Chapter 287 The Past
Justin purposely asked, though he already knew the answer. Nonetheless, Rachel’s expression remained neutral. “What do you think?”
From the start, she had never masked her intentions for returning to the country. After all, Hudson Pharmaceuticals originally belonged to her parents, so she was just claiming it back on their behalf.
As for Burton Pharmaceuticals, it was just a temporary stepping-stone for her. Though she regarded the company as merely a stepping-stone, she had in fact put in a lot of effort in her work for the past few months. She hadn’t slacked off at all, so she had a clear conscience.
Just then, Rachel placed the resignation letter on Justin’s desk and calmly voiced out, “You should just treat my departure from Burton Pharmaceuticals as a regular staff turnover.”
Meanwhile, Justin didn’t respond to her words, and neither did he accept the resignation letter.
“I’ll get going, then.”
As she reached the doorway, Justin suddenly yelled out, “Rachel!”
“I’ll retain the position of general manager of Burton Pharmaceuticals for you. You can come back anytime you feel like it.”
However, Rachel opened the door and left without saying another word. I won’t come back here.
…
Three days later, after completing the handover process, Rachel officially relinquished her position at Burton Pharmaceuticals.
“Rae, the office is here.”
Mr. Holt personally showed Rachel to her office at Hudson Pharmaceuticals. “I’ve instructed the staff to replace the work desk and office chair with a brand-new one, but if you find it not to your liking, then you can change it according to your preferences later on.”
“Thank you, Mr. Holt. This is good enough for me.” Rachel scanned her surroundings. “I’m not too fussed about the office environment.”
“You’re too easy going. If anyone refuses to heed your instructions, come and let me know and I’ll take care of them.”
Just then, the secretary had just finished brewing the tea and the scent from it gradually replaced the smell of brand-new furniture in the room.
“Mr. Holt, have a seat.”
“Okay, sure. You should take a seat too.”
Just then, Rachel showed Evan to a chair. At the same time, he scrutinized her and couldn’t help nodding his head. “You’re so alike. You’re indeed alike.”
“Alike?”
“You resemble your mother.”
“Did you know my mother?”
At that point, Evan nodded. “I grew up together with your mother before I left for overseas to study with your uncle. Oh—you might not know it, but your dad had an elder brother. He passed away from an accident many years ago, though.”
Meanwhile, Rachel suddenly looked dazed as she nodded her head calmly.
Her true identity was too complicated and it was difficult to verify any verbal claims. Besides, it was of no help in her taking control of Hudson Pharmaceuticals, so she had merely brought up the formulas and her mother during the funeral.
“I was the closest friend of your uncle but unfortunately, I was still overseas when he met his demise. Upon my arrival back home, Old Mr. Hudson had passed away too. In the end, your father was the only one left to inherit Hudson Pharmacy and subsequently, he managed to build it up into the business of Hudson Pharmaceuticals today.”
Inherit? Rachel sneered in her mind. Perhaps usurpation would be a more appropriate word to describe that.
Despite her thoughts, she managed to maintain a neutral expression.
Just then, she spoke up. “I have never heard my mother mention a word about the past.”
At that moment, Evan heaved a sigh. “Selena was the smartest among all of us and she was very knowledgeable in pharmacology. If only misfortune hadn’t befallen the Hudsons, then she would have been the next in line to inherit Hudson Pharmacy.”
Suddenly, Rachel couldn’t help but interrupt him. “Mr. Holt, although I’m not too sure about the things that occurred in the past, I know that my mother was merely the adopted daughter of the Hudson Family. Even if she had outstanding abilities, would she be eligible to inherit the pharmacy back then?”
“She was indeed an adopted child, but she was treated like flesh and blood. Furthermore, Lionel and your mother were deeply in love with each other, and Old Mr. Hudson had already made plans for the two of them. The man of the house would be in charge of the business, while the woman would be in charge of the pharmaceutical aspect.”
“Lionel?” Just then, Rachel accurately pinpointed the crucial point in Evan’s words.
Suddenly, Evan was quite stunned.
After quite some time, he awkwardly corrected himself, “Ah—I must be old and senile. I’ve gotten your father mixed up with your uncle. I meant Jefferey. It was Jefferey.”
However, Rachel didn’t believe his words. Grandma was right! Mom and Dad were the ones who were in love with each other, and Grandpa knew about it from the start. If only misfortune hadn’t befallen the Hudson Family and resulted in Mom being forced to marry someone else, then she would not have been kicked out of the family by Grandpa! He kicked her out to protect her and the child she was carrying!
Although Rachel had not experienced the tumultuous time back then, she could still feel the joy her grandfather must have felt back then. Under such circumstances and with his eldest son dead from an accident, the sudden knowledge that he had left behind an heir to continue the bloodline was definitely great news. However, no one would have expected that there would be another catch after that. Her mother had managed to dodge the forced marriage, but she didn’t manage to avoid falling into the hands of her most trusted second brother. Jefferey was a b*stard and he would resort to anything at all to get his way.
“That will be all, then. If you encounter any issues, feel free to contact me. By the way, I’ll assign you a secretary and I’ll make sure that the person is trustworthy.”
“That’s alright, Mr. Holt. I would like to get familiarized with the company first. I’ll find someone suitable at a later stage.”
Rachel clearly made her point clear as she rejected his suggestion. After all, she had no plans to pretend to agree and then do the opposite behind his back. Right now, she had no idea whether she could actually trust the person introduced by him, so it was wiser to avoid having too many people around her for the time being.
Meanwhile, Evan seemed to have picked up her concerns, so he didn’t pursue it any further. On the contrary, he revealed an approving look.
“If only Selena was still alive, she would be so happy to see you right now.”
“Mr. Holt, the elevator’s here.”
“I’ll head off, then.”
Right before the elevator doors slid shut, Rachel seemed to have caught the slightest hint of tears in Evan’s eyes. However, he purposely turned in the other direction to avoid her gaze.
At that point, she had no time to ponder over the situation. Hudson Pharmaceuticals was in a mess right now and there was a continuous stream of resignation letters handed in every day. It was a tough job trying to provide assurance to the staff left behind.
Rachel continued to deal with the paperwork for the whole afternoon and before she left work, she received a phone call on her office line.
“Hello? Who’s on the line?”
“Rachel, you must be in the office right now, right?”
“Amber?” Rachel frowned. “What are you after?”
“I’m downstairs right now. Come down and see me. I’ve got something to say.”
“I’m busy.”
“It’s regarding Charlotte.”
Rachel’s heart skipped a beat when she heard that.
Meanwhile, Amber’s sullen voice rang out on the other end of the line, “Don’t you want to know what I’ve done to her while you were gone for the past five years?”
Instantly, Rachel’s expression changed and she also couldn’t help herself from tightening her grip on the phone in her hands.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the cafe across the road from the company. It’s just directly opposite and you can see it from your office window. I’ll wait for you here.” With that, Amber hung up the phone immediately.
Without any hesitation, Rachel sped downstairs.
She had been away from Riverdale for the past few years, and Amber had stayed by Justin’s side as his fiancée the whole time. Hence, Amber had plenty of opportunities to get close to Charlotte. Besides, there were so many others from the Burton Family who disliked Rachel. Arthur and Sue were among those too, so Amber definitely had a lot of opportunities to lay her hands on Charlotte.
As soon as Rachel reached the ground floor, she was in a rush to cross the road and get to the other side.
It was still within working hours so there were not many passersby on the street. There was only Rachel, who took the zebra crossing on the wide road. As soon as she saw the lights turn green, she immediately hastened her footsteps and headed to the other end.
At that moment, a red sports car suddenly diverted from its original route while waiting at the traffic light. It was now headed right in Rachel’s direction.
Amidst the loud noise from the engine, there were also hysterical screams from the surrounding people.
All of a sudden, Rachel turned her head and saw the sports car headed right toward her. Her eyes met the eyes of the woman in the driver’s seat through the windscreen, and Rachel could clearly see the evil, malicious look in the driver’s eyes.
It was none other than Amber.
