Chapter 41 The Secret Room In the Study Room
“Rachel?” Tina frantically yelled out to her.
Instinctively, Rachel turned back. She was way more embarrassed to have encountered such a transgression.
“Y-You shouldn’t misunderstand…” Tina’s current expression was quite ugly.
Just then, Rachel didn’t understand why Tina was so anxious. Although this was an awkward situation, the latter was engaged to Noah anyway, so it was quite normal for them to be enamored with each other. Pleasure time with each other wasn’t exactly something to be ashamed of. However, a moment later, as soon as she saw the guy behind Tina, the reason finally dawned upon Rachel. The man wasn’t Noah at all.
I came to get a bottle of wine. Rachel tried to put on a calm front and held up the bottle of wine in her hands to show Tina.
In fact, she had never met Noah and she didn’t know what he looked like either, but she happened to have met the guy behind Tina yesterday at the Burtons’ summer villa located in the outskirts of town. If she wasn’t mistaken, this man was the driver for the Burtons.
“Rachel… I mean…. Rach,” At that moment, Tina was evidently at a loss for what to do and she stammered as well. “Things are not what it seems. We were just…”
“She saw everything.” A male voice rang out from behind Tina and the man spoke with a definite tone.
Upon hearing that, Rachel unconsciously shuddered.
Just then, Tina had also begun to calm down and her expression darkened as she stared at Rachel. “Did you see everything?”
Instantly, Rachel shook her head vigorously to deny it.
“Stop pretending. You’ve seen everything, right?” Tina glanced at the wine bottle in Rachel’s hands. “How long have you been here for?”
Meanwhile, Rachel took a step backward. She had an awkward look on her face and she couldn’t quite find the words to explain herself.
“It doesn’t matter even though you’ve seen us.” Tina exhaled deeply and her expression was quite somber. “If you dare to reveal what you saw today, I swear you won’t be able to live in peace in Riverdale.”
Rachel held onto the wine bottle tightly. After a short pause, she nodded in response, as she did not want trouble either. It would not benefit her to reveal Tina’s private matters.
Tina’s fingers continued to tremble uncontrollably as she watched Rachel leave the cellar. Soon after that, the man behind her took her hands into his before he said in a low voice near her ears, “Can she be trusted?”
Tina’s expression was solemn. “Even if she can’t be trusted, there’s nothing we can do about it. She’s a mute and she already has trouble surviving in our family, so do you think she would have the guts to reveal anything? Besides, she doesn’t have any proof at all.”
Meanwhile, the man glowered.
On the other end, Rachel ran out of the cellar frantically. Finally, she managed to get to the upper floor and she ran toward an area with people around. Unfortunately, she ran straight into a waiter and fell to the ground.
“Miss, are you fine?”
Shocked, Rachel quickly shook her head and she slowly came to her senses.
She heard some music coming from the living room further ahead so she quickly handed over the bottle of wine in her hands to the waiter. Then, she gestured, Please help me pass this to Amber.
Earlier in the cellar, she had torn her dress. There was not much time left and she still had to complete the task assigned by Justin. It was quite likely she would be mocked by Amber if she went back into the living room.
The dinner hadn’t officially started so Jefferey was still entertaining his guests in the reception area. Therefore, she would have to take this opportunity while he was still entertaining his guests to slip into his study room and look for the safe that Justin mentioned. The mansion was massive but fortunately for her, Jefferey’s bedroom and study room were located on the third floor of the function room tonight. In the end, Rachel succeeded in finding the exact location of the study room based on her memory.
She pushed the door open with a loud ‘clack’. There was a smell of smoke that hit her as soon as she entered the room. It didn’t smell like sandalwood but rather, it resembled the smell of incense that was usually burnt during prayers.
She scanned the surroundings and finally located the source of the smell. There was an extinguished incense burner located on the first row of the bookshelf and behind it was a statue of the Deity of Medications.
The Hudson Family came from a medical background so naturally, it was their tradition to pray to the Deity of Medications. Jefferey was quite particular about maintaining traditions so all of this seemed quite reasonable.
According to Justin, Jefferey’s safe was located within the shelf to the right of his study table.
And so, Rachel swiftly made her way there and pulled open the shelf door.
Indeed, Justin was right and there was a rectangular silver safe located within the shelf and it was built into the bookshelf. The safe was digitally locked and a password was required to unlock it. Without that, there was no chance of opening it. Moreover, it would be wishful to attempt to steal the safe as it was built into the bookshelf.
She took a few photos of the safe and sent them off to Justin.
‘The safe is here, so can I go now?’
She waited and waited, but there was no reply from the other end.
Rachel felt quite anxious and just as she was about to leave, she heard voices coming from outside all of a sudden.
It looked like Jefferey was back.
She glanced to her left and right but then she realized that there was nowhere for her to hide.
“Umph—“
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind her and clamped down on her mouth. Then, she was dragged toward the back.
After Rachel had come to her senses, she found that she was in a dark environment and there seemed to be a suffocating smell of incense that was quite offensive. She would have coughed out loud if her mouth wasn’t currently covered.
“Don’t make a sound.” A low voice rang out by her ear.
Just then, Rachel’s back stiffened.
It’s Justin! He was here all this while!
It seemed like Jefferey had brought a guest into the room and their conversation from outside was clearly audible through the thin board of the bookshelf. It sounded like they were discussing the problems faced with the transport of medical equipment.
At that moment, Justin had a hand placed against the board of the bookshelf and he concentrated on the sounds outside for a short while. His sharp nose was illuminated by the rays of light that passed through the crevices and his expression looked quite cold.
As for Rachel, she slowly calmed down.
After Justin had ensured that they wouldn’t be discovered for the time being, he released her from his tight grip and she could finally breathe in normally.
The secret room was completely dark and nothing could be seen in here. There was merely a flickering light source from behind and the whole place was quite eerie.
Rachel drew back and remained in a fixed position.
Her back remained tightly pressed against Justin’s chest and their breaths were in sync just then. The tiny secret room was so quiet that their rapid heartbeats were clearly audible.
After quite some time, there was a burst of laughter from outside.
“Alright, Mr. Riley. I’ll get Tomas to draft the agreement.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Rachel finally heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing the door shut from outside.
Just then, Justin released her from his arms.
Somehow, he pressed on a button and the bookshelf gently twisted and it opened outward. Suddenly, the light flowed in from outside and illuminated more than half of the secret room.
“Everyone’s gone. Come on out.”
Rachel recollected her senses and nodded her head as she followed Justin out of the room.
How did you get here?
If he was able to come here in person then why did he force me to go through this frightful episode?
Justin shot her a cold and indifferent look. “If I wasn’t here, do you think you would be able to open the safe?”
Can you open it?
Shocked, Rachel stared at him but she quickly regained her composure.
Justin was a man of many talents so surely, there was nothing that could trouble him. Besides, this was merely a simple and tiny safe.
Meanwhile, he ignored her and glanced behind her thoughtfully. Then, he coldly exclaimed, “How many people do you think have lost their lives because of your family?! We’re already in the 21st century but you’re still worshiping such a thing?”
Worshiping such a thing?
Rachel’s expression went still and her eyes followed his gaze behind her. Just then, she saw the full view of the secret room. Inside the room, there was a mini-sized altar and the flickering light from earlier was in fact an incense burning in an incense holder.
She couldn’t help moving closer to take a look, but her face paled immediately upon noticing the deities on the altar
