Chapter 156: Secret Meeting
Vivian Lowell recognized the woman on the screen at a glance.
It was Rachel Faulkner.
Rachel was talking to someone. The person standing opposite her was also wearing a baseball cap. He was a bit taller than Rachel, and judging by his build and clothes, he was probably a man.
Vivian wondered who it was.
She couldn’t quite recognize the man. After thinking carefully, she decided he didn’t look like Mason Grant, nor did he resemble that doctor from Concordia Hospital that Rachel had brought home before.
This was strange.
Rachel had sneaked over to Concordia Hospital to meet this person, yet Vivian didn’t recognize him at all.
Thinking of this, Vivian felt that she had to save this video clip no matter what. It didn’t matter if she didn’t recognize him herself. As long as someone recognized him and she could find this person, that would be enough.
Her intuition told her that there was definitely something suspicious about Rachel meeting this man so secretly!
A few minutes later, after Rachel and the man had walked away, Eleanor Rhodes reappeared on the screen. She asked, "Vivian, did you see that?
"That was Rachel! I came with my mom this morning for her physical exam, and I just happened to see her when I came over to pick up the report.
"She didn’t see me, so I called you right away. It’s so weird. There really is something wrong with Rachel, isn’t there? Who is that man?
"Didn’t you say that you and Julian agreed with Rachel not to let her come to the hospital to see Grandma Faulkner?
"Looking at how sneaky she was being, she probably wasn’t here to see Grandma Faulkner anyway, right?"
Even Eleanor could tell Rachel was acting suspiciously. Vivian nodded and said, "Yeah. Eleanor, your analysis is spot on. I was thinking the same thing.
"Except, I don’t recognize that man either. I just screen-recorded the video, is that okay with you? I plan to give it to Vance Wyatt to investigate."
Eleanor didn’t mind at all and replied, "I just told you all this so you’d be careful. By the way, how is Grandma Faulkner’s health doing?
"She’s okay, right? I’ve been looking on X these past few days, and that woman named Annie has been making a massive fuss online. She’s saying your family are nothing but heartless capitalists.
"She claimed Julian’s father toyed with her feelings in the past, that she had no idea Felix Faulkner was already married at the time, and that she became the other woman completely unknowingly.
"According to her, as soon as she found out, she immediately backed out. But who knew Mrs. Faulkner’s health was so poor that she died shortly after? And Madam Faulkner even pinned the blame for that on her back then.
"She said she didn’t know she was pregnant when she left. Later, doctors diagnosed her with a constitution that made it difficult to conceive, warning her that if she had an abortion, she might never have a child of her own again.
"Left with no choice, she decided to give birth. Unfortunately, the child’s health was poor from the start. He fell ill, the medical bills were astronomical, and despite spending a fortune, she couldn’t cure him.
"In desperation, she approached the Faulkner Family, only for them to refuse to pay a single cent. She argued that they were both Faulkner children, yet Julian grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth.
"But what about her child? He fell ill and couldn’t even afford medical treatment. She finally won the lawsuit and got the medical expenses, but by then, the child had already missed the optimal window for treatment.
"Her child died. Later she got married, her husband died, and she was left with only this posthumous child. She thought about returning to Veridia, only to bump into Grandma Faulkner by pure coincidence. It was a small world for enemies, and she blamed the encounter for the loss of her baby.
"This time, she says she demands an explanation from the Faulkner Family no matter what. She claims she doesn’t want money, but insists that the Faulkners must apologize to her."
Eleanor roughly recounted the lengthy sob story Annie had posted online.
Annie painted herself as incredibly pitiful. After all, she was only a teenager at the time. In the eyes of many people in Veridia, a teenage girl is extremely naive.
Being deceived was a genuine possibility.
The public opinion online had been brewing continuously. However, these events took place decades ago, and Felix Faulkner wasn’t even in the country right now. If one were to truly get to the bottom of these matters, they didn’t have much to do with Julian anyway. He couldn’t be blamed.
As for Grandma Faulkner, she was also a victim. Back then, it was only natural for her to stand by her daughter-in-law and treat Annie coldly—their positions were fundamentally opposed.
Annie was distorting the truth, depicting herself as an innocent, fragile victim, making everyone think that the Faulkner Family owed her.
Vivian let out a helpless sigh and said, "Eleanor, I’m more or less aware of what Annie is doing online. The Faulkner Family is reaching out to contacts abroad. We’ll still be able to clarify exactly what happened with her back then.
"It’s just that her sob story was written with so much ’genuine emotion’ that I’m afraid even if we clarify things later, a small fraction of people will still choose to side with her."
Eleanor remained noncommittal and comforted her, "It’s okay, Vivian. I believe there is still justice in this world, and I also believe...
"People like her won’t have a good ending."
Vivian nodded.
She was just about to speak when, on the video call, Eleanor suddenly seemed to notice something behind Vivian. She quickly beamed and said, "Oh my, a certain someone came upstairs to look for you.
"Vivian, I won’t keep bothering you. It’s getting late. How does that saying go again? Oh, right, ’An hour of a spring night is worth its weight in gold.’ I won’t disturb you anymore!
"Good night, Vivian! Mwah!"
Eleanor made a kissing motion and then hung up the phone.
The words were already on the tip of Vivian’s tongue, but before she could speak, Eleanor had swiftly ended the call. Helpless, she could only turn around.
Sure enough, Julian had arrived.
He was still wearing an apron and had probably just finished cooking. Spotting Vivian as he entered the room, he said, "Dinner is ready. Come down and eat first."
He paused, remembering something, and asked, "Were you just on the phone with Eleanor Rhodes?"
"Yes." Vivian nodded and gave him a brief summary of the call before saying, "This woman, Annie, is certainly not to be underestimated. She doesn’t have any friends or family in the country, but from what I can see, she’s making excellent use of whatever resources she has.
"She must have been in contact with someone else since returning to Veridia, I just don’t know who. Oh, right... Eleanor also told me something else just now.
"She was at Concordia Hospital picking up her mom’s physical exam report, and she saw someone. Julian, I’d better just show you the video directly!"
With that, Vivian opened the video and handed her phone to Julian.
Julian took it. After watching for only a few seconds, his brows furrowed and his voice grew cold. "We’ve seen this man before. Vivian, have you forgotten?"