The Silent Wife novel (Rachel and Justin)
Chapter 232

"Miss Hudson, are you okay?"

"Have you gone blind, Frankie? Asking her whether she's all right?" Amber was in disbelief. "She flung that lunchbox at me. Didn't you see her do that?"

Frankie walked past Amber, looking as though he hadn't heard the woman. "Don't clean up anymore. You're not hurt, are you? Mr. Burton asked for you to go inside." "It's fine." Rachel's head was lowered. "Since the food's all on the floor now, he can have the hospital's food for lunch instead."

"What is this act, Rachel?!" Amber was on the verge of an aneurysm from her anger. "Get up and explain yourself properly!"

With that, her hand moved toward Rachel. Just as she was about to make contact with her, Rachel gave a shout of surprise and crashed onto the floor, butt-first. "You!" Amber's expression was unbelievably ugly as she stared at her own hand, still held aloft in the air.

She hadn't even touched Rachel.

"Stop right there!" called a cold voice from behind. Justin had appeared behind her at some point and gripped Amber's hand. Meanwhile, his face was stormy. "Justin!" Amber's expression shifted. "It's not what you think it is. I didn't touch her at all, and she fell by herself."

"I saw it all clear as day-you pushed Miss Hudson," Frankie said with certainty as he eyed Amber.

Amber was so furious that she nearly got tongue-tied. "You're spewing nonsense! You're in league with that mute. You came just at the right moment, Justin. You have to fire Frankie today. He can't tell fantasy from reality anymore. Does he not have eyes? He even sided with that woman and framed it on me!"

"Has he framed you? What did Frankie accuse you of?"

By then, Frankie had helped Rachel up. Although Rachel had gotten some of the food on herself, her expression was calm. On the contrary, it made others pity her even more. "Mr. Burton, Frankie didn't do anything wrong here. I really shouldn't have come over every day to waste everyone's time."

"So long as you're self-aware about it!" Amber glared at her balefully. "Don't you know your place? Anyone can see what your motives are for getting close to Justin."

"Enough!" Justin coldly cut Amber off. "You still haven't officially married into the Burton Family. And even if you have, what right do you have to point fingers at my subordinates?"

Amber was taken aback. She had been with Justin for so many years now; although he was civil to her most of the time, he had never been so harsh with his words before. In an instant, she panicked.

"Justin."

Justin coldly dodged Amber's hand. "I don't want to see you for the next few days. Go home. Frankie, escort her." After delivering that frosty reply, Justin then reached out to Rachel and gripped her arm. "Stop cleaning and come with me."

Rachel froze slightly.

An indignant Amber tried to follow them, but Frankie stopped her. "This way please, Miss Amber."

Amber nearly blew her top as she stared at Frankie's frigid expression. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Who do you think you are, speaking up for that mute? You think you'll get a promotion because of that?"

However, Frankie took her jabs in stride. He simply beckoned at her without humoring her with a reply.

For the past few years, he observed all that had happened to Justin as a third party, and he took notice of Amber's actions too. He had promised Arthur that he would stay silent about Justin's amnesia because he knew too much.

He could not leave the Burtons, and he certainly could not leave Justin, for he would be the first person Amber would strike at mercilessly once he left this sanctuary.

Meanwhile, Rachel followed Justin and entered the room.

"Did you scald yourself anywhere? Let me take a look."

"I'm fine." Rachel drew back her hands. The back of her right hand was slightly red from the soup that had splashed on it. However, it was nothing compared to Amber's scathing remarks. She was just going al in with this pretense, for this would just make it seem even more realistic.

Didn't Amber love to play this trick back then?

"What do you mean by that?" Justin had an angry look on his face. Without another word, he pressed the buzzer and called for a nurse to treat Rachel's hand.

"It's nothing serious, and there aren't any blisters either. Since the weather has been rather hot recently, just be careful not to cover your hands," the nurse said after she rubbed some burn cream on Rachel's hand.

"Got it, thank you."

Once the nurse had left, Rachel lifted her head and looked at Justin, who was sitting across from her. "Don't you want to lie on the bed instead?"

His leg was still in its plaster cast as he sat on the couch. With nowhere for him to put his leg up properly, the couch seemed overly cramped. He had sat across Rachel and watched her closely as the nurse treated her burn earlier, which made Rachel feel uncomfortable.

He ignored her question. "You were like this in the past too. Why don't you fight back when people beat you down? Why do you hold everything back?" Justin asked.

Rachel furrowed her brows. "What's the point of that question?"

"Isn't Amber your sister? Why are you scared of her?"

"She's no sister of mine." Rachel's eyes darkened a little. "I'll help you over to the bed."

Justin frowned as he took in Rachel's expression, feeling as though he had said the wrong thing.

It had been a while since Rachel returned to the country, but he hadn't heard of her returning home once. Not only that, he never heard anyone mentioning that Jefferey had another daughter during the whole time he had amnesia.

To her, the Hudsons were probably not her family.

Justin couldn't be bothered to think too much about this for now. He simply arrived at the conclusion that Rachel's hesitance toward the Hudsons was due to Jefferey's favoritism toward his own biological daughter and the unequal treatment that he gave Rachel.

"Slow down." Rachel helped Justin onto the bed with one hand supporting his arm. The two of them were close, and the indelible scent of orchids wafting under his nose once again engraved itself into Justin's mind. All of a sudden, he found himself unable to look away.

Rachel was very pretty. Her features were defined, yet they were also harmonious and balanced, which was a classic beauty indeed. When she smiled, the dimples that formed made her look all the more refreshing. Yet, she rarely did so, and even when she smiled, there was also a veneer of fakeness to it, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Was she like that in the past too?

That question once again flashed across Justin's mind. When he realized what had happened, his heart suddenly thumped rapidly.

Lately, he would unconsciously try and guess how Rachel used to be back then when she was with him.

Was she always so compromising, always swallowing her true feelings?

"Justin." Rachel's voice drifted by, pulling his mind back to reality.

"What?"

"How long are you going to stare at me for?"

When Justin noticed Rachel's quiet, serene gaze, his mind once again descended into franticness.

"Was I even staring?" he immediately denied.

Rachel glanced at him. "Really? Don't you feel tired from standing like that?"

It was only then that Justin realized that he had been standing by the bed all this while without moving a muscle. He promptly sat down, his expression stiff.