Chapter 370 Rear-end Collision

In Rachel's opinion, Marcus must have been tired of his family affairs. Being born and raised in a well-
off family, he might have been bored with money and other material things, so the simple and
unsophisticated Celia attracted his attention. Perhaps she was like a breath of fresh air to him.

But the way Celia behaved in front of Rachel was unforgivable.

Rachel couldn't figure out why Celia had thought that she had a hand in the rumors that spread about
her. After all, they were friends. 'She is supposed to trust me,' she thought annoyingly.

The flow of traffic gradually became slow. Rachel was carefully following the car in front of her, but her
mind was wandering, keeping her focus away from the road. As a result, she failed to notice that the
car in front of her had already stopped. She only realized that she made a mistake after hearing the
loud bumping sound.

"Oh, my God! What have I done?" she muttered under her breath. She peered through the window and
noticed the big dent at the back of the other car.

The owner of the car got out. His face turned red in an instant after seeing how much damage his car
had gotten. Brimming with rage, he rolled up his sleeves, knocked on Rachel's window, and roared,
"Get out!"

As soon as Rachel got out, the man pointed to his car and roared again, "Is this your first time to drive?
Who the hell issued a driver's license to someone like you?"

It was indeed her fault, and she was more than willing to own up. But she was stunned watching the
man cursing in front of her, not showing even an ounce of decency. She couldn't take it any longer, so
she said with a frown, "I'm sorry, sir. But don't worry, I'll make sure to pay for all the damages to your
car. I'll come with you to the repair shop, so we can check how much it will cost."



Upon hearing that she was willing to pay, the man's face softened a little and he said, "You don't have
to waste your time, miss. Just give me the money, and I will go to the repair shop to have it fixed."

It sounded like a fair deal to her, so without wasting any more time, she asked, "How much do you
need?"

The wicked man unhesitatingly demanded an exorbitant price. Raising his two fingers, he motioned
and answered, "Twenty thousand dollars will do."

Rachel stared at him, hoping to see any sign that he was only kidding. But he looked earnest with his
words, so she gave him a disgusted look and called the traffic police and her insurance company. She
then said to the man, "At first, I thought that it was my fault, and I wanted to sort it out quickly. But now I
realized it would be much better if we go through the normal process. Let's wait for the police to arrive."

The man glared at her and was about to curse her again when her phone suddenly rang. He had no
choice but to watch her get back into her car to answer the call.

It was Jack, who asked in a tired voice, "Are you home?"

"No, not yet. It's only five o'clock in the morning there in America. Why are you up so early?"

Jack was smiling bitterly at the other end of the line when he replied, "I've been busy since I got here.
And now that I have some free time, I am missing you miserably."

Before he could continue sweet-talking, he suddenly heard some noises in the background. Frowning,
he asked, "Why is it so noisy? Where are you?"

Rachel raised her head and peeped outside. The traffic police were very efficient to arrive within a few
minutes. They were now standing outside, listening to the man's rant. 'I wonder what he is telling them,'
she thought worriedly. She had to get out of the car and speak to them. She was about to end the call



when one of the traffic police came over and knocked on her window. He asked, "Miss, did you hit that
gentleman's car?"

She hadn't ended the call yet, so Jack surely heard everything. To prove her suspicion right, she heard
him yell, "Rachel, are you okay? Have you had an accident?"

This time, she had no choice but to come clean. "Yes, I had a rear-end collision. The traffic police are
here now, so I have to deal with them first. I'll call you back once I sort everything out."

For the traffic police, this kind of road accident was an everyday occurrence, so it was only ordinary.
They spoke to both parties involved and get their statement, then Rachel signed the full responsibility
accident report, and let the insurance company take care of the compensation.

As a result, the man was not able to get an extra penny despite his determination to gain some money
out of it. Thus, he was a bit annoyed seeing how the problem was solved so easily. He became more
and more impolite and even gave Rachel a death stare from time to time.

Feeling quite disturbed by how he was behaving, Rachel lowered her head, pretending she wasn't
seeing him. She then fixed her gaze to the insurance staff, who was filling out some documents.
However, the man came to her again and cursed. She couldn't take it anymore, so she retorted, "You
know what? This is my first time to come across with such an ill-mannered man like you. I've
apologized to you from the very start and took all the blame for my mistake, yet I see no change in your
attitude. Are you not satisfied that I am doing my best to make amends for my carelessness?"

Rachel gained support of the onlookers surrounding them. The insurance staff and the traffic police
also agreed with her. All these made the man get more annoyed. He touched his nose and vented his
anger on the insurance staff. "Are you not finished yet? You people are working at a snail's pace!"

All insurance company staff were used to people talking nicely to them. Normally, those who were
involved in accidents would use the politest tone when conversing with them to coax the insurance



company to pay more compensation. After all, they had the final say on how much the insurance
company would pay.

But this man was quite different. Writhing with rage, he kept on blabbering unreasonably. It looked like
he didn't even know what calmness meant. If he thought that being crude would help him, he made a
huge mistake.

After the insurance staff quickly checked everything, he clapped his hands and said, "There is no
debris on the ground. I only found some dents and scratches on the trunk. The car can easily be
repaired and repainted. The total cost is around..."

But before he could finish his words, the man patted him on the shoulder stiffly, pointed at the tilted rear
bumper, and said, "Are you blind? Can't you see any problem here?"

"Oh..." The staff pretended to be enlightened and said, "Yes, there is indeed something wrong here.
However, I was busy listening to you blabbering that my mind got so distracted. Because of you, I
wasn't able to do my job properly."

The man understood that the insurance staff was taunting him as if saying it was all his fault.

For the first time, he was rendered speechless.

It was already nine o'clock in the evening when they were able to settle everything. Rachel was
starving, but she was also too tired to stop by a restaurant, so she came home with an empty stomach.
She soon realized that Jack must be worried about her. She dialed his number immediately and briefly
told him about what had happened.

She could hear his long and deep sighs from the other end of the line as she filled him in. When she
finished, he said, "You must always be careful and take good care of yourself. I will finish my work here
and will be back in no time."



Needless to say, today's incident had rattled him. He couldn't help thinking that something bad might
happen to her in his absence. Without giving her a chance to speak, he continued, "When you sleep,
make sure the door is locked. If you get into trouble, don't ever try dealing with it alone. Call Dad for
help."

'Why will I bother Dad?' she thought inwardly. No way! She would never disturb the old man.

"Jack, you are worrying way too much. I don't think there's a need to trouble Dad. Just get your work
done and come back soon, okay? I miss you!"

"But please consider him if something goes wrong. I'm sure he won't mind," he insisted. There were a
few seconds of silence before he added seriously, "I will finish my work and be right there. My heart
doesn't feel good without you."

"I will be waiting for you."

They continued to chat until Jack received another call. Left with no choice, he reluctantly hung up the
phone. After everything, Rachel now realized how hungry she was. Her stomach was growling nonstop.

She thought of cooking some noodles for herself, so she got up. She was on her way to the kitchen
when the doorbell rang. As soon as she opened the door, Lea was standing outside with a bag of take-
out food. Grinning, she said, "Your favorite chicken curry with rice is here. Still steaming hot!"

Although she felt strange at Lea's sudden appearance, Rachel still smiled and asked, "Why are you
here? Didn't you go to the shop earlier to try the bridesmaid gown?"

When she opened the box, she smelled something delicious, and her appetite grew bigger. She went to
the kitchen to get the chopsticks when she heard Lea said plaintively, "You two are always like that.
How do you think I can be in the mood to try my bridesmaid gown alone?" She was referring to Celia
and Rachel.



Rachel took out two pairs of chopsticks and handed one pair to Lea, but the latter refused. "No, thanks.
Enjoy your dinner. Celia and I had some food outside before I came here. I was actually on my way
home when your man called me and asked me to come here. He said he was worried about you. He
also asked me to bring you dinner. He's worried that you will starve yourself to death."

'My man...' Rachel thought with a smile.

Although she and Jack had been married once and would remarry soon, she still blushed every time
any of her friends mention about her relationship with Jack. She quickly lowered her head and stuffed
rice into her mouth to hide her embarrassment.

Lea took an orange and started peeling it as she said, "Celia told me everything. This woman is too
stupid not to distinguish good people from bad ones."

At first, Lea found it hard to convince Celia to tell her. The latter just kept on saying that she was fine
and refused to tell her what happened between her and Rachel.

Eventually, she pretended to be angry. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. Since your fight with
Rachel has nothing to do with me, I won't meddle in your business. After all, why should I worry about
you? Only Rita is already enough to worry me." She then stood up and was about to leave.

As expected, Celia gave in. She held Lea's hand and started to explain anxiously, "It's not that I don't
want to tell you. It's just that I don't know what to say."

"What do you mean? Just tell me what happened." Lea had to force herself to act like a big sister even
though she already felt tired of doing it.

But after hearing Celia's story, she couldn't help feeling really angry this time. She poked her forehead
with disappointment and said, "Are you that stupid? Don't you know what kind of person Rachel is?
How could you misunderstand her just like that? You are out of your mind!"



Lea drank up the coffee that the waiter had just served in one gulp out of anger. She only came back to
her senses when the bitter taste ran through her throat. She realized that she was so mad that she
forgot to add sugar and milk to her coffee.

She immediately tossed candy into her mouth and said, "It's all your fault!"

Celia gently pushed her cup of coffee towards Lea and offered, "Drink mine. It doesn't taste bitter."

Actually, she also regretted what she did to Rachel after giving it a careful thought. Her mind was in a
mess because of Bertha, and in the end, she vented all her anger on Rachel, who did nothing but care
about her every day. She wanted to apologize, but she was too shy to do it. That was the reason why
she avoided to see Rachel now.

Feeling uneasy, she asked with a frown, "Lea, I know that I'm stupid. But what should I do now? Do you
think Rachel will forgive me if I apologize to her?"

"What do you think?" Lea took a glimpse at her and said, "Don't worry, Rachel is not a narrow-minded
person."

Rachel listened silently to Lea, telling her whole conversation with Celia while she was eating. It had
been a while, but she still didn't say anything.

Lea patted her arm and asked, "Are you really angry with her?"


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