Female Novel
Chapter 2
One night later, Rachel woke up with her body aching all over. However, Justin was nowhere to be seen,and only the slightly cool smell of tobacco lingered in the air.
Rachel dragged her fatigued body to the bathroom and took a shower. She first saw a beautiful middle-aged woman sitting on the sofa after coming downstairs, but the latter simply stared at her coldly with herarms folded across her chest.
Rachel had seen this woman in the photo her father had shown her. She was Sue Praham, Justin’smaternal aunt. It was said that Justin lost his parents as a child and was brought up single-handedly bySue until Arthur Burton, the Old Master of the Burton Family, brought them back to the BurtonResidence. Justin built his own business empire with his own abilities, and he had always been filial toSue as if she were his biological mother.novelbin
At this moment, Sue looked Rachel up and down before saying, “Jefferey Hudson, that old fox, didn’tkeep his word. He knew that we wanted Amber to marry into the family, yet he sent you—a mute—instead. Does he think the Burton Family is a garbage recycling center? I always wonder why Justinkeeps you around, but since things have turned out this way, you’d better behave yourself. Don’t thinkyou will have a meteoric rise by marrying into our family. We, the Burtons, aren’t fools. All right, go andprepare lunch first. Since you’ve married into our family, you should be a virtuous wife!” The large BurtonResidence was obviously not short of servants, but Sue ordered a newcomer who had just married intothe family to prepare lunch.
Rachel dropped her eyes in the face of Sue’s sharp gaze. Even though the woman was making thingsdifficult for her on purpose, she couldn’t fight back for the time being. A woman with neither power norinfluence could never disobey these people, so she could only avoid trouble whenever possible. As such,she merely turned around and went to the kitchen. It’s just a meal, so it’s not a big deal, she thought toherself.
However, her concession didn’t earn her respect. Instead, Sue took it for granted by assuming thatRachel was weak and could be easily bullied. She let out a cold snort and curled her lips before saying,“As expected, you’re simply unpresentable!”
Rachel paused for a moment and then left as if nothing had happened.
Soon after that, Justin returned from his company. As Sue smiled and asked him to have lunch, heturned around and immediately saw Rachel bustling about in the kitchen with an apron on. He knitted hisbrows, but Sue lied with a smile when she noticed this. “She insisted on preparing lunch herself. Perhapsshe wants us to taste her cooking,” she said.
Justin nodded his head without saying anything else.
Rachel had lived with her grandmother since she was a child, so she was pretty good at cooking anddoing household chores. She soon made four dishes and one soup before serving them at the diningtable. The servants saw how virtuous and capable she was, yet they had little respect for this newlymarried wife of the family. In the eyes of the public, only those of the lower classes would serve people;after all, the upper-class people were to be served.
Throughout lunch, every single person including the servants focused their attention on Justin whileignoring Rachel as if she didn’t exist. She felt ill at ease because of this, wanting to get away from suchan atmosphere. Hence, she casually took a few bites, nodded to them, got up, and went upstairs.
After Rachel left, Sue curled her lips and complained, “She’s so rude. Does she think she can look downher nose at everyone because she’s mute?”
Justin picked up his documents right away and began reading them without raising his head.
When she saw that he wasn’t responding to her words, Sue rolled her eyes and continued, “Justin, theHudsons don’t know what is good for them. They have simply insulted us by palming off an inferior and
giving us a mute! How dare they expect you to give financial aid to their family business? I think theymust be dreaming!” Sue was aware of her nephew’s means and wasn’t worried about the Hudson Familytaking advantage of him; she simply couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable at the thought that they hadtaken such an unpresentable mute as a wife, for it would inevitably cause her to be laughed at by thewives of other families when she went out.
However, Justin still gave no response—he didn’t even have an expression on his face.
When she saw that he obviously didn’t want to talk about this subject, Sue said with an ingratiating smile,“Julian is finally coming back after studying medicine in France for so many years. He can’t call a mutean in-law, can he? People will laugh at him if word gets out about this. Just get rid of that mute after awhile. I’ll help you look for someone else to assume the position of Young Madam Hudson, okay?”
At last, Justin gave a response this time. He glanced at her expressionlessly and replied, “I know whatI’m doing regarding this matter, so don’t worry, Aunt Sue.”
Sue’s face froze at the cold and distant tone of his voice. After he left, Mrs. Duncan, one of the servantsat the Burton Residence, came up from behind and comforted Sue in a whisper, “Please don’t think toomuch of it, Madam. Young Master Justin said so because he’s worried that you’ll be overburdened withworries.”
Sue sighed with a worried expression. “How could I not overthink it? Justin’s personality has changed alot ever since he was rescued from the human traffickers. He’s no longer as easily approachable as heused to be when he was a child. Even though I have been living in ease and comfort ever since hebrought me to the Burton Residence, I know that he blames me deep down inside. If it hadn’t been formy carelessness, he wouldn’t have been abducted by the human traffickers and suffered so much.”
Mrs. Duncan’s lips quivered, but she didn’t know what else to say. She thought to herself, Young MasterJustin has been invincible in the commercial world over the past ten years, but he has also become
increasingly unfeeling and indifferent. It’s no wonder the Madam is so worried about him.