My Darling, My Dearest

Chapter 163

Jack had asked Michael to take his cat back.

Michael had mentioned how the cat would keep scratching the door while screaming at midnight.

He had been on the verge of breaking down. Jack had asked him why he had decided to raise a cat. Michael had told him that the cat was a woman's and he was courting her.

She had been out of town on a business trip, so Michael had offered to take care of the cat for her.

Jack had chuckled at his idiotic friend's plight.

Rachel burst out in laughter after hearing Jack's comment. She was laughing so heartily that he could not help but stare at how beautiful she looked when she was laughing.

"Is it so funny?" Jack asked.

Rachel imagined how furious Michael got every time the cat would scratch at his door while he was peacefully drifting into sleep.

"No, it's not. I think the cat is really cute," she said while she was ironically trying to hide her laughter.

"Wait a minute. Rachel, do you like cats?" Jack interrupted. Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Of course, Rachel didn't particularly like cats.

She just said that because of how Jack had

been describing the cat. But she never said that she had no interest in raising pets.

She only said that cats were cute because she wanted to see how Jack would react. It was the perfect setup to trick him and see how far he would go.

Rachel tilted her head and acted like she was thinking about it. She even made the "Hmm" sound, to make it more believable.

"Rachel, please don't tell me you like cats too," said Jack.

"Maybe, what about you?"

Jack's smile immediately turned into a frown. When it dawned on him that Rachel might really like the furry little creature, he felt distressed.

He had zero interest in pets, let alone raising them. He tried to play it cool so Rachel wouldn't notice that he was worried.

Albeit reluctantly, he told her, "If you want, maybe we can get one."

Rachel was surprised. She didn't realize her plan would go this well. Who knew that she could easily manipulate Jack like this? "Do you really mean that?"

Jack gave up. His feelings for Rachel were stronger than his convictions. If she was truly adamant in having one of these things, he would force himself to endure having one around the house. Besides, it was normal for girls to like soft and furry little creatures.

"Yes, I mean it," he conceded. Jack sighed as

soon as he said that, but Rachel would be so happy, and he thought it was worth it.

However, he didn't expect that Rachel would burst into laughter again. "You don't want to raise a cat! It's written all over your face, Jack. Why would you debase yourself like that?"

Jack had never looked more ashamed his whole life, but what he said next surprised Rachel even more. "It depends on you, Rachel," he said.

"If we raised a pet even if you hated it, you would despise both of us!"

"If you really wanted one, I would be okay with it. I mean I don't love the idea, but I can endure it for you," he retorted.

Rachel turned around to hide her smile. She didn't want Jack to see that she was slightly blushing so she went to the living room.

Jack followed her and held her hand. "If you want, we can drop by the pet store this afternoon."

She held her forehead and smiled at him. "Don't take it so seriously, Jack. Have you ever seen me keep one of those things around?"

Jack was surprised to hear what she had just said. After all, she did look like she was really interested. However, it was clear to him that she never really did have the chance to raise any sort of pet because his mother disliked having little animals around the house.

Part of the reason that Rachel couldn't raise pets was because she didn't have too much time on her hands. Half of the time, she spent with the Fu family. The other half, she was trying to study. If she

kept a pet, she would have forgotten to feed it.

Jack pondered if Rachel really was just trying to see how he would react or if she truly wanted to raise a pet.

In a short amount of time, Jack had already come up with several ideas. The look on his eyes was all the evidence that Rachel needed to tell that he was plotting something again.

Rachel unconsciously touched her face because of how much he was staring at her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied while keeping a straight face. Jack had already decided that he would go through with his plan. "I'll come back later this evening."

"And then what?"

"And then I'll arrange for Austin to choose two pet stores. We'll drop by and see if you find one that you like."

Rachel paused and bit her lip. "Stop. I really don't want to raise a pet, Jack."

Instead of listening to what she was telling him, Jack chose to ask her a question. "Then what would you like?"

'What do I like?' She kept thinking for over a minute and couldn't decide on an answer.

She had never really built a habit of keeping pets. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that she had led a completely dull life compared to other people.

Jack received a phone call and left in a hurry.

After he left, Rachel began to arrange her stuff.

She put her clothes into his wardrobe and arranged them neatly.

After arranging the wardrobe, she found that all his pillow covers and blanket had been changed.

The dark blue ones that had been there before were now replaced by warm ones.

After a closer look, she realized why they looked so familiar to her. They were the same as the ones she was using in her house. Jack's meticulousness was all hidden in such a trivial detail.

She went to the kitchen and expected that he had at least restocked the refrigerator. "Nope. It's even emptier than when I left," she said begrudgingly.

Rachel began thinking of a list of items that she needed to buy. Since she came here in order to take care of Jack's surprisingly fragile stomach, she needed to carefully buy the ingredients and cook them herself.

She remembered that Jack once bragged about the time he went to a Chinese restaurant to learn how to cook.

But all he got was gastritis. For the president of MK Group, he was a complete mess!

Jack, on the other hand, was absent-minded while working.

All he wanted right now was to get off work early. He was invited to a party this evening, but Jack did not want to go at all.

It was not that important, so he asked Austin to refuse for him.

While he was on the meeting, everyone noticed that he was distracted and restless. He would even take out his phone to check it every five minutes.

He was so clearly distracted that the meeting could no longer proceed.

Austin thought that ever since the boss fell in love, he had changed a lot. Perhaps it was good in some ways, but it was affecting his work ethics.

Austin had never seen the boss like this, not even when Jack was with Celine for a long time. But now he was acting like a teenage boy who was head over heels in love.

As Jack's secretary, he took it upon himself to urge him to focus. He repeatedly reminded him that they were in a meeting, and Jack finally came to his senses.

Jack finally realized that everyone was just staring at him. He cleared his throat and set his phone aside. "So where were we?"

Austin pressed his palm to his face and handed his notebook to Jack. He whispered to Jack what they had been talking about all this time. Jack was still a little dazed so he opened the notebook and read what Austin had jotted down.

Jack's associates stared at each other in dismay. They thought that the president should not act so absent-minded.

The meeting didn't continue until Jack finished reviewing his secretary's notes. After he was done, he raised his head, wore a straight face, and cleared

his throat once more.

Jack rummaged through the documents that they handed him and pointed out a few wrong numbers. The people who were responsible broke out in a cold sweat.

To their surprise, Jack didn't blame them.

He simply said in a well-modulated voice, "Next time show me a revised plan with correct numbers.

I don't want anyone committing such a stupid mistake again."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When they left the meeting room, they thought that Jack might have hit his head or something.

Jack was brilliant, but he was also the realization of their corporate nightmares.

They thought they got off easy today. If it had been any other day, who knew what would have happened? There was only one thing they couldn't figure out. Why was Jack so distracted?

After looking through the plans once more, the wrong numbers were indeed important figures.

The supervisor wiped the sweat from his forehead. He didn't check the post thoroughly, and he handed it to Jack so haphazardly.

After their meeting with Jack, each department held their own meetings.

They abided by Jack's order and didn't dare to make the same mistake. Setting aside the minor insult that they all got, perhaps it was Jack's version of giving them a gentle warning.

If that stupid error happened again, they

doubted if anyone in that room would still be working for MK Group.

None of them knew why Jack was so distracted, except for Austin. He knew exactly why he was so fidgety and restless.

After following Jack to his office, Austin thought about raising his concern but ultimately decided against it.

Jack noticed the look on Austin's face and said, "If you have something to say, say it."

Jack and Austin had worked together for several years now. He knew Austin well enough to know when he had something on his mind, and he respected his opinion.

"Mr. Fu,"

Austin stuttered and changed his words. "Jack, recently you've been so..." He clammed up again.

No matter how close their relationship were, Jack was still his superior and he was his secretary. So it was improper to question or criticize Jack.

Knowing that Austin probably couldn't say it directly, Jack figured out what Austin wanted to discuss. It was about what happened during the meeting.

If he were an employee, his boss would criticize him for how he acted during such an important meeting.

"Today was just...an accident. It won't happen again," he sighed.

"Boss, it wasn't just today." Austin was hesitant to continue the rest of his sentence at first, but

since he had already said it, perhaps it was best to say it straight. "You haven't been performing well recently. There're tons of work that are getting delayed. Haven't you noticed it?"

Jack was left speechless. Even if he wanted to defend himself, Austin was right. He had been neglected his duties and responsibilities.

It had been a long time since a blunder like this happened.

Back then, his work ethics wasn't the problem. It was the way he behaved in front of his employees.

"I'm gonna be more careful next time," Jack said sincerely.