Stuck in you novel Chapter 88

"Yes," Rick answered. When he failed to Lea, he joked about it. "Lucas came with two beauties. The other one is like fire while this one is like ice. He is really fortunate to be able to bring two beautiful women here."

The last sentence was meant as a hidden taunt that men could easily comprehend the meaning.

It was the kind of joke that Jack would normal laugh upon hearing it.

However, this one sounded a little harsh to him. It seemed that Rick wanted to imply that there was there was something between Rachel and Lucas.

He pursed his lips, not saying anything more.

Rick never expected that he had invited Jack's wife and mistress to the party.

Jack's disinterest was eventually noticed by Rick, and it made him wonder whether his jests lacked its usual kick.

He lightly cleared his throat and immediately shifted the topic. He started to talk about corporate plans and Jack's interest was finally piqued by the new topic.

Rick paused to think about the plans and eventually decided to get it all done with Jack. Although he had already signed contracts with several hospitals, the health care hospitals of the MK Group and the Zhou family's hospital were his two major targets because of their longstanding reputation.

Rick was an ambitious man, and he wanted to capture fifty percent of the medical market of Ninwell City.

The lights on the host platform finally lit up.

The host walked up to the stage, approached the microphone stand and adjusted it. Loud applause filled the area as Rick was about to start his speech.

Rachel turned towards the direction of the balcony. She wondered how Lea could be so heartless and leave without warning.

"What brings you here?" Michael asked.

"My friend was invited. And I came with him," she replied casually.

Michael burst into laughter at her reply. "Do you know that Jack is here too?" he asked with a wink.

He briefly looked around the gathered crowd until his sight stopped at the row right in front of the stage. He turned to Rachel and twitched his lips to direct her to look at where his lips were pointing. "There, front row," he said to her as she leaned forward to look.

Rachel followed the line of seats in front of the small stage. At length, she saw someone familiar among the crowd.

And true enough, Jack was there. He listened attentively to the speech that was being delivered on the stage. One hand was in his pocket and the other held a glass of champagne. He looked downward for a moment and suddenly turned his head towards her direction when he sensed that someone was looking at him.

Their eyes met despite the distance between them and locked on each other. Rachel eventually looked away as if her eyes were burned by his stare.

She felt ashamed as if she was caught peeping at someone.

As she turned her head, she saw Michael with a hand on his lips, trying hard to hold back his laughter. It made Rachel's face even redder than strawberries.

Although she was not aware how red her face had become, she decided to look away before anyone else noticed how embarrassed she looked.

Rachel was unable to understand what was being said at the stage at all.

She pretended to look at the decorations and forced herself to be calm as she waited for the blush on her face to fade away.

She blushed like a little girl who saw her crush. The teasing glances of Michael and Marcus exchanged were made obvious for her. They stared and smiled meaningfully.

The crowd suddenly burst into warm applause. Rachel turned towards the stage and saw Rick in a black suit talking in front of the microphone.

The people applauded once more when Rick completed his speech.

He was silent for a moment on the stage as the applause faded. He twisted his lips into a slight frown as he weighed what he was going to say next.

"We will have cooperative relations with many hospitals in time for the Mother's Day celebration this year. This project is both a springboard and a foundation for us to attract more cooperative partners in the coming months and years.

This is one of the reasons that I'm holding the party today. The other reason is that today is my mother's death anniversary."

He suddenly paused as silence filled the area. What he said just surprised everyone present. They thought rick's mother was living abroad. They didn't expect her to have already passed away. But the Ying family never posted an obituary for her death.

A moment later, Rick continued, "When I returned home to start my career, my mother passed away in an accident. And it happened on a special day."

He bowed his head and closed his eyes after he spoke as he tried to hide the buildup of emotion on his face. After a brief pause, he raised his head once more with a smile.

"It has been several years since she passed away," he said and then paused briefly. "After all the years that have passed by, I thought that the wait was over to take back what was rightfully ours. But unfortunately, it's too late. My parents are all permanently gone."

Nobody expected that Rick would reveal his past to the crowd and during an occasion such as this.