After saying that, Rachel got up and extended her hand to Samuel. Then, she turned to Charlotte to say, “Didn’t you say that you were hungry? Come along with me to the cable car.”
However, Julian, who still hasn’t grasped the situation, insisted, “Let me do it. You rarely have the chance to come out for a walk.”
“It’s okay. Taking the cable car together is the same anyway.”
As soon as Rachel said this, the corner of Charlotte’s mouth twitched as she looked toward Justin intuitively. Softly, Charlotte asked, “Mommy, if we’re to take the cable car together, what about Daddy?”
Immediately, Rachel turned to look at Justin. “Would you like to take the cable car or continue hiking?”
Upon hearing her question, he could feel his temples pulsing. “What do you think?” Surely she did not expect me to hike up the mountain myself while all of them took the cable car, right?
Not long after, they reached the cable car station.
“One cable car can only fit up to three people. You guys will have to split into at least two groups.” The staff pointed at the boarding guidelines while looking at them with a complicated expression. What are two grown men and a woman doing here with two children?
Decisively, Justin instructed, “Julian, you’ll bring Samuel with you while Rachel and I will bring Charlotte with us.”
Immediately, Samuel’s eyes widened. “Why are you separating Mommy and me?” he questioned.
This time, he was clearly unhappy no matter how many times Charlotte tried to wink at him. “I want to sit with Mommy.”
“It’s not a good thing if a boy gets too attached to his mother,” Justin noted expressionlessly.
In response, Samuel snorted and hugged Rachel’s arm tightly.
Just as the two stared at each other, Julian had come back with the tickets. “So, how are we splitting?”
Without waiting for Justin and Samuel to speak, Rachel decided, “I’ll bring the kids along with me. You two will go onto the next cable car together.”
In the cable car, Rachel asked the two children to sit across her quietly, “Don’t move around. We’ll reach soon.”
Gazing out of the window, Charlotte watched as the cable car behind followed closely and sighed. Poor
Daddy
Right then, Justin and Julian sat in the cable car behind Rachel’s. An awkward silence filled the air. Two grown men sitting in such a confined space was already awkward enough. With them being cousins and love rivals only made it worse.
“It’ll be great if Charlotte used her cleverness elsewhere,” Julian broke the silence.
Casually, Justin glanced at Julian. “My daughter doesn’t have to be of great use elsewhere. I’ll be content as long as she’s happy. Besides, I can give her whatever she wants.”
“Including her mother?” Julian stared at Justin coldly. “You’ll give Charlotte whatever she likes, including a mother that she likes, am I right?”
“What are you saying?”
“You’re trying to get close to Rachel just because Charlotte likes her.”
After saying that, Rachel got up and extended her hand to Samuel. Then, she turned to Charlotte to say, “Didn’t you say that you were hungry? Come along with me to the cable car.”
However, Julian, who still hasn’t grasped the situation, insisted, “Let me do it. You rarely have the chance to come out for a walk.”
“It’s okay. Taking the cable car together is the same anyway.”
As soon as Rachel said this, the corner of Charlotte’s mouth twitched as she looked toward Justin intuitively. Softly, Charlotte asked, “Mommy, if we’re to take the cable car together, what about Daddy?”
Immediately, Rachel turned to look at Justin. “Would you like to take the cable car or continue hiking?”
Upon hearing her question, he could feel his temples pulsing. “What do you think?” Surely she did not expect me to hike up the mountain myself while all of them took the cable car, right?
Not long after, they reached the cable car station.
“One cable car can only fit up to three people. You guys will have to split into at least two groups.” The staff pointed at the boarding guidelines while looking at them with a complicated expression. What are two grown men and a woman doing here with two children?
Decisively, Justin instructed, “Julian, you’ll bring Samuel with you while Rachel and I will bring Charlotte with us.”
Immediately, Samuel’s eyes widened. “Why are you separating Mommy and me?” he questioned.
This time, he was clearly unhappy no matter how many times Charlotte tried to wink at him. “I want to sit with Mommy.”
“It’s not a good thing if a boy gets too attached to his mother,” Justin noted expressionlessly.
In response, Samuel snorted and hugged Rachel’s arm tightly.
Just as the two stared at each other, Julian had come back with the tickets. “So, how are we splitting?”
Without waiting for Justin and Samuel to speak, Rachel decided, “I’ll bring the kids along with me. You two will go onto the next cable car together.”
In the cable car, Rachel asked the two children to sit across her quietly, “Don’t move around. We’ll reach soon.”
Gazing out of the window, Charlotte watched as the cable car behind followed closely and sighed. Poor
Daddy
Right then, Justin and Julian sat in the cable car behind Rachel’s. An awkward silence filled the air. Two grown men sitting in such a confined space was already awkward enough. With them being cousins and love rivals only made it worse.
“It’ll be great if Charlotte used her cleverness elsewhere,” Julian broke the silence.
Casually, Justin glanced at Julian. “My daughter doesn’t have to be of great use elsewhere. I’ll be content as long as she’s happy. Besides, I can give her whatever she wants.”
“Including her mother?” Julian stared at Justin coldly. “You’ll give Charlotte whatever she likes, including a mother that she likes, am I right?”
“What are you saying?”
“You’re trying to get close to Rachel just because Charlotte likes her.”
Hearing this, Justin frowned. Then, Julian continued, “It’s good that you’ve forgotten the past, so don’t try to get close to Rae. Actions like hurting someone shouldn’t be done over and over–once is enough.”
“Who are you to intervene in our matter?”
“Consider the fact that I saved her life last time.”
With that, Justin furrowed his brows, causing deep wrinkles between them. Before this, he never had the means of finding out what happened five years ago, but now, he was feeling pressured to find out what
actually happened. Even when he pretended to be calm, the feeling of being the only one kept in the dark annoyed him and made him feel uneasy. What did I forget? What exactly happened between Rachel and me?
After that, silence filled the air once more. When they finally reached the top, Samuel went to the washroom with Julian to keep up the act.
“Daddy, Mommy, I need to go to the washroom too. Wait for me, okay?” After saying that, Charlotte followed Julian and Samuel.
When they were gone, Rachel and Justin were left alone. The cypress trees at the top of the mountain towered over them, creating shadows on the stone pavement.
“Why did you come back?” he asked.
When she heard that, she gave him a surprised look. From what she could recall, this was the first time that he had asked this question seriously. Before this, he seemed very sure that she had come back for him.
“What did Julian tell you?”
“Why must it be him who said something?”
“What’s the matter with you?”
“…” Tongue-tied, he swore that he had never been so furious before. Before she came back, he had never felt that losing a part of his memory had any major impact on his life, but everything changed when she returned.
“Why did you leave Riverdale back then?”
Immediately, the puzzled look in her eyes disappeared. Coldly, she replied, “I don’t feel like answering that question. Go ask the Burtons if you’d like to know. I’m sure someone must know.” She did not want to talk about the things that happened before and after she left because that was the most humiliating and undignifying period of her life.
“I’ll go look for Jolly. Wait for them here.” After telling him that, she prepared to leave as she did not want to stay a moment longer.
All of a sudden, he got upset and grabbed her wrist so that she’s facing him. “I didn’t say you can go. You need to make things clear right now.”
“What are you doing? Let go of me!”
“I’ll let you go once you explain it to me. Every single one of you won’t tell me the whole truth. Do you think it’s fun being mysterious? Do you think it was reasonable of you to abandon Charlotte and leave Riverdale then?”
She ground her teeth. “Fun being mysterious?” She raised her hand to slap him.
However, he had already seen that coming, so he stopped her. Grabbing hold of her hand, he pinned it behind her back. She let out a painful cry as her back hit the tree trunk.
Coldly, he said, “I’ve never been patient with women, and you’re no exception. If you hated me so much before, why did you come back to see me?”
As every deafening word sounded clearly in her ears, there was not a single hint of expression that could be found in his cold voice. Her ears buzzed and her wrists hurt, making her recall those days from five years ago that were filled with endless humiliation and torture. How dare he ask me such questions unapologetically? Am I the one at fault? No, the only thing I did wrong was easily agreeing to marry him in Amber’s place back then.
“I didn’t come back for you.” She endured the pain and lifted her delicate yet unyielding face. “Don’t forget that Charlotte’s also my daughter. You can’t deny that no matter what I’ve done.”
“So? Will you tell her that you’ve been with another man all these years? And that the man’s her uncle?”
At that moment, he was furious. Squeezing her shoulders, he snarled, “Did you come back to do that?”
