Chapter 48 Acquaintances

(Lena's POV)
I felt the man's expression seem to freeze at this moment.
Although, I don't know why he reacted so much.
Could it be that I don't even have the right to reject him?
I blinked a little helplessly, then looked down at Jamie. At this time, Jamie also looked flustered, he grabbed my hand tighter, even if I wanted to pull it out, I'm afraid it was not an easy task.
The man suddenly stood up from his chair, his good-looking golden eyes full of disbelief - God, I didn't know that a person could react so badly after being rejected.
I gave a somewhat embarrassed laugh, but, to stabilize him, I continued, "Well, sir, I don't mean to blame you, I just think I probably don't need that kind of help, and of course, I appreciate you having such a kind heart."
The man's eyes moved away from mine, and he still didn't look like he'd gotten over the incident.
So, I continued, "Of course, if you want to do something for me, you can help me buy a little fruit, or something else, right? After all, there's no way for me to leave the ward right now, so you don't have to be so upset."
The man exhaled deeply, and then, he jerked his head to look at me.
When I tried to say something more, I saw his eyes, and his gaze left me with no way to understand, and as a result, I suddenly couldn't say anything else.
He looked at me as if he had lost something important - but it was obvious that we had only just met, and even if I had saved his son, he shouldn't have fallen in love with me in a heartbeat or seen me as anything more important.
Just then I heard what he said, "Lena, don't you remember me?"
In an instant, hundreds of possibilities flashed through my mind.
Should I know him?
To be honest, the plot surprised me a bit.
I hooked the corner of my mouth and asked tentatively, "Sir, I don't think today is April Fool's Day, is it?"
The way things are going is indeed a bit strange, and although I know that a lot more things must have happened to break my heart before I left New York five years ago, the odds of meeting someone I once knew are still very low.
This man looked at me and he tried to keep his emotions in check, but I still felt he was upset: "I'm sorry, Lena, I know you're probably not in the mood to hear this from me right now, but I have to tell you."
Then I heard a story that shocked me just as much.
To be honest, if the main character of the story was not me, I would probably enjoy it.
"So, you say I'm your wife and Jamie is my child."
I watched the two of them nod together. The scene was a little funny, and I knew I shouldn't laugh at such a serious occasion, but I still couldn't hold back my laughter.
"Very well, sir, I should be able to call you Rafael now, yes? If what you say is true, and we have a happy life, then can you tell me why I left in the first place?"
The man - Rafael did hesitate, he looked at me and his brow never relaxed. When he tried to explain something to me, he couldn't get a word out.
William once told me that I had been hurt a lot, but I quickly escaped from that man and decided to marry William.
If I'm not mistaken, the person who had hurt me was Raphael.
Yet, it's not like he doesn't love me at all.
Because of thinking too much, my head has started to hurt.
I took a deep breath and smiled at Rafael, "Rafael, I know you want to talk to me a lot, but until you can organize your words, let's end it for today, okay?"
"Lena, I know you're still angry-"
"No, Mr. Rafael, I'm not angry."
My tone became very firm, and even though my head hurt, my gaze still didn't waver. I looked at Rafael, just looked at him, he was a stranger, even if we had perhaps really had a lot of things happen, he was just a stranger to me now.
"I don't know you, Mr. Raphael, and I think that you should understand this, it's not polite to go after a patient, I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to hurt Jamie, but I'm not ready for that right now, I can't just suddenly accept a son and a husband, I've made that clear enough."
Rafael eventually didn't insist any further. After I made my position clear, Rafael took Jamie and left, although Jamie looked reluctant - I admit, there was no way I could see that kid with that look on his face.
Although I do not believe that Jamie is my child, I still love him and I do not want to see him show this.
He left a business card and told me that he was not going to bother me very often during this time, but that if I needed anything, I could call him.
After they left, the room instantly became very quiet.
I looked at the empty room and a sense of loss spread through my heart.
Raphael gave me a familiar feeling, but when he extended an invitation to me, my first reaction continued to be to reject him.
I closed my eyes and recalled his face in my mind, but could not recall it.
Everything that has happened recently has felt surreal, my head hurts and my body hurts, but I can't help but think back on everything that has happened recently.
I'm not anti-Raphael, yes, I'm pretty sure of that, but my gut tells me that I should stay away from Raphael.
I sighed and opened my eyes again, then, I opened my phone and called William.
There are some things that I have to figure out.
(Rachel's POV)
Wyatt helped me put all the information together and then neatly put it in front of me. My eyes lingered on top of those materials for only a second and then withdrew them.
"What's the word from Hill?" I inquired directly.
Wyatt didn't say anything, and I looked up at her, and her face seemed to look bad.
I can understand, after all, even I feel a little grumpy lately.
"Rafael didn't say anything?"
"Yes, Miss Rachel, I contacted several times, but the person in charge on the Hillside kept stalling, and, I never saw Mr. Raphael at all."
After hearing this, I almost closed my eyes in some despair.
Rafael always does things like this, even though we are still working together, but he doesn't take me seriously at all.
I know exactly how Rafael sees me, as a monkey or as a stupid guy. All this does not matter, because I still need him now, I can not yet completely tear the face.
I looked at the glass of water on the table as Wyatt stood off to the side seemingly afraid to even breathe. Then I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair somewhat feebly.
Brown is in a terrible state and Rafael is well aware of it. I can see why he would do this, even if it means giving up his interests to get back at me.
However, I was no longer in the mood to continue playing this game with him.
I opened my eyes, then exhaled, I lifted my head and looked at Wyatt, at this moment, I had collected all the exhaustion in my eyes: "Wyatt, contact Raphael one last time, if Raphael still refuses to meet, just send them the contract of cooperation cancellation and let them sign it."
Wyatt still looked a little hesitant, and I knew she wanted to say something to me, but right now, I had no other choice.
But where Raphael had any sense left, he would have known exactly what the cancellation of cooperation meant, and that was my only leverage.
I guess I should have bet on it.
The next day, White told me that Rafael had agreed to meet with me, but, for some reason, I would have to go to the Hill Group office building to find him.
That's perfectly fine; after all, I've long been used to doing that.
I showed my appointment to the receptionist, who then sent me straight to Rafael's office.
I pushed the door open and entered, Rafael had just hung up the phone.
I gave Raphael a look and then walked towards him.
I held out for five years, waiting for Rafael to propose marriage to me, but I was about to give up.
A large part of the Hill Group's suppression of the Brown Group is because of Raphael. Of course, I could care less about that, as long as Raphael is willing to show me kindness, but I simply can't wait for that day to come.
I looked at Raphael, my eyes no longer glowing as they had been: "Let's talk about it, what else do you want?"
Raphael gave me a look, "I heard Landon say that you wanted to suspend Brown and Hill."
I nodded, my tone still hard: "I have a feeling that you shouldn't want to continue working with Brown either, should you?"
Raphael suddenly let out a laugh: "Rachel, that's what you're overthinking, our cooperation should be fine so far."
Brown's operation is barely holding up, and the profits from the partnership are mainly from the Hill Group. In the beginning, if I had been more sensible, I would not have given Rafael the chance to suppress himself, but it is all too late now.
"Raphael, I should not be in the mood to play with you anymore, the latest proposal, and if you can't agree to it, we're done for good."
I had thought that this time Raphael would also refuse me, but, surprisingly, he readily agreed.
Of course, I had thought he had finally thought it through, but the reality was not at all.
I got a call from Wyatt right after I got out of the Hill Group, and when I got through, I realized exactly what had happened.
"Miss Rachel, it's not good, the tech department just fed back that our market value is continuing to drop!"