Chapter 562 A Shadow Of A Man

"You know perfectly well how I like my women. The more, the better! You can be one of them if you want to," Patrick said. He brushed past Rachel and stood in front of Marcia.

"I don't need time to think about it. I'll give you my consent right now. But remember! As long as you're under my roof, you follow my rules," he added sternly.

Patrick grinned at Marcia as he rolled his shoulders, "A Mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. If you want to be with me, you'd better hide your light under a bushel. I call all the shots around here. And if you stir up any trouble, there will be consequences. Do we have an understanding?"

Marcia wasn't expecting Patrick to accept her so quickly and was stunned for a while. She quickly recovered and gave a delighted laugh.

"We have a deal!" she agreed, with a big smile.

She took a step nearer to him and whispered in his ear, making him shiver slightly, "But be careful, if you make me unhappy, I might stab you in the middle of the night while you sleep..."

Patrick rolled his eyes to her and turned to Rachel. He untied the rope around her and said, "Sorry, this is all on me. I shouldn't have gotten you into trouble! James?" he raised his voice and called out.

"Coming, boss!" a brown-skinned man of moderate height answered immediately, hurrying over to Patrick.

Marcia had picked fights with Patrick on numerous occasions and seemed to enjoy it immensely. She did it so often that Patrick's henchmen had all gotten used to her games already. And among them, they had figured out that Marcia had feelings for their boss and did it for the attention. Initially, they had taken her seriously and tried their best to defend their boss, but by now they pretty much just ignored her and defended Patrick only halfheartedly, looking forward to the best part to unfold.

In any case, she would always end up leaving of her own accord.

"Go and prepare the spare room next door. Change the bedsheets and make sure everything is clean. And get the chef to cook something delicious. Our guest deserves the finest!" After giving his orders, he took Rachel's arm and ushered her into the center room.

Patrick gestured for Rachel to take a seat and poured out a cup of Chinese tea.

Setting the cup down on the table in front of her, he told her, "You can rest here for a while. I'll tell them to get the boat ready. You should get back to LH Island as soon as possible.

Staying here isn't a good idea, and neither is the smoky and stuffy environment good for your health…"

Finally, he dared to lift his head to look at her in the eyes. He used to be such a proud and confident man. And if strangers saw them together, they often mistook them as a well-matched couple in the prime of their lives.

But now, everything had changed. He seemed to be a mere shadow of his former self.

After years of drifting from place to place, most of his pride and confidence had been lost along the way. All that remained was a shame, insecurity and other negative emotions.

Rachel gripped the cup tightly and looked at Patrick.

"How are you doing?" she asked gently, genuinely worried as an old friend.

She had figured out his current situation as soon as she saw him. He had to hide out here in the so-called Death Gate, because of his identity. After all, he was a wanted man.

But even though he was a free man here and could do as he wished, to Rachel, it seemed like it was as good as being behind bars.

"Me? I'm doing great, never been better! You know me, wherever I go, I always end up calling the shots!" Patrick winked at her reassuringly. Then he smiled

Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex. To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him. "As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses.”She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women...

n't, then we might not have this little piece of heaven to call home anymore..."

Patrick got up immediately. He left the room wordlessly, but not without giving a quick nod to Rachel. He couldn't risk revealing the shame and anger that was burning in his chest at the moment. It killed him that she was seeing him this way and he hated even more that he couldn't fight back at all and had to give in to the threats.

Rachel couldn't help wondering what he was planning to do. It was obvious that the woman they were referring to was her. She didn't have to wait long though, because Patrick returned about half an hour later.

He said to her hurriedly, "Have you finished your lunch? I'll walk you out now. We have to get you out of here quickly. They're already waiting outside.

I hate to say this but I need to ask a favor from you. These are definitely Hiram's doing and God knows what he told them. But I'll bet my life and the entire S Gate that it wasn't good. Could you please explain things to them and make it clear what had happened. And perhaps, put in a few good words for us? Otherwise, they'll be giving us a rough time for the next few months."

Much like he had been doing for most of her time there, Patrick was looking down at the floor, still unable to look at her. He swallowed hard and continued, "You know I'm an outcast fleeing the law. I've broken some pretty big laws and if they ever get their hands on me, I can kiss freedom goodbye for the rest of my life. know I can't hide out in this place forever, but I can at least lay low here for the next three to five years.

Please, it's all I'll ever ask of you. I won't trouble you any further..."

It hurt Rachel to watch Patrick flinging away his pride and ego to ask this favour from her. She knew that by 'they', he was referring to the local government.

Although she still could not comprehend why they allowed S Gate to exist, it was clear that they knew exactly who Patrick Yan was and that he was hiding out here. They must have their own reasons for allowing him to stay here in self-exile.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what to say," Rachel promised. It wouldn't be hard to settle, as long as she played her cards right and said the right things.

Patrick nodded with relief. He licked his lips and a hint of his previous cockiness showed as he flashed his old smirk at her.

"Thank you, Rachel," he said sincerely.