My Darling, My Dearest

Chapter 365 Choose A Wedding Dress

Lea and Celia immediately pulled Rachel's arms.

"Come on! We are your bridesmaids. If we don't wear high-end dresses, we will embarrass not only ourselves but also you and Jack," Lea said raising an eyebrow.

With the saleswoman in the lead, the three of them walked into the shop, which was full of dazzling wedding dresses and other kinds of gowns. Before Rachel could say a word, Lea and Celia had already started to choose.

Celia was still single, so Rachel thought that it was only reasonable for her to get excited and thrilled upon seeing the gowns and the wedding dresses. But Lea... When she saw her being excited too, Rachel couldn't help teasing her, "Haven't you worn a wedding dress before?"

"That was different," Lea answered with a pout. "This time, I'm going to be your bridesmaid." She took a purple gown and put it in front of her. Facing the mirror, she asked Rachel, "How about this one? Does it look good on me?"

It was the saleswoman who answered, "Miss, with your perfect figure, you must look good in this style. You can try it first. The fitting room is there. If you think there is something wrong with it, we can modify it for you." Lea's face broke into a wide grin upon hearing the saleswoman's flattery.

After taking a sip of the lemonade that one of the staff served, Rachel also said with a smile, "Yeah, try it first."

On the other side of the shop, Celia was just staring at them. She hadn't chosen anything yet. In the end, she came to Rachel and sat down next to her.

Rachel tilted her head and asked, "Haven't you chosen your gown yet?"

Celia shook her hand and replied, "Not yet. They are all beautiful. I don't know which one to pick.

Rachel felt strange when she saw the disappointment in her eyes. She was about to ask another question, but Lea already walked out of the fitting room and rush to them with an unhappy face.

Looking at her belly, she pouted and said with a sigh, "Ever since I gave birth to Rita, my slim waist has totally vanished. Look at this belly fat. With this, I won't be needing any swim ring in summer."

"It actually doesn't look bad, miss. But if you don't feel comfortable with your belly, we can ask our tailor to modify this gown. We can add some wrinkles in the front so your belly won't be too noticeable." Good thing, the saleswoman was eloquent enough. She knew how to please her customers with just a few words.

Lea looked herself in the mirror again and discussed with the saleswoman the changes she wanted. After a while, she noticed Celia, who had been sitting on the sofa motionlessly. "Why are you just sitting there? Go and try some of the gowns here."

"It's okay. I'll go with whatever you choose. We will be wearing the same gown anyway," Celia answered, then looked away.

Rachel was a little stunned. She felt that Celia's mood had suddenly changed. She tried to recall everything that happened from the time they entered this shop but couldn't remember anything strange.

As a straightforward person, Lea was not satisfied with Celia's answer. She pulled the hemline of her gown and dragged her to the fitting room. She asked the saleswoman to bring a white strapless gown and stuffed it into her arms. "Go and change right away. We are going to be Rachel's bridesmaids. Are you not excited at all?" she said before walking out.

A few moments later, Celia came out of the fitting room, wearing the white gown that wrapped her perfect figure tightly.

But the shawl on her shoulder ruined the beauty of the gown, and it looked annoying.

Lea immediately took it away and said, "You don't have to put this shawl on." Thinking that Celia was only shy, she pointed at Rachel and added with a smile, "We are all women here. You don't have to be shy."

But all of a sudden, her smile turned into a frown. She fell silent for a while before she said again, "Rachel, come here."

Celia kept on wriggling as if trying to hide something. Eventually, she said anxiously, "I fell a little uncomfortable with this dress. I'll go and change it."

"No, don't change it yet." Lea stopped her instantly. Pressing her shoulder, Lea turned her so Rachel could see her back.

Rachel was shocked when she saw the awful bruises. She couldn't help asking, "Celia, what is the meaning of this?"

"Nothing, nothing." Celia lowered her head, unwilling to meet their questioning gazes. She didn't say anything more.

The frown on Lea's face hadn't dissipated yet when she said, "Don't lie to us. There are so many bruises on your back, and you just say it's nothing? Tell us the truth. What happened?"

Perhaps Celia knew that Lea and Rachel wouldn't stop questioning her, and they wouldn't let her go unless she told them the truth. So, she pressed her lips tightly and whispered, "My father beat me.

I actually moved back last month, but I just didn't tell Rachel. My stepmother didn't want me to stay there, so she always makes trouble for me."

She walked to the sofa first, sat down, and crossed her hands uneasily on her lap. In an aggrieved voice, she continued, "The day before yesterday, she said that her gold bracelet was missing, and she accused me of stealing it. I got so angry that I couldn't help scolding her.

When my father came home in the evening, she snitched on me. My father got angry and hit my back with a stool."

Lea and Rachel were rendered speechless. The atmosphere around them became depressed all of a sudden. After a while, Lea was the first to recover from the shock. Fury flashed through her eyes as she said through clenched teeth, "Such a person doesn't deserve to be a father. He's unforgivable!"

Seeing her face flush with anger, Rachel held her hand and said slowly, "Don't be impulsive. We have to think about this carefully."

Celia took a tissue from her bag and wiped her eyes. She looked at the two women in front of her, shook her head slightly, and said, "I'll just let it pass. After all, he is my father. And I don't have a place to stay now, so I need to live with them."

Lea, who still couldn't contain her anger, opposed, "How can you just let it go? We have to let your father and stepmother know that you are not easy to bully."

She was about to continue nagging, but Rachel interrupted. "Celia, don't worry. If you don't want to, we won't let others know about this."

However, she would find out the reason why Celia decided to move out of Marcus' house. It wasn't the right time to ask her about it so she would figure it out by herself.

After such an unpleasant revelation from Celia, the three of them lose the interest to continue looking for dresses and left the shop. Rachel and Lea sent Celia home first before they also went

back to their own homes.

Life wasn't always fair. Not all fathers treated their daughters like princesses. If some fathers loved spoiling their daughters, some were also violent.

When Jack came back that evening, he saw Rachel sitting on the sofa in a daze. He waved his hand in front of her and asked, "Did you get tired of shopping?"

It took Rachel a few seconds to react. Seeing him squatting in front of her, she exclaimed, "What time is it? I haven't cooked dinner yet."

"Don't worry about it. Let's have dinner outside." He then went to their room and changed into his casual clothes.

Taking advantage of the relaxing atmosphere in the restaurant, Jack looked at Rachel, who was reading the menu, and asked, "Is there anything wrong?"

Rachel ordered a few dishes first before she replied, "No, there isn't."

Since she said so, he didn't ask any more questions. When the waiter served their orders, they started to eat quietly. He put a piece of sparerib on her plate. But to his surprise, she absentmindedly picked it up and put it into the bone plate.

She then picked up a bone from the bone plate and was about to put it in her mouth.

Jack stopped her at once. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he said with a frown, "Rachel, you said nothing was wrong. But with the way you are behaving right now, I don't think I should believe you. Tell me, what really happened today?"

She hesitated for a while before finally putting her chopsticks down and pursed her lips. "Something happened to Celia."

He raised his eyebrows and asked in a relaxed tone, "What happened to her?"

He had to admit he was a selfish man; when he heard that it was all about Celia, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief and thought, 'As long as it's not about Bill.'

But upon glancing at him, Rachel seemed to have read his mind. She retorted, "Didn't you say you are not narrowminded?"

"Sorry, I can't help it," he admitted quickly with a grin.

Holding her hand on the table, he added, "Stop talking about me. Tell me what happened to Celia." Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Rachel started to tell him what happened. After telling him everything, Jack didn't say anything for a long time. But when she looked at him, she saw him frowning. No one knew what was on his mind.

Celia also went out for dinner that evening. After having a bowl of noodles in a nearby restaurant, she went back home. While her father and stepmother were having dinner in the dining room, she quietly sneaked back to her room. However, her father caught her.

He put his chopsticks down, coughed intentionally, and said in a calm but powerful voice, "Come and eat dinner with us."

Since she had already been exposed, she simply stood straight and said, "I've already eaten outside."

Her stepmother cast a glance at her. With an evil grin, she sneered, "You're such a spendthrift. We have enough food at home, but you still eat out. Do you think making money is easy?"

With eyes wide open, she Celia about to retort. But she suddenly remembered what Rachel told her this afternoon, so she tried hard to hold back her anger. She took a deep breath and smiled instead.

She gave her stepmother an expressionless look as if she was saying, "Just say anything you want."

Obviously, her stepmother was surprised by her sudden change of attitude.

Sensing that she wasn't planning to argue with her, she mumbled, "Well, it's a good thing that you don't eat here. We can save money and spend it on something else."

Celia went back to her room and leaned against the door. She took out her phone and sent a message to Rachel. "She confronted me just now, but I didn't fight back. As expected, she didn't say anything more."

Author's note

G°°se fiSEQ

Translator: Scarlett5555