The Silent Wife

"I... I'll do it." Mrs. Duncan volunteered herself after Sue pinched her.

"No." Julian was blocking the room, stopping anyone from seeing what was happening inside. He then pointed at a young maid behind Mrs. Duncan. "You. Come with me."

The young mald was surprised, so she looked at Mrs. Duncan to ask her opinion.

"Is something the matter, Master Julian? She's a newbie, so I can,"

"No. I said I want her. Do you understand me?" Julian growled darkly, silencing everyone. After the young maid went into the room, Julian closed the door again, leaving everyone dumbfounded. When they heard the door locking up, Sue knew she couldn't find anything out.

Sue frowned. "What happened inside?"

Mrs. Duncan shook her head. "It's dark. Can't see a thing."

When Sue recalled what happened the night before, her frown deepened further.

At the same time, Julian turned the lights on. When the maid saw the state the bed was in, she paled and gasped. Julian told her, "Take her to the bathroom and bathe her."

"Master Julian, what h-"

"Don't ask. And what happened here stays here, got it?"

The servant nodded hastily.

Steam from the hot water was filling the bathroom up. Rachel was in a bathtub, staring ahead blankly, while the maid silently was wiping her body.

In the meantime, Julian was standing outside, telling the maid to put some salve on Rachel's wound on the lower body. The moment the pain assailed her, Rachel curled up. When she recalled what happened the night before, she started shivering. "Did I hurt you, Madam?"

A drop of tear rolled down Rachel's cheek; that was her answer. The maid stopped asking, but she was more careful with Rachel after that.

Everyone said Madam's lucky she married Master Justin. Said nobody would want a mute like her otherwise. But I haven't even been here for a week, and Master Justin has already raped her. Lucky? If thi: is lucky, hell is heaven.

The rain persisted for a whole day in Riverdale.

When Amber came back home, she noticed her father's white car in the yard. "Oh, Dad's home?"

"Yes, Miss. He came back this morning. Mr. Grant is here too." She looked up, but the study was locked. "Did something happen?"

The servant shook her head. "I don't know, but Master doesn't look happy. He was talking about some project when I brought him tea. Something about Burton Group."Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

Amber's heart sank.

At the same time, it was all doom and gloom in the study. Suddenly, Jefferey pushed all the documents onto the ground. "We were so close to signing the contract! Why'd they change their partner all of a sudden? I thought the bid was public. Everyone saw our ranking!"

Mr. Grant was sweating buckets. "We don't know what happened. They just changed their minds all of

a sudden."

"At least give me a reason."

"I heard President Wyatt met up with Justin this morning."

"Justin Burton?" Jefferey's face fell.

"Mr. Hudson, Burton Group has been attacking us over the last few years, and you expected that to happen this time too. If this keeps up, they'll eventually acquire the company."

"That won't happen." Even though they were going downhill, they were still a big company, so a merger wouldn't happen so easily. Jefferey pushed down on the table, his gaze dark. "I have an ace up my sleeve."

Mr. Grant said nothing.

On the other hand, Julian took a day off to take care of Rachel. He was worried the servants might botch the job, not to mention Sue and Mrs. Duncan might trigger Rachel's trauma. "Here, you should eat something. You haven't had anything for lunch." He helped her sit up. "Take it slow."

Even though she had done nothing but lie on the bed the whole day, Rachel still looked lethargic. You took a day off for me? Sorry for troubling you. She forced a smile. "It's alright. Here, have some soup."

Rachel nodded and took small sips of the soup. k was a sweet soup, but it tasted bitter for her.

When they heard the hum of Justin's car, both of them were shocked, but Julian pretended nothing had happened. "Rest up. Text me if you need anything." Alright.

At the same time, Justin had just come in.

"It's raining heavily. Have you had dinner, Master Justin?"

"Yes," he told Mrs. Duncan curtly and went upstairs, only to see Julian coming out of his bedroom.

After Julian had closed the door, he asked Justin, "Oh, did you just come back?"

"Yes." He looked at the plate Julian was holding. "We have servants here. You don't have to do everything yourself."

The fact that Justin didn't even mention Rachel angered Julian. "Aren't you going to ask me why I'm doing this? She can't even get out of bed. Heck, she can't even move. She..." Julian noticed Mrs. Duncan when he took a glance downstairs, so he held his anger back. "What did you do, Justin?" he growled.

"I don't need your opinion about my marriage," Justin retorted coldly before walking past him and heading toward the study.

Julian asked after him, "Aren't you going to see her?"

Justin didn't even look back. He closed the door, and the sound rattled across the corridor.

As the night went on, Rachel eventually drifted to sleep. Her pain was keeping her awake, but her exhaustion wouldn't let her wake up. In her state of semi-consciousness, she felt someone sitting beside her. Is this a dream? The moonlight shone on the bed, casting a shadow on it.

After she woke up the next morning, Julian came in with breakfast. "Oh, you're awake."

Rachel nodded and pushed herself up. Were you here last night?

"No. Why?" She looked at the glass on the table curiously and shook her head. Nothing. Probably just a dream.

Just when they were chatting, someone opened the door. When she saw who it was, Rachel trembled, toppling her breakfast.

Julian quickly moved the plate away. "Are you alright?"

I'm fine.

Justin's face darkened, but he went into the closet room quietly.

"Are you hurt?"

Even though he had closed the door, Justin could still hear Julian's concerned voice. He was buttoning his sleeve, but he couldn't make it even after a few tries. Frustrated, he took his tie off and tossed it on the sofa.

"I'll take a new one for you." Julian cleaned the place and was about to leave, but Rachel tugged on the hem of his shirt.

She was shaking her head nervously, glancing at the closet room. Julian knew what was happening immediately. She's terrified. What on earth happened that night? What made her so scared of him?

A moment later, the closet room's door was opened, and out came Justin in a new set of clothes. The moment he came out, he saw Rachel tugging on the hem of Julian's shirt. When she saw him, there was a suppressed fear in her eyes, but also disgust.