“Don’t rush to a decision just yet. We should talk to Leroy about this first.” Rachel held Jolly’s hand. “Also, don’t let your imaginations run wild. At the very least, you have to know what’s up with his family and who was behind that call. We can’t let others threaten us for nothing, don’t you think so?”
Jolly nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
“Let’s not wait here for your parents anymore. They’ll surely be worried about you and assume something is up if they see you here in the middle of the night.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go home, then. I’ll contact Leroy.”
“Sure.” After much persuasion, Rachel finally successfully calmed Jolly down and took her away from the airport.
Later on, Richard and Marilyn arrived at Riverdale in the middle of the night. As soon as they got home, they texted Jolly and Rachel and even sent them a picture of the souvenirs they got, telling them to come and collect it themselves.
“There you go. There’s no need to worry anymore,” said Rachel while comforting Jolly. “Get some sleep. Leroy will come to the company tomorrow. We’ll sit down and talk then.”
Jolly took a deep breath. “Chris, can I sleep with you tonight?”
“Of course.”
Rachel hugged her at that. In the years before returning to Riverdale, she and Jolly would often fumble and hug while sobbing from a meltdown after taking care of Samuel. At that time, it really felt like they only had each other.
Early the next morning at Hudson Pharmaceuticals, Xander left and closed the door behind him after bringing some refreshments into Rachel’s office, giving the three some personal space. Meanwhile, Leroy sat across from Rachel and Jolly, looking like a legit interrogation.
“I’ve already gotten someone to dig into it, but nothing has come up just yet.” Leroy took pains to speak up. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think Mr. and Mrs. Carter would be dragged into this.”
Knowing it was tough for Jolly to put her thoughts to words, Rachel spoke on her behalf. “Now that things have come to this, we’ll be able to get ourselves ready sooner the more we know. Regardless of whether you still want to be with Jolly, you should be a little more open about this now, don’t you think so?”
Leroy’s gaze was enveloped in a mix of emotions. He was a bright and warm guy, but even his brows were locked into a deep furrow at this time; it seemed like a frosty fog had enveloped the warm, spring sun.
On the other hand, Jolly hit the roof. “My parents nearly lost their lives, and you’re still keeping things to yourself? Just what sort of dark secret does your family have that you can’t speak of?!”
“That’s not what I mean. I know I should’ve told you long ago.”
“Say it, then. We’re all ears.”
Richard and Marilyn’s near-death incident gave Jolly such a massive blow that she couldn’t talk about this calmly.
“I’m sure you guys know what Lush Enterprise does, so I won’t go into that,” said Leroy. “Strictly speaking, I don’t have anything to do with Lush Enterprise in the first place. I’ve lived with my mom in Riverdale my whole life. I had no idea who my birth father was until I was twenty. After my mother’s passing, someone from Lush found me and called me their young master.”
The guy had come to persuade Leroy to return to Enistan, and this only happened a few years ago.
At that time, he had only begun modeling, working part-time while doing his bachelor’s degree to pay for his tuition. One day, the counselor sent him to the dean’s office, where a man in a suit greeted him deferentially, calling him his young master. He even asked Leroy to return to Enistan with him and inherit the family business.
“I didn’t know anything about Lush back then. I thought it was just some simple company where the boss had no direct descendants, so they remembered my existence. However, my mom had suffered so much through the years. If he had appeared sooner, she might not have died…”
At that, grief laced Leroy’s eyes. Rachel thought from the bottom of her heart that this man was truly gentle. Even when he was talking about his mother’s death and his resentment toward his father, he was still gentle. His sadness outweighed his resentment.
“Did you go back?”
“Once. I went back with that guy. I wanted to know what kind of guy my birth father was.” Leroy followed that assistant to Enistan. That was his first time eating in a palatial residence and the first time he met his birth father. But very quickly, he found out his father was suffering from cancer and wouldn’t live for long.
“He wanted me to stay, as well as that woman.”
“That woman?” Rachel was puzzled. “His wife. The guy who came looking for me in Riverdale was actually her subordinate.”
The old man succeeded Lush’s tradition in keeping his head in work, having not much interest in women. All these years, his missus was the only woman he had around, but they had no children.
“They probably didn’t have any kids, so they brought me back and even arranged a marriage for me. If I stayed, everything would go according to their plan.”
Rachel wasn’t sure how to feel after hearing Leroy’s words. She thought it was a sentimental father-son meeting, but who’d have thought it was just an exchange of interest?
Anyone could tell the old man and the woman’s wish for Leroy to go back to them wasn’t out of the so-called kinship, but because the old man was on his last legs. A gang that stressed bloodline inheritance like Lush would need someone to take over after the old man passed, even if that person would inevitably become a puppet.
If Leroy had agreed to stay, a marriage would inevitably be bestowed upon him, but who would eventually rule Lush? Perhaps it would be the underboss or even that woman, but anyhow, it would never be Leroy, the illegitimate son.
“I came back to Riverdale after that visit and never went back again.”
Leroy had explicitly turned down the old man and the woman’s generous invitation, for he would rather be an average Joe and live his life earning every penny honestly. Despite them saying that they wouldn’t force Leroy, but in reality, they never gave up.
Six years ago, Leroy’s career in showbiz suddenly rose by leaps and bounds. Countless resources were thrown in his way; any script he was given would be a big production directed by a big shot, and his concerts would sell out in a snap…
Jolly frowned in response and couldn’t help asking, “Are you trying to say that your birth father sees an importance in you?”
Leroy shook his head. “Do you guys understand what ‘kill by flattery’ means?”
It was to send someone up into the heavens, only to have him plunge into hell when he least expected it-that was what the woman was doing.
“Starting from two years ago, that woman had her men engage with me frequently in all sorts of situations. She has invaded every single corner of my life.”
A life like that was horrifying. One wouldn’t know when their manager or assistant would suddenly become someone else’s spy, reporting their every move…
At that point, Rachel and Jolly had gotten a good picture of things. “The one who threatened Jolly was one of her men, wasn’t it?” Rachel asked. Jolly bore into Leroy as she waited for his answer.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled with his head hung low, looking as though a massive boulder was weighing on his shoulders, making him unable to look straight into the eyes of the people in front of him. “Probably.”
Apart from that woman, he couldn’t think of anyone else who would do something like this. “Why couldn’t you have told me any of this sooner?” Jolly continued to bore into him. “If you had told me sooner, I might have been able to warm my parents. We might have been able to figure something out. Why would you choose to hide this from me? Do you think I’m not worthy of knowing any of this?”
‘Jolly, let’s break up.”
