get rid of the wild child

The fluorescent lights in the car rental yard were buzzing, and when Rachel took the car keys, Baker's whistle was like a thorn piercing her eardrum. The bald man always glanced at her collar with greasy eyes, and today he deliberately raised his voice: "Miss Allen has an order from Marriott International today, maybe you can catch a rich husband."

She pretended not to hear, but when she started the car, she remembered Cora's dream last night when she leaned on the car window: "If we can't find Dad, we can find that handsome uncle, okay?"

The world of children is so simple that it makes people sad. She could only smile and ruffle her daughter's curly hair: "Save money to buy a car of our own first, so that Dad can find us more easily."

---

At the entrance of Marriott International, Kellan walked out of the revolving door in a white suit. The wind lifted a corner of his shirt, revealing the cufflinks of his custom-made shirt. This time it was a diamond-studded Suzaku, exactly the same as the one in the presidential suite five years ago.

Rachel's breath missed a beat until Cora suddenly screamed, "Dad, you're so handsome!"

The carriage froze instantly.

Kellan raised his eyebrows and looked at the passenger seat. The little girl was clinging to the seat, her eyes shining like stars: "You look like the prince in my painting!" She had just drawn an "ideal dad" in kindergarten yesterday. In the crooked lines, there was a tall man wearing a neat suit, his cuffs gleaming.

Rachel's face flushed red, and she hurriedly explained, "The child is just talking nonsense..."

But when she looked up, she met Kellan's eyes—he was staring at Cora, and his dark eyes were filled with tenderness that he himself didn't even notice. This man who made the whole business world tremble, at this moment, raised the corner of his lips towards the child, although it was only a very shallow arc, but it made the temperature in the car rise quietly.

When the car arrived at the destination, Kellan suddenly said before getting off the car: "Your daughter is very cute."

Rachel was stunned, watching him walk towards the brightly lit building, his back overlapping with the blurry figure in the rainy night five years ago. It was not until Cora tugged at the corner of her clothes that she realized that her nails had dug into her palms—when he was talking just now, the Suzaku cufflinks on his sleeves were facing the sunlight, and the refracted spots of light fell on the ends of Cora's hair, just like the ripples on the surface of the glass of ice water on the bedside table back then.

Rachel was rarely disturbed by a man, and she felt like she was in a mess. Perhaps this man's aura was too strong.

Kellan looked at the call log and called his secretary. "Onyx, the number is 181*****. Rachel Allen. Check this woman immediately."

*"Fate brought us together in troubled times..."*

Rachel's phone rang as she was busy with her work.

Rachel was working at a mansion coffee shop, and her colleague Aunt Fisher had taken the day off, leaving Rachel to handle all the cleaning tasks upstairs and downstairs by herself.

As she worked, she picked up her old Nokia phone and answered the call. "Hello, this is Rachel from the mansion coffee shop. Who is this?"

"Rachel, it's your uncle," came a familiar yet unfamiliar voice of a middle-aged man on the other end of the line.

Uncle Grady!

She froze, half-bent over, in the middle of mopping the floor. She didn't expect him to call—they hadn't been in touch for a long time. Was there something wrong?

The memories of her past, buried deep in her heart, resurfaced.

**Years ago.**

Rachel's father was a stepfather, and she took her mother's surname. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she grew up with her grandfather. When her grandfather passed away, Rachel was only eight years old. He entrusted her to Uncle Grady, who treated her like his own daughter. Rachel also regarded him as her father.

But after that incident, she had a knot in her heart.

Years ago, Grady's daughter Nora had deceived her, causing Rachel to lose her virginity, become pregnant, and be subjected to scorn. When Grady found out about her unwed pregnancy, he didn't even know who the father was. He was ashamed and angry.

"How can you be so shameless? I raised you, and you've brought shame upon me," Grady said, slapping Rachel hard across the face.

Rachel was caught off guard and fell to the ground. Her face swelled up, and her head buzzed.

After a while, Rachel finally came to her senses. She sat up and curled up in her own arms, sobbing softly.

She didn't know why she was so foolish to believe that Nora went to the bar with her. Nora always liked to tease her, why did she believe her? She just didn't think Nora could be so malicious.

How could she explain it? Could she say that Nora tricked her into going to the bar, got her drunk, and took her to a room upstairs? Would her uncle believe her? Even if he did, what then? She was now pregnant and the one with a tarnished reputation.

Rachel couldn't find a way out of her heartache. Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she still couldn't feel the pain. The voices in her ears were even more piercing, like a knife stabbing into her heart.

"Like your mother, so cheap, you've lost all face. How can we face people in the future?" Queenie, Rachel's aunt, sneered at her as she glared at Rachel on the ground.

She wished she could kick her out right now. Rachel asked herself, why was her heart hurting so much? She thought she had a strong armor that could shield her from these cold words, as long as her uncle still loved her, it would be enough.

Nora was hiding behind the door, watching the show. She used to have her grandfather protecting her and everything good was given to Rachel, and only what she didn't want was given to her. Later, when Rachel came to the house, her father also loved Rachel very much. The love that was originally hers was taken away by Rachel, and Nora was unhappy. She teased Rachel openly and secretly.

But this was the first time her father had ever hit her, and it really hurt her deeply. Grady was a very proud person, and Rachel had always been a well-behaved and filial child. Now that something like this had happened, how could he not be heartbroken? But when he saw Rachel curled up there crying, he felt heartbroken again.

"Go get rid of that wild child in a couple of days." Grady shook his head, sighed, and walked away.

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