“Rae, what’s wrong?” Justin asked as Rachel dragged him along hastily toward the exit. However, she didn’t have enough strength to pull him with her easily. Moreover, she was wearing a gown, which constrained her movements.
She tripped before she could make it to the exit as she had stepped on her dress. Fortunately, Justin reacted in time to grab her from falling and helped her to regain her balance. “Are you okay?”
Nodding her head, she was at a loss for words when she raised her head and found the person she wanted to avoid was watching them.
The person stared at the duo with a gloomy and sharp look in his eyes, much like a bird of prey hovering above the cliff and waiting for ant opportunity to feed on the animal flesh. He watched them intensely, his attention glued to them. Rachel shivered as his eyes landed on her.
After she had experienced the smuggling case in Yatruinia last year and returned to Riverdale, the same pair of eyes had been the cause of her frequent nightmares for a while ever since.
She pulled her hand out from Justin’s grip immediately. Scowling at her sudden change, he tried to turn his head to look at the person, but was stopped as Rachel growled in a low voice, ‘Don’t look!”
Rachel then explained, “Listen to me, stay here and wait for Frankie. I’ve got to go.”
“Where are you going?”
“Stop asking!” Rachel almost broke down, and it was as if her mind was on fire. Never in a million years did she think she would see Dillon at the wedding.
Even though she knew Justin had questions, she had no time to answer him. Not wanting to take him down with her, she left the banquet hall without hesitation.
I’m safe if he didn’t recognize me or didn’t even see me, Rachel mused. However, that’s impossible. When Rachel walked out of the banquet hall, someone stopped her.
“Long time no see, Miss Hudson,” Dillon called her from behind with a cold tone.
Walking toward her casually, he circled her to. inspect her and finally stopped before her. To be exact, he was standing a meter away from her, and between them were three strong men, who looked like his bodyguards. Rachel affirmed that Dillon had become more cautious since the smuggling case.
She clutched her purse to calm herself down and feigned a smile. ‘What a coincidence, Young Master Porter. I didn’t expect to see you here!”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Dillon said with a fake smile plastered to his face. “This is not a place for reminiscing, though. Miss Hudson, may I treat you to a drink as an old acquaintance?”
Rachel took a step back, but one of the buff men stopped her in her retreat.
“Come on. Bring Miss Hudson to the tea house.” As if on cue, the other two men stepped closer to her. As they were approaching, she felt that their presence was suffocating her. Dillon watched her. “Miss Hudson, are you going by yourself, or do you need their help?”
Tightening her grasp over her purse, Rachel answered with a pale look, “It’s alright. I can go. there by myself.”
Deep in the Idyll Vacation Villa that was surrounded by dense forests and winding paths, there was a tiny detached house situated in a multi-style courtyard. It was a private teahouse that didn’t entertain just anyone. In short, people who had been invited to this place were no commoners.
The fragrance of tea was permeating the air in the room. A server dressed in traditional dress was making the tea, while someone was playing the piano behind the screen. The overall environment was elegant and relaxing. Rachel was the only one who looked out of place in her gown.
Dillon took a sip of his tea as he murmured, “Take a seat, Miss Hudson. Why are you standing? The others will accuse me for not treating my guests well if they knew it.”
She remained on her spot as she spoke through gritted teeth. “Young Master Porter, I think we need to sort things out.”
“Sort what out? Aren’t we partners who work happily together?”
“About the ambush, I’m-”
His expression darkened as he smashed the cup. Rachel covered her ears when she heard the cup being shattered, and her face was pale as she was scared.
Dillon then commented, “I’m sorry. My hand slipped. Did I scare you?”
Rachel didn’t dare make a move as she held her breath in front of him. Dillon is no doubt thinking of a way to torture me to ease his anger. After all, I got away with the smuggling case unscathed. He must be suspicious of me.
“Take a seat.” He spoke casually, but Rachel shivered. She wasn’t going to risk disobeying him, so she took a seat as told.
“Have a drink.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re really drinking that?” Dillon observed her from his seat. “Are you not afraid of me poisoning you?”
“I’m here now. There’s no way I can leave without your permission. If you’re killing me anyhow, it’s up to your order. Drinking the tea or not probably won’t change anything.”
“Why would I want to kill you?”
“You affirm that I’m the traitor who has leaked the information of the deal.” Seeing no point in beating around the bush, Rachel laid her cards on the table.
Dillon’s expression sank at her words. Even though it had long passed, he was still mad when he recalled that day. He would have loved to slice the traitor into pieces and feed them to sharks. He even executed a bunch of his lackeys to find out the traitor. However, Rachell was always his top suspect. “It wasn’t you?”
He took a direct approach as he added, “You disappeared since that day. Everyone involved. were being investigated ever since, including. the government of Riverdale. However, you remain unscathed because the investigators never thought that Hudson Pharmaceuticals was involved. Why do you think that was?”
“Young Master Porter, it’s because I’m not close to any of you. They’ll find nothing from me even if they tried. Not even the ledger or our records of dealing could be found.” Rachel spoke with feigned calmness. “Moreover, you accused me of getting away with it, but they have confiscated my goods too. I suffered a great loss due to it, and Hudson Pharmaceuticals is still having severe cash flow problems. You can ask someone to investigate if you don’t believe me.”
The room fell into silence as she finished her words. When Dillon raised his hand, the melody of the piano stopped immediately.
The man watched her coldly as he sat opposite her. “Do you think acting all pitiful can help prove your innocence?”
“Young Master Porter, if you’re having doubts, then I can’t change your mind even if I explain. However, I still believe I can prove my innocence to you eventually.”
“Don’t you dare pretend you’re innocent, Rachel Hudson! Do you think I’m playing around here?!” Dillon rose to his feet and flipped the table, causing Rachel to scream.
In contrast to her response, the waitress only stepped aside with her head hanging low, as if she had seen something similar many times. The way she kept her silence was like how a puppet behaved.
The hot water spilled on Rachel’s dress as she couldn’t avoid it in time. As the water seeped through her gown, she gasped at the pain of burning skin and turned pale.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. “Young Master Porter.”
