“We broke up.” Three simple words tumbled out of Jolly’s mouth. Gloria was so shocked that she wasn’t sure if she should bite down on the food she was holding to her mouth..
“Why?” Gloria finally regained her senses after a while. “Didn’t you explain everything?” “It’s exactly because I explained everything that we broke up.” Jolly picked up the glass of beer in front of her. “So this feast is to celebrate me going solo again. Come, cheers.”
Gloria looked around for a bit, then hesitantly raised her glass. Ultimately, she gritted her teeth and went along with Jolly as she downed the whole glass.
On the other hand, Rachel had expected Jolly to get drunk, but Gloria getting drunk was a surprise. Out on the street, Rachel and Victor parted ways, each carrying a drunken woman.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Rachel?”
“I’m fine. It’s not the first time she has gotten drunk. You should go back and take good care of Gloria. She’s been through a lot.”
“Okay.”
“Hurry and get in the car.”
Rachel drove all the way home. The two children in the backseat were reflected in the rearview mirror, sound asleep.
In the passenger seat, Jolly was also completely wasted. It was rare for her to be so quiet as she silently dozed off with her head cocked to a side. The fatigue in her expression was heart-wrenching..
The next morning in the apartment, the children were still sleeping in, but Rachel was preparing breakfast in the kitchen when she heard the news being broadcast on the TV in the living room.
“Here’s some recent news. Through his studio, the famous celebrity Leroy Bennett announces his retirement from the entertainment field, making gigantic waves in the community. Yesterday, a journalist found out that Leroy was headed for Enistan all alone. According to an ex-employee of the studio, Leroy is going to Enistan to prepare for a wedding-”
Halfway through her action of cracking an egg, Rachel trembled. With a crack, the egg fell onto the countertop.
She hastily cleaned it up, but she forgot about breakfast as she swiped to unlock her phone, then looked up news from the day before. Just as expected, ever since last night, news of Leroy retirement and marriage was all over the place.
She took Jolly for drinks last night, and it was quite late by the time they came back, so they didn’t have time to check the news. If she hadn’t heard the news on TV, she might still be clueless even now.
She hadn’t flipped through the news for long when her phone rang to interrupt her actions.
“Hello?”
“Rachel, I saw the news about Leroy. What’s going on?”
It was a call from Victor, and Gloria’s voice could be heard in the background, muffled. “How come he retired just like that? What’s going on between him and Jolly?”
Rachel was still holding her phone when a beep sounded. Another call had interrupted their call. When she saw the incoming call, she said, “I’m not too sure either. I’ll talk to you when I’ve got this sorted out.”
With that, she ended the call with Victor, then answered the other call. “Hello? You saw the news too?”
“Yes,” The man’s familiar voice sounded over the phone. “Are you guys all right?”
“Jolly was wasted last night, so she probably didn’t know of this. Is Leroy really going to get married?”
“I already asked Frankie to investigate this. If nothing crops up, the news must be true. There’s a huge possibility that he returned to Enistan because his father is gravely ill and doesn’t have much time left.” Justin continued, “I just sent you the details.”
Frowning unconsciously, Rachel lowered the heat on the stove and walked into the living room while she was still on the call. Then, she sat on the couch and pulled up the details Justin had sent her.
“This-”
“It’s the current situation of Lush Enterprise. Leroy’s father, Marcus Bennett, was diagnosed – with cancer a few years ago. In recent years, Marcus rarely made an appearance in all business dealings pertaining to Lush Enterprise. Also, in the past six months, he never even appeared in public. According to the current situation, he must be gravely ill, or he wouldn’t have urged Leroy to go home.”
“This woman named Shannon Frazier, is she Marcus’ wife?”
“Yes, she came from a prominent background. Her family owns one of the four largest companies in Enistan, Grandeur Group. She is the youngest daughter, and ever since she married Marcus, she had been helping him with business at Lush Enterprise. She’s a very ambitious woman.”
Rachel suddenly remembered that when Leroy came clean with them, he said that he went back to Enistan for the first time six years ago and was engaged to someone and that someone was a young lady from the Grandeur Group.
Grandeur Group…
Rachel thought for a bit. “She was the one who arranged Leroy’s marriage, wasn’t she?”
“That’s highly possible.”
“It’s more than possible. Since Leroy’s father is terribly ill, he wouldn’t have the energy to even arrange for his own funeral. Only healthy people would consider that much. It was all done for their own benefit.”
Shannon didn’t have a child of her own, so when Marcus passed away, she would only have two choices left.
In the first option, she would have to leave Lush Enterprise and return to Grandeur Group, which her family owned. However, she was only the youngest daughter who was married off early on, so she couldn’t compete against the younger generation even if she went back. The most she could get was to live the rest of her life comfortably.
Her other option was to continue staying in Lush Enterprise. However, Lush Enterprise. would eventually appoint a new leader, and perhaps it would be the faction’s second in command, or another faction would take the position. No matter what, she could only live off of other people, and she could never recover the power and wealth she used to have.
“She wanted to control Lush Enterprise like before, so first, she had to control the person who would take over Lush Enterprise. Leroy was the best choice.” Rachel gripped her phone tightly. “Am I right?”
Justin said, “Correct. So Leroy can never come back.”
Suddenly, Rachel thought of something. “Could it be that his studio’s announcement about his retirement was made against his wishes?”
“That’s very probable.”
“Was he held hostage?”
“It may not be so, but someone most probably got hold of his weakness.”
“Someone got hold of his weakness?” Rachel was deep in thought. As soon as she finished speaking, she was startled by the sound of a door opening. She looked up in surprise.
“Jolly?”
Gripping the door handle, Jolly stood at the entrance to her bedroom, her face pale as she held her phone. “That weakness is me, isn’t it?”
Rachel was stunned, and she didn’t know if she should affirm or deny the notion.
For the entire morning, Jolly was acting out of sorts. She called Leroy’s studio a few times and even tried to contact all the managers and assistants he had worked with, but none of them knew about Leroy’s current situation. No one could contact him either.
“Calm down, Jolly. If Leroy really did go back because of his father’s illness, there would be news of it from Enistan. When that happens, – Leroy’s identity can hardly be concealed.”
“You mean he’ll take over Lush Enterprise?”
“Most probably so. He’ll follow the orders from his family and marry someone from Grandeur Group, then continue operating under Lush Enterprise.”
The look in Jolly’s eyes dimmed. “So this is why he broke up with me, right?” Rachel looked at her. “I did say it’s probable, but accidents happen. For example, someone might object to the marriage at the wedding.”
