Chapter 56 Injury from a Fall
After slipping into their bathrobes, John and Rachel made their way to the entrance where the men's and women's baths split off.
John's eyes darted around before he wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist. "Hey, Rachel, what do you think about hitting up the mixed bath?" he whispered.
Rachel shot him a smile and then playfully punched him.
John doubled over, clutching his stomach. "How could you hit me?" he groaned.
Rachel gave him a side-eye and snorted. "You deserve it. A mixed bath? Seriously? You actually thought that was a good idea."
John straightened up, trying to defend himself. "What's wrong with a mixed bath? We're a couple."
"Fake couple," Rachel shot back, tossing her towel over her shoulder and heading toward the women's spring pool. She lifted the curtain and stepped inside. The place was empty and eerily quiet.
Rachel shrugged off her bathrobe, leaving just a white towel wrapped around her thighs, and eased into a single-person hot pool.
The water was scorching, turning her skin a rosy pink.
Just then, the sliding door creaked open, and someone walked in.
Rachel squinted through the swirling mist and saw Mandy.
Rachel frowned. This resort was perfect except for one thing—it was too small, and she kept bumping into people she didn't want to see.
Mandy looked just as surprised. After a moment, she smiled softly. "Ms. Williams, fancy seeing you here."
Rachel wasn't in the mood for chit-chat, so she just nodded and started to get up.
But Mandy's voice stopped her. "Ms. Williams, leaving already? Do you dislike me that much? We were college roommates, after all."
Rachel paused, holding her towel to her chest, and replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Miss Brown, that's rich. You were the one who disliked me from the start, both in college and now."
Mandy leaned against the edge of another hot tub, smiling lightly. "Want to know why?"
"Yeah, I'd love to know what I did to make you treat me this way," Rachel said, sitting back down.
With a single-person hot tub between them, they locked eyes.
Mandy's nails dug into her palm as she spoke. "From the moment you walked into our dorm, I felt threatened. I always thought you'd take something important from me. And you did—you took Michael while I was in a coma after that car accident. How could I ever forgive you?"
Rachel's expression stayed calm and indifferent. "Believe it or not, I didn't take Michael on purpose while you were in a coma. You always said you and Michael were like siblings." That's why she had proposed to Michael. Otherwise, with her pride back then, she wouldn't have done it, even if she liked him.
"You don't need to explain. No matter what you say, you can't deny you had him for six whole years," Mandy retorted, biting her lip.
Rachel's lips twitched as if she wanted to say something, but the phone by the hot tub rang. It was John.
"What's up?" she answered.
"Rachel, you done soaking?" John asked.
"Almost," Rachel replied.
"Then hurry up. There's gonna be a fireworks show soon. I'm waiting for you at the observation deck," John urged.
Rachel grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from her face. "Okay, I'll take a quick shower and be right out."
After hanging up, she stepped out of the hot tub. As she passed by Mandy, she paused. "Miss Brown, from our conversation, I know you'll keep trying to mess with me. That's fine. Bring it on."
With that, she walked away with long strides.
Mandy lowered her eyes, lost in thought. After a while, the heat started to get to her, making her feel dizzy. She knew she couldn't stay in the hot tub any longer, so she got up and headed to the shower room.
Rachel was in one of the shower stalls, singing softly. Her voice was as beautiful and melodious as a songbird's.
Mandy couldn't help but remember how Michael had mentioned that Zoey used to write in her letters about how good she was at singing. Now, she didn't dare tell him she couldn't sing, so she had lied about having some tickle in her throat to avoid the topic.
But she knew that as long as the real owner of those letters was around, all her lies would eventually be exposed unless the real owner disappeared!
Mandy glanced at Rachel's shower stall door and then at the bottle of body wash in her basin. A terrible and bold idea suddenly came to her.
She crouched down, gently placed the basin on the ground, then picked up the body wash and poured the transparent liquid in front of Rachel's shower stall door.
After doing this, Mandy's lips curled into a slight smile, and she quietly left.
"That feels great!" Rachel murmured, stepping out of the shower stall with her basin. She slipped on something and fell to the ground, hitting her head on the step of the stall and passing out.
Meanwhile, at the observation deck, John was still waiting for Rachel. He waited for a long time, and the fireworks show had already started, but she was nowhere to be seen. He took out his phone and called her.
The call went through, but no one answered, making him worried.
John muttered to himself, "Could something have happened to Rachel?" He put his phone in his pocket and quickly left the observation deck to look for her.
He searched several places but couldn't find Rachel, making him more convinced that something had happened to her.
In this resort, there were only two people who would harm Rachel.
John arrived at a door and knocked heavily. He shouted, "Mandy, come out!"
Soon, the door opened, and Michael appeared with a grim expression. "What do you want?" he asked.
"I'm not looking for you; I'm looking for her!" John said coldly, glaring at Mandy beside him.
Mandy smiled sweetly. "Mr. Davis, what do you want with me?"
John said through gritted teeth, "Rachel is missing!"
Michael's pupils suddenly contracted. Was Rachel missing?
Mandy saw Michael's reaction and clenched her palm. Indeed, the idea of getting rid of Rachel was correct. As long as Rachel was alive, she would have a deeper and deeper impact on Michael. Just the fact that Rachel was missing made him react so strongly.
Mandy suppressed her thoughts and blinked in confusion. She said softly, "Mr. Davis, it's Ms. Williams who is missing. Why are you looking for me?"
John said angrily, "Why am I looking for you? You must have hidden Rachel. You pushed her off the track during the day. What else wouldn't you do? I advise you to hand her over, or even Michael won't be able to protect you!"
"How could I have hidden her? I haven't seen her since dinner. I don't even know where she is. How can I hand her over?" Mandy said, her eyes red with grievance.
John was furious. He snapped, "Tell me where Rachel is!"
"Enough," Michael said, stepping forward to shield Mandy. His voice was cold. "Check the surveillance footage. Will bothering Mandy help you find Rachel?"
Hearing the word "surveillance," Mandy panicked for a moment but quickly calmed down, thinking of something.
John suddenly realized he had been so anxious to find Rachel that he had forgotten to check the surveillance footage. He slapped his forehead and said to Mandy, "I'll go to the surveillance room now. You'd better pray Rachel's disappearance has nothing to do with you, or I won't let you off."
He pointed at Mandy and then turned to leave.
"We're going too," Michael said, taking off his coat and draping it over Mandy's shoulders. He half-embraced her as they headed to the surveillance room.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
