CHAPTER 4

Grayson looked up from the document that he is reading on a sunny Wednesday morning when he heard the door of his office open abruptly. He saw his mother entering with a harassed Thomas behind her, who is holding her coat in one arm.

“Hello, mother. Aren’t you supposed to be resting in your room at the hotel that I had booked for you?” Grayson greeted as he stood up, going around his table and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek lightly. “It’s still a bit early for you to harass Thomas. Look. You already made him look a fool of himself.”

Tall, regal, and beautiful Rebecca St. Claire glared up at her younger son before taking a seat on the chair that Thomas had held out for her.

“Perhaps sherry, Thomas,” Grayson instructed to his secretary with slight amusement, knowing the reason why his mother came to his office unannounced. “Make it double, if you may.”

“You are not taking me seriously, Grayson,” Mrs. St. Claire scolded when Thomas went out. “The guest list was in the Bentley that fetched me a while ago and I discovered that you eliminated most of the guests that I added!”

“I’m not looking for a girlfriend more so a wife, mom,” Grayson remarked dryly. “I mean, Benedict and his wife as well as Charlotte and her husband has given you more than enough grandchildren to keep you occupied in your retirement years. Why do you still have to include me in your time?”

“Because I know that you still haven’t moved on from Elizabeth!”

Grayson unintentionally gave his mother a cold look and it was also timely for Thomas to enter. When his secretary heard what his mother had said, he immediately went back out.

“Elizabeth’s death had nothing to do with why I want to remain single,” Grayson snapped lightly. “I had longed accepted that she is gone, mom. I don’t want to have a relationship right now because I just don’t want to.”

“So, you’d just rather go and date different women?” His mother asked, aghast.

“Nothing wrong with it,” Grayson implied, rolling his eyes. “Look, mom. Whatever I do, I’ll always be as what the public had dubbed, The St. Claire Rogue. Instead of taking a traditional route in business back home, this rogue decided to go halfway around the world and start his own chain of restaurants.”

“To which me and your father are more than proud of,” Mrs. St. Claire pointed out.

Grayson grinned at his mother to which she gave him a frown.

“I don’t need a woman. Just you for now,” he again said to his mother firmly. He pressed his intercom and told Thomas to get his mother a cup of tea. “A cup of coffee for me as well.”

“Um, sir?” Thomas answered quite hesitantly. “Uh, Miss Rachel is here to see you as scheduled.”

At the word of Thomas, Mrs. St. Claire perked up from her chair and leaned forward. “Send her in, Thomas,” she ordered enthusiastically. “Don’t let her keep on waiting out there. You know how Grayson is with his schedule.”

He only shook his head at his mother and a few minutes later, the door to his office opened and Thomas came in bringing a tray of their drinks along with some pastries. Following behind him is Rachel Hamilton, looking young and surprisingly breathtaking in a paisley sundress.

It’s been two months since Rachel got out of the hospital and after begging Grayson repeatedly to take her wherever he will be heading, he had bought her a one-way ticket to CF State where he had made his second home. He also had a job readied for her upon their arrival, unknown to her.

“Please. I will find a job there and repay you for everything you have spent on me,” Rachel had begged desperately. “I cannot stay here. You said that someone is meant to kill me, then once he or she knows that I’m alive, those gunmen will find me again.”

Callum Moore and Nathan Fletcher, his close friends, who went with him for that vacation were first hesitant at her request. But, after Nathan, who has a private investigation office received information from his sources that there are suspicious men roaming around the Cunningham’s estate and hotels, finally relented and supported Grayson’s decision.

But instead of letting her work in one of his restaurant chains, he had her enrolled in an International Culinary School in the state when he discovered that she had a knacked for making producing top-rated and high-end quality dishes.

“Hello, Mr. St. Claire,” Rachel greeted with a warm smile. She stood still on her spot when she spotted his mother. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll wait outside.”

“Nonsense,” Mrs. St. Claire interrupted when Grayson was about to open his mouth. “You are definitely not bothering, dear. Did I hear correctly that your name is Rachel? I’m Grayson’s mom, Rebecca St. Claire.”

“I am pleased to meet you, Mrs. St. Claire,” Rachel said softly, holding out a hand.

Grayson saw his mother hesitate for a second before returning the shake. “Oh, dear. Are you alright?” Mrs. St. Claire then asked, holding up Rachel’s arm. “You have scratches on your arms and looks to me they’re just healing.”

“Mom,” Grayson started, and his mother looked at him before looking back at Rachel, who stood uncomfortably in front of them. He then saw her looked at Thomas, who is doing everything he can to avoid the older woman’s stare.

“Well, don’t let me interrupt your meeting with Grayson, dear,” Mrs. St. Claire finally said patiently. She took her bag from the chair and walked directly to Thomas. “Have lunch with me later, alright, Grayson? And so will you, Rachel.”

“Let’s go, Thomas,” she then said authoritatively. “I believe you haven’t reported to me yet the reason why the guest list to my party was reduced.”

Grayson looked at Rachel, who stood uncomfortably in front of him after his mother went out with Thomas. He knew that she would extract everything from his secretary the few minutes she had observed him inside the office.

“I should have called before heading here,” she said apologetically as she approached the chair that Grayson held out for her.

“Well, you did make a schedule, right?” He returned. He sat on his chair and looked at her calmly. “Did you come from therapy? How was it?”

“Just alright,” she replied lightly. She remained silent for a while, looking down at her hands. “There is something that I need to ask, and I hope you’ll be okay with it.”

Rachel took a deep breath. “The truth is, I keep on having nightmares. I was driving that car, hearing gun shots behind me and then seeing the car dove into the waters as I was losing consciousness. I keep on thinking that it could have been my mistake that the accident happened,” she finally continued slowly. “I’ve been having these headaches because I can’t stop myself from overthinking. The doctor suggested that I go through Hypnosis to try remembering my past, but I was thinking of not going through it.”

“And your reason?” Grayson asked.

“I checked how my life was over the internet and judging from the things I had went through, I’d rather start a new life here,” she answered. “Perhaps with a new identity.”

Grayson looked at her calmly, absorbing the things she is telling him.

“Your fiancé is still looking for you,” he pointed out. “I got information from Nathan that he had combed all the hospitals over the state, looking for you. He knows deep down that you are alive and will not stop until he finds you.”

Rachel gave him a sad smile.

“I checked on him as well and I’m quite shocked really that he decided to marry me,” she said softly. “I’m not the woman for him. With his status, the only reason I could think of was because we were caught in an uncompromising position. I was drugged, remember? And he hated me for it. Who knows? I might have drugged him, too.”

“Maybe he fell in love with you overtime, Rachel,” Grayson said.

Rachel shook her head, laughing lightly. “Men like him don’t find themselves falling in love with women like me,” she explained sadly. “That could not just happen. Impossible.”

Grayson got up from his chair and stood in front of her, leaning on his table.

“You’re really selling yourself short, Rachel,” he chided gently. He studied her for a while and could see that she is set of turning her back to the life she had forgotten after the accident. “But I can see that you’ve thought this through already and I feel that I cannot do anything about it anymore. Are you really sure of your decision?”

She looked up at him, her dark, emerald eyes looking determined.

“I am,” she said firmly. “I want to start a new life. With a new name and everything that comes with it. I don’t want to be Rachel Hamilton anymore.”

“Rachel Hamilton is dead and that’s going to be that now.”