Page 44 of Boss with Benefits

Mom narrowed her dark brown eyes at me. "Gianna texted me. She said you've been requesting a lot of time off."

My stomach twisted. "I've been working at Dreamary. You know, the company Eva used to work for."

Mom frowned. "But you love the Pilates studio. You want to run it one day."

I sank back, suddenly exhausted. "Things change. It got boring."

"Work isn't always fun, Rach," Mom said, her voice stern.

I let out a quick snort. "I like to go with the flow, and my flow ain't feeling Pilates anymore."

Mom shook her head. "And what about this company? Is it more your flow?"

Irritation bubbled up inside me. "Get off my vag, Amma. I'm fine. I support myself. I have health care. I floss every day. You raised me right. Now let me adult my way."

Mom hesitated. "You sure everything's okay? Has anyone, um...have you seen any friends lately? Or anyone else?"

My Spidey-sense went into high gear. "Like who?"

Her eyes shifted from side to side like she was nervous, which was not like her. She's a doctor. She has to tell bad news to people all the time, so why was she all cagey?

"Rachel, I..."

"Just spit it out," I snapped, my patience waning.

"Your biological grandfather contacted me," she blurted out.

I froze.”When?"

"Two months ago."

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled, my arms flying up. "You've known about him for two months and you're just telling me now? He's been following me. Did you know that? I thought it was some weirdo creep. Derrick basically tackled him and made him tell us who he is."

"Rachel, that was not very smart," she said in her lecture voice. "And who's Derrick?"

"Amma!"

"Right, sorry." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I gave Mr. Lin the address of the Pilates studio. He must have been too scared to speak to you."

Anger surged through me, hot and fierce. "How could you do that without telling me? I was scared. I called the police. You've known for months! Why didn't you tell me the second he contacted you?"

"I'm sorry,thali. I promised him I'd let him contact you first. He wanted to meet you to explain..."

I stood up abruptly, my hands shaking. "Your loyalty should have been to me, not to some stranger who abandoned me as a baby. You always suspected he forced my bio mom to give me up, and he confirmed it. Now he's looking for me and you kept a secret from me about him."

Mom reached out, her eyes pleading. "Rachel, it wasn't a secret. That's why I came today. I've been wanting to tell you in person, but you keep canceling. This isn't?—"

I cut her off, my voice rising. "I don't want to hear it. You should've told me the second he contacted you."

Red splotches broke out on my mom's chest, which happened when she was about to cry, but I couldn't find it in me to comfort her. "I can't think about this right now. I can't think about those people. I've never wanted them in my life, and now you're in cahoots with them. Amma, I love you, but can you go? I need time."

My mom hoisted her tote on her shoulder. "I'll go visit my colleague at St. Luke's. She transferred there about a year?—"

"I don't care. I'm beat, and I can't deal right now."

"I'm sorry, Rach, but life is hard sometimes. I realize I should've told you sooner that Mr. Lin got in touch, but he's heartbroken after losing his daughter—your mother—and I felt bad for him."

I kept my head bent away from my mother, unable to look at her.

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