Female Novel
Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Nancy felt her heart ache as she watched Rachel walking off.
Amber was in her bedroom on a phone call with Tina later that night. “Tina, did you know how angry
Justin was when he saw that mute girl earlier? If Julian hadn’t stepped forward to protect and clarify herside of the story, I’m sure that she would have gotten chased out of the house the very next day,” sheuttered.
“What happened after that?” Tina asked.
“Justin found out that I was the one who was behind all of this in the end. However, he didn’t blame
Tina let out a chuckle on the other end of the line. “I’ll have to congratulate you then. It looks like you’reone step closer to becoming my cousin-in-law.”
“To be honest,” Amber didn’t finish her words as she was shocked by the person who pushed herbedroom door open. “Dad” she muttered before hastily ending the call.
Jefferey was clutching onto the doorknob, and his face appeared rather grim. “What have you beendoing the whole day today?”
Amber’s expression stiffened. “N-Nothing much…”
“I heard everything that you said, and Tomas told me about it as well. That was too bold and risky of amove!” Jefferey cried.
“Dad…” Amber was so shocked that her face turned into the color of paper. “Please listen to me, Dad. Ican explain,”
“You should think twice before doing such a thing in the future,” her father replied.
The fear in Amber’s expression was replaced by a look of confusion after she heard what Jefferey said.“Aren’t you… angry at me?” she asked him. Amber couldn’t believe it at all. She had expected her fatherto give her a huge scolding after finding out about her scheme against Rachel, and Julian’s Involvementin it.
“Rachel’s practically one of those useless moves made in chess,” Jefferey uttered with the same blankexpression on his face.
“What do you mean by that, Dad?” Amber asked.novelbin
“She has the guts to ignore my orders and words now that she’s in the Burton Family. I should havenever allowed her to marry into that family from the very start,” he muttered.
“I told you to watch out for her since a long time ago. She’s a cunning one,” Amber replied.
“Well, that doesn’t mean that you should continue with such reckless plans on your own.” Jefferey shotAmber a glare. “Today’s incident could have taken a turn for the worse if Justin hadn’t decided to be alittle more lenient and generous toward you.”
Amber beamed. Justin does treat me pretty well, Dad. He didn’t blame me after what happened today,and he even bought me dinner after that. This shows that he doesn’t care about Rachel at all. She mayas well be a decorative piece of furniture at home. I told you, Dad. It would have been much better if youhad allowed me to get married into the Burton Family.”
There was a change in Jefferey’s expression as he knitted his brows a little. Hudson Pharmaceuticalshad just undergone a spot check by the drug administration agency, and a good number of theirmedications had been confiscated. Thus, their company had no choice but to delay some of their client’sorders. On top of that, Jefferey had lost so much money after investing in property. With that thought in
his mind, he gently patted the back of Amber’s hand. “I’m not against the idea of you dating Justin, but Iwant you to promise me one thing.”
Amber was delighted. “What is it?”
“I need you to get me some private and confidential files from Justin,” he uttered. Amber was stunned tohear his words.
The next day, Rachel headed out to meet Janice. They had agreed to meet up at their usual spot, andJanice ordered a pot of tea the way she always did.
Where’s Hans? Rachel asked after placing her bag aside.
“He has an important court case today, so I doubt he’ll be able to rush over in time,” Janice answered.Rachel nodded to show that she understood.
“You seemed really anxious to meet up with us. Was there some sort of development in the matter afterwhat happened yesterday?” Janice asked.
Yeah. Although Rachel had fainted after getting hit in the head, she still had a distinct memory of thephoto and name she had seen on the tombstone before passing out. She was surprised when she foundout that the one person the Hudsons never spoke of in the family was related to her mother. After somecontemplation, Rachel finally began to tell Janice about it. You told me that Lionel and Selena’s deathwas related to Jefferey somehow, right? Is that true?
“It is true, but such things are hard to prove since so much time has passed. Lionel died after his car flewoff a cliff, and Selena disappeared in the ocean. Both of these incidents occurred around the sameperiod of time, and there were a few puzzling details about it but no solid evidence. Why? Why are youtalking about them all of a sudden?”
I stalked Jefferey and followed him to the cemetery yesterday.
Janice could tell that something was wrong when she saw how Rachel seemed to hesitate with herwords. “What is it? Was there an issue?”
You said that he would visit my mother’s grave during Ancestor’s Day, but I finally saw the grave that hevisited yesterday.
“Do you know that person that he’s visiting?” Janice asked.
Rachel nodded.
“Well, who is it?” Janice asked again.
A troubled look surfaced in Rachel’s eyes as she carefully drew a few strokes on the table with her finger.Janice froze and stared at the other girl with a look of disbelief. “Are you sure? How could it be
her?”
Rachel gave Janice a firm nod. She had written the word ‘Selena’ on the table, for she was certain thatthe picture on the tombstone was the one that her grandmother had shown her. It was also the same
picture that she had seen in the darkroom-the black and white image of a young girl with a broad grin.
Rachel’s hands were trembling as she held onto her cup of tea. Her thoughts were all over the place. Ithad been so many years, yet she had no idea that her mother was the child that the Hudsons hadadopted all those years ago. Selena was her mother.
“Hold on. Let me make sense of this.” Janice placed her cup on the table. “When looking at Jefferey’s
took Selena in, and Selena and Jefferey gave birth to you? But that doesn’t make sense. Selena’s just anadopted child, so the family would have no reason to disagree if she wished to be with Jefferey. Whywould she have to leave Riverdale?”
“Selena… Jefferey… Lionel…” Janice repeated those three names a few times before she abruptly liftedher head. “That’s not possible. Selena disappeared out in the ocean back then, so… Rachel, could yourmother possibly have been pressured by someone else in the past?”
Rachel’s expression stiffened. What do you mean by that?
“Based on what I know, Selena used to be one of the highest achievers in pharmacology. There wereonly a few women who even had the opportunity to study overseas at that point, so Old Mr. Hudson wasvery fond of her. She was in charge of half of the Hudsons’ pharmaceutical business back then.”
Was my mother the person who was managing the business?
“Yeah. We’ve investigated this for a long while, but we still don’t know why the Hudsons chased Selenaout. If we look at the timing, this happened when she got pregnant with you.”
That doesn’t make sense. If she were coerced to leave, the Hudsons would have no reason to chase mymother out after she was pregnant.
Janice knitted her brows. “It’s a shame that most of the people from back then are gone. Furthermore,you don’t remember much of your childhood. This is a tough case.”
Rachel thought of something then. I think there might be someone who can give us answers.