Chapter 159

Rachel nodded. "I don't want to have a kid with a guy I don't love, and I don't want the kid to be illegitimate, so I'm thinking about an abortion."

John chuckled. "Yeah, that makes sense. Since that night was a mistake, it's probably best not to keep the baby. It's better for everyone. I'm glad you made this choice."

With John's support, Rachel felt more confident in her decision. She took a deep breath and nodded. "The guy said he'd compensate me if I terminate the pregnancy, but I'm not sure what he means by that."

"Probably just money," John said.

Rachel smiled. "Yeah, that's what I figured too."

"Rachel, when are you planning to do it? I'll go with you," John asked, looking at her.

Rachel shook her head. "I haven't decided yet." She thought for a moment and then said, "The day after tomorrow, I'm free then."

"Okay," John agreed.

She checked the time and stood up. "Alright, John, I need to head to the hotel. The results for the proposal we submitted to Smith Corporation are due today."

"I'll go with you." John stood up, looking concerned.

Rachel felt both touched and amused. "No need; it's no big deal. I'll go now." After saying that, she grabbed her bag and left the office, driving to the hotel.

Coincidentally, Rachel had just arrived at the hotel entrance when she ran into Michael and David. They had just arrived as well and were surprised to see Rachel there.

"Ms. Williams," David greeted Rachel.

Rachel nodded slightly in response. Then, she looked at Michael and greeted him, "Mr. Smith."

Michael responded and stopped, intending to let her go in first. However, Rachel had the same thought.

After all, Michael was the initiator of the collaboration and the owner of the hotel, so it was only right for him to go in first. As a result, the three of them stood there, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Finally, David understood Rachel's intention. He cleared his throat and whispered, "Mr. Smith, Ms. Williams wants you to go in first. As the initiator, if you don't go in, she won't either."

Michael frowned slightly. He hadn't expected her to care so much about business etiquette. Then again, if she didn't care, she wouldn't have confronted Mandy about the first-come, first-served rule at the resort.

With that thought, Michael stepped into the hotel, with David following closely behind. Rachel watched their backs and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was fortunate they had gone in first. If they hadn't, she would have had to break business etiquette, which could have led to being ostracized in the business world.

Rachel adjusted the strap of her bag, took a deep breath, and entered the hotel. She arrived at the elevator and pressed the up button, but unexpectedly, the light on the button went out by itself.

Rachel frowned and was about to see which elevator had opened when she heard a voice from the front right. "Ms. Williams, over here."

Rachel instinctively turned her head and saw David poking his head out of the third elevator, smiling at her.

At that moment, Rachel understood everything. No wonder the light on the button went out after she pressed it. It turned out that Michael and David had been waiting for her in the third elevator.

"Ms. Williams, come on, we're waiting for you," David urged again when he saw Rachel standing in front of the first elevator without moving.

Rachel replied awkwardly, "No need, you go ahead, I..."

"We're going to be late!" David interrupted Rachel, prompted by a look from Michael. Rachel looked at her watch and saw they had only a few minutes left.

It seemed she had no choice but to go with them. Rachel sighed and entered the elevator.

Looking at Michael standing in the center of the elevator with a strong presence, Rachel lowered her eyes slightly. "Thank you."

"No problem," Michael replied, glancing at her.

Rachel stood silently in the corner of the elevator. Michael remained quiet as well, and naturally, David, being a subordinate, followed suit. The small elevator was filled only with the sound of shallow breathing.

David's professional smile slowly turned forced. He thought, 'Say something! The silence is too oppressive!'

Finally, the elevator arrived, and David, feeling relieved, was the first to step out and hold the door open. He no longer had to endure the suffocating atmosphere.

Rachel had no idea what David was thinking. She was the last to exit the elevator.

After stepping out, she deliberately stood still for two seconds, waiting for Michael and David to walk ahead. Then she followed, maintaining a reasonable distance behind them.

Soon, they arrived at the conference room. David opened the door, and Michael went in, followed by Rachel. The chatter in the room died down as soon as they walked in, and the place went silent.

Ethan, sitting at the head of the table on the left, narrowed his eyes at Rachel. "Michael, why are you with Ms. Williams again?"

"We just ran into each other downstairs. Let's get this meeting started," Michael said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Ethan got the hint that Michael didn't want to explain further and let it go. But Ethan's eyes stayed glued to Rachel with a dark expression, like she had planned to show up with Michael.

Rachel inwardly rolled her eyes, ignoring him, and opened her notebook to get ready for taking notes.

Michael's gaze swept across the room, lingering on Rachel for a moment before he retracted his gaze and said calmly, "I reviewed all the proposals submitted yesterday. I've picked the five best ones, and the companies behind these proposals will be our partners in the new energy technology collaboration."

Everyone straightened up and paid more attention, including Rachel, who felt a bit nervous.

Among the twenty or so people present, both Rachel and Skyline Corporation ranked lowest in business capability and company strength. So she really didn't have much confidence that her proposal would be selected.

"Mr. Smith, please announce them so we can know who the lucky ones are," someone urged.

"Yes, Mr. Smith, please do."

"Michael, just announce it," Ethan said, his tone filled with undisguised anticipation.

Yesterday, Mandy had told him after submitting the proposal that his collaboration slot was secured.

So now he was eager to know if what Mandy said was true. After all, he knew the quality of his proposal, and it was difficult to be selected. But if Michael changed his mind for Mandy's sake and approved the proposal of his future father-in-law, it wasn't impossible.

Rachel also stared nervously at Michael, who felt her gaze and looked up. Rachel didn't expect him to look over suddenly and was stunned for a moment. Then she lowered her eyes and turned her head away.

Seeing her indifferent demeanor, Michael couldn't help but press his lips together, his voice becoming much colder. "David, announce it."

"Yes," David responded, holding a list and reading aloud, "These collaboration slots go to the HorizonTech Group, the Blue Isle Enterprises Group, the Galaxy United Group, the Aurora Enterprises Group, and..."

Everyone whose company name hadn't been called yet became even more nervous. Rachel's hands were tightly clasped together, and she bit her lower lip.

Would it be her? Rachel was extremely nervous, her eyes fixed on the list in David's hand.

David noticed her gaze and sighed internally. He adjusted his glasses and raised his voice to announce the final one, "And Mr. Brown from the TriStar Corporation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a collective sigh of disappointment from the room. Rachel's eyes dimmed, and her tightly clasped hands slowly released.

Although she had mentally prepared herself beforehand, hearing the actual result still made her feel very upset.

Michael had been watching Rachel's expression the whole time. Seeing her disappointment, he felt a pang of sympathy. However, the proposal's quality couldn't be overlooked, and despite his sympathy, he couldn't approve it.

Ethan knew his proposal wasn't up to standard and that winning the collaboration slot was impossible, yet he won. This clearly showed that Michael, for Mandy's sake, had broken his no-favoritism principle and made an exception for him.

Thinking this, Ethan looked at Michael with growing satisfaction. Indeed, he would make a good husband for his daughter.

Michael frowned. What was with Ethan's look?

Without thinking much about it, Michael pressed his lips together and said in a cold voice, "The contracts will be signed at Smith Corporation tomorrow. Now, I will reveal the five winning proposals so that the unselected can see why these were chosen and understand where their submissions fell short."

"That's a good idea." someone nodded in agreement.

Rachel, who also agreed, wanted to see how her proposal compared to the selected ones. However, when David displayed the proposals on the screen, she was stunned and instinctively blurted out, "How can this be!"

Everyone turned to look at her. "Ms. Williams, what's wrong?" the person sitting next to her asked in confusion.