Whenever she recalled the crazy things Theo had done for Roanne, Bethan could not help thinking that if she were in Rachel’s shoes, she would not choose to forgive him so easily, either.
However, since both Theo and Rachel were her friends, she was in no place to comment on their relationship.
“Alright. I’ll ask Rachel if she’s willing to come with me to pick you up. If she’s unwilling, I’ll have to send Brettley and Thomas to do so.”
Theo was silent for a long time before finally sighing. He had no choice but to relent. “Alright. I guess that’s fine.”
Then, he could not help adding, “Bethan, do you think that…I’m not as good as Caleb, and I don’t even stand a chance of winning back Rachel’s heart?”
This question was so abrupt that Bethan did not know how to answer it.
At this moment, the door behind her creaked open, and Rachel emerged from the bathroom.
Bethan quickly hung up. “Was that Theo?”
Rachel asked, raising her brow. Bethan did not think it was necessary to hide the truth from Rachel, so she nodded and said, “He told me that since you refused to take his calls, he had no choice but to contact me instead.” “What does he want?”
“He…”
Bethan pursed her lips and quickly relayed their conversation to Rachel. “He wants us to go pick him up and bring some winter clothes for him too.”
Rachel furrowed her brow in exasperation. “That idiot.”
How could he not know that Saigen City and Merchant City were in different seasons? How could he have flown over without even thinking of bringing winter clothes?
Even though Rachel was snippy, Bethan could not help noticing the worry and apprehension on her face. She asked testily, “Why don’t we go pick him up together?”
“No point. Might as well let him freeze.”
Rachel shifted into a more comfortable position on the sofa and added, “He’s not a child, and it’s not like he flew over without any money. He can always just hail a cab and buy some winter clothing, so why do we need to go to all that trouble?”
Then, she fell silent for a moment before finally glancing at Bethan. “Isn’t Brettley in Saigen City too? Why don’t…you ask Brettley to send someone to pick him up? “He’s so dumb that I’m worried he might get lost here.”
Theo waited at the airport entrance in his thin clothing for almost half an hour.
Just as he thought he was about to freeze to death, a car pulled to a stop in front of him. Thomas stepped out of the car, glanced at this man who was only wearing a thin trench coat in this weather, and could not stop himself from snickering. “You’re a world–famous artist, for heaven’s sake. How could you have been so stupid?”
Theo glanced at him, frowning.
He remembered this man; he was the celebrity rumored to be dating a servant who worked for Bethan. Not only that, but it was later exposed that he was, in fact, Brettley’s cousin.
Theo’s expression fell at this realization.
The fact that Thomas had come meant that Brettley was probably here too, but he did not even call Brettley for help.
This meant that Bethan was the one who had sent them.
The reason Bethan had asked them for help was that…she did not manage to change Rachel’s mind about refusing to see him. Since the only reason he had contacted Bethan was to seek her help in bringing Rachel along to the airport, Bethan was not obligated to come pick him up herself at all.
This was why she had chosen to relay this task to Brettley and Thomas instead. A twinge of disappointment crept into Theo’s heart at this. He was right…
He should have known that Rachel would not forgive him so easily. Even after realizing his mistake, Rachel was unwilling to change her decision.
She had always been an arrogant and dignified woman.
Not only that, but she was already someone else’s fiancee, too.
“Hey, you speak English?”
Thomas felt a little uneasy at the way Theo was staring at him. He strode over to Theo’s side and patted his shoulder. “Or have you got a brain freeze?”
He took off his parka and draped it over Theo’s skinny frame. “Come, let’s get you into the car!
Theo finally snapped out of his stupor when he felt the warmth of Thomas’ coat on him. He pulled the parka tighter and followed Thomas to the car. “Thank you, thank you so much.”
Thomas took his suitcase from him and shot him a rather quizzical look. Then, he placed the suitcase in the trunk and opened the door so that Theo could get into the car. As he expected, Brettley was sitting in the backseat, talking on the phone. The look on his face was solemn, it was clear that he was in a meeting. “Alright. If there’s nothing else, I have to go now. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
Then, he hung up and turned to glance at Theo. “Long time no see.”
The inside of the car was so toasty in contrast to the freezing cold outside that Theo’s face flushed red from the warmth. “Long time no see, indeed.”
Thomas got into the front passenger seat, glanced at Theo through the rearview mirror, and said, frowning, “Should we bring your friend to the hospital?” “No, no, I’m fine,”
Theo quickly replied. “You sure?”
Thomas shot him a dubious look, then sighed. “It’s cold here in Saigen City at this time of year, so why did you have to wait outside the airport? I remember that they used to sell cheap coats and parkas in the duty–free stores; why didn’t you go buy one?”
Theo was a little frustrated by this comment.
However, he refrained from showing his emotions and instead replied, smiling, “I guess it slipped my mind.”
Brettley curled his lips into a smile and glanced at him. “You forgot or didn’t want to miss out on someone coming?”
Brettley’s remark had reopened the wound that Theo so desperately wanted to stop thinking about. His expression darkened, and he turned to stare out the window, avoiding Brettley’s gaze. “I guess it’s a little bit of both.”
Thomas turned to shoot Brettley a helpless look. “Why did you have to probe at his wound like that?”
Then, he glanced at Theo with a sympathetic expression and added, “Don’t worry, my friend. It takes time and patience to wait for the woman you love to come around.”
Brettley curled his lips into a smirk and raised his brows at Thomas. “I’m surprised you’d say that.”
Thomas claimed that patience was needed to wait for a woman to change her mind, but he had shown no sign of patience at all when trying to win over Yannie’s heart.
Thomas rolled his eyes at Brettley but did not reply. Lucas, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, chuckled at this. “This is the first I’ve ever seen you and Mr. Howard bicker so lightheartedly, Sir.”
Brettley and Thomas had been so preoccupied with work since they arrived in Saigen City that it had been a while since Lucas last saw Brettley smile like this.
“Shall we return to Mr. Howard’s house, sir?”
Brettley murmured a response, glanced at Theo once more, then lowered his head and began scrolling through his phone.
Theo pulled his coat tighter around him and turned to stare out the window.
He knew the reason Brettley had come to Saigen City, and he was well aware of the fact that Brettley had been extremely busy lately.
This was why he had chosen to tell Bethan of his arrival but not Brettley, but he never thought that…
The black Masevati slowly pulled away from the airport entrance.
Meanwhile, inside a taxi parked in the distance, Bethan glanced at the woman sitting next to her. “You happy now?”
Rachel narrowed her eyes and curled her lips into a sneer as she watched the black Masevati leave. “I.only came to see if he’d frozen to death. I’m a doctor, after all, so I can’t possibly leave someone out to die.”
Then, she turned away and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned against the seat. “Well, since he’s still alive, I guess we can head back to the hotel now.”
Bethan curled her lips into a weak smile and instructed the driver to return to the hotel.
All of a sudden, her phone chimed with a message from Brettley. [You guys should head home now.]
Bethan smiled. [We’re already on our way back.]
Then, she could not help adding, [Did Theo say anything to you?] Brettley glanced at the man sitting next to him, who was staring out the window in a trance.[ He looks upset but didn’t say anything.]
Bethan pursed her lips and instinctively glanced at Rachel. [Rachel seems a little upset too.
[Why would she be when she’s the one who refused to come pick Theo up?] Brettley replied, smirking. [Women are so complicated, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around her thoughts.]
Bethan pouted slightly when she saw this. [You don’t have to bother trying to figure out what other women think; focus on trying to decode me.]
[You’re fairly easy to decode if I do say so myself.] Bethan rolled her eyes and made no further comments.
The car soon arrived at their hotel.
As soon as the taxi pulled to a stop, Rachel yawned and hopped out of the car. “I’m so exhausted! i’d better get some rest now.”
Bethan sighed and brought Rachel back to her room. Thankfully, the room she and Gwen shared was a suite, and they had an extra bedroom to spare. Initially, Yannie was supposed to stay with them, but since she was spending most of her time with Thomas, she did not need that room anymore. This was not necessarily a bad thing since this meant they had a bedroom to spare for Rachel. Bethan and Rachel returned to the suite and rested up. The next morning, Rachel was awoken from her slumber by Gwen knocking on her door.
Gwen was standing at Rachel’s door, holding a tray of muffins she had just baked. She grinned at Rachel and said, “Dr. Liddell, it’s already sixty–thirty in the morning now. Bethan told me you’ve always been an early riser, so I figured you’d be awake by now.”
She handed Rachel a muffin and added, “I don’t really know what you like, so I decided to just wing it. I hope it’s good enough!”
Rachel pursed her lips slightly at this. “Gwen, you’re Bethan and Theo’s friend, so that means you’re a friend of mine, too.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.