Chapter 233 There’s No Making up for the Past
Rachel poured him a glass of water and placed it next to his bed. Then, with well-practiced movements, she took out some papers from the cabinet and set them aside. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving then. Frankie will be here later with some new food for you.”
“Why are you in such a rush? Have you been busy at work recently?” “Yes, it’s been very busy. I’ve been keeping tabs on this one project.”
“In that case, leave it to others.” Justin’s tone brooked no argument. “You only have one task, and that is to take care of me.”
“I won’t be coming from tomorrow onward.”
Justin promptly stood up right after that. “What did you say?”
“I hurt my hand, so I can’t cook.”
“That’s it?” Justin stared at her. “I can still eat hospital food if you can’t cook, but you must come every day to take care of me. I ended up hurt because I saved Samuel, so you have to take responsibility for this.”
“I think that Amber was right; I should indeed know when to pull myself back. I shouldn’t have gotten so close to you. Coming to the hospital every day with food for you will make people’s tongues wag. You have a fiancee, so leave this to her in the future,” Rachel said with a straight face.
“Are you angry with me right now?”
“No, I’m simply laying it to you straight, Mr. Burton. I think you should clarify what our relationship is. I am your ex-wife, and the only person connecting us is Charlotte.”
Justin looked at the woman before him. All of a sudden, he felt a kind of disappointment that he couldn’t describe. She clearly was the one who started it all, but now, he actually couldn’t quite leave everything behind.
“I’ll be taking my leave then,” Rachel said when she saw how Justin remained silent.
“Stop,” Justin called after her. “Even if Charlotte is the only reason we have common ground, I am still your superior. I am now commanding you as your superior to stay behind and take care of me.”
“The Burton Group has no such rule.”
“I make the rules.” Justin’s expression darkened. “Unless you want to stop working at the Burton Group, you’ll have to follow my orders.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
Justin didn’t seem to have heard her. “Go down to the cafeteria now and get me some food. Also, I want pork rib soup for dinner.”
Rachel’s forehead was screwed up in a tight frown. After standing there for a while, she finally made her way over to the hospital’s cafeteria.
The uncomfortable expression on her face vanished without a trace the moment she left Justin’s ward. In the meantime, coldness bubbled up in those quiet eyes of hers.
For the next week after that, Rachel spent the rest of her time outside of working hours caring for Justin.
“Frankie, is President Burton the same person we remember?” The secretary promptly stopped Frankie right after dropping off some papers for Justin. “He just smiled when I asked him to sign those papers.”
Frankie’s expression was composed as usual. “When finance made a mistake in their data, Mr. Enfield personally came over, expecting to be scolded. Guess what Mr. Burton said to him?”
“Of course President Burton chewed him out. There’s a chance he might’ve even fired Mr. Enfield on the spot.”
“No, President Burton said to be more careful next time.”
The secretary’s eyes widened. “For real?”
“Why would I lie to you about this?”
“Did he get a personality swap? Has the hospital been spiking his food or something?”
“What’s with that nonsense?” Frankie tapped the secretary’s head, but then he thought about it. “Still, you’re right. There’s a particular medicine that’s being used to treat his condition.”
As he spoke, he saw Rachel walk down the corridor while chatting with Julian.
“Miss Hudson, Dr. Peters.”
Rachel greeted Frankie back.
“I’ll continue working then. Let’s leave together once I’m done with work. Wait for me.”
“Sure.”
With that, Rachel stepped inside Justin’s room. The moment she did so, she saw Justin sitting on the couch.
“Why are you up? Did you feel uncomfortable lying down?” Rachel asked casually while she placed the lunchbox on the table. “The pork ribs down in the hospital cafeteria aren’t half-bad. I got you some, so give it a try.”
“You didn’t cook again today?” Justin questioned her.
“I had no time for that. The contract signing for the project is today, so I had to sign it. I asked Julian beforehand to go to the cafeteria and set the food aside.”
Justin’s expression instantly darkened at the mention of Julian’s name.
“Have a taste.”
“I won’t eat it!” As he spoke, Justin flung his arms out. He had moved them a little too far out, for he ended up knocking over the cutlery that Rachel held in her hands. They clattered to the floor with a loud sound.
The atmosphere instantly tensed up.
After a few moments of standing there stiffly, Rachel crouched down to pick up the cutlery.
Upon seeing her crouch down before him, Justin suddenly felt regretful. “You don’t have to pick it up.”
Rachel seemingly didn’t hear him.
Justin then bent down, intending to pull her up. However, Rachel suddenly darted back like it was part of her instincts. When she looked up, an obvious look of fear crossed her eyes. Although it was just a brief moment, Justin clearly saw her fear.
It wasn’t the first time, though—moments like this cropped up frequently. Sometimes, inadvertently, or when she wasn’t paying attention, she would often look like she was scared when he tried to touch her. It seemed like muscle memory to her.
“I’ll get you a new set.” Rachel’s expression had already returned to normal.
All of a sudden, he asked, “Was I awful to you in the past?”
Rachel’s hands tensed up slightly, cutlery safely in her grip. “Why the sudden question?”
“Sometimes, I feel like you’re afraid of me.”
“You’re overthinking it. Why would I be scared of you?” Rachel pretended to shrug casually. “Do you think it’s because you raised your hand against me or something?”
“Have I ever been violent toward you?”
He was direct, and Rachel was actually at a loss for words.
Indeed, he had been.
There were several instances where he nearly strangled her to death. In fact, that suffocating sensation would still occasionally show up in her dreams. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t get to the surface, making it seem as though she was drowning.
Needless to say, her silence explained everything.
Justin’s temples twitched. He couldn’t imagine how he could have been violent toward this frail and skinny woman before him. Just how terrible had he been in the past?
“Is it because you’ve been cooped up too long in the hospital?” Rachel’s voice pulled his mind back. “Don’t think about it anymore. I’ll just get you some new cutlery.”
Rachel hadn’t even moved when Justin suddenly grabbed her arm.
“I’m sorry.”
She turned her head back in shock, and her eyes met Justin’s. “Regardless of how I treated you before, it’s all in the past now. Since you’re back, I’ll do all I can to make up for my past mistakes.”
Justin’s sincere gaze did not mesh with his cold, handsome face. It was like a 17-year-old soul was living inside his body instead, thinking that he could start afresh by acknowledging his mistakes and atoning.
However, not everything in the world could be resolved with just a simple ‘sorry’. People should apologize when they should, but the recipient of the apology also had the choice not to forgive them.
