Through the glass partition of the ICU, Rachel gazed at the man lying on the sick bed.
He seemed especially unfamiliar with all the tubes sticking out of his body. In Rachel’s memories, Justin had always been tall and strong with little emotion on his face. He seemed to be greatly distanced from people, and others also dared not approach him casually.
No matter what happened, he seemed to solve every problem with ease. Even after leaving Burton Group, as long as he wished to, he could still retrieve everything that belonged to him with ease.
But now, he lay there, so weak that he could only depend on machines for survival.
“Rae.”
A thick, male voice sounded from behind her.
Rachel wiped the corners of her eyes, then turned around to see that it was Lionel. In an instant, she was overwhelmed.
It had been about a week since she regained consciousness, and everyone had come over to visit her. Even Hernandez, who couldn’t come to Riverdale for the time being, gave her a video call and kept reminding her to take care of herself. However, she never once saw Lionel.
Rachel heard from Gloria that she had bumped into Lionel at the hospital, but since there were too many people in the ward, he just stood outside and took a glance before leaving. He never even went in and talked to the rest.
“He will wake up.” Lionel’s voice brought Rachel back to reality. “Don’t get too upset—this is not yet the time for sorrow.”
Rachel returned to her senses. “I know.”
“You just recovered, so take good care of yourself. You don’t want to collapse after he wakes up, after all.”
“Okay. I’ll stick around for a bit before leaving.”
“Good. By the way, Regina got someone to make you some soup. She insisted on delivering this to you. I was worried that she might disturb your rest, so I agreed to deliver this in her stead. I’ll put it in your ward, so remember to have some.”
Seeing Lionel treat her so cautiously, Rachel couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Dad.”
He froze, and it seemed as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“What did you call me?”
“Dad, please take me back to the ward. I’m feeling a little tired.”
Rachel’s expression was gentle, and she was no longer the ferocious person she had been toward him as tears glistened in her eyes.
Lionel finally came to his senses. He was more than fifty years old now, but he could barely control his emotions as he choked on them. “Okay, I’ll take you back to the ward.”
When they returned, Lionel opened the container of soup and fed Rachel in spoonfuls.
“I can do it myself.”
“It’s okay, I’ll do it.”
Lionel’s eyes were red. “Rae, I’m so sorry. You had to experience those sufferings you didn’t deserve because of me.”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Someone wants to hurt us. Even if we survive the fire, they still have other tricks up their sleeves.”
“I’ve already asked someone to investigate this. I want to see which scoundrel actually dared to harm my daughter.”
When he came to the part where he got too worked up, he began to cough.
She immediately straightened up and took the bowl of soup from him, setting it aside. “Dad, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said while coughing.
“You should be resting well.”
“I healed the moment I saw you.”
Lionel smiled and gazed at Rachel. He couldn’t help but reach out and smoothen her hair. “Selena passed away too soon. Do you still remember what your mother looked like?”
“I do.” Rachel nodded. “I look a lot like my mother.”
“Did your grandma tell you that?”
“Yes. I don’t remember much because it happened when I was young, so Grandma showed me some photos. However, I’m not as pretty as my mother.”
“You two are different. Your mother was a lively person, and you’re much calmer than her.”
“What was my mother like? I want to know more about her.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Lionel took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. To him, Selena existed in his memories. He thought that he could no longer talk about her to anyone else, but their daughter was right in front of him.
When Rachel was born, Selena had already taken her away to hide in the mountains. In Rachel’s memories, her mother was gentle, but in Lionel’s memories, it was another story.
“She was different from other girls from a young age. She was naughty, but she could convince people easily. She didn’t mince her words, and people both loved and hated her. She didn’t like studying, but she loved researching pharmacology. She would go to the pharmacy and hang out with the pharmacists.”
He continued, “My mother was still alive then, and when she forced Selena to learn embroidery, Selena reacted like it cost her her life. She was punished for it a few times, then Father pitied her so much that he decided to just stop sending her to embroidery classes altogether.”
At that, Lionel smiled. “My mother was so mad that it gave her headaches, and she wanted to chase Selena out multiple times. She’d be appeased by Selena’s desserts, and the next day, she would be hugging her as always. My mother only scolded her two sons, saying that daughters were much better than sons.”
“Was my mom pampered at home?”
“Very much. We weren’t as convincing as she was, and everyone loved to see her. If not, why did you think your grandma would agree to leave with her?”
Rachel nodded.
It was true. If her mother hadn’t treated everyone around her well enough, she wouldn’t be able to escape when the Hudsons fell to ruin. Other than Nancy, many people must have helped her as well.
“After that, your Uncle Jefferey and I went abroad to study. She could’ve come with us, and we thought she definitely wanted to see the world with a personality like that. Unexpectedly, she didn’t go. Your grandmother just passed away then, and I know she wanted to stay behind to take care of Father.”
At that, Lionel sighed. “She was the adopted daughter of the Hudsons, but she cared about the elderly more than we did. She was the most considerate one out of all of us.”
“Grandma told me that Grandpa loved my mom to bits.”
“Yes, and your mother was truly talented. That was why your grandpa wanted to pass on the special Hudson prescription to her. Back in the day, the prescription was only passed on to males, but I wasn’t interested in medicine, and your Uncle Jefferey wasn’t trustworthy enough. Who knew that something would happen later?”
A large family’s downfall would start from the inside, and Jefferey was an example of that.
No one thought that the usually silent second son of the Hudson Family would get so twisted that he would destroy his own family to satisfy his selfishness and greed. He worked so hard to be acknowledged, but from a young age, he had been overshadowed by Lionel and Selena.
“As for the incidents that followed, I also sent some people to investigate them. When the incidents befell the Hudson Family, I was no longer in Riverdale.”
“Regina told me that Natasha took you to Yatruinia, where you were unconscious for years.”
“Natasha was a good woman. Even though she hid those things from me, I’m still grateful to her for everything she’s done.”
“I know.” Rachel nodded.
Even though she wasn’t generous enough to forgive Natasha in her mother’s stead, she couldn’t blame Natasha either. After all, that woman’s patience and persistence had saved her father’s life.
“Two years ago, Natasha passed away due to cancer. Before she left, she told me that she regretted one thing in her life. She wanted me to find you and make it up to you. According to her, she initially thought that since your Uncle Jefferey took you away, he would treat you well.”
