Chapter 196

“I don’t have many enemies, and there’s only one person who’s in conflict of interest with me, no?”

Then, it suddenly dawned upon Jolly. “It’s Amber, that b*tch!” Angrily, she burst out, “I’m going to call Mom and Dad right now to help me remove all those nasty news! I’m going to block those articles!”

On the contrary, Rachel was surprisingly calm. “There’s no need for that. Let’s wait.”

Then, she continued, “This issue is currently gaining a lot of attention from the media, so it would only be counterproductive if you asked for Mr. Carter’s help.”

“What should we do, then? How could we just let Justin defame you and use you as a scapegoat so that he could protect the Burtons’ reputation?” Jolly cried.

As Rachel held on to her phone, she reassured Jolly, “I won’t. I will not take the blame for something I didn’t do.”

Five years ago, Rachel had mutism and was unable to speak. As a result, she had been wrongly accused on many occasions, but she could not refute. However, things were different now that she had been given the chance to speak again. She would no longer hold back her anger and stay silent.

As soon as Rachel left, Justin exploded with rage.

Meeting Justin at the wrong time, the head of the finance department was like a sheep in a lion’s den as he was yelled at before coming out of the office. He was so startled that he almost banged his head into the door.

“Woah, slow down, Manager Davidson,” Frankie cautioned as he escorted Asher out.

Wiping off the sweat on his forehead, he asked, “What’s with Mr. Burton today? He rejected the quarterly budget before I even had the chance to speak. What should I do now?”

“It’s not your fault. You just came at the wrong time. I suggest you come back in two days.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t ask. Knowing too much will do you no good.”

After sending Asher away, Frankie stood at the doorway for a moment before making a call.

“Hi, it’s me. How’s it going with the investigation?”

“You need to speed it up because I’ll need the investigation report by nine in the morning tomorrow.

You must verify the time and all its details.”

After putting down the phone, he stared at Justin’s office worriedly.

If Justin had not lost his memories, he definitely would not have said those words to Rachel the other day.

That night, Charlotte threw a huge tantrum when she found out that Rachel had moved back home.

When Justin reached home, a glass cup flew toward his head.

Smash! Fortunately, he dodged it quickly, so the cup hit the wall behind him and shattered into pieces instantaneously.

“Sir, are you alright?” the new nanny exclaimed as her face turned pale in fright.

In response, he only furrowed his brow gently as he was already used to this. Glancing behind the nanny, he asked, “Who made you mad this time?”

In her puff sleeve nightgown, the little girl pointed at his nose and fumed, “You!”

“Me?”

“Were you the one who wouldn’t let Mommy stay with me? Why did Mommy leave?”

“She has something to do these two days.”

At that moment, his face turned dark when he mentioned Rachel.

Though Charlotte was still very young, she was much more sensitive than most children her age. She could see that Justin was trying to brush her off with a glance. “She still needs to eat and sleep even if she has things to do. Call Mommy now. I want her to accompany me.”

With a frown, he told her, “It’s late. You should go to bed now.”

“Daddy, you’re lying! I want Mommy!”

Again, she cried, “I want Mommy!”

“Enough!” This was the first time that he had lost his temper with her. Coldly, he continued, “She won’t be coming today, nor will she be coming in the future. Do you really not remember, or are you pretending not to? She has never been by your side since you were young, so what do you need such a mother for?”

Terrified, she didn’t dare to make a sound. Slowly, her eyes welled up with tears.

Seeing so, Justin regretted being so harsh on her. Just as he reached out to embrace her, she pushed his arms away before turning around and running toward her bedroom.

“Charlotte!” he called her name.

Bang! She slammed the door.

Justin was stunned for a while before getting irritated.

The next day, the Burton Group held a press conference.

All of Belleville’s major media outlets had arrived at the Burton Group’s press conference.

There were only ten minutes left before the commencement of the press conference, yet Rachel still had not arrived.

“I just called her. She’s stuck in traffic.”

Lisa explained in Rachel’s defense, but Justin continued to frown. “Why didn’t she leave earlier when she knew that the press conference was today? She’s obviously doing it on purpose.”

“Sir, she’s not doing it on purpose. She left home very early this morning.”

“Early? It’s already five minutes to nine!”

“She’s running late because she had to make breakfast for Charlotte.”

As soon as he heard this, an expressionless look plastered on his face.

Just then, Rachel arrived. “I’m so sorry for being late!”

As she tried to catch her breath, he could see that her face was flushed from rushing here.

He frowned.

Then, the person in charge of the site shouted, “Mr. Burton, we’re getting ready to start the conference!”

Immediately, Rachel tidied her clothes and tried to slow down her breathing. “Let’s go.”

At the site, camera shutter clicks filled the room as soon as Justin and Rachel made their way in.

“Quiet down. In a while, you can raise questions about the latest news concerning the Burtons.”

Slowly, the shutter clicks died down.

After that, Justin and Rachel sat down.

“Mr. Burton, are the contents of the article online true? Is your ex-wife Miss Hudson, whom Burton Pharmaceuticals just hired?”

“Miss Hudson, did you give birth to the boy in the photo in Montenegro? Who’s the child’s biological father?”

“Did the two of you divorce because of Miss Hudson’s infidelity, or were both of you already on bad terms and the marriage was just a political alliance?”

“Was it true that Miss Hudson was not welcomed by the Burtons when she first married you?”

“Mr. Burton, have you ever confirmed if you and your daughter are related?”

Like bullets, questions came one after another. It was as if the reporters were trying to blow both of them up with questions like gunpowder kegs.

When Justin heard this, his face turned grim.

At the same time, Rachel clenched her fists secretly and dug her nails into her palms.

She thought that she could deal with anything, yet she never thought that the reporters would doubt Charlotte’s parentage. She was afraid that she might make things complicated for the children if she said something wrong.

“Are the children half-siblings? Is the boy in the photo Mrs. Burton’s illegitimate child?”

“Who’s the boy’s biological father?”

At that point, things were going out of control.

As Rachel glanced at Justin, she told him, “I’ll go with whatever you say, but I hope you won’t bring the children into this. They’re innocent.”

“I’ll resign from Burton Group and bear the public criticism alone.”

After all, she was the one who caused such a big mess.

Coldly, he questioned, “Are you sure you’ll be able to bear it?”

The reporters in the audience were still bombarding them with questions while holding on to their cameras impatiently “Mr. Burton, Miss Hudson, please answer our questions.”

With her staring at him anxiously, he stood up. “Everyone must have a lot of questions regarding the article that went viral recently. On behalf of myself and the Burton Group, I would like to announce that…”

Right then, Rachel’s heart stopped.

Then, he paused and glanced at her. “The article was fabricated with blatantly false claims and accusations.”