After seeing his client, Justin hurried to the hospital.
Upon entering the ward, he saw Gloria sitting on the bed while having her meal. “You’re early today. Have you eaten? Want to share?”
“I’m good. I had lunch with a client just now.”
“I see. If you had come even earlier, you would’ve met Rachel. Look, she made some chicken soup for me. It was fish soup yesterday. Though fish soup helps with recovery, she said it’s better to switch to other flavors
at times.”
Justin was baffled by this, and he promptly asked, “She’s been coming every day?”
“Yeah. Ever since I got hospitalized, she visited me every single day with various kinds of meals. She even insists on preparing them herself because takeaways are too greasy and it’s best I avoid them.”
“Why have I never seen her?”
“Perhaps she’s avoiding the time that you would come.”
Gloria looked into his eyes and continued, “You truly went overboard last time. If I were in her shoes, it would’ve been hard for me as well. Why don’t you take the chance to talk about it with her?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Justin, you’re always holding back your thoughts and behaving like you’re the coldest man in the world.”
“Eat up. I’ll go get some fruit.”
Having said that, Justin exited the ward.
Upon his exit, Gloria turned to the piling baskets of fruit and snorted.
Get some fruits? Does he think I’m a child?
On the other hand, Rachel was cleaning the vegetables in the kitchen while Nancy was watching TV in the living room.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
“Victor! He’s always forgetting his keys!”
Nancy nagged as she walked to the door.
Since she feared that her grandmother would fall victim to more accidents, Rachel had given Victor a duplicate house key.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you still remember me, Madam Tiller? I’m Frankie. I visited you once before.”
In the kitchen, Rachel was stunned momentarily when she heard the familiar man’s voice. She cleaned her hands and rushed out from the kitchen, only to see Frankie standing by the door with several bags in his hands.
“Mrs. Burton.”
While Nancy was still in a daze, Frankie had the men behind him start moving things into the house.
“President Burton heard that Madam Tiller was injured some time ago, so he decided to provide some self care products to her.”
“T-There’s no need for this. I haven’t even finished using the things you gave me last time.”
“It’s merely his token of appreciation. There’s no need to take it too seriously. Do you mind stepping aside, Madam Tiller? We don’t want to injure you.”
Behind Frankie were four men carrying a massage chair into the living room.
At once, Rachel went to move the furniture in the living room to prevent any unwanted crashes.
“Where’s your young master, then?” Nancy interrogated Frankie. “It’s been so long since he’s married Rae, yet I’ve never even seen him once.”
To that, Frankie responded, “He’s right downstairs. There are still things left to move up here.”
Downstairs?
Upon hearing that, Rachel could feel her heart thumping, and she immediately stopped her grandmother from exiting the house.
Stay here, Grandma. I’ll go down for a bit.
However, Nancy did not notice Rachel’s anxiousness and she yelled as the latter was walking out the door, “Tell Justin to come up and eat!”
When she reached downstairs, Rachel saw Justin just getting out of the car. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his slacks as he observed the neighborhood’s atmosphere.
Why are you here? There was nothing on Rachel’s face but alertness.
After glancing at Nancy’s unit, Justin then queried, “Did you like the things I sent you?”
I don’t remember having crossed your boundaries lately.
At this moment, Rachel behaved like a wary wolf that was showing its teeth to predators when it was being threatened.
Suddenly, the warmth in Justin’s eyes vanished. “I’m just sending some gifts to your grandmother. What’s the big deal?”
Oh, is that so? Is it as simple as that? Nothing like a warning?
Rachel signed rather hastily as she was strung tight.
She was aware of the fact that Justin knew about her weaknesses. After losing Hans, the person that she cared about most in the entire Riverdale would be her grandmother. Thus, rather than ‘sending gifts’, it felt more like he was hinting at her not to do anything rash or have any foul ideas.
Instantly, Justin’s joyous mood disappeared into thin air. “You’re overthinking it, Rachel.”
With that, he immediately pulled open the car door, seeming like he was about to enter the vehicle.
When she saw that he was leaving, Rachel heaved a sigh and was about to go back upstairs. However, she was stopped by a shout of her name.
“Rae!”
Sporting the neighborhood security guard’s outfit, Grandpa Irwin was grabbing a fish by its tail as he walked over to her with a bright smile on his face. “Fresh fish from the market. I heard you wanted to make some fish soup, so I got it for you!
Rachel suppressed her perplexed emotions. Then, she nodded her head and thanked him.
Having hopped onto the car, Justin saw the old man conversing with Rachel the moment he shut the door. At one glance, his eyes narrowed and twitched.
As Rachel was walking up the stairs with Grandpa Irwin, they bumped into Frankie who was talking on the phone.
“Yes. Got it. I can see them.”
As he made eye contact with Grandpa Irwin on the narrow staircase, Frankie’s eyes instantaneously turned darker as he signaled two of his henchmen. “Go.”
Before she realized it, Grandpa Irwin screamed as two men pinned him down.
Meanwhile, the fish that was once in his hand fell to the ground and jumped as it struggled.
What are you doing?
“My apologies, Mrs. Burton. It’s Mr. Burton’s order.”
Meanwhile, Grandpa Irwin yelled in pain, “What is this about? Let go of me!”
At the sight of that, Rachel’s face immediately turned pale. As she expected, Justin would never visit with simple intentions.
Since she knew that Frankie would need to use the stairs, she blocked his path downstairs. Upon catching sight of Justin as he stood downstairs, she immediately gestured, What the hell are you doing?
He was an innocent old man that barely had any relationship with her, yet Justin wouldn’t even let him go.
Meanwhile, he revealed an expression that was terrifying as ever.
“Do you know who he is?”
He’s merely a security guard for the neighborhood! Have you gone insane?
“He’s a human trafficker!” Justin growled and grabbed Rachel’s wrists that were making signs. “What are you waiting for? Get the man out of here!”
When Justin shouted toward the back of her, Frankie was slightly stupefied and quickly had the men send Grandpa Irwin to the car.
Meanwhile, Rachel was trying to shake Justin off, though everyone knew she didn’t have the strength to repel him.
It was this helpless sensation again-one that resembled an avalanche, pushing everything to the ground. It was the same feeling Rachel had in the hospital ward back then, when Justin had his men press her down, making her watch as he broke one of Hans’ legs.
No… Not again…
Instinctively, she bit Justin’s wrist.
“Argh!”
He loosened his grip after letting out a cry, allowing Rachel to escape his grasp and charge toward Grandpa Irwin.
Since she could not shout, she could only tug on the henchmen’s arms forcefully.
As one of the men was growing impatient, he shoved her away with a swing of a hand.
“Ah!”
“Mrs. Burton!” Frankie rushed over to help her up after seeing her fall, only to have his face turn pale. “What’s wrong, Mrs. Burton?”
Justin was pressing his hand when he heard Frankie’s question. Then, he turned to Rachel as she collapsed on the ground. Fresh blood was flowing, staining her skirt crimson.
At once, his eyes opened wide.
