Chapter 165
My Mute Bride
âWhat are you doing, Victor?â Gloria caught up to him.
Victor, however, picked up the document on the table. The first thing he saw was the stamp of the most famous media outlet in Riverdale, but what caught his attention was the content. It was shocking to say the least. âBurtonâs the one who killed Hans!â
âImpossible! Youâre lying!â
âSee for yourself.â Victor handed the document to her.
The document detailed an illegal transaction that happened near a hospital. There were even pictures to prove it. The one who was holding the safe box was the same person who pulled Hans into the van -it was none other than one of Justinâs bodyguards.
âWinston?â Gloria asked, recognizing the bodyguard right away.
âHeâs the one who took Hans. What do you have to say for Burton now?â
All the color drained from her face when she heard that. âNo. This is a misunderstanding. Even if Winstonâs behind Hansâ death, that doesnât mean Justin ordered him to kill Hans. No, thereâs no way Justin would do that. He wouldnât!â
âHe wouldnât do it? What a farce.â Victor snereed. âDidnât you hear what his assistant said? They had this for a long time and there is even a video too. If heâs not guilty, why did he spend five million on this?â With that, he took the document and was about to walk out of the room.
âWhere are you going?â
âTo the cops. Iâm reporting this.â Hans was hospitalized because of me. Truth was, Victor had been feeling guilty about it ever since he talked with Rachel. He wanted to apologize but alas, Hans was murdered before he could. Victor knew he could never make it up to Hans anymore, so the only thing he could do was expose the murderer so Hans could rest in peace.
âVictor, are you mad? Hold it right there!â Gloria quickly got in his way. âYou canât report this to the cops.â
âYouâre helping that b*stard?â
âNo. This is for your own good! Do you think you can get Justin arrested just because you have this information? This is just a trouble magnet.â Gloria gritted her teeth. âEven if heâs really the murderer, heâs just going to get alarmed if he finds out about this.â
Upon hearing that, Victor paused.
Since he was starting to calm down, Gloria extended her hand and reassured, âListen to me. Give me that article and pretend you never saw this.â
Victor, however, doubted her. âYouâll look into this?â
âIâve been looking into this for a long time now,â Gloria insisted. âIâve been looking for Rachel for ages.
You can help me out if you want to.â
Meanwhile, Victor was still holding the five-million-dollar article, suspicious about Gloria. âAnd how can I know youâre not trying to get rid of this evidence for Justin? How do I know you wonât kill me just like he killed Hans?â
âGet rid of the evidence? Me?â Gloria glared at him furiously. A short while later, she stomped on Victorâs foot.
âOw!â Victor gasped in pain. âWhat was that for?â
âI wouldnât have taken you with me earlier if I wanted to kill you. Youâd already be dead by now.â
Victor was gasping from the pain, and Gloria took the article from him. âWhat are you doing? Give that back!â
âYouâll really die if I give this back to you.â She glared at him and put it back on the table. âGive me your phone.â
âWhat are you trying to do?â
âJust give it to me.â She whipped out an old phone from Victorâs pocket and snapped some photos of the article, then she tossed the phone back to him. âYou canât take the manuscript, but you can have these photos. Happy?â
Victor was surprised.
Gloria closed the drawers and cabinets before turning around to stare at him. âYouâre ungrateful, you know that?â She then left the company but Victor followed her. âWhy are you following me?â Gloria growled. âIâm a hypocrite, arenât I?â
Victor skidded to a halt and was petrified for a while. âHey! I just want to say that Iâm sorry.â
Gloria finally stopped in her tracks. âThatâs all? Just an apology?â
âWhat do you want then?â
âFood. Iâm starving!â With that, Gloria turned around. She was still looking angry, and her cheeks were puffed.
Victor scratched his head. âSure. My treat.â
The night breeze brushed against Riverdaleâs river. It was early spring, so some people were still wearing winter clothes on the street. Gloria was sitting on a bench, chomping down on her chicken drumstick and hamburger.
Victor then asked, âAre you sure thatâs all you want?â
âWhatâs wrong? I like these.â Gloria raised her chin and muttered, âGive me the Coke.â
Victor gave her the Coke, but since she was holding something in both of her hands, she nudged over to take a big sip. A moment later, she let out a big burp, and an awkward silence fell between them.
Gloria rolled her eyes. âWhat are you looking at? Never seen a hot girl burp?â
Victor looked at her with blatant disgust. âIf you call yourself hot, then thereâd be no uglies in the world.â
âIf Iâm not hot, who is?â
âRachel. Sheâs kind, gentle, knowledgeable, and nice to everyone around her. Iâve never seen anyone as beautiful and kind as she was.â The more Victor talked about Rachel, the sadder he was. âI wonder how sheâs doing.â
Gloria dropped her smile too. âDonât worry. Justinâs not the monster you think he is,â she said. âHe wonât torture her. Janice said that Justin hid Rachel because heâs worried Julian might take her away.â
âHeâs a madman. Locking her up is already a form of torture. Sheâs not a prisoner!â
âCalm down.â Gloria put her food down and wiped her hands off. âLetâs not talk about this. Janice is almost done with the neighborhood, but thereâs still no sign of Rachel. Where could she be?â Itâs been three months. Sheâs gotta be somewhere livable. Gloria then mumbled, âShe must be somewhere in Riverdale. Justin was taken to the hospital right after he was injured. If sheâs somewhere in the rural area, he would have been dead on arrival.â
Victor frowned. âHe was injured? He deserves it. No wonder he was going to see a doctor.â
âA doctor?â Gloria was surprised. âHe wanted to see a doctor?â She didnât hear what Justin and Frankie were talking about in the heat of the moment, since she was trying to keep Victor quiet and praying that Justin didnât notice his drawers were open.
âYeah,â Victor answered. âHis assistant said Dr. McCarty or something is in the car park. Asked Burton when heâd be seeing the doctor.â
Lots of thoughts were racing in Gloriaâs mind. âWhy didnât the doctor go to the office if heâs there for Justin then?â No. He was not there for Justin, which is why he didnât go to the office.