Chapter 79 The Familiar Necklace
Seeing that Joseph was genuinely curious, Rachel stopped messing around and gave him the lowdown. "Mandy got robbed, and she thinks one of my admirers did it on my orders to get back at her."
She pointed to the bandage on her head and added, "Chloe, trying to get revenge for Mandy, used her family's pull to get a bunch of banks in Summit Ridge to turn down my loan requests."
Joseph's eyes went wide. "Wait, Chloe used her family's pull?"
Rachel nodded. "Yep, that's right."
Joseph took a moment to process, then scoffed. "Wow, sticking her nose in another city's business? Even her dad wouldn't dare, but she did. What an idiot."
Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at his sarcasm.
Joseph leaned in, curious. "So, did you report her?"
Rachel shook her head. "Nope, it was an employee with some serious clout."
"An employee with some serious clout?" Joseph's curiosity was piqued. "Man, you really are lucky."
Rachel gave a small smile. "Yeah, I've always had a bit of luck."
Since taking over Skyline Corporation, she'd faced tons of challenges, but there were always people like John, Ella, Joseph, and that mysterious Z-H to help her out. She was pretty fortunate to have them.
"Now that the Garcia family is in hot water, Chloe's definitely gonna hold a grudge against Mandy. Mandy's in for a rough ride; Chloe's nuts," Joseph said with a smirk.
Rachel's lips curled slightly, but she didn't say anything. Mandy's days ahead tough? She doubted it. With Michael's protection, Mandy wouldn't be in trouble that easily.
Just then, the doctor finished bandaging Rachel up and even got her a pair of crutches. Rachel politely turned down Joseph's help and slowly made her way to the hospital exit on her own.
In the parking lot, Rachel ran into another familiar face, Charlotte, who was chatting with her driver. Charlotte sensed someone watching and turned around, thermos in hand. When she saw Rachel, her friendly smile froze, and her eyes filled with disdain.
Rachel was used to those looks and didn't care, calmly moving forward with her crutches. As they passed each other, she noticed the necklace around Charlotte's neck. It was old and outdated, definitely a style from years ago. It was odd that Charlotte would wear something so out of fashion. What really caught Rachel's attention was how familiar the necklace looked; she felt like she'd seen it before but couldn't place where.
Rachel didn't dwell on it and got into her car. Meanwhile, Joseph greeted Charlotte from behind.
Charlotte smiled back and then asked, "Mr. Anderson, are you close with Rachel?"
Joseph got what she was hinting at, glanced at Rachel's car, and said, "We're alright. Why do you ask, Mrs. Brown? Got something to share?"
"Honestly, Mr. Anderson, you should keep your distance from her. Someone as nasty as her will only bring bad luck to those around her," Charlotte said bluntly.
Joseph smirked. "Nasty? I don't see it. What makes you say that?"
Charlotte frowned. "The kidnapping of Mandy is proof enough, isn't it?"
Joseph shrugged. "From what I know, Rachel wasn't behind it. Even if she was, Mandy started it. Rachel was just hitting back. If anyone's nasty, it's Mandy."
Charlotte's face darkened, and she snorted, "I'm giving you a heads-up as Michael's friend. If you don't listen, that's on you. Just don't come crying later."
Joseph grinned, "Whether I regret it or not isn't the point. What matters is, I know Michael will regret it."
He leaned in close to Charlotte's ear and whispered, "Michael can't see Mandy's true colors, but I can. And he won't stay blind forever. One day, he'll see Mandy for who she really is. What will your daughter do then?"
Charlotte's face went pale. She saw a devilish smile on Joseph's face. Her lips moved like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just gripped the thermos tightly and walked away, looking shaken.
Watching Charlotte practically flee, Joseph rubbed his chin, his smile widening, but his eyes were cold.
Logically, Charlotte was supposed to become Michael's mother-in-law, and out of respect for Michael, Joseph should've been more polite. But the Brown family's shady actions couldn't be ignored. As a local family in Summit Ridge, they bypassed the Anderson family to suck up to the Garcia family of Unity Republic. That was a clear slap in the face to the Andersons. Given that, he saw no reason to be nice to the Browns.
"What did you say to her to scare her like that?" Rachel asked curiously as Joseph got back in the car.
Joseph buckled his seatbelt and smiled, "Nothing much, just told her a spooky story."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Do I look that gullible?"
Joseph started the car, looking helpless. "I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, what can I do?"
Rachel rolled her eyes again and looked away. "Boring!"
Joseph suddenly turned his head and glanced at her. "Ms. Williams, I just realized you look a bit like Mrs. Brown."
"Huh?" Rachel was puzzled. "I look like her?"
Joseph nodded. "Yeah."
Rachel shook her head. "No way! Stop joking."
"I'm not joking. I'm serious. Your facial features and eyes really resemble hers," Joseph replied seriously.
Then he added, "You two look so alike that people might think you're mother and daughter."
Rachel was stunned for a moment but quickly brushed it off. "So what if we look alike? There are plenty of people who look alike in this world. It's nothing special."
"True," Joseph agreed.
Neither of them thought much of it and soon forgot about it. Rachel rolled down the window, letting the cold wind hit her face. She spoke up, "By the way, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead," Joseph replied casually, swaying to the car music.
Rachel asked, "Which of your friends has a Facebook account named Z-H?"
Joseph shouted, "What?" The music was too loud, and he didn't hear her clearly.
Rachel pinched her brow in frustration and shouted, "Who is Z-H?"
Joseph suddenly slammed on the brakes. After the sharp screech of the tires, the car came to a halt. Both of them were jolted forward, almost hitting something, but their seatbelts pulled them back.
Rachel's face turned pale with fright, and it took her a moment to recover. Furious, she turned and smacked Joseph's arm. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
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