Chapter 291 The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend
Startled, Gloria froze. Supporting her weight, Rachel turned back to ask Jolly in exasperation, “Can’t you say something good for once in your life?”
“Well, it’s my first time meeting a piano prodigy! I never knew prodigies were like that—so full of emotion that they would weep the moment they met someone.” Obviously irritated, Jolly had her arms crossed and was rolling her eyes at Gloria as she spoke.
Frowning, Gloria asked, “Who are you?” “Jolly Carter, the heir of Carter Enterprise,” Rachel explained. “And Rachel’s best friend!” Jolly immediately added, emphasizing ‘best’ as she stood with hostility behind Rachel.
At that, Gloria’s frown deepened. “Best?”
Jolly took measure of her, and her expression seemed to say, “What? Do you have a problem with that?”
To her surprise, Gloria didn’t reply to her but instead caught hold of Rachel’s arm. “Let’s have dinner in the evening, Miss Rachel. I haven’t had the local cuisine in a while.”
“Local food? I want some as well!” A young voice said behind the trio as Charlotte rushed up to them. “Mommy, Aunt Gloria, I want to go with you!”
Before Jolly could interject, Rachel was already agreeing amiably as she ruffled Charlotte’s hair.
Infuriated, Jolly caught hold of Samuel, whom she saw strolling in. “Samuel and I want to go as well, Chris. He loves the local cuisine.”
Mystified, Samuel said, “Huh? But I want to have pizza today.”
“Are you sure?” Jolly glared at him.
Grimacing, Samuel corrected, “I mean… I want to have dumplings.”
“Let’s go, then,” Justin’s voice echoed over from behind Samuel.
Annoyed to see him, Jolly snapped, “What does it have to do with you? Did we say we were bringing you along?”
“I’m merely welcoming Gloria,” he pointed out self-righteously.
Of course, Jolly was enraged to have everyone gang up on her like that.
Suddenly, Gloria shot Justin a look and spoke mildly. “There’s no need. Miss Rachel can take me out today; the both of us can meet up some other time.”
And just like that, Justin froze, as did Jolly.
What on earth was going on?
“Ria?” Justin asked with a frown.
“Go home, Justin.” Gloria left no room for refusal. “There are only women and children here. Why are you coming along?”
Instantly, Justin was disgraced.
Although Jolly greatly disliked Gloria, she was still entertained and gratified to hear the latter speak like that.
After all, Jolly hadn’t seen anyone close to Justin speak to him like that in all her time back in Riverdale. Clearly, Gloria was another matter.
As if on purpose, Rachel kept silent and after a long stalemate, Justin finally left with a thunderous expression.
Once they had chased him away, they went to the Eastern Eating House.
Before she took the two children to the restroom, Rachel said, “You can start ordering first.”
After a long, awkward silence, Jolly announced haughtily, “Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Jolly Carter. Since none of us like Justin and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, we shall be friends from now on. With this drink as a substitute for alcohol, I offer you a toast.”
However, Gloria simply raised a hand. “Two bottles of beer, waiter.”
Startled, Jolly paused. “I never knew pianists liked to drink.”
Right in front of Jolly, Gloria uncapped the beer bottle using her teeth. “Pianists even drink directly from the bottle when making friends.”
All of a sudden, Jolly was thrilled.
This was fated!
By the time Rachel returned with the children a short while later, the other two women had already finished a round of beer and were the best of friends.
“Goodness, who ordered the beer?” Rachel asked in disbelief. “I was only gone a short while. Have you both been drugged? Why have you drunk so much?”
“There’s no such thing as drinking too much when you’re with a good friend,” Jolly told her.
Nodding in agreement, Gloria agreed, “New acquaintances are no different from old friends.”
And just like that, Rachel was rendered speechless.
How could she have forgotten that Gloria was a madwoman? Who could believe that the elegantly dressed pianist was the same person as the tomboy drinking directly from the bottle?
Meanwhile, with a straw in between his teeth, Samuel exchanged looks with Charlotte. “Are you sure about your reinforcements?”
By now, Gloria was practically sworn sisters with his godmother. How could Gloria possibly help Justin?
Nevertheless, Charlotte nodded surely.
Her Aunt Gloria was always reliable.
“Well, don’t drink so much.” Rachel poured the two adults a glass of fruit juice each. “Don’t go mad. Gloria still has a performance tomorrow.”
Waving a hand, Gloria disagreed, “It’s fine. I rarely get to drink, anyway.”
“I heard Charlotte say you rarely return to Riverdale,” Rachel started.
“That’s right.”
“That’s a good thing. Why would you come back for this scum?” Jolly pouted disdainfully. “You have the right idea on life, girl! I applaud you!”
Exasperatedly, Rachel interjected, “Ignore her. She has a bad alcohol tolerance—it only takes two glasses for her to become like that.”
Gloria chuckled. “She has a good personality.”
Although Gloria’s tolerance was clearly much better than Jolly’s, Rachel felt a sense of unease whenever Gloria spoke calmly. Who knew what she had experienced all these years?
“What happened between you and Justin?” Rachel questioned. “You no longer seem as close as you were before.”
Denying the assumption, Gloria said, “I merely don’t like him making decisions on others’ behalf. After you left five years ago, I argued with him, but that was before his car accident and he’s forgotten all of it now.”
The slap Justin gave Gloria after she sneaked Rachel away all those years ago because she hadn’t wanted to see them torture each other had ruined the mutual affection she held for him.
Even though he later lost his memory due to the car accident, Gloria was no longer willing to bring Rachel up around him and simply left the country to study, only coming back to see Charlotte.
“Why did he argue with you?”
“We didn’t simply argue—he hit me.” Gloria felt her right cheek as if she could still remember the pain at this moment.
Shocked and in disbelief, Rachel stared at her.
If Justin had any soft spot five years ago, it would have been Gloria. After all, he protected Gloria like a little sister or even a daughter.
“Was it because you let me go?”
“That was part of it, yes. The other part was that he was under the impression that I knew where you went and refused to tell him. He was like a hedgehog at the time, hurting whomever he got his hands on. No one could talk him down, and that was how he got into a car accident on the way to the airport.” Resting her alcohol-flushed face against her hand, Gloria recounted the events from all those years ago. “At the time, you had just left, so he went through every single person and matter related to you. I think it was on the third day that he got confirmation you left with Julian, so he drove to the airport alone. After that, he got into the car crash and was in the hospital for more than half a year.”
Rachel’s gaze grew troubled when she heard that.
All she had known was that Justin lost his memory from a car accident five years ago. She never knew what actually happened.
