Chapter 17: Miss Rachel
"Miss Rachel."
Hearing Ms. Shaw mention the name, Vivian Lowell remembered.
Grandma Faulkner had told her that Julian Faulkner had an older sister—a former adopted daughter of the Faulkner Family. She had married and moved abroad three years ago, but her life didn’t seem to be going very well.
Her husband’s family held a very high status overseas. When Rachel Faulkner first wanted to marry him, Grandma Faulkner hadn’t fully agreed. At the time, the Faulkner Family was facing significant difficulties. The entire family was in turmoil, struggling to stay afloat, and couldn’t afford to give Rachel a grand, glamorous wedding. Moreover, Grandma Faulkner hadn’t been fond of Rachel’s boyfriend. She felt that while he was handsome and wealthy, his character was lacking.
Grandma Faulkner had wanted to choose a more outstanding domestic suitor for Rachel instead. But Rachel had been adamant. She even went as far as getting pregnant out of wedlock with the man.
Grandma Faulkner eventually compromised. Even though the family was financially strained, she still gave Rachel a substantial dowry, telling her that if she ever ran into trouble, she could always come back to her.
Rachel was thrilled to marry her sweetheart and happily entered her husband’s family with her dowry. However, her husband turned out to be less than decent. While Rachel was pregnant, he couldn’t help but find a mistress. It wasn’t long before the mistress also got pregnant and came knocking on their door, demanding that her child be officially recognized by the family.
In a fit of rage, Rachel suffered a miscarriage. The ordeal severely damaged her body, leaving her unable to have more children.
This displeased her husband immensely. Since Rachel could no longer bear children, he felt his family would have no heir, so he decided to bring the mistress into the house as a second wife.
Rachel was devastated.
Upon hearing the news, Grandma Faulkner was furious. She rushed abroad to stand up for Rachel, only to arrive and find that the mistress had also lost her baby—and it was Rachel who had pushed her.
The situation blew up completely. Grandma Faulkner had intended to support her, but Rachel ended up being the one in the wrong. After much back and forth, Rachel chose to stay with her husband’s family, and Grandma Faulkner returned to Veridia.
After returning, Grandma Faulkner fell severely ill. Ever since that incident, she couldn’t handle any emotional shocks; otherwise, her heart condition would easily flare up.
Following that ordeal, Rachel probably felt she had lost too much face causing all that drama, and her contact with the Faulkner Family dwindled. Yet, for some unknown reason, three months ago, she suddenly told Grandma Faulkner that she was going to divorce that scumbag. Furthermore, she planned to return to Veridia to live with Grandma Faulkner and Julian.
Grandma Faulkner was very surprised, but thinking about how she had watched Rachel grow up, she agreed.
Vivian knew Rachel would be returning to the country soon, but she hadn’t expected her to come back in such a rush—arriving tonight. Vivian hadn’t even had time to prepare a welcoming gift for her new sister-in-law.
Vivian ran through all these events in her mind, thinking that although Rachel had been foolish, at least she had broken free from that scumbag. It was a good thing for her to come back and start over.
"I understand, Ms. Shaw." Vivian replied to the housekeeper at the door before turning to look at Julian. "President Faulkner, should we head down now?"
Only after asking did Vivian notice that Julian’s brow was furrowed even tighter than before. It was as if he considered Rachel’s return to be an extremely troublesome matter. Seeing his reaction, Vivian was a bit puzzled.
Hearing her voice, Julian looked up. He thought for a moment before saying, "Let’s go. We’ll head down and see what’s really going on."
"Okay." Vivian agreed and walked downstairs side by side with Julian.
Down on the first floor.
A blonde woman carrying a suitcase had just come in from outside, looking travel-worn. She was dressed in designer brands from head to toe, but she was entirely too thin—like a walking clothes hanger, barely able to fill out her garments. She lacked any aura of nobility, giving off a completely different vibe than Julian did.
"Rachel," Julian called out first.
Ms. Shaw then stepped forward to help take her suitcase. Hearing his voice, Rachel turned around. She was just about to speak when her gaze swept over Vivian and paused on her face. She froze.
Standing to the side, Grandma Faulkner noticed Rachel staring at Vivian and explained, "This is Vivian, Julian’s newlywed wife. Because of my poor health, they haven’t held the wedding ceremony yet, so we haven’t made a public announcement."
Grandma Faulkner had brought up the matter of the wedding with Vivian before. Since she was in poor health and couldn’t endure prolonged exhaustion, she might need to be hospitalized for a period of recovery in a couple of months. She figured they could hold the wedding for Vivian and Julian after she was discharged.
Vivian had no objections. She only wanted to prioritize Grandma Faulkner’s health above all else. As for a wedding... given that they were merely a married couple in name, it didn’t really matter whether they had one or not.
It was just unexpected that Rachel seemed completely unaware of Julian’s marriage, looking so shocked when she laid eyes on Vivian.
Hearing Grandma Faulkner speak, Rachel finally snapped out of her daze. She forced a smile at Vivian and said, "So you’re Julian’s wife. I’m Rachel Faulkner. Just like Julian, you can just call me Rachel."
"Rachel," Vivian addressed her politely.
Rachel’s expression softened a bit at that, and she began telling Grandma Faulkner about her return to Veridia.
Her ex-husband’s former mistress had given birth to two daughters in a row. Since he wanted a son, he was preparing to bring yet another woman into the house as a second wife. This time, Rachel couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
Admittedly, she had been in the wrong during the previous incident. Plus, the Faulkner Family hadn’t been doing well at the time. She hadn’t divorced him because she feared her life would be too difficult afterward. But things were different now. The Faulkner Family’s businesses in Veridia were booming. With renewed confidence, she no longer needed to rely on her ex-husband’s family to survive. Seeing that all affection was gone and her ex-husband was becoming increasingly outrageous, she naturally filed for divorce.
Listening to Rachel endlessly complain about her ex-husband, Vivian felt a wave of apathy.
When the Faulkner Family was struggling, Rachel had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, abandoned the family, and married him. Now that her ex-husband treated her poorly and she saw the Faulkner Family thriving, she had gotten a divorce and come crawling back. Vivian had no idea if Rachel truly considered the Faulkner Family her own home. Regardless, her behavior left Vivian completely speechless.
However, Rachel was still the adopted daughter of the Faulkner Family and Vivian’s nominal sister-in-law. Vivian had no standing to criticize her for anything. She just got the feeling that the dynamics within the Faulkner Family were about to become complicated.
Grandma Faulkner let out a sigh as well. But seeing as Rachel was a child who had grown up by her side, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. She only said, "Since you’re back, just settle in and live a good life at home. If you want to work, I’ll have Julian arrange a cushy job for you at the Faulkner Group. Just keep a low profile."
"Mhm, that’s what I was thinking too!" Rachel sounded delighted. Nodding, she said, "Julian and I are siblings. If I go to his company, maybe I can even help him out!"
Grandma Faulkner nodded. Deep down, she only hoped that Rachel wouldn’t stir up any more trouble. As for helping out, she didn’t dare to expect anything like that.
The group chatted for a while.
Seeing that it was getting late, Grandma Faulkner returned to her room to rest. Ms. Shaw came over to inform them that Rachel’s room was ready and she could go to sleep. Rachel stood up, ready to head upstairs.
Right as she got up, she suddenly turned back to look at Julian. "Oh, right. When I came back this time, Dad asked me to bring something to you, Jul—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Julian, who had been sitting quietly all this time, suddenly stood up. His icy eyes locked fiercely onto Rachel.
"I don’t want it."
Leaving those words behind, he clearly had no desire to speak with her any further. He turned on his heel and walked away.