Chapter 374 The Truth About the Abduction
That day, she had clearly seen Jason’s number appear on Julian’s cell phone. After leaving Julian’s office, Rachel went to the cemetery in the suburbs. It was located in a remote area, and no one visited this place except for their family’s death anniversary, so this was the best place to meet Janice.
“Is there any news on Jason?” As soon as she saw Janice, Rachel asked. Janice nodded. “The team has located his location. A week ago, he was in Belleville.”
“Then why haven’t you dispatched a search team yet?”
“Belleville is not our territory. To search for him, we need to submit an application to the higher ups. I’m afraid that someone might leak the news in the process.”
“Then do we have to just wait like this? What if he runs away?”
“He won’t. Isn’t Old Mr. Burton seriously ill and hospitalized? Even though Jason has cut ties with the Burton Family on the surface, he has hoped to gain the old man’s recognition all his life. He’s a filial son.”
“What do you mean?” Rachel didn’t understand. “What does this have to do with whether he’s a filial son or not?”
Janice elaborated, “He will come back to Riverdale within the next two days.”
Rachel jolted a little. “Are you sure?”
“If he didn’t care about Old Mr. Burton, he wouldn’t have taken such a big risk to call Julian.”
“You have a point.” Rachel fell into her thoughts, but she still had something she couldn’t figure out. “But why did Julian hide it from me?”
Although Julian had lived in the Burton Residence with Sue since he was a child, they were not a part of the Burton Family. Except for Justin, he had only ever come into contact with Arthur. Julian only followed Justin’s example and called Jason his uncle out of politeness, and they never really talked to each other.
Besides, even if they had contact, because Justin and Jason had a bad relationship with one other, there would not be any good interaction between Julian and Jason.
Janice could not understand it either. “That is indeed strange. Did you ask Julian about it?”
“I didn’t dare to ask too much, so I broached the topic vaguely, but he denied it.” Rachel frowned. “I keep getting this feeling that Julian has changed a lot after returning from this business trip. It seems that he has a lot on his mind.”
Janice had no time to take into account Julian’s changes as she still had a lot of things to attend to.
“It’s been two days since Jason returned to Riverdale. The first thing he has to do is to confirm the safety of the hospital, and then go to see the old man. If you are in the hospital at that time, we can support you from the outside while you give us inside intel.”
“I understand, but I’m worried that Jason won’t show up until the last moment.”
After a brief pause, Janice suggested, “I have a plan, but I need your cooperation.”
“Tell me.”
Janice leaned closer and whispered her plan in Rachel’s ear.
Rachel was taken aback for a moment before she fell into thought. “Wouldn’t this be too much? If Justin knew about this, he would definitely come back as soon as possible, and everything would be in his presence—”
Rachel didn’t finish her sentence; she stopped herself halfway through. After hesitating for a while, she said, “I’ll cooperate with you. I’ll take Charlotte to see the old man in the next two days.”
Janice didn’t say much and patted Rachel on the shoulder. “Okay, then we’ll leave it at this.”
Saying that, Janice left, while Rachel lingered in the cemetery for a while. There were some weeds growing in front of her grandmother’s grave. She pulled out some by herself and wiped the tombstone to make the picture on it clearer. In the black and white photo, her grandmother was smiling tenderly and lovingly. Although they were not related by blood, her grandmother had brought up her mother, saved their lives, and took care of her until she grew up. If she had any regrets, it was that she failed to make her grandmother happy.
“Grandma, I’m sure you’d agree with what I’m doing. When Jason kidnapped you back then, he caused you to have a heart attack and not be treated in time. Besides, he did so many hurtful things, so everything is his retribution. People like him should be sent to jail before they cause even more harm.”
As night fell, it was already very late when Julian finished his shift and returned home from the hospital.
Sue hadn’t slept yet. As soon as she saw Julian coming back, she immediately asked, “How is the old man today? I heard that imbecile Robin caused trouble at the hospital. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Julian replied coldly, obviously unwilling to talk to Sue.
Sue grabbed him suddenly. “Julian, until when will you be angry with me? Don’t you know that everything I do is for you?”
“Is it? You’re doing it for yourself, and for glory and wealth!”
With a loud slap, Sue’s hand landed on Julian’s face. Her hands trembled slightly in the air. She couldn’t believe she had hit her son. However, she had already done so, and she still had to say what she had to say. She gritted her teeth. “Julian, I’m telling you, anyone can say that to me, but you can’t. I’m doing it for myself, but I’m also doing it for you! For twenty years, I’ve been hated by the Burton Family. Those people flatter me in person but look down on me in private. Do you think I don’t know what they say about me behind my back? They say that I’ve found a good nephew to ensure an easy life, and I’m clinging to the Burton Family like a parasite!”
Sue calmed down and said, “But what about it? They’re just jealous. If such an opportunity is presented before them, would they not seize it? They’d pounce on it faster than me!”
Julian couldn’t bear to listen anymore. “Since you’ve benefited from him, then you should treat him well. But why did you sell him to a trafficker? He was only thirteen years old at that time! He wasn’t much older than me. How could you bear to do that to your own nephew?”
Sue’s expression changed. “Didn’t I tell you not to bring this up again?”
“If I don’t bring it up, do you think that no one would know?”
Julian’s shoulders were trembling. If it hadn’t been for Sue’s phone call that day, he might never have known that the “abduction” that affected Justin’s life was actually his mother’s doing.
More than twenty years ago, Sue was not satisfied with just being a nanny in the Burton Family. For her own selfish desires, she bribed human traffickers to abduct Justin, who was only thirteen years old then, and sell him to a remote area. Until now, Justin had no idea that the aunt he trusted so much was the demon who pushed him into hell.
Julian glared at Sue intensely, his eyes blazing like torches. “Did you also sell my cousin to a human trafficker for my sake?”
Sue panicked. “Do you think I wanted to? At that time, Old Mr. Burton couldn’t stand listening to the rumors about me. He didn’t want me to stay in the Burton Residence and continue to take care of Justin. I worked hard to raise him. How could he ask me to leave just like that?”
“So you took revenge on him? A thirteen-year-old child?”
