Blood spread through Rachel’s skirt as a stabbing pain came from her abdomen. She pressed a hand to it, her face pale.
My child, my child.
Justin shoved Frankie aside and scooped Rachel up. “What are you standing around for? Get driving to the hospital!”
It was then that Frankie snapped out of it, and the car sped down the streets of Riverdale while running several red lights.
After making it to the emergency room, Julian stepped out once Rachel had been checked over.
“How is she?”
Julian confirmed that the door had been shut tight before he allowed his expression to fall. At the same time, he stopped Justin from going in.
“Are you concerned about her?”
“Stop asking me things like that. What happened to her?”
“She’s pregnant!” Julian raised his voice, his low tones reverberating through the corridor, shocking the few medical staff nearby until they had looks of bewilderment on their faces.
Why was the usually even-tempered Dr. Peters so furious?
Instantly, Justin’s head was filled with a buzzing sound. “What did you say?”
“I said that she’s pregnant. She’s already more than two months along.” Julian’s expression was dark. “I wanted to tell you about it a few days ago, but you were busy taking care of Gloria. Not only that, you never asked once about Rachel. So, I thought that there was no difference whether I told you at all.”
Justin was still stunned. He stared dumbly at the door to the ward, seeming as though he hadn’t heard Julian.
Rachel was pregnant all along? Am I going to become a father?
“Justin Burton!”
At the thought of Rachel’s condition, Justin quickly snapped back to reality. “How is she now?”
“You’re only asking this now? What were you doing before you thought of that?”
“What exactly is going on with her?”
“She’s fine for now. The baby is also doing okay. However, her condition isn’t stable. The first three months of pregnancy is the time when you should be at your most careful.”
Having heard that, Justin let out a breath.
Meanwhile, Rachel leaned against the headboard of her bed inside the ward. She was already awake, and her mind was wandering as she stared out the window. Just then, the door behind her opened up. She could tell from the sound of the footsteps that it was Justin, and her back stiffened at that.
“Are you still unwell? I know that you’re awake.”
After a long moment of silence, Rachel finally turned around.
What did you do to Grandpa Irwin?
Justin’s face darkened slightly at the mention of the elder man. “That is none of your concern.”
He’s an old man. Just think of it as my plea to you, so please let him go. Take all of it out on me-whether it’s your resentment toward me or the Hudsons. Don’t hurt anyone who’s innocent! Now that Hans is in your sight, is that not enough for you?
Rachel was on the verge of a breakdown, her eyes completely bloodshot as though they would burst the next moment. Her gaze was fixed right on Justin.
“Are you saying that he should avoid punishment just because he’s in his twilight years? He’s a human trafficker!”
Upon hearing that, Rachel’s despair grew. She ended up letting out a chuckle as she looked at Justin.
You can’t even make up a convincing excuse. Grandpa Irwin, a human trafficker? In that case, why didn’t you hand him over to the police?
Justin grew impatient. “Think what you want, but I must have him arrested!”
At the thought of the incident from 20 years ago, he couldn’t wait to chop all of those involved into little pieces.
Jeffrey Hudson and the gaggle of traffickers who sold him were the true culprits-none of them had better think of escaping.
However, what about the police? More than 20 years had passed since then. Even if the police could find proof, the statute of limitations on the case had already been reached. Didn’t that mean that the culprits would still go free?
Justin was in the middle of his tirade when he got a phone call. After glancing at Rachel, he left the room with his phone in hand.
After the door shut with a bang, the room descended into silence.
Rachel clutched the bed sheets tightly, her face as gray as ash.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Burton.” Frankie’s voice rang out over the phone’s speakers. “I’ve gotten hold of some news. The man recently came to Riverdale. He said that he went to a friend for shelter, and that he’s an old acquaintance of Rachel’s grandmother.”
“An old acquaintance, you say?”
Justin’s forehead tightened into a frown. He recalled that Jefferey had razed the forest around Somerset Mountain back then; Hudson Pharmaceuticals had seemingly bought that forest for development. Hence, it was reasonable for the people who lived there to know Rachel’s grandmother.
“What else did he say?”
“Nothing-his lips are sealed. He won’t admit that he’s been an errand boy for traffickers. The documents at the police station have long since been destroyed as well. We won’t be able to dig up anything from them.” Frankie’s tone was troubled. “Mr. Burton, it’s been 20 years. Could you have been mistaken about the people involved?”
“That’s impossible!” Justin’s voice was eerily cold, and one could sense the iciness from it.
He would never forget that day from 20 years back. It had been swelteringly hot, and the loathsome old man who had locked him up cracked open a corner of the cellar and warned him savagely through the opening-if
Justin did not obey him, he would let the boy starve to death inside the cellar.
The cellar had been dark and damp, and he hadn’t been able to see anything. All he could smell was the stench of pickled vegetables.
If Katie hadn’t saved him back then, he would have died down there.
“What should we do with him now, Mr. Burton?”
“Lock him up until he confesses to all his crimes. Then… send him to the police.” Justin paused a bit there. If it wasn’t for his concern toward Rachel and the child in her belly, he would have gone over to deal with the old man personally.
The next day, Rachel continued to rest in her room at the hospital. Julian told her that she needed to stay in bed for the next few days, or she would have difficulty keeping her baby.
Tap, tap, tap.
She looked up from her book and saw Gloria slowly entering the room with a cane in one hand.
Rachel immediately got up.
“Don’t move. I can walk by myself.” Gloria hastily waved a hand. It was somewhat of an arduous task for her to make her way over to the bed with her cane. “Are you all right?”
‘I’m okay. Why are you here?’
“I heard that you were admitted here. I was worried you’d be bored out of your mind, so I came over to chat with you.”
Rachel was stunned.
Gloria pressed her lips together before she reluctantly admitted the truth. “All right, I was actually bored, so I came to see you. I’ve already asked the doctors about you, and Dr. Peters said that you’re pregnant.”
‘That’s right:
“That’s good news. Justin is already at that age, and it’s about time for him to have children of his own.” Happiness showed in Gloria’s eyes.
Rachel didn’t understand it, though. ‘Don’t you like Justin?’
If a person liked someone, how could they be so magnanimous to the point of allowing their beloved to have a child with another woman?
“Yes.” Gloria said in a straightforward manner with a shrug. “That still doesn’t stop me from staying by his side. I think that even if he has eight or ten kids, none of them would be more important than me. It’s just like how I don’t think anything has changed even with you being around him.”
The corners of Rachel’s lips twitched up. ‘You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t intend on keeping the baby!
“Huh?” Gloria froze as she stared at the phone’s screen. “Why not? This is your first child with Justin!”
Rachel felt a bitterness in her throat. She didn’t know how she should explain to Gloria, nor did she feel any need to
Neither of them realized that someone had been standing by the door all this while.
Upon hearing Gloria’s question, the person clenched his hands tightly while his expression darkened.
