The Silent Wife

76

After writing the last word, the chalk Rachel was using broke and rolled around on the ground.

"It has come to this point. What other tricks are you trying to play with me?" Tina's expression was nasty. "Of course you'll refuse to admit that you were the snitch. When would a murderer ever admit that they killed someone?"

Not bothering to argue with her, Rachel kneeled on the ground and wrote one word.

Amber

"Are you saying that Amber revealed the secret?" For a moment, Tina was stunned. Then, she seemed to think of something which caused her to scoff. "If you want to blame it on someone, you should at least blame it on the right person. Before Henry's incident, Amber knew nothing about the matter between us. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Rachel looked silently at Tina, her calm gaze making the latter a little panicked.

Tina was indeed a little dumb, but she wasn't an idiot.

That day, Amber had asked her to go to the wine cellar. There were waiters around, but she insisted that Rachel go to the already suspicious place. As for how Tina and Henry ended up at the wine cellar, no one knew, but Rachel was sure that it must have had something to do with Amber.

"That's impossible." All of a sudden, there was an extremely unpleasant look on Tina's face.

She suddenly remembered that before Jefferey's birthday banquet, Amber had invited her multiple times to make sure she would turn up, and she waited until she was around before telling the waiter the specific place to get the wine and to not go to the underground wine cellar.

Suddenly, the creaking sound of the door closing rang out. Tina came and left in a hurry as her figure instantly disappeared from the doorway.

Looking at the doors of the ancestral hall, which was once again closed, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. She felt discomfort in her palms, so she opened up her hand, only to see that the chalk had broken into countless pieces, and her palm was full of powder.

The next day, Rachel was awoken by the sound of the door opening.

"Mrs. Burton, wake up."

Rachel's body was freezing as she opened her eyes in a daze, and she could barely prop herself up from the hard ground.

The butler, Leon, was waiting at the door. "Mrs. Burton, Old Mr. Burton said that you can come out now."

Rachel nodded, and her knees were numb when she stood up. If it weren't for the help of the servants on both her sides, she would have tumbled onto the ground.

When she noticed how skilled the servants were at supporting her, she wondered if the Burtons often sent people to the ancestral hall to kneel as punishment.

The servants helped Rachel into the guest room, which was actually a suite. There was a living room outside, clean clothes on the bed in the bedroom, and hot water running in the bathroom. Rachel was stunned. Wasn't I supposed to go see Old Mr. Burton?

"Old Mr. Burton said to let you shower and freshen up, then have breakfast before going to the living room to talk."

Where's Justin?

"Young Master Justin should be with Old Mr. Burton now."

He didn't leave last night?

"No."

Upon hearing this, Rachel fell deep in thought. I can handle myself. You guys can leave now

"All right, Mrs. Burton."

In the bathroom, the steam was dense as Rachel soaked herself in the bathtub. When she thought of the recording Tina had just let her listen to, she felt dejected.

At the end of the day, Justin had changed the way he treated her just to get the prescription

After holding her breath for a while, Rachel suddenly broke through the surface of the water and inhaled deeply.

After having breakfast, Rachel went to see Arthur, who was eating breakfast with Justin and Tina beside him. When Rachel entered, Justin simply shot her a faint glance but said nothing Arthur asked, "Have you eaten? If you haven't take a sea! Let's eat together"

I've already eaten.

"Sit down, then. Have you figured everything out in the ancestral hall last night?"

Rachel was struck with the question before she even sat down completely, so she was caught off guard

Arthur glanced at her. "Have you figured out why I sent you to the ancestral hall?"

Rachel shook her head.

"Do you really not know, or are you just pretending not 10?"

Rachel glanced subconsciously at Justin

The man was as calm as ever. As he ate his porridge, his expression never changed. It was as if Arthur's conversation with her had nothing to do with him.

"Grandpa, why are you trying so hard to talk to her?" Tina rolled her eyes, then placed some food in Arthur's bowl. "You should've just let her kneel for a little longer so that she wouldn't interfere with your meal."

Arthur replied, "That's true. You're just a pawn the Hudsons sent as a replacement to marry There's no point in talking to you since there's no cure for stupidity. But, if you don't understand current affairs, you're really hopeless."

I don't understand what you mean.

"Forget it if you don't understand. Starting from today, you'll stay in the summer villa"

When Rachel heard this, she was startled

Widening her eyes, Tina sprung up from her chair. "What do you mean, she's staying here? What right does she have to stay here?"

Arthur shot Tina a disgruntled glance. "She's the Young Madam of the Burton Family

Obviously, this wasn't the outcome Tina expected.

Meanwhile, Rachel was even inore surprised than Tina. From the recording Tina let her listen to last night,

they clearly wanted her dead, so why would he ask her to stay here?

All of a sudden, she had a bad premonition.

"Grandpa, because of this mute, Justin,"

"That's enough." Arthur forcefully set down his cutleries while shooting Tina a warning glance. "Tina, your attitude has been getting worse recently. Sit down. You have no manners at all." Tina dared not disobey the old man's wishes no matter how headstrong and reckless she was.

"Justin, what do you think about this?"

Justin set down his cutleries as well, then a few words escaped his thin lips. "I'll listen to you, Grandpa."

Rachel simply gave him a blank look.

After breakfast, she returned to the room with Justin.

Rachel felt anxious the whole way there, because she reckoned that Arthur wasn't letting her stay here for any good reason.

In the suite, she was going to ask a servant to send tea over, but Justin pulled her down to sit.

"Are your knees bruised because of last night?"

Rachel nodded cautiously.

After kneeling all night, her knees were bruised. If it weren't for the help of the servants this morning, she wouldn't have managed to walk.

"You kneeled in the ancestral hall all night just because Grandpa asked you to? Are you stupid?"

"Young Master Justin, here's the salve."

Justin gave a slight nod before waving dismissively at the servant.

After he heard the door close, he squatted down to apply the salve on her knees.

Startled, Rachel looked rather abashed. I can do it myself.

"Don't move!"

With his huge hand, he rubbed the salve all over her knees. The salve most likely promoted blood circulation and dispersed stasis; it stung when he first applied it, but soon, there was a cooling sensation, and the smell of musk in the room dissipated.

At this moment, Justin's behavior was completely different from when he was in the dining room just now.

"It should be fine now."

Thank you

Wiping his hands, Justin sat down.

Rachel carefully asked, Can I not live here?

Justin frowned slightly. "Grandpa only lives here for two months every year, and he'll be leaving Riverdale in a month. By then, you won't have to stay here anymore."

I need to work. It's very inconvenient for me to go back and forth from here.

"We've already helped you apply for a leave of absence."This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

Rachel's expression changed, and she wanted to say something, but she eventually set down her hand and wordlessly lowered her head.

There was a high chance Arthur was asking her to stay here because he planned to find the right time to finish her off. She was about to lose her life, so why was she even talking about work? Justin suddenly held her hand. "Are you upset?"

Rachel froze; the heat on the back of her hand made her feel a little flustered.

"When the Burton Group's East Pearl Project ends, I'll come and get you as soon as I can."

Justin's voice was deep and powerful, inexplicably causing Rachel's heart to thump at an unusual rhythm.

After Justin slowly drove out of the summer villa, Tina stood on the balcony on the second floor of the villa, her expression solemn.

"What the hell is Grandpa thinking? Is his mind muddled? He actually wants to keep the mute girl here!"

"He's probably keeping her here to prevent her from affecting Young Master Justin's decisions regarding the company. It seems like your prediction is correct." The voice of her assistant, Simon Wilde, sounded from behind.

"But I didn't expect Grandpa to be so soft-hearted. Now that he's keeping her here, the other Burtons might think that she's gotten his approval and is officially part of the family!"

After saying that, Tina fiercely slapped the balcony railing, and the look in her eyes was ruthless. "This is great. Now that she's being kept here, I can't even take action against her." "Miss Burton, didn't you send someone to investigate Amber? Maybe that matter really has nothing to do with Rachel."

"How's the investigation going?"

Simon pondered for a while. "Lately, Amber has been spending time with Young Master Peters. She has also actively signed up for hospital seminars and conferences, and..." "And what?"

"And I think Jefferey met with Madam Parham in private. It seems like she has some interest in Young Master Peters."

"Amber's interested in Julian?" Tina was surprised. "Since when?"

After all, before this, she had heard Amber complaining that she should be the one marrying into the Burton Family, not her mute sister. She had always been unsatisfied because of this, so why was she suddenly changing targets?

"According to the information I got from the hospital, it has been quite a long time, and the Second Young Lady of the Hudson Family actually went to work as an assistant for Young Master Peters. This happened before the Hudsons' birthday banquet."

Upon hearing this, Tina's brows furrowed.

She didn't believe that Amber would snitch on her. After all, the matter about her and Henry wasn't affecting Amber at all. Besides, now that Amber was interested in Julian, it was even more likely that she wasn't involved.

On the balcony, there was a gust of breeze, and Tina could see the parking lot in the distance from the corner of her eyes.

"Rachel drove here on her own last night, right?"

Simon was taken aback for a moment. "Yes."

Looking at the white car, Tina had a malicious look in her eyes. She hated it most when other people played tricks on her After Justin left, Rachel hurriedly sent a message to Hans.