My Mute Bride Chapter 21
It felt like a dream to Rachel as Justin carried her into his car; she couldn’t even feel the pain in her knees anymore. It was the first time she felt that this man wasn’t as cruel and heartless as he seemed on the surface.
Rachel looked at him as she sat inside the car. Why did you help me?
Justin still hadn’t answered the question that she had asked him back in the principal’s office. After all, deliberately going through the effort to set up a trap did not seem like something that he would do.
Justin watched as her hands signed away. Even though he couldn’t understand sign language, he could still figure out her thoughts through the grateful look in Rachel’s eyes.
“You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do it for you.” Justin’s tone was as cold as his expression. “I only looked into this matter for the Burtons’ reputation. You married into my family, so you are a Burton. It’s best that you behave yourself so that we can live together peacefully. Otherwise, do not blame me for my callousness if you cause another controversy like this.”
The icy voice resounding around the car interior instantly smothered the warmth flickering in Rachel’s heart. That’s right. Why would Justin go through so much trouble for me?
Rachel couldn’t stop herself from shivering at the memory of his treatment of her last night. It wasn’t cold, but she still shuddered. If something like this happened again, Justin would certainly kick her out.
As such, neither of them spoke on the trip home.
Justin did not stay after he sent Rachel back to the Burton home. Instead, he got the chauffeur to send him to his workplace. Soon, the car sped down the highway.
“Everything with the school has been dealt with, Mr. Burton. There won’t be any rumors about that past incident anymore. The media outlets have also prepared their scripts for their apologies.”
Justin leaned back in the back seat, his eyes closed as he rested. His handsome features were reflected in the window’s glass, but his expression turned harsher and
colder. “A mere gym teacher wouldn’t have been able to spread the news about such an old incident and cause it to come back to public consciousness.”
“You’re saying that someone else is behind the incident’s resurgence?”
“Investigate the situation properly before he’s handed over.”
“Understood.”
The next morning, news of Rachel’s gym teacher sexually harassing female students surged to the top of many trending news lists, and multiple victims jointly voiced their condemnation. News about the Young Mistress of the Burton Family was promptly buried by this, dropping from its top spot on the trending list. Discussions about that promptly fell to the wayside.
“The gym teacher has already been handed over to the relevant authorities. We will continue to follow up on the developments regarding his years of crimes…”
A reporter was narrating the news for the day on the television screen.
“You can’t believe the news nowadays—they’re always changing their stories every day.” Sue huffily switched the television off. She then crossed her arms and sat on the couch, fuming
She initially thought that she could use that piece of news to kick out that eyesore of a mute, but she hadn’t expected for the mute to be wrongfully accused. Even more surprisingly, it was Justin who personally brought the mute with him to get to the bottom of the matter.
Could it be? Sue’s brows furrowed. How was it possible, though? She had personally raised Justin herself. How could he be interested in someone like Rachel? Yet, she still couldn’t figure out why Justin continued allowing Rachel to stay with the Burtons.
“Miss Hudson is here, Madam Parham.”
The servant’s voice pulled Sue’s thoughts back to reality.
“You’re here, Amber.” Sue got up to greet the woman. “Why are you here so early in the morning? Have you… seen the news?”
“News? What news?” Amber sat down on the couch as she looked at Sue with a
puzzled expression.
“You know, news about that mu-your sister. Investigations now show that she had been framed. That gym teacher from your school has been reported as well. He’s been arrested already.”
“Huh? How could that be?”
“Also, weren’t you confident when you said that your sister used to be in a relationship with that teacher? How could things have turned on its head so suddenly? Now, everything is just going great. I’m worried that Justin will say that I was jumping at shadows!”
Obviously, Sue was putting the blame on Amber.
The latter stiffened slightly, a bewildered look on her face. “Madam Parham, that incident had the entire school up in arms back then-everyone in school knew about it. How did Justin settle it after visiting the school once?”
Sue’s expression stiffened when she heard that.
“Still, the guys writing those news reports sure have guts. They know that my sister is married to Justin, yet they still pushed those reports out the door anyway. They must not be worried about offending the Burton Family.”
Amber’s words reminded Sue of something, and her mind suddenly came to a stop.
“Are you saying that Justin only did this because of our family…”
Amber lowered her head to sip her tea. She forced herself to smile and proceeded to absolve herself of any responsibility. “Just act like nothing happened, Madam Parham. My sister is the lady of the Burton Family now, after all—the downfall of one means the downfall of all.”
The way she said that last sentence was especially loaded with meaning.
Sue’s face turned green. With Rachel’s ‘precedent’ of tricking Amber and marrying into the Burton Family, Sue did not doubt the woman’s words at all. Anyway, Justin’s behavior was indeed unusual. How could he have gone through so much effort just to prove the innocence of a mute woman? He had to be doing it for the Burtons’ reputation. That damned girl!
Upon thinking about this, Sue set her teacup down heavily. “Mrs. Duncan, where is that girl? Where did she run off to? Doesn’t she know that she has to greet the guests whenever they are over? Such a lack of manners!” she said none-too-kindly.
“I shall call her now.”
Meanwhile, Rachel was currently resting in her bedroom. She didn’t dare to drink
the ginger soup that Justin had gotten Mrs. Duncan to bring to her after being drenched in cold water. When she came home that morning, her entire body was wrecked with chills. Even with her blanket wrapped tightly around her, she still shivered.
The graceless sound of the door opening woke Rachel right up from her nightmares. When she opened her eyes, she saw Mrs. Duncan standing by the door.
“Why are you still sleeping?” Mrs. Duncan asked in surprise.
Rachel stretched a hand out from under her blanket and weakly signed. Did something happen?
“Stop gesturing. I don’t understand anything.” Mrs. Duncan’s voice was dripping with distaste. “Madam Parham wants you to go downstairs. Miss Hudson is here.”
Amber is here? Rachel’s heart sank. After internally struggling with herself for a long while, she gritted her teeth and clambered out of bed.
Amber had to be involved for that high school incident to suddenly see a resurgence. After all, she was the one who wanted to get her kicked out of the Burton Family. Since her threats didn’t yield any results, then this was most likely her revenge.
Although Rachel wasn’t willing to interact with Amber more than was necessary, Justin loathed for her to cause more trouble for him. So, Rachel had to carefully handle Amber. At the very least, she couldn’t get into another fight with her sister.
Rachel changed into a simple white dress before heading downstairs, and her face was completely devoid of any color. When she went down the stairs, her footsteps were also shaky. If she hadn’t had a hand on the rails, she would have probably lost her balance and rolled down the stairs.
“Rachel, why don’t you look so good?” Amber lifted her head to look at her, feigning a look of worry
Sue rolled her eyes at Rachel in displeasure. “Why are you acting like you‘re on death’s door? Is it because you want your family to think that you haven’t been living well with us? Is it so that you can embarrass us? Aren’t you yourself to blame for your own condition?”
Rachel stood at the bottom of the stairs. She didn’t even have the strength to argue otherwise.
“What are you standing around for? Bring some snacks here. You’re an illegitimate child, all right-you don’t even know any decorum around guests. What a useless thing with no mother to raise her.”
Rachel quietly clenched her fists as she listened to Sue’s insufferable grumbling. However, all she could do was take it. She nodded her head before heading into the kitchen.
Amber’s gaze shifted over to her. “Rachel looks unwell. I’ll go and help her.”
