Charlotte seemed to be tired as she lay against Justin’s shoulder and remained quiet. Justin patted her back intermittently as if he was putting her to bed. Then, he sat down on a bench while carrying her.
Rachel followed him over. “What’s wrong? Is she tired?”
“She was too frightened when she saw the birds. She gets sleepy once she’s relaxed.”
“How did this happen?
Justin furrowed his brows. “Charlotte was injured by a bird before when she was younger.”
It was only after hearing from Justin did Rachel know that Charlotte had not always been staying with Justin since young. More often than not, Justin was too busy and did not have time to take care of her, so Arthur would take her to his place.
“There are quite a number of kids from the extended families who are around the same age as Charlotte. They actually don’t have many connections with the Burton Family anymore, but some of them are still racking their brains to claim a relationship with us.”
Justin was talking about the distant relatives which were barely connected to his family. They knew the Burton Family had very few heirs, so quite a number of them had wicked intentions. Arthur was old now and had started missing his hometown for some reason. He had actually brought Charlotte back to his hometown a few times. At that time, he even had the intention to adopt a few of the distant relatives’ children.
Just then, Charlotte, who was lying on Justin’s shoulder, spoke up all of a sudden. “There are pigeons at Great Uncle’s place, and they’ll peck my eyes.” While saying that, Charlotte rubbed her eyes.
Startled, Rachel lifted Charlotte’s hand and caressed the scar at the corner of her eye. Even though it was not obvious, Rachel had noticed it before this.
Justin explained, “That injury was by a pigeon.”
Rachel felt her heart squeezed. Initially, she thought Charlotte had accidentally injured herself. Kids were playful, so it was common to get some injuries and it didn’t sound like a serious matter. However, from what
Justin said, it seemed like the incident was not as simple.
“The doctor in the neighborhood’s clinic disinfected Charlotte’s wound after she was injured, but she started having a high fever that night. When I rushed over the next day, she was already in a coma due to the high fever. So, we quickly rushed to the hospital and were told that she had an infection.”
Later, they realized that the pigeon that injured Charlotte had an infectious disease. It was quarantined in the pigeon farm and was about to be slaughtered. However, for some reason, it injured Charlotte and even appeared in the dishes which were prepared ‘specially’ for Charlotte that night.
Justin did not elaborate further on the details, but Rachel was already petrified hearing that. There were many schemeful people in an established family like the Burtons–they would not even spare an innocent child!
“It’s Mommy’s fault, Charlotte. I didn’t even know this happened.” Feeling sorry, Rachel rubbed Charlotte’s cheeks. “I will never bring you to see birds again.”
Charlotte continued lying obediently on Justin’s shoulder and said softly, “I want a kiss, Mommy.”
Rachel lowered her head and gave Charlotte a kiss on her forehead.
Because Rachel drew close to Justin, the latter could smell the faint scent of Rachel’s perfume, and it actually made him absentminded for a while. A gust of wind carried away the fragrance, but Justin’s memory resurfaced.
Rachel lifted her head to see Justin staring at her. Only then did she realize when she was kissing Charlotte just now, she subconsciously held onto Justin’s arm. The moment their eyes met, it was as if the temperature
of their surroundings increased while Rachel started blushing.
Suddenly, Charlotte wanted to come down from Justin’s arms. “Daddy, Mommy, I want to go to the washroom.”
Instantly, Rachel and Justin snapped out of their daze. Before they could say something, Charlotte smiled. “You guys carry on.” Then, she quickly scurried away.
Justin and Rachel glanced at each other as the atmosphere became awkward. What’s the little girl thinking?
“What happened next? Did you bring Charlotte back to you?” Rachel initiated a topic to ease the awkward atmosphere.
“No.” Justin shook his head. “There were too many things to attend to in the company, so I couldn’t bring Charlotte with me all the time. It was Grandpa who sent the adopted child back to his hometown to stop those people’s wishful thinking.”
Sure enough, although Arthur was advanced in age, he was very resolute in handling things. He clearly knew how to make a decision between his real great-granddaughter and a son from the extended family.
Rachel nodded slightly. Justin said, “Because of this incident, Grandpa hopes that I’ll get married soon and find someone to take care of Charlotte.”
“With Amber?”
“Yeah.”
This was the first time they mentioned Amber after Rachel had left for 5 years. Rachel frowned and said firmly, “Anyone else but her.”
“Why?”
“She won’t treat Charlotte well. Do you really think that she’ll willingly become Charlotte’s stepmother and take good care of her?”
“You don’t even trust your own sister. Who else do you think is fit to be Charlotte’s stepmother?”
“She should at least be someone whom Charlotte likes.”
“Are you implying yourself? Who else does Charlotte like besides you?”
Tongue-tied, Rachel looked at Justin in shock.
“If I were to ask you to come back and look after Charlotte, what would you say?”
Rachel clenched her fists. Before she could give an answer, the sound of a phone buzzing emerged–Justin’s phone was ringing.
After seeing the incoming caller ID, Justin stood up. “Excuse me.”
“Sure.”
Justin walked toward a tree and picked up the call under it. Amber’s voice came forth from the other end of the line. “Hey Justin, where are you now?”
“I took Charlotte out to the hills. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. The surveillance camera in the mansion was spoiled before this. I’m worried that something will happen to Charlotte again, so I asked the technician to come and check the cameras. However, little did |
expect that…” Amber paused.
“What?”
“I don’t know if I should say this, Justin. I’m worried that you’ll think I’m deliberately sowing discord.”
“What exactly is it? Just spit it out.” Justin had gradually lost his patience. Although Amber had been staying by his side all these years and was his legal fiancée, he didn’t have any feelings toward her; he couldn’t even recall having any relationship with her. The woman had always behaved in a coy and coquettish manner, which made Justin impatient to deal with her.
“There’s an issue with the surveillance camera’s footage. I’ll send it directly to you.”
As soon as Amber said that, Justin received a notification on his phone-she had sent him footage of the camera in the mansion.
In order to ensure Charlotte’s safety and supervise the nanny who took care of Charlotte at home, Justin had installed many surveillance cameras in the house. One of them was hidden well in the corridor and wouldn’t be noticed easily by the others.
The footage that Amber sent was captured by the camera in the second floor’s corridor. When Justin saw a familiar figure appearing in the scene, his eyes darkened. “When did this happen?”
“Before and after you went on the business trip. I don’t know why she would want to enter your bedroom. Unfortunately, there’s no surveillance camera in your bedroom. Given this situation, I can’t say for sure if she has done something. It could be a misunderstanding.”
However, Justin hung up the call before Amber could finish her sentence.
“Hello? Justin?” Looking at the dark phone screen, Amber was not annoyed at all but wore a triumphant sm instead.
