had discovered she loved shrimps and made sure the chefs cooked a whole bowl just for her. After over three months of eating well, she looked better and fresher than when she first arrived here. He loved to see it.
Everyone was minding their business, eating to their heart’s delight. Everyone except Judith. Watching the affection and sweet smiles between George and Rachel was getting to her, irritating her. Rachel looked like she was planning to stay here beyond the one year timeframe and it triggered her….
“Make sure you eat to your heart’s content, Rachel Reeves” Judith muttered through her teeth “You only have eight months left to do that before returning to your shambles.”
Rachel almost choked on the piece of shrimp in her throat, not believing what she just heard. Was this woman an alien? Was she allergic to peace?
George glared at Judith “Based on what I’ve heard about your past, you’re far worse. Just because you finally entered this family doesn’t make you less of a maid.” He fixed his gaze on Judith’s eyes and spoke firmly “You. Are. Still. A. Maid”
Rachel and James blinked, wondering what George was talking about.
Patricia smiled quietly on her seat and placed a piece of turkey on her plate. Judith scoffed at her. Turning back to George, she muttered angrily “You better enjoy her presence for now, she won’t be here for long”
“Crazy woman…” George glared at her. “… you must be running out of patience for whatever stupid plan you have up your sleeves’
“Oh please, your wife is the crazy one here” Judith retorted in defense “To think she has the right to even marry into this family when the scandal of her father, that big thief almost destroyed your father’s company. She’s an ingrate, a gold-digger! And she has to leave this place!”
Morris remained silent and continued eating from the small bowl of chicken soup in front of him. He acted like he was not hearing anything.
“Can you just stop it?!” James yelled at his mother. He was sick of her irritating attitude and at this point, he wanted nothing to do with her.
Rachel patted George’s arm as he fumed angrily, urging him to relax. Turning to Judith, she smiled, her eyes filled with disgust. “I’m only going to leave here when you leave. If we think about it logically, I’m more of a married woman than you are”
“How dare you say that to me?!” Judith quaked, almost choking on her saliva “Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?”
Patricia chuckled softly, enjoying the way Rachel was touching Judith’s ‘pain’ spot. Judith was a mess, back from when she used to work as her maid. She never would have imagined that all Judith would aim for all that she had, always looking for how to make her and George uncomfortable. Judith was a big mess and one of the things that hurt her badly was the fact that Morris could not marry her after all she had done. Back then, Patricia had made sure she put a barrier between them….
Rachel replied calmly, “You are a homewrecker, a greedy woman, an unwanted mistress. You are more dangerous to this family than I am. If there’s someone who should leave here first, you should be the one.” Rachel leaned closer on the table, mocking Judith with her gaze “But of course, you can’t leave because you have nothing to your name. You are the real gold-digger. Miss Judith Scott”
Judith fumed in anger, balling her fists, ready to fight. She watched as Patricia laughed quietly and vowed to harm her. She would make her pay, she had come too far to give up now. She was going to break Patricia and Rachel.
“I can see you have no desire to leave…” Patricia finally spoke, laughing at Judith who was seething in anger. “… I believe this would be the last time we ever hear you bring up this matter about Rachel leaving this family. You will have to be the first to go. Her name is in the family record, your name is not. You are the inferior one”
~~~~~*~~~~~
George held Rachel’s hand as they walked back to their villa. He had forgotten that Rachel was bound to leave after one year based on the contract unless she decided to stay. Glancing over at her, he wasn’t sure if she would want to stay with him. Was she just attracted to him or did she feel something more, something deeper for him?
“You’re so quiet” Rachel looked at him. He seemed a bit sad. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just exhausted” George pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her.
“Back there, what did you mean by Judith is a maid?”
“You won’t believe it but she used to be my mother’s personal maid in the past”
“WHAT?” Rachel screamed, shocked to her bones. She tried putting the pieces together but nothing was making sense. “I don’t understand. How is that possible? How did she become Morris’s mistress and have a child for him?”
George sighed. “It’s a very long story. I still don’t understand why my mother allowed her to join our family. I don’t remember much, but I know my mom was all over my father back then. She was ready to do anything for him, anything to make him happy and -”
“Wait a minute…” Rachel touched her chin with her thumb, thinking deeply “… there’s a high chance your mom was thinking it was her fault. Maybe she was the one who wasn’t beautiful enough for him. I hate to admit it but Judith is beautiful, even at her current age”
“Hmm…I never saw it that way. Never knew my mom might have been feeling insecure. It does not make sense no matter how much I think about it.”
“I know right. If her parents were as rich as you said, why did she choose someone like Mr Morris? Why did he marry her? It’s clearly not for love based on what we can see, so what’s the reason?” Rachel frowned. There had to be more behind all these.
“I really don’t know and I wouldn’t want to make a rash conclusion. My mom didn’t tell me a lot of things about their marriage, but I’m glad that she put a barrier to prevent Morris and Judith from getting married”
“Wait…. he really wanted to marry Judith?”
“Yes. He wanted to” George remarked as the sad memory flashed across his mind. “I used to try hard to make him happy in the past, cause I could see he despised me and I wanted his affection. But after the accident five years ago, I gave up on that endless mission. Despite everything I went through, he didn’t treat me better, instead he was listening to those board members who wanted to get rid of my position as the CEO. It was at that moment I knew he wasn’t worth all my effort.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that” Rachel patted his back lightly.
As they walked into their villa, Rachel could not forget the fact that Morris didn’t say a word even when Judith insulted her father, Arthur Reeves. Not one word! She didn’t understand their friendship. Did her father hurt Morris in any way in the past? He was so uninterested in her father’s case, he was even looking for a way to end her marriage to George quickly. There was so much she didn’t know.
Something wasn’t right. A lot of things were wrong with George’s family and it had a connection to her father. She just had to wait patiently. Soon, Sophia would reveal everything she needed to know.
And she would take the next action from there.