The window was left open, allowing the breeze to blow through the curtains. The cool wind brushed against Rachel and it jolted her awake from her nightmare. When she looked beside her, there was no one to be found.
Justin was long gone and he left nothing but destruction behind. It didn’t take long for Rachel to wake up completely but that only brought her a new round of suffering. The insults he hurled at her and what happened in the brutal night cut away at her soul like invisible knives. At that thought, she gripped the blanket tightly and cried into her pillow.
Frankie handed the document to Justin the first thing in the morning. “Here’s the information you wanted, President Burton. Dr. Peters is planning to study abroad and he wants to take a family member with him as well. He applied for the spot too.”
He plans to do what? When Justin saw who Julian wanted to bring with him, his face fell and he hurled the whole file into the trash can.
Upon hearing the crash, Frankie shivered in fear and he said nothing. Justin then ordered, “Go to Julian’s place and take her passport.”
“Sir, how do you know that he has Mrs. Burton’s passport?”
“Where else can it be?” Justin roared as he clenched his fists. How dare he try to take her away without my permission? He has stepped out of line! Out loud, he said, “Frankie, I need you to do one more thing.”
“Yes, President Burton.”
And so, Justin told him what Frankie needed to do.
It was the Hudson Foundation’s opening ceremony the next day and the event was held at Riverdale’s Hotel Platinum. After the event ended, Frankie came over in a hurry and reported, “President Burton, Dr. Peters has barged into your home.”
Justin, on the other hand, buttoned his coat calmly and murmured, “Let’s go and take a look then.”
Meanwhile at the villa in Southwind, Julian was injured and being held by two bodyguards. “Let me go, you b*stards!” he yelled. “I’m calling the cops!”
Justin came just in time to hear that. “You wouldn’t have come over yourself if you thought the cops could help.”
The moment Julian saw Justin, he struggled furiously and roared, “Justin Burton!”
However, the bodyguards held his arms down firmly. Upon seeing that, Justin raised his hand. “Let him go.”
The bodyguards let Julian go but the latter couldn’t even lift his arms. “Give me my stuff back!” he shouted at Justin.
“Your stuff?” Justin looked at him mockingly. “It’s your fault you lost your stuff. Why are you making a ruckus here? And call me Justin.”
“You sent someone to break into my place, took Rachel’s and my passports away, and now you’re denying it?” Julian was usually a mild-mannered person but Justin managed to rile him up. The former was going overseas soon, so he wanted to help Rachel out. Truth was, he had been keeping Rachel’s passport with him so she could leave Riverdale anytime she wanted, but now Justin had crushed that plan too.
“Your passport, huh?” Justin took a red passport out and handed it to Julian. “I was just about to bring this up. My employee took yours by accident. Was about to give it back to you. Don’t want to mess up your plan to
study overseas or your mother’s going to yell at me.”
Julian snatched it from him. After he took a look to confirm it was his, he asked, “Where’s Rachel’s?”
However, Justin merely looked at him coldly. “What does her passport have to do with you?”
“Wake up, Justin! Do you really want to lock her up in Riverdale for life? For what? Just so you can keep her as a mere mistress? That’s an insult to her! What did she do to deserve this?”
“On her own? Nothing.” Justin countered. “It’s just a series of unfortunate events, really. She’s born to the Hudsons and her father gave her to me as a present, so you have no right to criticize me.”
“What if she’s the one who saved your life?”
Justin’s expression changed as he questioned, “What did you say?”
Meanwhile, Julian was shivering angrily but he held his fury down and gritted his teeth. “A girl saved you after
you were abducted back then, right? That girl is none other than Rachel!”
All of a sudden, Justin gripped Julian’s collar. “What did you say?”
“Rachel’s the girl who saved you twenty years ago. You thought she was dead but in fact, she isn’t. Jefferey took her back so that’s why you couldn’t find her, at least until now. But I guess you’re mad enough to torture the one who saved your *ss, huh?”
Justin couldn’t believe what Julian was saying and the former was petrified for a long while. When he snapped out of it, he shoved Julian away and roared, “You’re the mad one here!”
“You don’t believe me?”
Justin, however, only answered coldly, “You just made that up to save her.”
“It’s the truth. Janice gave Rachel all the info on Somerset Mountain. You can take a look if you still aren’t convinced.”
“You’re telling me that you have proof?”
“Obviously. Why do you think I know all about that story? Let’s meet up with Rachel. I’ll get her to tell you who she really is.”
Suddenly, Justin looked up at the second floor. Someone had been standing behind the curtains ever since he came back. He still didn’t believe Julian fully but in the end, he took the latter into the villa with him.
On the other hand, Rachel quickly came downstairs and she paled when she saw the injuries on Julian’s face. Are you alright, Dr. Peters? She gave him an apologetic look.
Julian shook his head. “Where’s the file I gave you last time? I need it.”
Rachel froze before shaking her head.
“You haven’t told him, huh? I knew it. I told him you’re the one who saved him. Now I just need the file to prove
Rachel was still shaking her head. I burned the file.
“You burned it?” All the color drained from Julian’s face and he held Rachel by her shoulders. “Why did you burn it? Do you know what you’ve done?” That’s the only evidence Janice managed to scrape up. If Rachel burned it, there’s no way anyone can prove that she’s Katie.
Justin looked at them coldly. “Had enough?”
“I wasn’t lying, Justin!”
“Enough!” Justin barked. “I’ve had enough of your lies! Did you forget I told you everything about Katie, woman? I’ve seen through your lies.”
“Because Rachel forgot about it!” Julian explained. “Rachel, tell him!”
Rachel teared up but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
Meanwhile, Justin clapped mirthlessly. “If I hadn’t found Katie, I would have been fooled by the both of you.”
Rachel was stunned to hear that. What do you mean you found Katie?
“A month ago, I found the one who saved me. You’re too late, it seems.” Justin looked at them icily. At this point, if looks could freeze, the whole villa would have been turned into ice.
Rachel tried to force a smile but she couldn’t. That’s absurd! She never wanted to talk about her past, but someone just came along and filled the hole she left. To make things worse, Justin believed it like the idiot he was.
