Chapter 352
My Mute Bride
Chapter 352 It Was Me Who Wronged You First Rachel took a bottle of drinking water from the fridge. From across the breakfast bar in the kitchen, she saw Justin waiting in the living room.
Charlotte seemed unwilling to talk to the man as she played with her Lego pieces on her own. âThis piece is supposed to be here.â
Charlotte knocked Justinâs hand off before it could touch the Lego pieces. âI like to put it here!â She looked high and mighty. âIâll put it wherever I like! What does that have to do with you?â
Rachel immediately came out with the bottle of water. âCharlotte! Youâre not supposed to speak like that!â
âThese are my Lego pieces!â
âThese are the Lego pieces that your dad bought for you.â
Charlotte was instantly stumped by Rachelâs words.
The atmosphere turned awkward all at once. Most of the toys in the apartment had been sent by Justin.
Even though the lawsuit had gotten very ugly, Justin didnât seem to take it to heart, and he had the toys delivered every now and then.
Seeing Rachel knitting her brows as though she was going to give Charlotte a lecture, Justin immediately tried to ease the situation, saying, âItâs alright. Theyâre Charlotteâs.â
Suddenly, Charlotte pushed over the half-finished Lego model with a crash and got up from the carpet.
She said angrily, âIâm giving them back to you! This is my home! Who let you in?â
Justin was stunned.
âCharlotte!â Rachel scowled at once. âWho taught you to speak like that? Apologize to your dad!â
âWhy should I apologize? I didnât do anything wrong!â
âYouâ¦â Rachel was speechless with anger. Thatâs why Iâd say this girl inherited Justinâs temperament.
Sheâs damn stubborn and doesnât easily change her beliefs. To think that she had never mentioned a word about Justin since the lawsuit ended!
Charlotte then slammed her room door shut with a loud bang that shook the entire house.
Samuel was playing games on the couch at first. At this moment, he hurriedly tossed his games console aside and ran over to Charlotteâs room. âDonât worry, Mommy. Iâll go take a look.â
Rachel felt deeply embarrassed as she and Justin were the only ones left in the living room. âSorry.
Charlotteâs been emotionally unstable lately.â
âItâs understandable. I didnât do what I promised her.â Justin took a deep breath before slowly letting it out, looking somewhat dejected as he massaged his temples.
Seeing how dejected the man looked, Rachel felt somewhat uncomfortable all of a sudden. It would be a lie if she said she didnât feel guilty at all about setting him up previously. However, she was bent on getting Charlotteâs custody under the circumstances at the time. âIâll try my best to explain the photos to Charlotte. Iâm sorry about what happened earlier, but I donât regret it.â
Justin replied, âThereâs no need to apologize. If I were you, I wouldâve gone even further.â
âDonât you hate me?â blurted Rachel, only to regret it the instant the question escaped her lips. To ask him something like that makes it sound like I care about what he thinks of me.
As she had expected, Justin seemed dumbfounded by her question. âWhy would I hate you?â
Startled, Rachel was stumped by the manâs words at once.
Justin continued, âIt was me who wronged you first. Youâve never wronged me; you only fought me for Charlotteâs custody out of a motherâs instincts. Even if youâve resorted to some means, itâs just a part of being human. Youâve never done anything wrong.â
Rachelâs feelings became increasingly mixed.
âAnyway, letâs not talk about this. I have something to give you.â Justin took out a document and handed it to Rachel.
âWhat is this?â
âThe list of Burton Pharmaceuticalsâ technical personnel and clients.â
Rachel paused for a moment as she flipped through the document. âWhy are you giving this to me?â
âI know itâs hard for Hudson Pharmaceuticals to start all over again, but I hope that you wonât resort to desperate measures no matter what the difficulty is. Half of the clients here were around while you were still at Burton Pharmaceuticals. As for the technical personnel, you also know a lot of them personally.â
âYou donât have to do this.â Rachel closed the document while pretending to give it back to Justin. He stopped her, though, saying, âI only have a request. Stop dealing with those from the Jockey Club, including my uncle. Itâs only a matter of time before he gets investigated by the Riverdale Investigation Bureau.â
Rachel was stunned. Heâd always thought that I had dealings with Jason and the others for Hudson Pharmaceuticals.
âAlright, Iâve said everything I have to say.â Justin got up from the couch. âIâll get going. I wonât keep you any longer.â
âArenât you gonna say goodbye to Charlotte?â
âNo, Iâll come pick her up in a few days.â Justin threw a glance in the direction of Charlotteâs bedroom.
Despite his reluctance, he left.
Rachel saw the man out of the apartment. As she saw him to the door, she suddenly said, âJustin, since Charlotte has come back to me, just forget whatever happened in the past. Donât dwell too much on it.â
Justin was startled. Just then, the elevator door slowly opened before him.
Rachel reminded him. âThe elevatorâs here.â
When Rachel closed the door and heard her cell phone ringing in the living room, she immediately hurried over and answered the phone. âHello?â
âI just learned a piece of shocking news.â Jollyâs voice sounded through the phone; she sounded so delighted as if she wished she could jump out of the phoneâs screen.
âWhat is it?â
âCheck out the trending topics on the internet right now, and youâll see it.â
âStop keeping me in suspense. Just spill it. I have to cook for the kids after this.â
âAlright, alright.â Jolly was someone who could hardly contain her emotions. She said immediately, âJustinâs been removed from his position as president of the Burton Group.â
Rachelâs eyes widened. âWhat did you say?â
âItâs true. The Burton Group announced that the board of directors had passed a motion to restructure the companyâs shares. At the same time, Justin, the former president of the company, has been removed and replaced by a new president.â
âWhen did it happen?â Rachel asked while opening her laptop to search for information about it. And sure enough, the instant she googled the term âthe Burton Group,â news of Justin being removed as president immediately popped up with all kinds of descriptions.
Jolly replied, âIt was just announced this morning, but their board of directors must have held their meeting and passed the resolution a few days ago. I heard that not only was he removed from his position, but he also had most of his shares diluted, so now he doesnât have much say in the company.
Oh, right, I also heard that heâs now been demoted to vice president and is having a hard time at the company.â
Jolly also said something else, but Rachel was no longer listening to her words.
Compared to what Jolly had said, the comments on the internet were much harsher. Because of the previous scandal, Justinâs reputation suffered a drastic decline. The furor over that matter hadnât died down yet, and now, his removal as the Burton Groupâs president was undoubtedly making a huge splash.
Rachel felt suffocated when she saw the different kinds of vicious remarks about the man on the internet. How did this happen? Isnât Justin Old Mr. Burtonâs favorite grandson? However displeased the board of directors was with him, Old Mr. Burton wouldnât have allowed such a situation to happen. This was far from what she had expected.
âChris?â Jollyâs voice sounded through the phone and snapped Rachel out of her thoughts. âWhy arenât you speaking? Are you dumbstruck or something?â
âWhy was he removed as president? Was it because of the previous public outcry?â
âThat was probably part of it. And besides, what happened to the Northlane development project caused him to lose the board of directorsâ support. But I heard that it was Old Mr. Burton himself who proposed removing Justin.â
Upon hearing that, Rachel was startled.