“She’s in Room 2161.” “Thank you.” Immediately after she found out Jessica’s room number from the reception, Rachel stepped into. the elevator. Even though she had only seen Jessica once through the video call on Hans’ phone five years ago, she had heard no less from him about how stubborn Jessica’s personality was, going through with anything she decided to.
Hence, if Jessica assumed that Justin was her brother’s murderer, then she would go all out to invesitgate the Burton Group and try to approach Justin, and the results would be unthinkable should someone tried to make use of her. Finally, someone came to open the door after she pressed the doorbell a few times.
“Jess.” “Who are you?” Holding the door, Jessica kept the chain lock on and only showed half of her cautious face. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Rachel Hudson, a good friend of your brother.”
When she heard that, the look in her eyes. turned cold instantly. “What can I do for you?” “There’s something I have to tell you about your brother’s case.” After a short moment of hesitation, Jessica released the chain lock. “Come in.”
The hotel room wasn’t big, just a regular single room with a huge bed scattered with some stuff girls usually used and Rachel could tell that she had already been staying here for some time.
“When did you arrive in Riverdale?” “Cut the small chat and go straight to the point. How did you know that I’m here? Also, why did you come to look for me?” Leaning against the table, Jessica crossed her arms-it was a posture used to resist and guard. against an approaching person.
Rachel clenched her fingers a little at her sides; she always had a deep sense of guilt which couldn’t be erased toward Jessica or anyone else from the Egerton Family. “Jess, you’re here to investigate your brother’s death, right?”
“Yeah, so what? What does it have to do with you?” “Of course it does. Your brother is my best friend. He-“Best friend? Who would watch their best friend’s leg being broken by the husband?” Jessica sniggered. “If that’s the case, then being your friend requires one to give up their life.”
Her words stabbed mercilessly through Rachel’s chest, rendering her speechless and making it hard for her to breathe. “You definitely know how Hans died, don’t you?”
“L…” Holding her fists tightly, Rachel uttered, “I can’t tell you.”
“So, this is what you mean by being his so- called best friend?” “What I can tell you is that it has nothing to do with Justin Burton. The person who should pay for it has been punished by law, so you shouldn’t investigate anymore.”
“Why should I believe you? If this is really unrelated to Justin Burton, the truth will speak for itself. Why should you be afraid that I’m. investigating it?”
A seventeen year-old teenage girl was at her most stubborn and rebellious age. The more the adults didn’t want her to do something, the more she wanted to do it. Not daring to push her too much, Rachel tried to persuade her instead. “I’m not afraid of your investigations, but I’m afraid that you’ll be entangled in pointless conflicts. Do you know how many bad people out there are waiting to catch a hold on the Burton Group? You’ll be easily used by others if you act this way.”
“Is this what you came here to tell me?” Looking completely indifferent, Jessica had a dark look in her eyes. “I’m not an idiot. Not anyone can fool me. Please see yourself out,” she said, gesturing toward the door.
This was her eviction order and despite the many things Rachel wanted to say, judging from the situation, she knew that no matter what she said, this girl would heed nothing of it.
A few seconds later, Rachel left her own business card. “Jess, this is my contact, and you can look for me if you have any problems at all. I’ll visit you again tomorrow.”
An unimpressed Jessica didn’t take her card and Rachel could only place it on the table before leaving. The door closed behind her with a loud bang behind her and a small gust of wind rose up to ruffle her hair.
It was understandable that Jessica hated Rachel. Back then, she was a big reason why Hans wanted to come to Riverdale, and Jessica even helped to put in a good word to the Egertons. If Jessica had known that something would happen to Hans in Riverdale, she would have definitely stopped him from coming. The more persistence she showed in finding out the truth, the more remorse she had in her heart.
For the next consecutive days, Rachel would visit Jessica at the hotel everyday. Worried that Jessica couldn’t get used to the food at the hotel or have an upset tummy, she couldn’t wait to bring her food for every meal, carrying bags of different sizes with her.
“What’s happening? Are you seeing someone else?” Looking at Rachel going out with food in her hand again during working hours, Jolly stopped her and queried, “I heard from the secretary that you told her to line up to buy some snacks from a famous bakery early in the morning. You have the palmiers from an international hotel, and you even bought a roast duck! Who are you bringing these to? Out with it!” “No one.”
As Rachel wanted to take care of Jessica coming to Riverdale by herself, she didn’t want to tell Jolly for now. However, Jolly was not convinced. “No one? Are you buying these for ghosts, then? I won’t let you go unless you tell me.” “I’m really in a rush to go. It’s almost meal time!”
“Are you visiting a prison? Recently, you’re always going out with food and drinks during mealtime.” Suddenly, Rachel looked behind Jolly. “Leroy?”
Jolly’s eyes lit up and she turned around.
“Leroy?” There’s no one! By the time Jolly realized that she was fooled, Rachel had already passed by her hurriedly, leaving with the things in her hands. “Chris!” Standing on the spot, she stomped her feet and gritted her teeth. She can’t hide anything from me! At the hotel, Rachel arrived with the food, but no matter how she pressed the doorbell, no one came to open the door.
At this moment, the cleaning lady happened to pass by with her cleaning cart. “Are you looking for the guest in Room 2162? She went out early in the morning today and didn’t come back yet. I just cleaned her room.”
A stunned Rachel had a bad premonition about this, Jessica went out? In the meantime, Justin had just emerged from the supermarket carrying bags of groceries after doing the shopping and placed it into the car trunk.
Jolly had completely regarded him as a live-in nanny, listing him with a long grocery list for the supermarket to the point of even writing tampons on the list. In the end, he paced around the shelves awkwardly for a long time while a group of middle-aged saleswomen tried to promote him their products.
When the car trunk came to a close, the corners of his eyes caught sight of a sneaky figure hiding behind a pillar from the reflector in the corner of the garage.
This isn’t the first time, Justin thought with furrowed brows. “Come out!” His cold voice echoed in the garage, sending chills down a person’s spine. “It’s fine even if you don’t want to show yourself. There’s surveillance in the garage. I’ll just call the police directly,” he said, taking out his cell phone.
“Hey, don’t call the police!” A girl’s voice sounded as a small figure trotted out from behind the pillar. Looking like a student with her hair tied up in a bun and carrying a backpack, she nervously glanced at Justin. “Why are you following me?’ His eyes were solemn as he scanned her from top to bottom.
“I’m not following you.” Pursing her lips, the girl appeared as if she had been wronged. “I haven’t eaten for days. Will you lend me a hundred bucks?”
Justin’s eyes swept past her shoes, which cost at least five figures, and opened the car door to ignore her. “Hang on!” She walked briskly to him and stopped him.
