Rachel crossed her arms. “Mary bought some honey right after you wired her a hundred thousand, and Charlotte’s allergy acted up right after that. Yet you’re trying to… shift the blame.”
“No. I didn’t do this.” Amber tried to explain herself. “Justin, I didn’t do this.”
“I’ll get someone to look into this.” Justin looked at her icily.
“Daddy!” Charlotte called out to Justin. He quickly wiped off his fury and went into the ward.
“Justin!” Amber wanted to go inside too, but Rachel stopped her. “What do you think you’re doing?” Amber looked irritated.
“I know what you were trying to do. You did this to Charlotte so you can put the blame on me, right?”
“Nonsense! What proof do you have?”
“Oh, I have a lot of it. I can show it to you if you want. It’s a one-way ticket to prison, and I don’t mind giving it to you early.”
Amber was getting mad. “Why did you come back? What do you want?”
“What rightfully belongs to me. Justin and Charlotte.”
Amber stared at her in disbelief. So she’s here for Justin! Fury overwhelmed her, and she raised her hand against Rachel, but Rachel caught it before she could even move.
“I’m not the old Rachel from five years ago anymore. You can’t do as you please to me now.”
“Let me go, Rachel!”
“Listen up, Amber. Lay a finger on Charlotte again and I’ll make sure you’re ruined.” Rachel shot her a terrifying glare. “I wonder if Old Mr. Burton will let you marry Justin if I were to, oh I don’t know, upload the video where you’re having sex with Noah?”
Amber stopped moving all of a sudden and stared at Rachel in disbelief. There wasn’t anyone in the staircase. Julian was pacing outside, leaving only Rachel and a terrified Amber inside.
Rachel was playing Amber and Noah’s sex video from five years ago on her phone. There was no sound, but judging from the clear resolution, she knew it’d be loud enough for everyone to hear. “E Enough…” Amber’s voice was shaking. She tried to snatch Rachel’s phone, but Rachel dodged her.
Rachel looked at her icily. “Stand right there. You don’t want Justin to see this, right?”
“What do you want?”
“That doesn’t sound like begging to me.”
Amber bit her lip, almost drawing blood. A long while later, she finally said, “Please. I beg you.”
“Kneel before me,” Rachel answered calmly.
All the color drained from Amber’s face, but she knelt before Rachel in the end. “I beg you, don’t upload the video. We’re sisters, right?”
“Hold on a second.” Rachel turned on her phone’s camera and aimed it at Amber. “Alright. Repeat what you said earlier.”
Amber froze up, and an awkward silence fell between them. A long, long while later, Amber finally said,
“I beg you, delete the video. Don’t upload it, Rachel. We’re sisters, right?”
“And what about Charlotte?”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
With a beep, Rachel stopped recording and kept her phone. But before she left, she said coldly, “Amber,
I don’t want any trouble, but that doesn’t mean I’m scared of you. Do anything funny again and I will wreck you.”
The door slowly creaked shut after Rachel left. When she was gone, Amber gritted her teeth and glared at the door darkly. Rachel!
When Julian saw her coming out, he gave Rachel a bottle of water. “You’re letting her off just like that?”
Rachel answered, “She’s not a threat. Obviously the Burtons don’t like her either. She’s been dating Justin for five years now, but she’s still not married to him.”
“I’ve heard about that. My mom doesn’t really want her either. Old Mr. Burton only mentioned it in passing, though he never did anything for her.”
Rachel was surprised, but then she realized something. “Oh right. You’re also a Burton, technically speaking. Almost forgot about it.”
“You should have forgotten about it.” Julian smiled. “Only then you’ll see me as your friend.”
“Am I that merciless to you?” Rachel winked. “You saved me and cured me of my condition. Not to mention you took care of me over the years. I’d be heartless if I didn’t see you as my friend.”
“When did you come back anyway? Jolly didn’t tell me about it.”
“Two days ago. Had a seminar so I couldn’t tell you in time. But I heard you’re in trouble, so here I am.” Julian worked overseas after he was done studying, but he kept in touch with the doctors back home, so he came back a lot.
Rachel then remembered something. “Oh, I never heard you talking about Justin’s amnesia.”
Julian stopped. “To be honest, I don’t know a lot about that. I didn’t tell you because you were still shocked after going overseas. It wasn’t the best time to bring it up.”
“Has this been going on for a long time?”
Julian nodded. “Not long after you went overseas, he got into a car crash. He has a clot in his brain that won’t go away. Stayed in the hospital for three months and woke up without memories.”
“All his memories?”
“Aside from you, he forgot about Amber, the grudge between him and the Hudsons, and even the time he was abducted as a child.”
Rachel stared ahead in disbelief. “Impossible.”
“Post-traumatic amnesia. PTA for short. The human brain will delete some memories if it recognizes the body can’t take the shock that comes from it.”
They finally came back to Charlotte’s ward while Julian was explaining everything that happened.
Julian knew Rachel was shocked, so he reminded her, “He’s not the same man you saw five years ago. That’s why I wasn’t worried when you wanted to come back alone.”
Rachel clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. “So he forgot everything and lives like nothing happened for five years?”
“Technically, yes.”
“How dare he?” Her eyes red, Rachel teared up. He ruined my life and nearly killed me! Why’d he have a second chance at life? Why?
“You have to look ahead, Rachel.”
Rachel said, “Yes, but I have to make sure the people who died can rest in peace before I can do that.”
