The tall figure ran toward Rachel. As the headlights shone on his back, it almost blinded her. Before she passed out, she could hear a familiar yet strange voice. She recognized it as a specific man’s voice, but his panic and concern was alien to her. It must be me hearing things.
The black car then drove without a hitch on the highway toward Riverdale.
Rachel was roused by the warm breeze in the car. She drowsily opened her eyes to see the man driving at the front seat. He looked solemn from the side as his slender fingers were on the steering wheel.
“You’re awake?” Justin saw her from the back mirror. “Are you all right?”
She moved her arms, only to realize that a coat was draped over her. It smelled of cologne and tobacco. After being stunned for a while, she clenched her fists before reaching out to sign. I‘m fine.
“Are you hurt?”
No.
“I’ll take you to the hospital.”
It’s okay, I just need to head home and rest.
Even though the heater in the car was already turned on, Rachel was drenched since she was at sea and her body still remembered the sensation of walking for 2 hours in the ocean breeze. As a result, she shivered at that thought.
Thank you for coming to rescue me. I’m a little tired; I want to sleep for a bit.
Justin frowned before he slightly nodded. “Go to sleep then.”
There was no further movement from the back seat. Then, he glanced at the mirror to notice that she had already curled up into a ball under his coat. She looked like a stray cat that had been bullied and his frown deepened at that sight.
Rachel actually hadn’t slept. She had buried her face in the coat, thinking that Justin knew what Tina was going to do to her since he was able to quickly locate her, yet he had allowed it to happen.
Justin and Rachel were still a long way from Riverdale and they had remained silent throughout the entire journey.
The car finally pulled up at the garage of Burton Residence. Then, he carried her out from the back seat. She was shivering as she hid under the coat and even her lips were pale.
“Young Master Justin.”
“Where’s Julian? Get him upstairs.” As he left the cold words behind him, Justin carried Rachel away.
The servants in the Burton Residence couldn’t help but stare with eyes as wide as saucers while they watched him carry her up the stairs.
“How did she end up like this?”
The moment Julian saw Rachel’s condition, his face went as pale as a white sheet. “Justin, what did you do to her?”
Justin was indignant. “I just found her and brought her back. What do you think I did to her?” He balled
his hands into fists, the expression on his face shifting.
If it weren’t for the fact that Rachel was still unconscious, Julian really wanted to pester her and ask what had happened. What was Justin trying to do?
Julian took a thermometer and checked her temperature. “She has a fever.”
“Is it serious?”
“Depends on the person.” He didn’t even look at Justin as he explained, “If the person is weak, the fever can affect their brain or induce other symptoms. She hasn’t even fully recovered and her leg’s still injured! How did she end up like this? Where did you find her?”
Upon seeing the filth on Rachel’s face, Julian shouted as he could no longer control his anger.
As Sue and Mrs. Duncan eavesdropped from the other side of the door, his shout suddenly startled them. Sue hastily moved to open the door to go in, but Mrs. Duncan held her back.
Surprisingly, Justin was slow to anger. His gaze fell upon Rachel’s tightly closed eyes before he pushed out two words between his teeth, “The beach.”
The beach? Julian was stunned before he tried to calm himself down. “Get someone to change her into clean clothes. I have some fever medicine with me and I’ll let her take some while observing how it goes. If her fever recedes by tomorrow morning, she’ll be fine. If the fever persists, we’ll have to get her to the hospital.”
“Okay.”
“Justin, I still want to remind you about one thing.” Julian stood up and squarely faced Justin. “She is a real live human being. I don’t care how you married her. She’s a good girl, so even if you don’t like her, you can’t torment her.”
Justin’s voice was lowered as he replied, “Just get the medicine.”
Julian thought that Justin didn’t care about whatever he said, which caused Julian’s handsome face to be distorted in anger. He then clenched his fists and left in fury.
It was deep into the night when a night breeze picked up on the balcony, which hinted at an incoming rainfall.
“Mr. Burton, Director Roland’s a senior in the engineering department, so his skill in the profession is unquestionable. He was confused this time around and it really could be Tina who pushed him to it. It may not have been his intention to do it, so I’m afraid it wouldn’t be appropriate to fire him just like that.”
Justin’s tone was cold. “So, you mean to say that he is allowed to do anything as long as he didn’t mean to?”
On the other side of the phone, Frankie was so scared that he shuddered and lacked the courage to raise any objections again.
“Get the HR department to look for his substitute.”
Justin turned his back to the wind and lit a cigarette. He didn’t manage to get many puffs before the wind scattered it. “What about Henry’s death?”
Frankie came around and responded gingerly, “We’re still investigating it, so there should be some news soon.”
“Get someone to keep an eye on Tina for the time being.”
“Understood.”
After the call ended, Justin extinguished the cigarette and he strode into the house.
Rachel had already taken the medicine and headed off to sleep since she was still in a drowsy and feverish state. Her pale cheeks were lined with fine beads of sweat, which reminded him of that day when she passed out after he had forced medicine down her throat.
He felt his heart turning cold and after a long while, he sat down by the bed to hold her hand. She whimpered. It sounded so pitiful and her eyebrows were knitted so tightly, as if she was trapped in a nightmare.
“Rae,” Justin called her name, but he didn’t receive any response.
It was true that Rachel was in the midst of a dream. She was dreaming about the fire-the one that had haunted her from her younger days up until now. Every time she had that dream, the more she suspected that it was not a dream, but a real memory hidden somewhere in her mind; yet, she couldn’t clearly recall it.
It was already noon the next day when Rachel woke up. She reached out and felt for the alarm clock on the bedside table. 11am?
When she noticed that, she hastily threw the blanket aside and got out of bed.
Right at that moment, the door clicked to announce Justin’s arrival-he was carrying a bowl of congee with his hands. “You’re awake?”
Rachel felt a little awkward as she managed to plaster a smile on her face. I just woke up. Aren’t you going to the office today? I have to head into work now.
“I helped you to take the day off.” He placed the bowl down and replied earnestly, “So, you don’t have to go to work today. You woke up at the right time. Here, have something to eat.”
I can’t. The library‘s expansion is especially crucial in its early stage. I cannot take leave just like that.
As soon as Rachel finished signing, Justin’s large hand pressed on her shoulders until she surrendered and sat down. “I already said that I took the day off for you. You are not in the condition to do any strenuous work.”
She would never have beaten him in terms of stubbornness, but she suddenly found it weird that he had the patience to convince her like this. In fact, she was bewildered at the fact and sat on the bed again in a daze.
“Have some congee.” Justin pointed toward the bedside table. “It’s with seafood.”
Rachel shook her head. Thank you, but I’m not hungry. Just leave it aside.
He frowned as indignance creeped onto his face-it was an obvious premonition to another outburst. She instinctively tensed as her face paled.
Upon seeing her so weak and frightened, Justin suddenly felt endless annoyance. After a while, he
suppressed his emotions and reached out with his long arm to take the bowl. “Open your mouth.”
Rachel stared in disbelief at the spoon being brought right in front of her.
