novelxo Chapter 423 His Plan
Hiram wore a disarmingly devilish smile as he clinked his glass with Rachel. "Do you really think you can stop me if I wanted to do that?"
Rachel was resting her head on one of her hands, as she thought about his question. 'Certainly not,' she thought and sighed. She shook her head against her thoughts and drank her wine. After emptying her glass, she lay down on her bed and wrapped herself in the bed. Her eyelids were heavy. After the earlier mess in the bar, she was feeling exhausted. Her head was still pounding even now that she was already at the comfort of her own home, and it was as if she could still hear the sounds of police sirens and the ambulance mingling with shouts in the background.
She closed her eyes and let her body sink to the familiar scent of her sheets. In no time, she was dozing off.
Hiram waited until Rachel was asleep. He quietly got up and went to the bathroom for a shower.
When he was done, he lay down cautiously next to Rachel, careful not to disturb her sleep. Then, as if by instinct, his arms found her and pulled her closer to the curve of his body.
Rachel woke up feeling refreshed. She had a restful sleep. Getting up, she stretched her arms to rouse her muscles into waking. She glanced around her and found the bed empty. It seemed that she thought too much last night. Hiram didn't touch her. An unsettling feeling came over her. Was she... disappointed?
She slapped her hands to both cheeks. It was as if an unknown feeling was making her feel warm.
'What's gotten to me? Did I eat anything strange yesterday?'
Rachel shook her head and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Then, she went to find the children to spend time playing game with them, as she always did in the mornings.
She was greeted by the sight of Nadia playing with Joyce. She woke up early that morning. The two girls were in the living room, one of them was dressing up a doll, and the other braiding its hair.
"Mommy!" At the sight of her mother, Joyce ran to Rachel. She found herself returning her daughter's bright smile.
Nadia walked towards Rachel as well. She tugged at the hem of her shirt to get her attention and asked, "Auntie, when is Mommy coming to pick me up?"
At her words, Rachel's smile froze, but she tried to keep her lips from faltering. In truth, she didn't know how to answer Nadia. Fixing her smile, she said patting the child's head, "Your mom is just a little busy now, Nadia. She might come to pick you up after a few days. In the meantime," she crouched down so she could be at level with her eyes, "why don't we just enjoy playing together? Your mommy asked me to tell you to stay here for now and have fun with Jonny and Joyce. When she finishes her work, she will come here to pick you up!"
Rachel tried her best to sound convincing and light. She was afraid of being found out, but Nadia just nodded her head innocently and went back to playing with Joyce.
Rachel breathed out a sigh of relief. At this time, Hiram was probably in the gym upstairs working out.
She went upstairs and saw Hiram running on the treadmill. His skin was glistening with perspiration, and beads of sweat trailed down from his neck to his chest. Rachel followed the trail of his sweat with her eyes. Her throat felt dry, as if she was the one who had been running. She snapped out of her thoughts, when Hiram turned his head to her, oblivious to her earlier gaze. He pointed his fingers at the treadmill besides him.
"There's another treadmill if you want to join me."
Rachel shook her head. Instead, she leaned against the treadmill and asked, "Hiram, how are things going with Shirley?
Nadia asked me about her just this morning. I really don't know how to answer her," she sighed.
Hiram, noticing her glum aura, turned off the treadmill and grabbed a towel to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. He picked up his phone and made a call. "How's Shirley? Have you found anything?"
he asked whoever was on the other side of the call. Holding his phone to his ears, he bent down to a water bottle to take a sip, but stopped abruptly.
"What?" He was visibly surprised. He glanced at Rachel and continued to talk. "Okay, I got it. Tell me if anything's up."
Hearing the conversation, Rachel had the inkling that something was definitely wrong. Hiram's expression added to her suspicions, so she asked him, "What happened? What's going on?"
Hiram looked at his phone and sighed. He said, his words slow and heavy, "Shirley and her husband had a quarrel. In the midst of the argument, she stabbed him." Hiram paused, as if considering whether he should continue. Rachel was holding her breath, her silence asking for confirmation. "He passed away this morning. She might be charged and sentenced if the police arrests her."
Rachel stepped back in surprise. The breath she was holding in went out in a gasp.
Her hands lifted to her mouth "That... That can't be true! What about Nadia? She's so young. She's just a child. What is she going to do?" her questions poured out like a rushing river.
Shirley killed her husband? It sounded unreal.
In the midst of the onslaught of her thoughts, images from the train station flashed through her. The man screaming, punching Shirley... She could only imagine what he was like when there was no one else around. He was that kind of person. She could not really blame Shirley if she was pushed to respond the way she did. Rachel took deep breaths and tried to think about the problem logically.
Her thinking was disrupted when Hiram spoke. "Do you remember the adoption papers I signed with Nadia's father that day? I did that through force of circumstances. And I didn't think about whether the papers would work. Now it seemed that they would go into effect." Hiram took a sip of the water.
"At that time, there wasn't any person to be her guardian, so I asked Chad to write down my name."
At his words, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing from the earlier stiffness due to her surprise "So, are you saying that we're Nadia's legal guardians as of now?"
Hiram nodded. "Yes, we have custody of her for now. I mean, I was thinking about sending Nadia to a qualified foster family when things settled down. But now it seems that we have to do that," he said. That was his plan when he signed the adoption papers. Looking into Rachel's wide eyes, he could already sense the words that she was about to say.
"Hiram, can we-..."
"No."
He stopped her before she could complete her question. He held her gaze and continued, "Rachel, I know you feel sympathy for the child. But we already have Jonny and Joyce. Nadia can be friends with Joyce and Jonny and I'm totally okay with that. However, adopting Nadia is an entirely different story. I won't agree to it." Biting her lips, Rachel stopped the words that were threatening to spill out.
It was true. She did want to adopt Nadia. They were qualified to do that, and money was not a problem at all. And after all that happened, Rachel had felt responsible for Nadia, as she would to her own children, and Nadia had come to trust her.
Hiram continued looking at Rachel. "Rachel, I know you. You're softhearted and you feel sorry for her. You're not wrong for those emotions, but once you adopt her, you will have to spread your love and attention to Nadia as well. I don't think that would be fair to Jonny and Joyce" Hiram reached out and touched Rachel's face gently as he reasoned with her patiently.
"I promise, I'll find the best foster family for Nadia. I won't send her to someone without a thorough check. I already have a person in mind. What about Miranda? She gets along well with Shirley. Plus, she only has one son. Don't you think she's more suitable for her than us?"
Rachel had almost forgotten about Miranda. If not for Hiram's reminder, she wouldn't have thought of her at all.
What Hiram said made sense. Miranda and Shirley had a good relationship, and she only had one son.
Nadia was very young. She would be too young to remember much about her mom. When she grew older, she might even forget what Shirley looked like. The thought brought a pang of pain to Rachel's chest, but she understood that it was for the best. Miranda and Nadia had plenty of time to form their own bond."
Rachel nodded and rested her head on Hiram's shoulders. "Okay. You're right. With the way things are now, Miranda would probably be the best option." She clutched Hiram's shirt and continued, "But we don't need to hurry things. At least, we can let Nadia stay with us for a few more days before we settle everything. When things are sorted out, we can let Miranda take care of her."
Hiram softly patted Rachel's shoulders. He knew that she wanted to spend more time with Nadia. "Sure. Let's go downstairs. It's time for breakfast. We need to go to the company after."
Rachel's head shot up in surprise "Me too? Can't I just stay home and take care of the kids? Besides, work has piled up with RaR, and I'm worried about Celine..."
Hiram covered Rachel's mouth with his hand to stop her from talking.
"You promised me. You're giving me 12 days. It's only been 3. As for your company, you don't need to worry about it. Fiona worked with Celine to take care of things while you were gone, so even if Celine isn't in the company, everything's being taken care of. Fiona is capable of handling business matters, and besides,"
Hiram pinched her lips, and Rachel thought she saw a shadow momentarily cross his eyes. "you have a lot of time to spend with the children in the future. But I've only got 12 days with you. Are you really going to reject me?"
Rachel could not possibly answer to those words. "Alright. I'll go with you after breakfast. Let's go downstairs. The children must be hungry too."
In the Streams Company, Rachel was staring fixedly at Hiram while he worked. She couldn't understand why Hiram was reasoning. Why did he want her to stay with him in the office? 'Me staying in the office with him is what he wants?' Rachel thought to herself, confused. Then, Rachel remembered what Chad told her before. When she was gone a few days ago, Hiram behaved differently, as if he had lost focus. He would wander around or call back home multiple times to ask whether Rachel had come back.
Maybe that was why Hiram insisted Rachel stay with him. Rachel sighed and gave up thinking about it.
She sank on the sofa and resumed staring at Hiram. She was drinking juice as she looked at him. He was completely immersed in his work. Her eyes followed the sharp contours of his brow down to his nose and jaw. She swept her eyes over the hard lines of his back and shoulders, and she felt her heartbeat quickening at the sight. She sipped more of her juice, suddenly feeling parched.
'What is going on?'
Rachel felt as if the air had gotten hotter, and the warmth
spread throughout her body. She had to focus on keeping her breathing normal.
Hiram lifted his head and saw Rachel sitting on the sofa, looking at him, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. He smirked and asked, "Like what you see?"