Chapter 279 Exposed
The rain gradually grew heavier. Meanwhile, in his office at the Burton Group, Justin flipped through a ledger.
Since Janice came by a few days ago, he requested someone to retrieve those ledgers so he could personally compare them. After analyzing them by himself, the numbers matched up with what Janice had said. “Frankie.”
“You called for me, Mr. Burton?” “Please retrieve the contracts for these items for me.”
Frankie took over the ledger and replied, “These are contracts for purchase orders, and they are all from the end of last year. Is there something wrong with them?”
“You won’t be able to find any problems just by scouring the ledger. If the purchased materials are in the warehouse, then things should be fine. And if they aren’t—well, that’s going to be a huge problem.”
“I’ll find those contracts as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.”
As he spoke, a ding came from Justin’s computer, notifying him that he had a new email. It was an anonymous one, containing only a picture. Justin initially thought that it was spam. However, just as he was about to delete it, the picture suddenly enlarged itself. The picture showed a grave, highlighting the two women standing together under an umbrella. One of the women had hair that was past mid-length which was tied back and was dressed in a muted gray blazer and office skirt; the other was dressed in a crisp shirt and black pants. At first glance, she looked like a man.
Justin’s grip on his mouse tightened a little.
“I’m leaving to look for the contracts, Mr. Burton.”
Frankie’s voice brought Justin’s mind back to reality. Then, he abruptly stopped Frankie. “Hold on. Have Rachel and Janice known each other for a long time?”
Hearing that, Frankie went rigid.
The rain stopped later that evening. Rachel deliberately went out to pick up the two kids and also got the babysitter to go out and buy a nice, large fish for soup.
By the time Justin returned home, dinner was already on the table.
“You’re back, Mr. Burton,” the babysitter greeted, having emerged from the kitchen. “You may dig in after you have washed your hands.”
“Daddy!” Charlotte hopped off the couch and leaped at Justin to engulf him in a hug. “Why didn’t you come home the last few days?”
Justin picked Charlotte up. “Did you play to your heart’s content?”
“Yeah! Mommy picked me and Samuel up every day, and she also cooked for us. There were so many activities at school. We’re preparing for a choir competition too! Daddy, let me and Samuel sing for you.”
“In a bit.” Justin suddenly noticed Rachel step out of the kitchen. His eyes immediately darkened at the sight.
Charlotte didn’t notice his change in expression as she struggled out of his hold to run to Samuel. “Hey, Samuel! Let’s sing for Daddy.”
“You’re back,” Rachel stated when she saw Justin.
“I have something to ask you. Come upstairs with me,” Justin said.
“Can’t you ask me that here?”
“No.”
Rachel’s heart abruptly stuttered at the cold reply. She could sense the pressure coming from Justin’s gaze. And so, Justin and Rachel went upstairs.
Meanwhile, Charlotte was pulling Samuel over when she heard their footsteps upstairs. “Where are you going…”
Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of a door closing could be heard. After it closed, the massive manor became so quiet that it was frightening.
Samuel flopped back onto the couch and picked up his phone controller. “Okay, no singing. It’s gaming time again.”
Charlotte frowned. Her tiny, delicate face looked overly serious. “How are you even in the mood to play games? Didn’t you notice? The vibe earlier was just off!”
“Chances are, they’re about to fight. The kind where neither of them can be cheered up after,” Samuel stated calmly.
“Then why are you still sitting there?” Charlotte snatched away the controller from Samuel’s hands. “Aren’t you worried at all that they’re fighting? Don’t you want them to get back together?”
Samuel waved his hand with a look of exasperation that he shouldn’t have at that age on his face. “What else can I do? She’s a hard person to please in the first place, but he keeps finding trouble for himself. Not even the heavens can save someone when they’re the ones digging their own grave!”
What regular woman would be able to put up with her partner being sour-faced for no reason after coming back for the first time in days?
Samuel wasn’t hopeful about Justin getting back together with Rachel. The man was excellent on paper, but it wouldn’t matter if they got back together if he didn’t improve that terrible temper of his.
Charlotte did not believe Samuel. “I’m not going to keep talking with you. I’m going up to take a look.”
With that, she went upstairs with light steps and sneaked over to the door of the study. She could hear voices past the door.
“Why did you suddenly want us to talk upstairs?” Rachel looked at Justin’s back while her heart hammered away in her chest.
Justin turned around. “Where were you this morning?” he pressed her coldly.
At those words, Rachel’s heart beat extra hard. It felt like she just dropped into an abyss. She had agreed earlier to be Janice’s mole, and now, she was exposed? This was just ridiculous!
“Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?”
“Answer my question!” Justin was unusually adamant as fury showed through his cold eyes. “Who did you meet?”
Rachel clenched her fists. She knew what was up when she heard that question.
Just as Justin expected, Rachel’s answer confirmed his suspicions. “Janice Hawkins.”
“So, you went to see the head of the investigation bureau––Janice.”
“Don’t you already know that? What’s the point of questioning?”
Justin’s rage grew, and he raised his voice abruptly. “Why the question? If I hadn’t thought of that, were you going to keep hiding the fact that you’ve known Janice for a while now? You know her, and that Hans—you know him as well, don’t you?”
Rachel stiffened while she stared at Justin, startled.
She had thought that Justin had found out about her conversation with Janice; she hadn’t expected that he had only seen a photo of her and Janice paying their respects to Hans. So, his current anger was simply because Rachel hadn’t told Justin of her own volition about how she and Janice were old acquaintances, and how Hans was the one who introduced them.
Once she had figured this out, Rachel immediately calmed down and asked him instead, “You sent someone to tail me?”
“Do I need to keep tabs on you? I don’t have that much free time on my hands.”
“Then how did you know that Janice and I were at the graveyard?”
“Is that the point?” The flames of rage in Justin’s eyes almost seemed like they might shoot out of his eyes.
“If that’s not the point, then what is?”
“Of course that’s not the point,” Justin said, having raised his voice again. Then, he grabbed Rachel’s shoulders and roared at her. “The point is, how long will it take for you to forget about that man, Hans? He’s already dead!”
Rachel’s eyebrow twitched hard.
Justin on the other hand, gripped her shoulders hard while his temples kept twitching. He could accept being compared to Julian or even Hernandez, but he had no way of competing with a dead man.
Hans’ importance to Rachel could not be described. She had been willing to destroy the entire Hudson family because of his death and personally send Jefferey into prison.
The pain radiating from her shoulders made Rachel frown, but she didn’t complain about it.
“Why would I forget Hans?”
“You admit it then? You just can’t forget him!” Disappointment and unwillingness to resign himself to his fate were apparent in Justin’s eyes.
However, Rachel’s gaze grew colder. “Janice and I go way back. When my grandmother passed away, Janice was the one who helped me to arrange her funeral. She and I were the few friends that Hans had in Riverdale, so we would regularly pay our respects at his grave. None of this would change, even until the day I die!”
