Once Justin left, Rachel helped Victor up from the ground.
“I’m fine, Rachel. Are you good?”
As she shook her head, her eyes remained dull.
‘I’m sorry for getting you involved!
“Justin’s simply not human! How could he do that to you? You have a child inside of you!”
Rachel peered at him in shock. ‘How did you know?’
“Well, it’s a long story. I only knew Justin was coming for you thanks to that crippled lady.”
That crippled lady?
Victor explained the entire incident to Rachel, to which she finally understood what went down.
“She claimed to be Justin’s sister, and she acted in such an overbearing manner the entire time. She’s just like Justin, for both of them are very difficult to interact with. After I got to know about it, I hid in the Burton Group’s parking lot the entire evening. When Justin finally showed up, I followed his car all the way here, and that’s how I found you. Don’t worry, Rachel-I’ll take you with me tonight.”
However, Rachel shook her head and brushed the grass off his clothes.
‘We can’t leave just yet.’
“Although they look tough, there’s no way they’ll be guarding the place the entire night. I’m certain that we’ll find a way out!”
Victor was pretty confident with his deduction.
As she peered out of the living room’s window, Rachel saw three to five bodyguards standing in a disorganized manner outside. They looked into the house from time to time and safeguarded every entrance and exit
Alas, Victor is only a young boy.
As expected, while Victor was on guard in the living room for the entire night, the gang outside stayed around for the same amount of time. When dawn came, he was letting out continuous yawns as his eyes reddened while new batches of guards arrived for the next shift.
“F*ck!”
He clenched his fists and uttered, “These b*stards!”
When the sun rose, Frankie sent a maid over.
Victor quickly recognized him, and he asked vigilantly, “Why are you here? Where’s Justin?”
Since he had no intention of debating with the kid, Frankie simply signaled for the maid to do her job.
“This is Madam Mary. She’ll be responsible for taking care of Mrs. Burton from now on.”
However, Victor did not give up and continued, “Do you intend on locking Rachel up in this sh*thole?”
“This is entirely for Mrs. Burton’s safety.”
“What a load of crap! Do you lock a prisoner up for their own safety?”
Upon seeing how Victor was significantly dumber, Frankie realized that he couldn’t be reasoned with, yet he
could do nothing to send him out of the house.
Just then, he suddenly remembered the young master’s order and placed a few books on the table. “If you have nothing better to do, you can read these.”
“What are these?”
“These are books on sign language. It’ll help you communicate better with Mrs. Burton.”
“You think I’d need a lesson from you guys? Why should you care how I communicate with Rachel?”
“Well, it’s entirely up to you!”
Frankie couldn’t be bothered with such nonsense, and he glanced upstairs. He knew that Rachel was already awake but refused to come downstairs, so he shouted, “Mrs. Burton!”
“Do give me a call if you need anything, Mrs. Burton. Mr. Burton will come whenever he’s free.”
However, he received no response from upstairs.
Victor crossed his arms and scoffed, “Seems like you’ve been ignored, you imbecile.”
Frankie shot him a warning glance and said, “Here’s a friendly reminder-don’t try anything stupid, and don’t even think of escaping with Mrs. Burton. Otherwise, she’ll meet the same agonizing fate as you.”
At once, Victor charged toward the door and yelled, “You’d better run, you spineless scum!”
Once Frankie left, the door from upstairs could be heard being pushed open.
“Rachel!”
After he rushed up the staircase with big strides, Victor went to support Rachel. “You’re awake.”
Her face seemed pretty messed up with the pair of dark circles around her eyes.
‘Help me, Victor
“What is it?”
I need to know how Grandma is. Can you go check on her for me?’
“Okay, I’ll go right now.”
After taking a few steps, Victor turned around and asked, “Will you be fine here alone, Rachel?”
I’ll be fine!
Upon being reminded of her grandmother’s condition, Rachel couldn’t sleep well the entire night. After all, her grandmother’s health was one of her biggest concerns.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
When Victor walked out the door, the guards didn’t care to look at him as their assignment was to keep Rachel under their watch, so Victor’s departure was rather smooth.
At Tran-Q, Gloria held her cane and pushed the servants that were trying to help her away. “I don’t need your help. I can walk just fine by myself. Where’s Justin? I need to talk to him.”
“Your leg has yet to fully recover, Miss Hochmann. Mr. Burton has specifically ordered for you to stay put in your bed.”
“Stay put? What makes you think I can do that? Get me discharged by today!”
As she spoke, she pulled the door open and exited the ward.
However, she carelessly bumped into Julian and staggered as the latter dropped a stack of books in his arms.
In a flash, all the magazines and newspapers scattered on the floor.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Peters.”
As she was about to help him pick up the books, the cast on her leg hindered her from squatting down.
“It’s fine.” Julian stopped her and proceeded to pick them up.
Gloria initially wanted to express her apology, but she was distracted by the headline in the newspaper that was on the floor. Instantly, she frowned and asked, “What is this?”
After picking up his magazines, Julian followed her line of sight and answered, “That’s today’s news. Don’t you know about it?”
At once, she grabbed the newspaper.
‘JUSTIN BURTON, PRESIDENT OF BURTON GROUP AND AMBER HUDSON, FACE OF HUDSON PHARMACEUTICALS TO BE ENGAGED THIS WEEK. ALLIANCE OF THE CENTURY…
As if the gargantuan font size wasn’t enough, the editor of the paper had to bold the texts as well.
Gloria was shocked by the news, and she frowned even more bitterly. “Is he really getting engaged to Amber? Let me call him.”
As she stood in front of Julian, Gloria dialed Justin’s number on her phone.
“The number you have dialed is unavailable…”
On the other hand, Julian had anticipated the missed call. He revealed a calm face with an underlying hint of anger. “I’ve been trying to call him these few days, but he hasn’t picked up once. It seems like he’s not going to explain anything to me as well.”
“No way. I have to talk to him! He’s not the unfaithful man he appears to be. He even got Rachel pregnant!”
As she finished speaking, Gloria clutched her phone with a heavy expression. “I’ll go and find him!”
Watching as she furiously walked away, Julian stood still, experiencing countless mixed feelings in his heart.
At that very moment, he realized that he could never bring change to the world as if a person’s destiny was solidified at the beginning of their life. How Justin was always protecting Gloria; how Rachel was always bullied since she was a kid, and the boastfulness of Tina and Amber.
All of a sudden, he received a call from a foreign number.
“Hello?”
“I’ve given it some thought. There are still some things that need to be taken care of, though. I’ll go as soon as I’m done with them.”
Riverdale was no longer what it used to be.
“Here are some antivirals, Mrs. Burton. Do consume them before each meal.”
As she stared at the bowl of ebony, medicinal soup in front of her, Rachel chugged them down without any
questions.
While the bitterness quickly lingered in her throat, the smell from her exhalation almost made her throw up. Nonetheless, she was able to endure it and swallowed everything down.
“Please enjoy your meal. I’ll go and clean up the place.”
Except for Rachel and her food, the dining room became hollow.
Meanwhile, accompanying her was the news that was being broadcast on TV.
“Yesterday, Burton Group and Hudson Pharmaceuticals announced that Justin Burton, the President of Burton Group, has proposed to Hudson Pharmaceuticals’ Amber Hudson!”
Upon hearing that, Rachel jerked her neck and swiftly lifted her head, peering at the TV as her face turned pale.
