Alle running for a short distance, Joey finally saw Rachel.
He then quickened his pace and threw himself into her. She embraced him and noticed that there were beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Why are you in a hurry? Is everything okay? Did something happen?"
"Nope!"
While Joey was embracing his mother, he pressed his forehead against her lower abdomen.
"I was just excited to see you.I missed you, Mommy!"
Rachel was amused to hear him say that she smiled while ruffling his hair.
Joey looked behind her, only to find that Riley and Roger werenât there.
He looked back at Rachel and asked, "Mommy, where are Riley and her uncle?"
"Roger took Riley to see her mommy.Theyâll come find us later.Weâll just wait for him outside," Rachel explained.
Joey nodded in response, held her hand, and followed her out of the hospital.
After taking only a few steps, he glanced back at the place where Carson was standing earlier.
The man was already gone.
Rachel noticed that her son was absent-minded, so she followed his gaze, only to find that there were no other people in the hallway "Whatâs wrong, Joey?" she asked while stopping in her tracks "Itâs nothing," Joey replied while withdrawing his gaze and looking ahead.
Rachel didnât buy it, so she just looked at him and crossed her arms.
"Fine, Iâll tell you."
Joey was well aware that he wouldnât be able to hide anything from his mother, no matter how hard he tried Rachel looked at him, waiting for his explanation.
This time, Joey looked into her eyes and asked, "Mommy, have you really decided to be with Mr.Jimenez?"
The question left Rachel stunned.
After gathering her composure, she asked, "Whatâs the matter, Joey? Do you not want me to,"
"Itâs not like that."
Joey shook his head.
"I like him and he treats you well.I believe youâll be happy together."
"Then, why did you ask me that question?" said Rachel.
"Because you donât seem very happy, Mommy."
Joey answered with a frown.
"Did you decide to be with Mr.Jimenez because I keep saying that I want a dad and you didnât want to disappoint me? If thatâs the whole reason you plan to be with him, I donât want you to do it just for me.Listen, Mom, what I want is for you to be happy.I admit that Iâm fond of him, and I think heâs a really nice person.But if you decide to be with him just for me, I donât want it."
A smile appeared on Rachelâs lips.It warmed her heart to hear him say that, but she felt sad as well.
Joey has grown up to be a thoughtful little guy "How do you know that this isnât what I want?"
Rachel bent down at eye level with him.She gently placed her hand on Joeyâs shoulder.
"Besides, weâre not together yet.Weâre just giving it a shot.I agreed to date him, not because of you-
well, not completely for you.So, donât feel guilty about it, okay?"
"Really?" Joey asked, his eyes lighting up Rachel fell silent for a moment before nodding in response.
"Yes, really. Anyway, can we go now? Roger should be here soon."
She ruffled his hair again.
Joey nodded and decided to stop thinking about it.He then held Rachelâs hand and walked on.
"Achoo!"
Just as Carson was about to open the door, he sneezed.
Suddenly, the door opened from inside.
"M! Scotl, youâre back."
Ivan was the one who opened the door.
He was surprised to see Carson, While touching the tip of his nose, Carson said in a nasal voice, "Yeah.Where are the investigators?"
âThey just left."
Ivan noticed the dark circles around Carsonâs eyes and thought of the fact that the latter just sneezed.
"Sir, did you catch a cold? I can handle things here.You should go home and get some rest.You havenât been able to rest properly for days."
Carson was about to refuse, but then he sneezed again.
Lately, the weather was growing colder by the day.He had indeed been staying up late for several nights, Chances were, he mightâve caught a cold.He cleared his throat and said, "No, itâs fine.You should go home and get some rest, Ivan.You havenât been able to have a good rest for over two weeks as well."
"Sir, Iâm fine.Your work is much more exhausting than mine.Mr.Scott, you shouldâ"
"Fine, fine.Iâll do it."
After sneezing two times in a row, Carson felt that his nose was clogged up.
He was starting to get a migraine because of Ivanâs nagging.
"We both havenât had any proper rest for days.If you donât want to go home or take a break, weâll both stay here and work together.That way, we can go home and get some rest later."
Having heard the suggestion, Ivan said nothing more.He just nodded and made way for Carson.
The hospital was a well-ventilated place, and it was getting colder every day, which meant that it was a lot easier to catch a cold here.
The windows of the corridor were opened.
A gust of cold wind blew in, causing people to shiver.
Once they were inside the room, the air conditioning made Carson feel much warmer.
"Tell me, what did the investigators say?"
Carson asked while looking at Ivan and pouring a glass of warm water for himself.
After a moment of silence, Ivan answered, "They didnât really say much.â I asked them a bunch of questions, but they answered none of it.
They claimed that it was still confidential, since the investigation was ongoing."
"In that case, why did you look so sullen seconds ago?"
Carson put down the glass.
"I know you were just nervous, but if someone else saw you like this, they might think that Sullivan Group is about to go bankrupt."
"How are you still in the mood to joke, Mr.Scott?"
"Am I not allowed to crack a joke or two every now and then?"
Carson chuckled.
"Should I be wearing the same stoic face as you are? I donât look handsome while scowling, you know!"
Ivan was rendered speechless.
At this point, he didnât know what to say.
"Since the investigation is still ongoing, thereâs nothing else we can do but wait," Carson said.
"Victor wouldâve said the same thing."
Ivan looked at him, visibly surprised.
âThey really are best friends! They can tell what the other is thinking all the time"
Even though Victor hadnât said anything, he was just as Carson had described.
Ivanâs eyebrows knitted together.
"Thereâs one more thing you need to know, sir.The investigation team asked Mr.Sullivan to sign the agreement for them to able to investigate the headquarters.And it seems like theyâre not just investigating the project in Baltimore this time.It looks like theyâre also investigating all the projects that the Sullivan Group has handled in the past five years.Theyâve also asked permission to access the files in the core data bank"
"The core data bank?â This was the second time someone had asked for permission to access the core data bank of the Sullivan Group recently The first one was Wallace.
During the past decade, nobody had ever asked for it.But just this past month, there had already been two instances.Carson raised his eyebrows.
As far as he could tell, only contracts and dust were in the core data bank.He had no idea why those people were so interested in it.