Chapter 45
"Don't you have a home?" Rachel asked, squinting at him and noticing the swelling on his right cheek. She rolled her eyes. "Got into a fight again and now you're crashing at my place?"
"You're my sister-in-law," James said, trying to play it cool.
"Ex-sister-in-law," Rachel corrected, crossing her arms.
"Ex or not, you're still family!" James shot back shamelessly. "Now, open the door and get me something to eat. I'm starving!"
"Alright, alright, shut up!" Rachel sighed, clearly annoyed but not heartless.
She unlocked the door and yanked James inside by the collar of his school uniform.
Grabbing a first aid kit, she dabbed some medicinal alcohol on his swollen cheek.
After patching him up, Rachel rummaged through the fridge and started cooking, whipping up two dishes and a soup.
As James wolfed down his dinner, she asked, "Did you get that injury playing hero again?"
"No," James mumbled through a mouthful of food. "My mom slapped me."
Rachel was taken aback. She'd been with the Smith family for six years and knew how much Emily doted on James. He was her precious son, always getting what he wanted, never a harsh word, let alone a slap.
Rachel munched on an apple and pressed, "Doesn't your mom adore you? Why would she slap you?"
James pouted. "She told me to stop messing around, to be more like my brother, and join the family business. But I don't care about running the company. I just wanna play basketball. We argued, and she slapped me."
Rachel could totally picture Emily losing her cool and slapping James, and she couldn't help but laugh.
James glared at her. "What's so funny?"
Rachel shot back, "Remember when your mom used to scold me and you'd gloat? Never thought you'd get slapped by her one day. Can't I enjoy the moment?"
James went quiet. After dinner, he cleaned up the dishes without a word.
He pulled a set of skincare products from his backpack and tossed them to Rachel, trying to win her over but still sounding rude. "I blew three months' allowance on this. Take it, and come to my school on Saturday!"
Rachel picked up a bottle and checked the brand. It was high-end, with one bottle of essence water costing nearly five hundred bucks. The whole set must've been close to ten grand.
She'd thought he came because had nowhere else to go, but now she saw his real motive. She said, "If you're in trouble, you should go to your brother."
"I didn't get into trouble!" James shot her a glance, then lowered his voice. "The national basketball team's coach is coming to our school on Saturday to scout players. If we pass the tryouts, we can join the team and train at their base, but they need to talk to the parents."
Rachel got it and immediately shut him down. "No way. I'm not part of the Smith family anymore. I can't help with this. Plus, your mom wants you in the family business. If I help you get into the national team, she'll kill me."
"If anything happens, I'll take the blame. I won't drag you into it!" James raised his hand like he was swearing an oath. "Rachel, you're the only one who can help me. I know I used to be a jerk and didn't respect you, but I thought you were bullying Mandy and competing with her for my brother. Plus, my mom always badmouthed you, so I didn't like you either."
"Seems like you really wanted Mandy as your sister-in-law, even told her about my tattoo." Rachel's tone turned icy. "Why don't you ask Mandy for help? I'm sure she'd be thrilled."
James looked shocked. "What? I didn't tell her about your tattoo!"
Rachel stared him down. "You really didn't tell her?"
James insisted, "I really didn't!"
Rachel pressed, "If you didn't tell her, how did she know?"
"She might have overheard me on the phone," James admitted, looking a bit guilty. "I was talking to a classmate about whether tattoos hurt and complained about you a bit. I mentioned you had my brother's name tattooed on you and that was perverted, but I didn't say anything else."
Rachel sneered, "James, you must be Mrs. Emily Smith's son, no doubt about it."
James asked, "What do you mean?"
Rachel's eyes were full of sarcasm. She snorted, "You have a bad temper just like her, and you're both blabbermouths who love to gossip. Looks like you got all the flaws your mom had that your brother managed to avoid."
James's face turned red with anger. Just as he was about to argue that he had good qualities too, his phone on the coffee table rang. Seeing it was Michael calling, James felt a pang of fear.
Rachel noticed and quickly picked up the phone, answered it, and put it on speaker. "Mr. Smith, calling to check if your brother is missing?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end, and then a deep male voice said, "James, come to the south gate in three minutes."
"Michael, three minutes isn't enough," James whined, not daring to defy his brother openly. "She lives near the north gate."
"Two minutes." Michael's voice grew even colder.
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