“Listen to me and take Chris away. Leave Riverdale for a while using vacation as the excuse. As long as you guys are gone, I’ll have a way to bring Justin away, Ginny said, sounding dominant as usual.
“No, Julian turned her down firmly and coldly. “Rachel will be suspicious.” ‘Julian, you’re still worrying so much at a time. like this? Be careful, you might end up with nothing in the end.”
“I have my plans, and you just need to cooperate with me. Stabilize the overseas market of Burton Group and weaken the voices against me in the company. That will be enough.”
After hanging up, Julian checked the chat box on his phone screen where the chat records of his conversation with Rachel were left off in the afternoon. Jolly dragged me to go shopping with her. I’m afraid I can’t have dinner with you tonight, she texted.
‘That’s alright. I have a meeting as well, and I was about to tell you.” He stared at the neatly arranged winter clothes which Rachel instructed the housekeeper to prepare. Most of them were the styles which he usually wore, and he ran his palm over the row of clothes. Suddenly, he stopped at a gray casual shirt, he had never worn a color like that.
Swoosh! The shirt fell from the hanger before the hanger bounced back and slammed into the closet door loudly with a bang. Without the hanger. holding it up, all of the weight of the shirt was now hanging on Julian’s hand as he held it and felt the weight.
All of a sudden, he released his hand and tossed the shirt on the floor before stepping over it. The next day at Burton Group, the receptionist who recognized Rachel was surprised to see her here and asked, “Why are you here, President Hudson?”
Showing the brown paper bag she had in her hand, she explained, “I happened to pass by and came to deliver breakfast for your boss. Being the role model worker that he is, he must have been here a long time ago, haven’t he?” “Don’t you know that President Peters is away on a business trip?”
“Business trip?” Rachel repeated, startled. “When did he leave?” “Just this morning, and he has probably already boarded the plane now. It was an ad-hoc trip. Didn’t he tell you about it?”
Rachel came to her senses and suddenly recalled receiving a text before leaving the house this morning, but she didn’t check it because she was in a rush to leave. When she opened the text in her phone now, she saw that it was really a text from Julian. I have an ad hoc meeting in Beigeburg and will be back in a couple of days’ time. I can’t have dinner with you again tonight.”
“He told me, but I didn’t see his text,” she answered the receptionist in resignation. “Have you had breakfast yet?” Seeing the bread which the young lady had secretly stolen a bite from was now hidden behind her back, Rachel placed the coffee and sandwich in front of her. “If you don’t mind, you can have this.”
“Thank you, President Hudson.”
“You’re welcome.” As Rachel turned around, she left Burton Group with a complicated feeling in her heart. Initially, she wanted to tell Julian about what happened between Justin and Ginny. After all, they were together and there were some things which they should be honest with each other. However, she wasn’t expecting him to be gone, so she could only tell him after his return.
Leaving Burton Group, she drove into traffic and suddenly received a call from Janice. This was the first time in the past few months. that she received a call from her on her private phone. Did something happen?
“Hello?”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m on my way to the office. What’s up?”
“Do you know that Hans has a younger sister?” She subconsciously tightened her grip on the steering wheel after being startled. Even after so long, the second she heard Hans’ name, her heart would still wrench tightly and painfully, making it hard for her to breathe..
“I know.” Her voice was so light that it echoed in the car. Only once outside the school gates had she met the said girl before. It was raining that day, and the little girl with bob hair looked like she was only three or four years old, calling out to Hans happily as she ran toward him and gave him a hug.
The butler of the Egerton Family was chasing. after her with an umbrella in his hand, and many people at the school gates had seen it. Later, Hans told her that Jessica Egerton was actually his cousin, his aunt’s daughter. His aunt had passed away due to complications. during childbirth, and her husband remarried a pregnant woman soon afterward. Hans’ mother was so furious and worried that Jessica would be abused while growing up in that family and decided to bring her over to the Egerton Family by adopting and changing the girl’s family name to Egerton.
It was hard to imagine that the woman who warned her to leave Hans alone also had a side like this in private. “Rachel, are you listening?” Janice’s voice from the phone jerked her back to her senses.
“Yeah, I’m listening,” Rachel answered hurriedly. “I know, but that’s his cousin named Jessica Egerton. Why?” “Mr. Egerton called me and said that he thinks Jessica is in Riverdale now.”
“What?” “He said that he found out in her room that she’s investigating Hans’ case, and all the clues led to the Burton Group. Mr Egerton also said that she’s a daring girl and refuses to listen to anything he says. Then, she ran away from home by herself.”
“Is she really here in Riverdale?”
“That’s a high possibility. Judging from the clues found in her room, Mr. Egerton reckoned that the final conclusion is pointed at Justin’s picture and he’s worried that something will happen.” “Where is she now?”
“I’ve already asked people to keep a lookout, but there’s no news yet so far.” Thinking rapidly, Rachel said, “She was still young when she left the country and isn’t familiar with Riverdale. If she doesn’t read the financial news, she won’t know about the changes happening with Burton Group. So, if she’s looking for Justin, most probably she’ll stay around the Burton Group. I’ll check with the nearby hotels.”
“It’s not convenient for me to be involved in this matter.” “I understand, so let me do it.” After hanging up, Rachel sent a message to her secretary, asking her to make a list of the hotels nearby Burton Group.
Although the main culprits, Jason and Jefferey, had already received their sentences, Hans’ cause of death had not been announced to the public because this was Janice’s way to protect Rachel. Too many things were involved in between and she was worried that these implications would make Dillon’s men suspect Rachel.
Therefore, even if Rachel saw Jessica now, she still couldn’t tell Jessica the truth. While looking for Jessica at the nearby hotels, Rachel’s mind was filled with the things that Hans said about Jessica back then.
“Rae, do you still remember my sister? She helped me to put in a word to my father this time when I wanted to come back. Can you imagine a young girl reasoning seriously with my father?”
‘I’ll show you her picture. She’s adorable, isn’t she?’
“If my sister gets married in the future, I’ll most likely cry.”
“Jess, this is Rachel Hudson. You can call her Rachel.” When Hans was still alive, he had mentioned his sister many times like a controlling brother. Back then, Rachel even met Jessica once. through a video call. At that time, Jessica was only about twelve years old, and Rachel didn’t imagine that it would be this situation whent they would meet again.
“Hi, may I know if anyone by the name of Jessica Egerton checked into your hotel? She’s from Panzonia and the younger sister of my good friend. As she’s still underaged and left home by herself, her family is very worried about her.”
“Hang on, let me check. Did you say Jessica Egerton?”
“Yes.”
“I found her.”
