My Darling, My Dearest

Rachel forced an awkward smile. She then lowered her head and pretended to pack up. "I don't have time tonight. I have to get home and take care of my son," she said nonchalantly. "Your son?" Jay's jaw dropped and he gave a look of genuine surprise. "Rachel, you have a son?"

"Yes, and he's already three years old. He has just started kindergarten. I need to go back and pick him up from school." Rachel passed him by and added, "Call me if you need help with anything." "Oh, okay. But, Rachel, are you really not available tonight?" Jay asked again, almost pleadingly.

Rachel spun around. She smiled at him and replied, "No, I really don't have time. Happy birthday, Jay. Have a great one!"

However, this incident struck an alarm in Rachel's mind and her chest beat rapidly. She was afraid that Jack would make a mountain out of a molehill if he found out about this. She shouldn't underestimate his jealousy.

She didn't want any trouble with her marriage. A lot of similar things happened in the past and they ended up pretty bad.

The incident troubled her a great deal. The next day, she summoned Jay to her office and told him, "Jay, I've arranged for Dr. Wang to handle your internship. She's also from the same department. You may direct your concerns at her from now on."

"But, why?" Jay frowned and asked. "Rachel, did I do anything wrong? Or is it because="

Rachel raised her hand and interrupted his speech midway. Her temples were throbbing. 'How should I handle this?' she asked herself. She knew she couldn't just blurt out, "I think you have a crush on me. This will not work out well, so it's better to let another doctor handle your training."

Rachel couldn't bring herself to be tactless.

The corners of her lips twitched. She thought hard and finally came up with a good excuse. "I'll probably be busy in the next couple of weeks so I can't handle your training properly. Dr. Wang's schedule is less packed so she can guide you better. You'll learn a lot from her."

"All right." Fortunately, Jay didn't press any further. Rachel sighed with relief.

That weekend, Jack and Rachel took Andy to the playground inside a local shopping mall. The mall was packed with people. Several kids were already playing when they arrived. Andy was having a great time His parents sat in the waiting area and were keeping a good eye on him. Every now and then, they would shout, "Andy, be careful."

Every time he heard his name, Andy would turn around and wave at them. He would follow up with a smile that looked so bright and innocent.

No one could say who Andy took after. He was very cheerful and would always smile. He was a stark contrast to his parents, who were always serious in front of other people.

Yet, Rachel knew that Andy was carved in Jack's likeness.

A few minutes later, Jack took Rachel's hand and asked, "Did you arrange for Jay to be assigned to a different doctor?"

Rachel was stunned. "How do you know this?"

Jack flashed an arrogant, all-knowing look at her. He proceeded to explain.

They were suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice coming from behind them. "Rachel, is that you?"

Rachel turned around and saw Jay, with another woman, standing a few feet behind. The stranger was pretty and was dressed in the latest fashion. A boy, a little bit older than Andy, stood in front of the pair. Together, they looked like your typical young couple out for a stroll with their kid. Rachel expressed her surprise. "My, what a coincidence! How could we bump into each other, here, of all places?"

Jay scratched the back of his head and sheepishly pointed at the kid. "Sometimes, we take him out here to play."

"Is he...?" Rachel wasn't sure if she noted Jay's marital status back when she was going through his resume.

Having sensed her confusion, Jay hurriedly explained, "This sweet lady over here is my girlfriend and this little boy is her nephew." He wrapped his arm around the woman's waist. "I forgot to mention her to you. We met back in college. She's an intern in another hospital."

It was Rachel's turn to be embarrassed. All that worrying was for naught because Jay already had a girlfriend. She felt so silly for having entertained the thought that he had a crush on her. Fortunately, she didn't say anything stupid back then or she couldn't have brought herself to continue working at the hospital. She said, with a hint of guilt, "So, it was nice seeing you here. I think the kid wants to play now." "Okay, we'll go ahead, then. Goodbye, Rachel, Jack." Jay waved at them and the trio went their way.

'That was odd, ' Rachel thought. She slowly turned her head at Jack and cast a suspicious look at him. Then, she pointed at the direction that Jay went to. "Do you know each other?" "He is the son of one of my company's directors. I already met him a while back so I got a general understanding of the situation," Jack said casually.

Rachel grew even more frustrated. "So, you were already aware that he has a girlfriend? You knew that he wasn't interested..." She was too embarrassed and frustrated to finish her sentence.

Jack just scoffed at his wife. Rachel was so angered at what she learned it took her several deep breaths to restrain herself. "You didn't mention him later because you knew nothing would happen, did you?" Jack smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, then pointed her towards Andy's direction. "Don't say that. Anyway, look at our son. He's really enjoying himself."

Rachel closed her eyes and pushed his hand away, in disgust. Between clenched teeth, she ordered, "Jack, you will be sleeping on the couch tonight!" "Honey, I'm innocent..."

Unfortunately, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Celia struggled to get Marcus to marry her, so she cherished every moment of their marriage and worked really hard to be the woman he deserved.

On their trip back from their honeymoon, Marcus received a call from his mother. She wanted the newlyweds to move in to the Ji family estate.

Long before the wedding, the couple had already decided that they would start their own little family at Marcus' own house.

But at that moment, despite being unhappy about the idea, Celia pulled at Marcus' shirt cuff and nodded to him, to signal her agreement to the request. Now was not the time to upset her mother-in-law. With that, the couple moved in to the Ji family estate.

Marcus' mother had set high standards for her daughter-in-law, but Celia was a free-spirited woman. Although she was a bit afraid, she couldn't sit well with some of the rules imposed by her mother-in-law. For example, there was the issue of waking up late during the holidays.

On weekends, Celia would wake up whenever she wanted to. She would also spend around half an hour just lying in bed before rising up. After all, in her mind, the holidays were a great time to catch up on sleep.

But her mother-in-law, a woman of traditional sensibility, thought the idea was preposterous.

Every day, whether it was a work day or a holiday, she wanted Celia to get up at six o'clock sharp.

On this particular weekday morning,

she would flash a disgusted look at

Celia every time she caught her yawning. She mumbled some indistinct words and addressed Celia impatiently, "Go and wask your face with cold water so you won't keep on yawning! How do you expect to concentrate on preparing our family's meal if you just yawn all

the time?"

Celia rubbed her eyes and slapped her face. She flashed a smile. "Mom, I'm no longer sleepy. What should we prepare for breakfast?"

"Rice porridge and steamed meat

buns. We also need to prepare several side dishes." She stood beside her daughter-in-law and began barking orders. "Women

should respect their husbands net

at

home. A woman having a day job shouldn't get in the way of her responsibility as a wife. You must always wake up earlier so you could prepare breakfast for your husband,

do you understand?"

"I understand." Although Celia didn't wholeheartedly agree on this idea, she refrained from objecting.

She rolled some dough in her hands. Her arms were sore from the task after making several of these dough balls. She couldn't help but ask, "Mom, why don't we just buy steamed meat buns from the store?"

The woman looked at her with

disappointment. "You should not eat

take-out food that much. Those are not healthy, I'm telling you, so don't buy them all the time." "Okay, I know Celia realized that she should just be submissive and pretend to listen earnestly. Otherwise, her mother-in-law would just keep on lecturing her. She poured her

undivided attention to making meat

buns.

At long last, she had finished preparing breakfast. By this time, everyone was awake and they joined the two women downstairs to eat. She was exhausted. She hurriedly went upstairs, washed her face and brushed her teeth. Soon, she was ready to go to the hospital for work.

Marcus gently hugged her from behind. "Honey, thank you. I appreciate the breakfast that you prepared. You know what? I can ask my mom to let us move in to my place. That way, you no longer have to wake up so early every day."

"I'm fine." Celia smiled, yet she couldn't help but yawn. She knew that a rocky relationship with her mother-in-law would spell disaster to her marriage.

This routine had gone on for more than a month. She noticed that she grew tired more easily and her face was paler than usual.

That night, the four of them sat around the dinner table. Everyone had just picked up their chopsticks when Marcus noted Celia's pale complexion and asked in a worried voice, "Celia, aren't you feeling well? Why do you look so pale these days?"

She shook her head in response. "I'm fine." However, as soon as she finished her reply, she caught the scent of braised pork from the table. The smell nauseated her. She dropped her chopsticks, stood up, and ran to the bathroom. Everyone was surprised. Celia, having vomited for quite some time, emerged from the bathroom. She felt much better.

The sound of his wife's vomiting made Marcus very anxious. As soon as she came out from the bathroom, he grabbed her by the wrist and led her outside. "I'll take you to the hospital, now."

"Thanks, but you don't have to." Celia freed herself from Marcus' grip. She stood still and took a moment's look at her in-laws. Both were still at the dining table. She could trace the annoyance on her mother- in-law's face.

She let out a deep sigh and said, in a loud enough voice so that everyone could hear, "I'm not sick. I'm pregnant."

Her news struck the Ji household like lightning. Everyone was too shocked to react.

Marcus' father recovered his senses first. The news made him very happy but he still put on airs. He pretended to cough and said, "Since you're not sick, come here, and join us. Let's continue our dinner, shall we?"

Author's note

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Translator: Scarlett5555