The Silent Wife

When she searched for the trending entertainment news that day, the first one that showed up was something related to Burton Group. 'Burton Group CEO, Justin Burton appears with Amber Hudson. That was the first headline she saw, and most of the other news were fake, though that didn't stop the writers from publishing them. The article that got the most shares went along the lines of 'Sisters

fighting for the position of CEO wife. At that point, it had more than ten thousand shares.

Rachel paled, losing the courage to keep on scrolling. How should I explain this to Grandma? What if this is the news she saw?

"Don't worry. I'll go with you." Julian reassured her. "It's not too serious yet, and Justin should have sent his men to keep this down by now."

We can't lie anymore.

"You want to tell her the truth?"

That's all I can do now. Rachel stared down at her phone's screen that was dark, her fingers trembling.

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They arrived at Rachel's grandmother's place a short while later, but her grandmother didn't look too

happy

"I'll be off to get something. See you later." Julian excused himself after sending Rachel to her grandmother's place.

After he closed the door, Nancy sat down on the sofa, turned the TV on, and kept changing the channels.

Rachel fidgeted for a moment, but eventually, she sat down beside her and started testing the waters. Are you mad at me, Grandma?

"Why would I? You just forgot to tell me you got married, after all. You just forgot to tell me who you married. Heard he's from some kind of company. Rich man, huh? Can't even find out anything about him." Rachel knew she was in the wrong, so she tried her best to comfort her grandmother. You were undergoing a surgery, so I didn't tell you about the marriage.

"Is that so? So you admit it eh?"

I never wanted to hide it from you. It happened too suddenly, so I didn't know how I should break it.

Nancy looked at her seriously. "Tell me the truth. Did Jefferey force you into this? What kind of man is

Justin Burton? I heard he's an ugly, grumpy man." When Rachel didn't answer the question, Nancy shot up furiously. "I'm going to have to talk to Jefferey. What kind of man would force his daughter into this?" Rachel quickly stopped her. No. He's really nice to me. I was unwilling to marry in the first place, but he isn't as bad as the media makes him out to be.

"If that's true, then why is he seeing Amber then?"

It's a misunderstanding, Grandma. Just some lie a reporter spouted. Don't believe it.

She quickly scrolled through the older news on her phone and showed it to Nancy. See? He saved my life. The picture showed Justin breaking the car's window, and Rachel could be vaguely seen in it. The horrific scene drained the color from Nancy's face. "When did this happen?"

Rachel held Nancy and caressed her back to calm her down. It's in the past now. Don't worry about it.

"Let me have a look. Are you hurt anywhere?"

I'm fine. Really

"I didn't even know this happened. I thought you were working." Nancy shivered just from the thought of it. "Is he really nice to you? That Justin?" she asked.

Yes. Rachel nodded. Worried that Nancy wouldn't believe her, she added something else. He's Julian's cousin. You like Julian, don't you? He's a nice guy, so his cousin's a good guy too.

Nancy only believed her when she told him that Justin was related to Julian. Rachel took that chance to massage her, then Nancy held her hand and looked at her. "Don't lie to me, Rachel. You don't have to stay married if he's abusing you. Divorce isn't a big deal now. Not like how it used to be."

Rachel nodded.

Nancy asked Julian to stay for dinner, and she asked him a lot of questions about Justin. Eventually, the dinner came to an end, and Nancy sent them off. "You should let me meet him if you have the chance. Take him to me."

Rachel agreed vaguely and left in a hurry, saying she had something to settle at home.

"Buckle up."

Thanks for helping me back there.

"No prob." Jullan held the steering wheel. "We're a family now, and Justin isn't as cruel as the media makes him out to be. I was just telling the truth."

Is it true he got into a fight for you when you guys were kids?

"Yep," he answered. That surprised Rachel, since she thought he made that up.

"I was a sickly kid who grew slow, so everyone laughed at me. Called me names." He smiled gently at Rachel. "Bean sprout. That's what they called me. Then when I got into elementary school, Justin was already a sixth-grader. One day, our seniors got in my way after school. Justin came to my defense, and guess what happened?"

Rachel shook her head.

"We were both beaten up, and they took all our money. Justin lost one shoe as well. Our families were shocked when they saw us. Almost called the cops too." Julian laughed as he recalled that day. Rachel couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe a kind, brave boy who protected his younger cousin like that was Justin. But he doesn't seem like he's close to you.

"Because something happened to him. You should have seen the news too. Justin was abducted when he was thirteen, though he was found after a month. But he got a scar on his face, and he started closing himself off."

Now, Rachel could understand why Justin turned out the way he was.

As the night crept on, the lights around and in the villa lit up, showing the way home for the Burtons. Just as he was nearing the gates, Justin saw Rachel getting out of Julian's car from afar. Jullan was chatting with her, and she was smiling at him.

When they heard the hum of his car's engine, they looked back.

"Welcome home, Justin."

Justin looked at them darkly and grunted. He then went into the villa without even looking at Rachel. Rachel froze for a second, and she tried to catch up to him so she could explain herself, but she realized he wasn't looking back, so he couldn't see her.

Justin went to the study after he came home, but then someone knocked on the door. "Come in." A moment later, Rachel came in with the tea set. She poured him a cup of tea and put it on the table. When he realized she wasn't leaving, he looked at her. "Anything else?"Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Grandma called Julian earlier, so he came to pick me up at the library. That's why we came back together.

"And why are you telling me this?"

She pursed her lips. I don't want you to take this the wrong way.

"Take what the wrong way?" He looked at her darkly. "That you might be having an affair with him? Even if he's not my cousin, Julian's still a PhD in medicine and the youngest chief in his hospital. Do you think he'd fall for a mute like you?"

Rachel froze, for the insult hit her like a truck. The shock was enough to cause a ringing in her ears. At the same time, Justin's gaze was like a sharp knife that stabbed through her heart.