Chapter 51 Have You Fallen for Her?
The parents were so mad, they just went silent.
James sprinted over to Rachel, still catching his breath, but you could hear the excitement in his voice. "I won! I won! That dunk was epic! Did you see it? Did you get it on video?"
"Nope," Rachel said, pointing to the folks behind her. "While you were playing basketball, we were playing bridge."
James's smile vanished. He thought Rachel had been watching him the whole time, and he was so focused on not messing up in front of her. But she was busy playing bridge?
"You!" James was so mad he could barely talk. "How could you not watch me!"
"If you lost, it'd be you and your brother who'd be embarrassed, not me. Why should I watch? Now, move. I'm going to help you sign the contract," Rachel said calmly, pushing James aside and heading toward the coach.
When she talked to the coach, she was all polite and courteous. "Sorry to take up your time."
James went quiet. Joseph caught James's shocked look and came over, throwing an arm around his shoulder and laughing. "I heard when Rachel was with the Smith family, you bullied her every day. How's it feel to get a taste of your own medicine?"
"I'm a man; I don't hold grudges!" James said, puffing out his chest. Then he remembered something and frowned, turning to Joseph. "I heard she's terrible at cards. Last time she went to Red Maple Lodge, she lost a ton of money. Did she lose badly just now too?"
Joseph shook his head, a small smile on his face. "Not at all."
"That's good." James sighed in relief, his shoulders relaxing. "Seeing her usual expression, I guess she had good luck this time and won a few rounds."
Joseph chuckled, pointing subtly to the parents' sour faces nearby. "It's not luck; she's just really good at cards. Your sister-in-law played against nine people by herself and won every round. They're all pissed."
"What?" James's eyes went wide in disbelief.
Rachel, who had been listening, turned around and glared at James, her eyes sharp. "Don't wanna play basketball anymore? Get over here and sign!"
Since it was a big deal, James ran over and signed the contract right away.
The coach told the students and parents that a bus would come to take them to the training base. After a few words, the coach left with his team. The parents also left with their kids.
James and Rachel were the last to leave the basketball court, with James repeatedly looking over the contract in his hand, feeling like it wasn't real. Actually, when Rachel didn't answer the phone that afternoon, he had called Mandy, hoping she could help him.
Mandy had politely said she was resting in the hospital and couldn't help, adding, "James, listen to your brother. Don't make him angry."
James had felt desperate, but in the end, Rachel still came. Rachel not only helped him deal with those parents but also firmly stood by his side, telling him, "Come on, James. You can do it."
James looked up at Rachel walking ahead. The sky was getting darker, and the sunset was gone, but in his eyes, Rachel was bathed in golden light, full of majesty. She seemed like his savior!
James stuffed the contract into his backpack and quickly caught up to walk alongside Rachel. He grinned, "Rachel, you look really good in this outfit today. Your figure is great; even supermodels would pale in comparison!"
Rachel turned to see the sincere and adorable look in James' eyes, feeling quite uneasy. She rolled her eyes at him, "Stop flattering me."
James just showed a dopey grin.
Rachel had helped him with such a big favor that he was extreme grateful to her.
When they reached the car, James quickly opened the back door. He said gently, "Rachel, get in. Be careful not to hit your head."
Rachel felt even more uncomfortable and quickly got into the car.
"What are you doing?" Joseph asked, coming over and giving James a playful shove. "Being so attentive to your former sister-in-law—have you fallen for her?"
"Joseph, what are you thinking? I'm only sixteen!" James protested, his voice cracking slightly with indignation.
Joseph laughed, flicking his cigarette ash casually. "That's great. Young and energetic, and you're better than your brother—enthusiastic and sunny. Maybe she likes that."
James's face flushed a deep red at Joseph's teasing, and he struggled to find a retort. Finally, he huffed in frustration and climbed into the front passenger seat, slamming the door behind him.
While they were talking, Rachel had rolled down her window for some fresh air and overheard their conversation. She was completely taken aback by Joseph's cheeky remark, her eyes widening in surprise.
She found it hard to believe that the usually cold and stoic Michael had such a playful and teasing friend, and that the two were so close despite their differences.
Rachel rubbed her temples in frustration and took out her phone to see if there was anything she needed to handle, finding several new messages on Facebook.
One of them was from Z-H.
Rachel was puzzled about who this person was since she hadn't added Friend Notes. When she opened the message thread, her eyes widened in shock as she saw the top message—a transfer of $88,888. A wave of embarrassment washed over her.
She realized that after the man had replied that day, she must have gotten busy and forgotten to delete the conversation and his contact.
Rachel was about to delete the contact when she saw a new message from thirty minutes ago: [The boss of Blue Sky Ventures is skiing at Yablue Resort.]
Rachel frowned, pondering, 'How does this man know where the boss of Blue Sky Ventures is?'
Then she sent a message to the man: [Who are you, and why do you know I'm looking for the boss of Blue Sky Ventures? Are you investigating me?]
Meanwhile, Michael frowned slightly when he saw the message in the office. Rachel didn't recognize him that night?
He remembered that Rachel was very drunk that night and probably forgot, so the next day, she didn't remember many scenes from that night.
Michael had just typed "Michael" in the input box to send but suddenly remembered they were divorced. If Rachel knew she had slept with him that night, she would definitely feel awkward and wouldn't accept any help from him.
In the end, Michael deleted those words and re-edited the message.
Z-H: [I'm a friend of Joseph's and I know you. Joseph said he has business dealings with you and wants to help you secure Blue Sky Ventures.]
Z-H: [A friend of mine happened to see the boss of Blue Sky Ventures at Yablue Resort while skiing and mentioned it in a group chat. You gave a lot of money last time, so consider this information a freebie.]
Rachel carefully read the man's message and let her guard down. So, he was a friend of Joseph's.
Rachel typed: [Thank you.]
Then she quickly looked up at Joseph, who was driving, her eyes full of doubt.
How could Joseph's friend just happen to be there that night, and she just happened to fall into the man's arms?
Sensing Rachel's gaze, Joseph stopped talking to James and glanced at Rachel through the rearview mirror. "Ms. Williams, what's wrong? Did my words make your heart flutter?"
James immediately asked Joseph, "What words? What did you say to her that would make her heart flutter?"
"Do you want to know?" Joseph deliberately spoke slowly. "Just now, when we came, I told her that I'm better than your brother, more handsome..."
"Joseph." Rachel interrupted unhappily, "If you don't want to drive, get out, and I'll drive myself!"
Joseph didn't finish his sentence but said to James, "Ms. Williams was with your brother for six years, and her temper is quite similar to his. Don't you think?"
James thought for a moment and nodded. "That's true."
Rachel fell silent. She really wanted to find a roll of duct tape from under the seat and tape Joseph's mouth shut!
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