Rachel walked out of the villa and headed towards the house where she used to live. She had to see Sophia and her mother quickly unless she would lose her mind.
She had finally recovered from the panic attack that hit her when George confirmed who his father really was. All thanks to Dr Andrew….
She had been looking for an opportunity to see Sophia so she could confirm what the truth really was. Rachel wondered why Sophia suddenly refused to come over to the villa to see her. Instead, she had insisted that Rachel had to come over to see her. That was strange, it felt like Sophia was hiding from something or someone. Sighing, Rachel decided that she would ask her about it later….
For now, the only thing on her mind was confirming if Morris was really the mastermind behind her father’s downfall. Her heart still ached, but she had been trying really hard to control her emotions, her anger, her rage. Rachel felt so disgusted with herself. If all of this was true, it means she had married her enemy’s son.
Glancing up, she caught sight of her house and increased her pace, walking faster towards it. She reached for the door knob leading to the sitting room and opened it, coming face to face with Sophia and her mother. Rachel halted her movements and stared in confusion as tears slipped down her mother’s tired face while Sophia rubbed her back gently trying to comfort her. What happened? What was going on?
At the sound of the door opening, Sophia and Rachel’s mother turned around to see who it was….
“Mom…” Rachel whimpered as she walked closer. All the tears and emotions she had been holding back threatened to fall as she stared at her mother’s teary eyes. “What’s wrong? What is going on?”
Sophia stood up from the couch and observed Rachel’s appearance. “Why do you look so pale? Are you sick?” She reached for Rachel’s hand and pulled her down to sit on the couch. “You look like you’re about to faint. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, that’s true…” Rachel’s mother affirmed concerning Rachel’s appearance. “… Rachel, you look sick. Are they bullying you? Are they treating you poorly?”
Rachel shook her head slowly in disapproval. “They treat me well…” She answered. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and in that moment, she knew she could not hold back anymore and she broke down in a loud wail.
“Oh my goodness…” Sophia and her mother exclaimed together and rushed to her side.
Rachel cried like a baby, the endless tears rushing down her cheeks, neck and soaking the collar of her dress. All her pent-up anger, irritation and pain wanted to spill out at once, it was all too much for her to handle. After a while, as her mother and Sophia rubbed her back gently, the ‘comforting’ action calmed her down.
“Rachel, what is going on? Tell me everything” Her mother asked, concern and worry etched on her face.
Rachel shook her head slightly, refusing to answer the question. “Sophia said she has something important to tell me. I want to hear what she has to say first before I say what is on my mind. Also, why were you crying? What happened?”
Sophia sprawled on a chair beside Rachel and glanced at her, a sad expression on her face. “What you want to tell me is about the Imperial Hub Limited family, right?”
Rachel looked up sharply, her eyes moving from her mother to Sophia. “How did you know that? Is it so obvious?” Her mother excused herself and made her way to check on the food she was cooking, leaving Rachel and Sophia to talk.
“Yes…” Sophia whispered. “I also have something to tell you about Imperial Hub Limited. So you can tell me what is bothering you so much, and I will tell you if it is true, if you are correct. Is that fine with you?”
“That’s fine…” Rachel agreed. She paused for a moment, trying to hold back the fresh tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. “… I don’t really know how to say this. I was talking with George recently about something else and somehow we started talking about ‘nicknames’. When I asked him if anyone in his family had a nickname, he said his father had one.”
“And what happened after that?” Sophia asked when Rachel paused for almost a minute. She could see how hard Rachel was trying to hold back the final statement. She obviously didn’t want to believe whatever George had revealed to her.
Sophia watched sadly as fresh tears trickled down Rachel’s face. She already knew what Rachel was about to say. That ‘the jaguar’ was George’s father, Morris Scott. That was the news she had for Rachel all along. She just didn’t know Rachel had finally figured it out.
She couldn’t imagine what Rachel was going through right now. It was obvious that she was in love with George Scott, the son of the man who ruined her father’s life, threw him in jail for ten years and destroyed everything he had worked for in the process. Morris Scott’s action made Rachel and her mother suffer for the last five years, forcing them to learn quickly how to ‘survive’ with nothing.
There were so many days when they had nothing much to eat. Rachel and her mother had to work multiple jobs every single day just for them to survive. Rachel’s first mistake was falling in love with George Scott. Now, she was too attached to him to reason clearly.
“Af-after that, he told me that ‘the jaguar’ was Morris’s nickname,” Rachel sniffed, holding her tears back. “I don’t want to believe it. There has to be a mistake somewhere. Two different people can have the same nickname, right? It’s probably a mistake”
Sophia stared at her, not knowing how Rachel would take what she was about to say next. “He is right. Morris Scott is ‘the jaguar’, that’s what I wanted to tell you. Your mother already knows about it”
“No…no” Rachel muttered over and over, as the fresh waves of shock reverberated through her body. She took a long breath in and let it out, doing her best to prevent another panic attack. “When did you find out?”
“Five days ago…” Sophia answered. “… It didn’t feel good to talk about a serious matter like this on the phone, that’s why I said we have to meet. I still can’t believe this, really. I am also in shock, I can’t imagine what you are feeling right now.”
Rachel nodded, feeling too tired to cry or talk. She felt so stupid, like George’s family had just been playing games with her all along. They probably saw her as a very foolish lady. She didn’t even feel like spending the remaining months of the one year contract there again. She wanted to leave, she didn’t want to have anything to do with George or his family again. They really took her for a ‘fool.’
“Is it possible that George doesn’t know anything about this? I don’t want to go back there. I want to put an end to all of these quickly.” Rachel muttered tiredly. She couldn’t look at George the same way anymore.
“You shouldn’t do that, Rachel. And yes, it’s possible that he doesn’t know anything about it.” Sophia answered firmly “It is also possible that he does. There are two sides to a coin”
“Why shouldn’t I leave? I don’t want to stay there anymore.”
“That’s the thing. You can’t leave just like that.” Sophia insisted, trying to convince her. “If my suspicion is correct, Morris probably has his eyes on you, watching every step you take. If you leave before the one year contract is over, it will make him and Judith very suspicious of your action. Besides, I still believe that as time goes by, you will discover more secrets. But if you leave so soon, you would never know what could have been”
Rachel remained silent, fuming in anger.
“Rachel, I know this is hard for you just as it is hard for your mother. But you have to protect yourself first. Morris is a dangerous man who is ready to do anything to protect all he has built. If he suspects that you know his secret, he won’t let you go easily just like what he did to your father. You have to stay there for a few more months until we are ready for a court case.”
“I understand what you mean,” Rachel whispered after a moment. Sophia was right. She had to play her part and act normally until it was time to bring them down.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Rachel walked out of the gate with Sophia after their long conversation. She had decided to listen to Sophia’s advice. She was a detective who had experience with cases like this, listening to her was for the best.
“Before I forget, why did you refuse to come over to my place just like you always do?” Rachel asked, glancing at her as they walked across the street.
“I won’t be able to come there anytime soon from now on…”
“Why?”
“Morris has ordered some guys to watch me”
“What?!” Rachel exclaimed in shock, completely taken aback. “Are you serious?”
“Of course. I have noticed the same set of guys following me around from a distance.” Sophia responded, laughing softly “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time I’m going through this. He probably knows that I have figured out who he really is.”
“Take care of yourself. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you”
Even after they hugged each other and parted ways, Rachel was still in shock of what she just heard. Morris was a monster and he had to be brought to his knees soon.
She could feel that things were getting heated between Imperial Hub Limited and her family. She was going to fight them till the very end. Her father deserved his freedom.