Chapter 362 How Bad Could Her Intentions Be
When Leroy said that, Rachel just got back. She halted in her footsteps upon hearing the word ‘fiancée.’
At the same time, Justin returned. Noticing Rachel was stunned and standing at the door, he stopped the secretary, who was sending some light refreshments, saying, “Leave it with me.”
Nodding, the secretary passed the tray to Justin.
When Rachel returned to her senses, she turned around to look at Justin, asking, “Did you hear that too?”
Justin nodded in response.
Rachel inquired after some hesitation, “Do you think it’s feasible?”
“Do you mean the approach Leroy just suggested?”
“Yeah.”
“If the person involved isn’t against the idea, I actually think it’s a feasible plan. At least, it’s beneficial to Jolly.”
There was a reason why Justin intentionally emphasized that the plan was beneficial to Jolly.
Since fame meant everything in this era, Leroy, being an idol, was sure to experience a loss of fans and suffer irreparable damage once he announced his relationship.
At noon the next day, Leroy’s agency held a press conference.
The press conference was held in the conference room of a hotel under Hudson Pharmaceuticals.
The moment Leroy announced that he and Jolly were in a relationship, the topic immediately trended on several online platforms. Since the press conference was done on a Saturday, the response was even more overwhelming due to netizens having more free time, so it quickly gained interest over the internet.
In the comments, there were quite a number of people who started criticizing Jolly, but most of them were discussions on whether to leave the fandom, nothing too serious. The matter regarding the “casting couch deal” was then being brushed off just like that.
In the evening.
“Where are you going? It’s the weekend! Don’t you wanna stay at home with me?”
Jolly was lying on the sofa lazily in the house as she asked Rachel.
Rachel got up early in the morning to tidy the house and was now ready to leave.
“You want me to stay at home with you? But you already have a fiancé, though!” teased Rachel.
“Can we not talk about this? It gives me a headache.”
While they were talking, Jolly’s phone rang again.
After the press conference that Leroy’s agency held in the morning, news of their relationship spread like wildfire on the internet. That was the reason why Jolly had been receiving phone calls nonstop ever since then.
Adding to the fact that she had many indecent friends in Riverdale, plus Leroy was also a popular artist, anyone would be curious as to whether they were really dating, and how they started dating.
“Damn it!”
After spitting a curse word, Jolly shut off her phone. “Ugh. This is so annoying.”
Seeing Jolly in that state, Rachel poured a glass of water and handed it to her. “Here, calm yourself down. By the way, didn’t Leroy give you a call?”
“He’s having it worse. Way worse than me.”
“What about… Ryan?”
Furrowing her brows, Jolly retorted, “What does this have to do with him? Why are you even mentioning him? What a buzz kill.”
Alright, then. Ryan didn’t deserve to be mentioned anymore.
Turning around to take a look at the bedroom, Rachel lowered her voice, saying, “Jolly, I have to remind you. You should be mentally prepared for what’s going to happen to Samuel.”
“Why?”
“If Estelle could use Leroy to slander you, I’m afraid she has more plans up her sleeves.”
There were people who were aware of Samuel’s background. Even if Jolly didn’t admit it, Samuel looked exactly like Ryan. It might not seem so if they weren’t put side by side, but if they did stand beside each other, the resemblance would be uncanny.
“If she dares to try anything on Samuel, I’m never going to let her go.”
“That’s enough tough talk. You should control your emotions a little. Now, I’m going to quote your words. In life, we will always have to move on.”
Watching Rachel, Jolly could feel her furrowed brows loosen a little. With a serious expression, she nodded. “Okay.”
“Enough of this topic. Look, it’s dark outside already. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to bring Charlotte out for dinner to meet Justin.”
Jolly scanned her before questioning, “Are you two…”
Rachel immediately shook her head, defending herself, “You’re overthinking it. I’m just going to send Charlotte over since I have something to settle in the office. I’ll fetch her home after they’re done with dinner.”
Though Rachel managed to obtain her daughter’s custody, Justin still had the right to meet Charlotte.
Hearing that, Jolly raised her eyebrow and tsk-tsked.
“Stop being weird. I’m leaving.” After saying that, Rachel went to the bedroom to look for Charlotte and Samuel.
As Jolly watched Rachel’s back, she shook her head meaningfully. It’s not me who’s overthinking it. It’s you who don’t think about things in detail. Then again, what indecent thoughts can come from an artless lady like her?
Initially, they thought that the custody lawsuit would be the final step to cutting all ties with Justin. However, it seemed that Rachel and Justin had been contacting each other even more often after that.
On the other hand, Rachel drove the two children out.
Once they arrived at the restaurant’s parking lot, Rachel tidied Charlotte’s shirt before uttering, “Charlotte, I’ll send you to the restaurant later. Have a nice meal with Daddy and I’ll come with Samuel to pick you up after that.”
Upon hearing that, Charlotte was taken aback. “Mommy, aren’t you and Samuel coming with me?”
“You haven’t been spending time with Daddy lately, and he misses you. I’ll come back later to fetch you.”
“No!”
Suddenly, Charlotte started throwing tantrums. Turning around, she crawled into the car. “Mommy, I don’t want to go anymore. Let’s go home.”
“Why are you like this, Charlotte? Didn’t you promise me?”
Charlotte’s face was cold now, and she fell silent.
Just as Rachel tried to persuade her, her phone rang.
“Hello? Are you here?”
Justin’s voice sounded over the other end.
Furrowing her brows, Rachel replied, “I’m at the parking lot. Give us some time. We’re coming.”
“What happened?” From Rachel’s tone of voice, Justin could immediately tell that there was something off.
“Nothing.”
“Is Charlotte throwing a tantrum again?”
“It’s not that. Just give me a while.”
Justin was not in his best condition recently, so Rachel didn’t want to increase his burden.
After hanging up the phone, Rachel persuaded Charlotte once again. “Daddy loves you very much, and didn’t I already explain the matter of the photos to you before? It’s all a misunderstanding. Daddy doesn’t even know who that woman is. You shouldn’t hurt Daddy like this.”
“But Daddy hurt you.”
Rachel was taken aback by her statement.
Pulling Rachel’s arms, Charlotte begged, “Mommy, I don’t want to eat with Daddy alone. Can you and Samuel come with me?”
Charlotte’s pretty eyes were tainted with the color of red now, and she looked so pitiful.
The look on her face instantly made Rachel give in.
“Okay. I’ll come with you.”
“Can you carry me?” Charlotte spread her arms wide as she asked.
Five minutes later, Rachel carried Charlotte in her arms while Samuel walked beside her. The trio arrived together at the restaurant.
On the other hand, Justin was already seated at the table beside the window, clearly having been waiting for a long time.
“Did you wait for long? Sorry, we were caught up in a traffic jam on the road.”
“It’s okay. I’m not that busy.”
Rachel felt uncomfortable hearing him mention that he wasn’t busy.
Not wanting to venture into that topic since it hurt, Rachel put Charlotte down and said, “Go and sit beside Daddy.”
After glancing at her sideways, Charlotte climbed onto the seat opposite Justin and sat beside Samuel.
Seeing that, Rachel couldn’t help but frown. “What did you promise me, Charlotte?”
Only then did Charlotte mutter reluctantly, “Hi, Daddy.”
