My mute bride

The next day, Rachel and Jolly returned to the office after their morning meeting in Hudson Pharmaceuticals. “We’ve managed to settle the project funds for now, and it’s all thanks to Mr. Carter! But I don’t think this can go on for long,” Rachel uttered.

“The Carter Family are part of the shareholders as well, so you don’t have to feel bad for getting my dad’s help,” Jolly replied as she pulled her phone out and scrolled through the news. Her eyes lit up all of a sudden. “There’s news from our men, Chris.” Jolly made a phone call in front of Rachel as she spoke.

“Hello? What’s the situation?” Jolly asked.

The person on the other end of the line said something that Rachel couldn’t hear. “A veil? Okay. I got it. Thanks,” Jolly replied with a frown.

“What is it?” Rachel asked after the call ended.

“It’s like you said—the staff we sent to keep an eye on Mrs. Bowman reported that she had left Westhill Racecourse and headed to a private bank,” Jolly explained.

“A bank?” Rachel frowned.

“Yeah. She kept something in the safe box of that bank,” Jolly said.

“Would someone as cautious as her keep something in a bank’s safe box if she knows we’re looking for it?” Rachel wondered. After all, if the Investigation Bureau ran an investigation at the bank, the bank would be sealed, and Julia wouldn’t have the time to take her things and escape the authorities.

“It was a veil,” Jolly stated.

“A veil?” Rachel was stunned.

“Do you remember the wedding dress we saw? It didn’t have a veil to go with it,” Jolly said thoughtfully. Rachel immediately understood what was going on. “Is the item in the veil?” Since the wedding dress had been lined with diamonds, it was likely that the veil had the same design. Furthermore, since the diamonds on the wedding dress that had been given to Jolly were already highly pricey, the veil was probably worth more than that. That was why it hadn’t been handed to Jolly.

Jefferey’s money was probably there regardless of what was hidden in the veil. “The staff we sent over claimed that Mrs. Bowman had taken the veil away. She even told the people at the bank that her friend’s daughter was getting married and that the veil was a set with the dress that she had to send over to them.”

“That does sound like a logical reason she could use to pass the customs,” Rachel commented. “So, do you think the veil would show itself if a wedding happened right now?” she asked thoughtfully.

“We’ll host a wedding then,” Jolly declared as she met Rachel’s gaze.

Everyone was shocked when Jolly announced the news of her hosting a wedding. “Didn’t you say that you didn’t want a wedding?” Marilyn was puzzled. “What sneaky plan do you have up your sleeve this time?”

Jolly gave her mother a cheeky look as she tugged on her mother’s arm. “Oh, I just suddenly felt like having a wedding. Don’t they say that a wedding is one of the greatest highlights of one’s life? I want my family and friends to witness our marriage.”

“Well, that’s true. But you were the one who said you didn’t want to organize one because of how troublesome it was! I didn’t prepare anything at all. If you want me to start preparing now, the invitations, the hotels, the schedule, and the planning of the whole wedding will take up to six months. When do you want the wedding to happen?” Marilyn asked.

“There’s no need for so much trouble. I’ve thought about it. We’ll host the wedding in Tahiti one month from now,” Jolly announced.

“One month?” Marilyn nearly jumped to her feet. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“One month is enough, isn’t it? We don’t have to make it too complicated. I just want a simple wedding,” Jolly said.

“What’s up with you, Jolly?” Marilyn asked before turning to Leroy. “What are you guys thinking? How could one month be enough?”

Leroy threw his hands up in the air. “To be honest, I just got the news too.” Fortunately, Jolly had always been a rather eccentric and unpredictable girl, so Marilyn didn’t suspect anything, even after this whole conversation. “Well, are you sure about this, Jolly? If you’re sure, then I’ll get people to start preparing. I don’t want you to change your mind after I’ve started working on it, do you hear me? I won’t let you hear the end of it if that happens,” Marilyn grumbled.

“Of course. Don’t worry about it, Mom. You can go ahead and prepare for your precious daughter’s gorgeous wedding!” Jolly cheered. Even though Marilyn didn’t sound too impressed by this decision, she was actually jumping with joy on the inside. After all, every mother wanted to see their daughter as the star of a grand wedding, right? Previously, when Jolly refused to host the wedding, Marilyn had claimed that she was okay with the decision, but she was actually really disappointed about it. This time, Marilyn finally had her wishes come true!

After they departed from the Carter Residence, Leroy sent Jolly back to Hudson Pharmaceuticals. While he drove her back, he asked her about the wedding. “You probably discussed this matter with Miss Hudson, right? So what are you guys scheming?”

“What do you mean? I might just genuinely want to have a wedding—why can’t you believe that?” Jolly asked.

“I know you too well. You’d climb mountains and cross oceans for others, but you’d try to make everything as simple as possible for yourself. Someone like you would never want to have a wedding overseas. You’d probably find it a hassle just to put on the wedding dress!” Leroy exclaimed.

“Women are fickle-minded creatures,” Jolly muttered.

“Well, there are some things that never change. You’ll always be someone who tries to avoid trouble. So, I want you to be honest. What’s going on?” Jolly knew that she couldn’t hide anything from Leroy, so she decided to come clean. “It’s about that wedding dress again,” Jolly told Leroy about how Hudson Pharmaceuticals’ funds might potentially be in the veil of the wedding dress.

“Are you guys sure about this? What if it isn’t here?” Leroy frowned.

“Even if the funds aren’t there, this wedding will still be a really great excuse for the club to transfer its funds. They’ve been eyeing me for a while now,” Jolly replied.

“It sounds dangerous.”

“Are you scared?” she asked him.

He looked deeply into her eyes before holding her hand tight. “No.” They both knew that Rachel wasn’t just going after the Hudson Pharmaceuticals’ funds. She also wanted to help Janice get rid of such thugs so that Riverdale would be a better place.

“By the way, the wedding dress is with Ryan. So I’ll have to meet him for a while,” Jolly told Leroy.

…

Meanwhile, Rachel’s secretary knocked on her door at Hudson Pharmaceuticals. “There’s someone here for you, President Hudson.” Rachel had been looking through her documents and was puzzled when she heard her secretary’s words. “Who is it?”

“It’s me.” A figure popped out from the side of the door. “Steven!” Rachel was stunned for a while before she smiled. “What brings you here?”

“I’m here to see if your eye has gotten better,” he said. Then, he walked over to Rachel’s office desk and sat on the chair before leaning close to inspect her face.

“It’s better than it was a few days ago, but it’s still a little swollen,” Rachel told him. “Anyway, you should be resting at home. Why are you here?” she asked.

“I’m here for you,” he replied.

“What? Is anything the matter?” she asked.

“It’s the weekend tomorrow, so I was wondering if you’d be free to watch a movie with me,” he said.

She smiled in return. “I’d love to, but I’ve already made plans with someone else tomorrow.”

“Is it Justin?” Steven asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

He stuck his lips into a pout. “Isn’t he the president of Burton Group? Why does he have so much free time?”

“Well, a president still has the time to watch a play, I guess,” she told him.

“Are you guys going to watch a play?”

“Yeah.”

Steven blinked a few times upon hearing this. “I just arrived in Riverdale, and I’m not too familiar with the place. My sister and her husband aren’t here tomorrow, so I’ll be alone…” No one could possibly resist the puppy-eyed look on a handsome young man’s face. When Rachel thought about Steven’s relationship with the Carter Family, she figured that she did have some duty to care for him. “How about this? We could watch it together tomorrow if you’re interested in the play.”

“I’m interested!” Steven cried. “It’s set. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hey—” Rachel wanted to tell him that she had to ask Justin about it first, but she didn’t get to finish her words as Steven walked out of the room. Hence, she simply let out a resigned smile. She could already imagine the gloomy look on a certain someone’s face after hearing about this news.