Soon, Rachel made another suggestion. “What if we help Jolly sneak in among the waiters and waitresses?
“No, it won’t work. The Bennett Family will definitely make sure their security personnel verifies the identity of every single server during the wedding to prevent something like that from happening.” Upon a brief contemplation, Justin said in a preoccupied manner, “I suppose the only thing we can do now is to get her another invitation card.”
“What can we do about that? Fake a new invitation card?”
“Sort of, but not entirely.”
After breakfast, Justin and Rachel left home together, acting as if they were going to hang out together when they were actually trying to do something to get Jolly an invitation card. Soon, Frankie hit the gas pedal and drove into an alley shortly before they sped ahead and left the hectic city of Enistan far behind them. At the same time, they found themselves in an oppressive place that looked like a slum with a distance of arm’s length between each building.
“You might not have seen a place like this, Mrs. Burton, but this is exactly where the people of Enistan live. Don’t be fooled by the dilapidated buildings you can see here. They are actually homes to many of the people who work a decent job.” Frankie drove as he explained the situation in the slum. “In fact, this is not the worst place there is. There are many other places where each house is only separated by wires and fences. Besides that, a lot of them are only as big as the size of a coffin, although they are inhabited by three, four, or even five family members.”
“I’ve seen it on the news before.” Rachel took a deep breath, unable to believe her eyes, when she finally got to see a place like that for herself.
The next second, Justin’s voice was heard. “That’s not something surprising, considering the fact that the land here is so expensive. So, let’s not worry about them. After all, they are all capable of feeding themselves, which is why I believe they can get out of the place one day.”
Gosh! That sounds cruel and grim, but I guess that’s how the truth sounds. Rachel nodded in response. “I see. Where are we going now?”
“We’re going to meet a friend who is introduced by Mr. Brook. He said if we can’t get an invitation card from Mrs. Bennett, all we need is to see this friend of his, and our problem will be solved.”
“Mr. Brook? Him again?” Rachel was stunned. “Who’s this Mr. Brook? Why does he have such: a wide network of connections? Why is he willing to help us so much?”
Justin shook his head. “I’m not too sure about that, but I know he is an Astronian, although he may be living in Montenegro now. In fact, he was among the few who left our country back in the day. He subsequently settled down there until the recent two years in which he decided to come back here for his business.”
“Did he tell you all that?”
“Yes, he did.”
Upon hearing Justin’s reply, Rachel murmured to herself skeptically, “Can we trust him? Why do I feel so panicky on the inside?” Deep down, she couldn’t see a reason for Mr. Brook’s friend to help Justin since both of them were strangers to each other. In fact, she reckoned it was Justin who showed Mr. Brook more respect than the latter did to him, which made her doubt Mr. Brook’s motive for helping them even more. This doesn’t add up. Why would Mr. Brook help us in ‘gatecrashing’ someone else’s wedding? Something is fishy here. “Like you said, it was him who contacted you first, so does he know you or perhaps our purpose of visiting Enistan?”
“He didn’t tell me anything specific, but I guess he knows more than he let on.”
“This is strange.”
“I feel the same way too.” Justin knitted his eyebrows as a worried expression flashed across his face before disappearing. “Anyway, we don’t seem to have any other choice except this one. So, I guess we can’t afford to worry too much.”
Noticing the concerned look on Rachel’s face, Frankie replied, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Burton. Mr. Brook seems like a nice guy. When we first arrived in Le Grandeur, we ran into a lot of trouble until Mr. Brook stepped in and took care of all our problems without asking for anything in return.”
Rachel paused when she heard what Frankie said, turning her attention to Justin. “Did you guys run into a lot of trouble when you were there?”
“Nah, it wasn’t really a big deal. Frankie is just making a mountain out of a molehill.” Justin tried to downplay that incident in the past.
“I certainly did not, Mr. Burton. The politics in Le Grandeur were so chaotic that even a simple errand could not get done because there were people who wouldn’t stop messing around behind our backs.”
“Frankie. Justin interrupted his assistant’s words with a deep and intimidating voice.
Despite Frankie’s frustration, he didn’t continue his words as he kept his mouth shut and stopped right there. However, Rachel was able to guess what happened, judging from the way Frankie put his words in. Thus, she frowned and asked, “Is Julian still giving you all a hard time? He’s already got his hands on Riverdale, so what does he want with a place as far as Le Grandeur?”
“It’s alright.” Unlike Rachel’s anger, Justin appeared to be calm and collected, as if nothing had ever happened to him. “No entrepreneur is a hundred percent free from trouble. If it wasn’t him, there would be someone else anyway, so don’t take it to heart.”
Rachel swallowed the words that were forming at the tip of her tongue. How can I take it to heart after seeing the kind of person Julian has become? At the thought of that, she blamed herself for indirectly causing Justin to be forced out of the Burton Group and driven to a place as far away as Le Grandeur. It was all my fault. I’m responsible for the misery Justin is going through.
“Mr. Burton, Mrs. Burton, we’re here.” Frankie’s voice was heard coming from the front seat.
Soon, the car pulled up at a narrow opening right beside a tall building where there was an alley so cramped that whoever wanted to enter had to bend over his or her body. Oh, dear! This is going to be suffocating. The next moment, Rachel stepped out of the vehicle and walked down the alley with Justin while Frankie led the way in front of them. It wasn’t until they arrived at the end of the alley that they saw a plaque with the word, hotdogs’, written on it. As it shook so much in the wind, it looked like it was about to fall off. “This is it,” said Frankie.
A hotdog place? Rachel and Justin exchanged gazes, wondering if they were in the right location.
“Hello. Is there anybody there?” Frankie took a step forward, with Justin and Rachel following closely behind him. Unlike their dilapidated exterior, the interior of the place was surprisingly clean and decent, not to mention the aroma of hotdogs that filled the atmosphere. At the same time, Rachel seized the opportunity to touch the table, finding it squeaky clean without any oily stain at all. It seems that the owner here is pretty particular with hygiene.
“Hello, anyone there?”
It was only after a few attempts that Frankie finally got some response. “Coming. Who’s there?”
Not long after that, a man with a strong and buffed build was seen walking down the stairs before he stood there and bent over, fixing his gaze upon them. With a toothpick protruding from his mouth, the man appeared to be topless as he revealed his muscular physique with a tattoo of a dragon on his left arm that gave off a menacing aura.
While Rachel was so frightened by the man’s appearance that she stepped back in fear, Justin immediately stepped up and acted like a shield in front of her. Soon, the muscular guy said, “We’re still not open. It’s written on the door. We will only be open at 3.00PM.”
Frankie mustered his courage and tried to act tough. “We’re not here to dine. We’re here to look for someone.”
“You’re here to look for someone?” The muscular guy sized the few of them up and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
Before Frankie could say something, Justin asked, ‘Is Mr. Keaton around?”
The muscular guy paused when he heard Justin’s question, removing the toothpick away from his mouth. He then stared at Justin and Rachel for the next few moments. “My master isn’t around. Why are you guys looking for him?”
Master? Rachel sized the beefy man before her up from head to toe and wondered. If Mr. Keaton has a disciple as muscular as this guy, I wonder what he actually looks like in person. Is he a mob boss or something?
“Mr. Brook said we could come here. We spoke over the phone,” Justin said.
“Really?” The muscular man was stunned, staring at them doubtfully before he turned around and headed upstairs. “Wait here until I come back. Don’t go anywhere.” He then scurried upstairs when he finished his words. In less than a minute, he returned and waved his hand. “Come with me.”
