Clack. The sound of the door knob turning could be heard loud and clear.
Gloria and Rachel froze for a moment, and the former’s words came to an abrupt halt. She was surprised by this, and she looked at Justin as he walked inside. “When did you arrive?”
Meanwhile, the man’s expression was cold.
“Gloria, go back to your room for now.”
Gloria stiffened up and eyed Rachel worriedly. She only left once the latter signaled that she would be fine.
Justin and Rachel were now the only ones left in the room.
“You don’t intend to keep the child?”
His cold voice resounded throughout the room.
Now that Gloria had left, it felt as though the temperature in the room had dropped by several degrees.
Rachel gripped her blanket tightly. Yes.
Since the baby was fated to live a tragedy if they were born, it would be better if they never got to start their story. They would be born to a mute mother who wouldn’t have the ability to protect them, and to a father who did not love them at all. Who would be able to bear such a childhood?
Rachel’s composed expression incensed Justin. “And who let you make such a decision by yourself?”
A shadow loomed over her. The sudden assault of pain from her arm made Rachel suck in a breath. Her face, which was already pale, completely drained of color then.
Most frighteningly, she was surprised to find that she could feel a faint sense of happiness.
At the very least, Justin wanted the baby.
“Listen up carefully-you will keep this child. You don’t have the right to decide otherwise. Your job includes giving the Burtons children, and they will bear the Burton name. You don’t have to care for them; all you need to do is birth them. Once they’re born, someone else will take care of them.”
Those words of his were like cold water from a bucket, drenching Rachel and making a bone-deep chill settle inside her.
Did Justin not intend for her to raise her own children?
She stared at the man before her in disbelief, her heart lurching violently.
Justin whipped her hand away, his gaze frosty beyond comprehension. “Do not make me remind you of your place again-you are just something that Jefferey Hudson gave us. I do not have that much patience for you!” He even delivered another whammy before he left. “Take a guess as to whether that old man can live the rest of his life in peace if something happens to that child?”
Rachel’s face was an ashen color.
The door slammed shut, and the walls vibrated from the impact.
All of a sudden, she felt nauseous. With a hand on the wall, she ran over to the bathroom and repeatedly dry heaved.
Everything before her disgusted her.
All the good people were either dead or being threatened. Meanwhile, the evil people who were left were living their lives out in the open with no restraints despite all the evils they had committed. In a mid-sized city
like Riverdale, people were used to dirtying their hands for an advantage, and they stepped on others to get ahead in life.
After Justin stepped out of the room, he looked at his hands. He had used too much strength when he closed the door, and his hands had felt the impact. His ears were buzzing as well.
In reality, he was feeling quite regretful.
“Are you all right, Mr. Burton?” Frankie had been waiting outside all the while. “Miss Hochmann has been worried sick.”
Justin frowned. A brief silence later, he spoke. “Let the old man go for now.”
“Huh?”
“Send someone to keep an eye on him.”
“Understood.” Frankie didn’t dare to ask too much. As he followed Justin out of the building, he gave a report on the company. “We have some results from the investigation on that foreign account. Each time a huge sum of money was credited into it, Amber just so happened to be abroad.”
Justin’s brows furrowed.
It turned out that the foreign account was tied to Amber.
Nonetheless, he had already figured that out. Jeffrey treasured that daughter of his; it was impossible that he would not give her anything to do and just let her be a regular doctor.
“She’s been lying low recently. What has she been doing?”
“I was about to tell you that-it seems that Jefferey has recently gotten involved with a family business from abroad. Both parties have been pushing hard for a union, and it seems that they intend to have Amber marry into that family. By the way, they’re called the Albrights.”
Justin’s eyes darkened at that.
After Rachel was discharged, Frankie took her back to the Burton Residence so that she could rest.
Sue’s face turned green when she received news of Rachel’s pregnancy. “When was this? How long has she been pregnant?”
Frankie stopped her. “Madam, Mr. Burton has made it clear to let the young lady rest. Do not disturb her for no reason.”
“No, that wasn’t my intention. This is Justin’s first child, after all. I should get a clear picture of the situation, shouldn’t I? That way, Mrs. Duncan can make the appropriate arrangements as well-we want to find out what she wants for her meals.”
“There’s no need for that, Madam Parham. Mr. Burton has asked me to hire a nutritionist, and this professional will be in charge of her dietary requirements from today onward.”
“Does he need to go to all that trouble? Don’t we have enough servants in this household to wait on her considering how many we have?”
“I’m not too sure about that. Mr. Burton highly values this child.” Frankie knew that there was no use elaborating. “If there’s nothing else, I shall take my leave. Goodbye, Madam Parham.”
As she looked in the direction of the master bedroom, Sue’s expression quickly darkened. Despite all her best-laid plans, the unexpected happened-the mute had gotten pregnant.
Things were harder now.
After Frankie left, she ordered the servants away and returned to her bedroom to make a phone call.
“Hello? It’s me.”
“What is it?” The voice who answered her belonged to a man, raspy the way that most middle-aged men’s voices were. “What is it?”
“Would I be calling you for idle conversation?”
Her question was returned with silence.
“Fine. You’re always like this,” Sue muttered impatiently. “I’m calling you because there’s something I want you to do. Do you know that the mute is pregnant?”
“What?”
“I only found out about it today too. Let me remind you out of the goodness of my heart-if you don’t do something, everything so far will go to waste!”
The waiter poured the red wine with perfect precision, having already placed white napkins down.
Justin automatically picked up his glass. “I heard that you’re a connoisseur when it comes to wine. Why don’t you try this then?”
However, Amber’s tone was bland, a departure from her usual enthusiasm and gentleness. “You can’t possibly have called me out here just for a wine tasting session, right?”
Justin’s expression did not change. “I’ve been busy with work recently, so I haven’t had time to ask about you, How have you been doing since you started work at your new workplace? The others at the research institute haven’t been giving you a hard time, have they?”
“Why would they? Who doesn’t know that you’re the one who got me into the Burton Medical Research Institute?” Amber changed the topic. “However, I was going to talk to you about this-I might not be able to stay at the research center.”
“Why is that so?”
“My father still wishes for me to go abroad to further my career.”
Justin fell silent. Then, he lifted up his wine glass and took a sip.
that staying here won’t achieve anything either. You’re my brother-in-law, and people talk about me behind my back since I frequently have lunch with you.”
Justin suddenly brought out a small, black velvet box and slowly pushed it over to her. “I initially wanted to give you this. Since you’re about to leave the country, this is probably no longer of any use.”
The lid of the box opened with a light click before Amber’s eyes, and a diamond glittered brilliantly under the lights once the box opened up.
Similarly, the woman’s eyes lit up. “This is… Justin, is this…”
It was a diamond ring.
