“Nope.” Samuel shook his head as he turned to the bedroom and added, “But Mr. Peters and Godmother came home with us, and they’re chatting outside right now. It sounds like they are talking about Daddy.”
“Quickly, go listen to what they’re saying.”
Hastily, Charlotte expressed, “Something big must have happened.”
Rolling out of the bed, Samuel tiptoed to the door and cracked it open before putting his ear against the thin
gap. In the living room, Julian was seen to be applying some blood-circulating ointment on Rachel’s arm.
While doing that, he instructed, “Just rub it like this. Twice a day and the swelling will subside in two days.”
“Thanks.”
With an expressionless face, Rachel unrolled her sleeve. As she was doing that, Jolly furiously questioned, “Is
Justin some kind of bruiser? Is he sick in the head? How dare he lay his hand on you under broad daylight! That man would have murdered you if we weren’t here!”
“He asked me about the safe box. He must’ve figured out something.”
Stunned, Jolly seemed to have understood something. “What did you say?”
Shaking her head, Rachel assured, “Nothing, and that’s how things ended up this way.”
Based on everything that had happened up until now, Justin would surely bar her from seeing Charlotte and himself and be overwhelmingly defensive against her.
In response, Jolly defended, “So what if you opened the safe box? What about the things he did in the past? He could be sent to jail for those!”
“Have you forgotten that he lost his memory? He doesn’t remember anything from the past.”
“How convenient. He’s taking advantage of his memory loss, yet you’re still defending him.”
Leering at Jolly, Julian blurted, “Calm down, Jolly.”
At once, she held in her frustrations as she reluctantly gnarled her teeth.
After remaining silent for a long while, Rachel clarified, “I’m not defending him. However, one thing is certain. Memory loss or not, that’s his true color-vicious to his bones. I’m simply trying to stand in his shoes to figure
out how to search for those proofs.”
To that, Julian queried, “Have you found out how?”
“Old Mr. Burton’s birthday is near.”
In the meantime, Justin, who had just arrived at the company, summoned his assistant into his office.
“I thought you went hiking, President Burton. How are you back so soon?”
“Tell me every detail about what happened five years ago.”
With that, Frankie was in a daze. “That’s… sudden. Why are you asking me this? What happened to your face, President?”
At the corner of Justin’s lip was a visible bruise. It wasn’t as obvious when he traveled down the hills, but now that the bruise had turned worse, the sight of it was rather spine-chilling.
“Just answer me instead of giving me such crap.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, President Burton. Old Mr. Burton had specifically ordered me to not tell this to anyone.”
With a troubled face, Frankie pleaded, “Please don’t make things difficult for me, President. To be honest, forgetting about the past might actually benefit you. We should always look forward to the future, not the past.”
“Rachel entered my bedroom and opened the safe box!”
“Oh, is that so?” Despite his slight daze, Frankie didn’t show much shock.
“You look like you’ve expected this.” Justin straightened his back as he gave Frankie a mean gaze.
Hastily, the assistant shook his head. “No, I don’t. I know nothing about it. Uh… I’ll take my leave if there’s nothing else, President Burton. Just call me if you need my assistance. I’ll have the secretary fetch the medkit and tend to your wound.”
“Did I dismiss you?” Irked, Justin grabbed a file on his table and tossed it toward Frankie. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Something wrong with the file, President Burton? I’ll check it right away.” After successfully evading the attack, Frankie hugged the document to his chest as he ran out with a forced grin.
Watching Frankie departing hastily, Justin grew even more frustrated. He couldn’t put his head around why Frankie was unbothered when he told him such fatal information about how Rachel opened his safe box. It was as if Frankie’s composure was telling him that it was natural for Rachel to do such a thing.
What’s in the safe box? What was Rachel looking for? The more he pondered, the tenser his brows grew.
In a flash, a week had passed, and Rachel never got to see Justin nor Charlotte. Based on the rumors, Justin temporarily sent Charlotte to the summer villa because Arthur’s birthday was coming. He planned to only pick her up when it was over. Although that might be the case, Rachel knew that Justin simply didn’t want Charlotte to contact her by any means.
“How do you like this school, Samuel?”
Holding Samuel’s hand, Rachel walked out of an elementary school. “This school follows an international
school system. So, you’re going to have classes like usual even when other schools are having summer breaks. Since this school is near our home, if your godmother and I are too busy to pick you up, you can walk home yourself, okay?”
Blinking his eyes, Samuel quizzed, “Are we not going back to Montenegro, Mommy?”
“Not yet. There are things Mommy needs to settle, so you’ll be going to school here for now.”
Initially, it wasn’t part of Rachel’s plan to bring Samuel along to Riverdale. However, the boy had come by himself. So, she felt it was best for him to attend school in Riverdale for the time being. Besides, leaving the kid alone in Montenegro would be rather worrying. Furthermore, after scouting a number of schools, Rachel finally found one that shared similar modules to those in Montenegro–she even brought Samuel to a trial class in fear of his discomfort.
Despite her answer, Samuel pursued, “So are we going back?”
“Yes. It won’t take long.”
Hearing that, the boy seemed to have some thoughts. Before getting into the car, he snapped a photo of the school and sent it to someone.
Soon, Saturday had arrived. Thanks to the Burtons’ fame, many had gathered in the Burtons’ summer villa for Arthur’s eightieth birthday. This year’s event was unlike the others where Arthur would merely have a simple dinner with the entire family at home instead of hosting such an extravagant banquet, shattering the dreams
of countless individuals that intended to engage connections through banquets.
However, thanks to this one in a million opportunity, the entire Riverdale was able to make a move on Burton with the strategies they came up with. Evidently, the guests’ dazzling vehicles had already filled the parking lots in the villa before the opening ceremony at sunset.
“Long live Arthur Burton!”
Before the arrival of the guests, the Burtons were congratulating the old man.
“Great-grandpa!”
A sweet, delicate voice interrupted the crowd’s wishing.
Turning to the voice, Arthur immediately beamed. “Who is this little princess?”
Donning a white dress and diamond tiara on her head, Charlotte appeared rather dazzling as her ebony leather shoes tapped rapidly on the carpet while she ran toward her great-grandfather for an embrace.
“Happy birthday, Great-grandpa!”
“Aww.” As the child stormed into his chest, Arthur carried her onto his lap while smiling. “You’re getting taller and prettier each day. Who bought you this dress?”
“Aunt Gloria did.”
Surprised, the old man queried, “Gloria is back?”
“Not yet,” Sue answered from the side. “She has too many performances going on, so she couldn’t make it. She shipped some snacks and clothes over for Charlotte to cheer her up.”
Hearing that, Arthur nodded his head in silence.
“I have a wish, Great-grandpa!”
Clutching the old man’s arm, Charlotte inquired, “Can you grant my wish, Great-grandpa?”
