Stuck in you

"You are never my burden..." Bill's voice become very low. He picked up the note again and read it word by word. The blue veins on the back of his hand popped out in a shocking manner.

"I'm sorry."

A mixture of shame, guilt, and regret overwhelmed Rachel like a tide. "If it weren't for me, maybe such a thing wouldn't have happened."

After a long silence, Bill seemed to have calmed himself down. Without looking at her, he said, "This has nothing to do with you."

He threw the note on the floor and walked to the hospital entrance. Rachel bent down and picked it up. Andy's handwriting was strong and powerful. "Bill, I have reached retirement age, but I have been worried about you so I haven't mentioned it. Now, I can take this opportunity to retire. Take good care of yourself, and don't worry about me. I'm going to take advantage of the next two years to move around and go to places I have always wanted to go to. Maybe I can live a more free and unrestrained life than now.

You should pay more attention to your health. You can find a girlfriend. If you want me to come back early, you should get married as soon as possible. I will definitely come back for your wedding."

Andy had prepared this note in advance. It was not written only at that moment, but was instead burning a hole in his pocket all this time. It looked like he had no intention of getting examined and only found the appointment to be the perfect opportunity to leave.

How could he be so cruel, just leaving like that? What about Bill?

After putting the note back into her pocket, Rachel walked out of the hospital. Bill was waiting for her in the car, his face now back to its normal expression. He said lightly, "Rachel, get in the car. I'll drive you to work."

Rachel replied, "There's no need. I drove here by myself."

Seeing the worry and uneasiness in her eyes, Bill forced a smile and turned to comfort her, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I will keep looking for Andy."

"Okay."

Rachel nodded and told him to be careful on the road.

However, she didn't head toward the parking lot. Instead, she turned around and went back to the hospital. She knocked on the door of the monitoring room and politely asked, "Hello, my family has gone missing. Can you get the surveillance video for me?"

Although everything was planned by Andy, Rachel couldn't help but wonder⁠—if she hadn't persuaded Bill to let Andy go to the bathroom alone, would he have the opportunity to leave?

No matter how she looked at it, she had something to do with Andy's disappearance.

The security guard looked at her up and down and said, "I'm sorry, but if you want to check the CCTV footage, you have to get the instructions from the superiors. If everyone was like you, coming here demanding to see footage just like that, the hospital would be in a mess. This place is not a market."

the security personnel said was reasonable, so she didn't retort even

the security guard's voice softened. "Miss, don't worry. Try to look around first. If you still can't

security office, Rachel walked around the hospital

and leaving the hospital, and Andy had been gone for some time. It was impossible

the hospital, and if so,

anyone in this

heard a man's clear voice say,

the man who spoke. His bronze skin and features

"I can't believe you look the same after all of these years! Have you

of academics jogged Rachel's memory. Her eyes lit up, and

with a faint smile, "Jasper Zhang.

a firm handshake and smiled up at

a point raised in her graduation thesis, so he questioned it during her presentation. Rachel was able to counter his argument and

didn't take that encounter to heart at the time. Little did she know that she would meet him

suddenly noticed the name plate hanging on Jasper Zhang's right chest. "Jasper, are

department," said Jasper Zhang, unknowingly puffing up his chest with a trace of pride. Then, he asked, "How

"Not very good,"

man. She opened her mouth a few times to speak. When her words failed her, she

was surprised. "Hey, Rachel,

go to the security room to check CCTV footage, right?" Before Rachel could say

my junior in medical school, but you can't just ask me to help you look at our CCTV footage. I'm a director

this, Rachel snapped out of her thoughts. She was so anxious just now that she pulled him over without explanation. She immediately

head and said,

still,

was thinking, so she asked, "Can you

looked very sexy, he was like an old man inside. He sighed and said, "Rachel, although I'm only your senior, I still have to tell you that you can't

but she couldn't wait any longer and interrupted him, "Jasper, if you want to help, please tell the security guard now. If you don't

also realized that he had talked too much just now. He smiled awkwardly and finally walked to the

went much more smoothly. In ten minutes, all surveillance records that could possibly show Andy