The sky had gone completely dark by the time Rachel and Justin managed to get ahold of Jolly. At this time, the other guests who came for the wedding had already left. Victor’s colleagues all resided in Riverdale, so they didn’t have much trouble traveling back and forth. Gloria’s colleagues, on the other hand, were flying back at night, and they had all been sent to the airport.
After Gloria sent her colleagues away, she and Victor rushed back to the summer villa from the airport, and they sensed the tense atmosphere as soon as they came through the door.
Jolly had already made herself comfortable on the couch like nothing had happened to her at this point-that is, if one overlooked her beyond-grim face.
“What happened?” Gloria asked, baffled. “Victor and I found Leroy’s car blocked off at the villa entrance when we came back. The sentry said Justin banned him from coming in. Jolly, you’re the one who gave the order, didn’t you? It’s freezing out there. What’s with all of this?”
“He’s a grown adult capable of looking after himself. There are tons of places he can go to if he doesn’t want to freeze his a*s off. Who does he think he is to come to my friend’s house and play victim?!”
Gobsmacked by Jolly’s heartless words, Gloria exchanged a glance with Victor, who stood next to her.
What in the world is going on?!
Hadn’t Jolly and Leroy been all lovey-dovey and inseparable all this while? How did things flip so suddenly?!
At that, Gloria slumped onto the couch, sitting next to Rachel as she whispered, “Rachel, what happened?”
“It’s a long story.” Rachel’s gaze was filled with mixed emotions. She didn’t know where to begin explaining either.
“I’ll do it.” Justin took over, not wanting Rachel to be in a tough spot. “Jolly was kidnapped by two guys who snuck in here during the wedding ceremony. However, nothing bad really happened since Leroy showed up in time with his men.”
Justin left the wedding dress part out since it was better for fewer people to know about the cruise incident. Jolly was the Carters’ only daughter, so it was within reason for desperate kidnappers to do her harm.
“Well, wasn’t that a situation where the hero saved the damsel in distress?” Gloria was even more baffled. “Isn’t that a scene you’ve been longing for, Jolly?”
“Longing for my a*s! I never thought about. dating someone from the underworld! That guy’s a sham!”
Jolly’s words shook Gloria to the core. “T-The underworld?”
Victor and Hernandez were visibly shocked as well. This is absolutely ridiculous! Rachel’s gaze remained complicated. “It’s a long story as well.”
“You guys long knew about this, but no one thought about bringing it up with me, eh?!” Jolly glared at Rachel. “Why is everyone hiding something so important from me?”
Rachel was at a loss for words. She feared Jolly questioning her the most. She wanted to bring up Leroy’s background the moment she heard it from Justin, but she kept hesitating. Plus, she never found the right time to mention it to Jolly. More than that, she also thought it was best if Leroy told Jolly himself.
“Calm down, Jolly.” Frost laced Justin’s face, having had enough of Jolly’s attitude. “Rachel had your best interests in heart. Your parents know about this as well. They didn’t tell you about it either, did they? How would you have reacted if they told you frankly?”
“I-” Jolly gritted her teeth, and her face turned grimmer. She had been a rebellious one all her life, absolutely unwilling to do anything she was. forced into. The Carters wanted her to break up with Leroy because of his background, and the only reason they didn’t mention it to her was that they assumed Jolly would not give a damn about her boyfriend’s family and background.
Since that was the case, what change would come from Rachel telling her?
“More importantly, he should be the one telling you this since you two are dating,” said Justin matter-of-factly. “We’re considered outsiders. He’s the one who should be frank with you, not us.”
Jolly clenched her fists in response, her brows locked into a deep furrow. It pained Rachel to see her like this, and so she coaxed her like a child. “Perhaps you should hear Leroy out. It’s not like he has done the irredeemable. No one gets to choose the family. they were born into, right?” she said.
After a long while, Jolly finally nodded. ‘I’m going out for a while.”
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief after watching. her head out. “Goodness, Gloria held her chest. ‘I thought she was going to flip. That got my heart beating.”
Hernandez echoed by saying, “If it were in the past, she’d have gone ballistic and insisted on a breakup if she found out her boyfriend hid something from her.”
“What underworld were you guys talking about?” Gloria couldn’t help wanting to satisfy her curiosity. “Isn’t Leroy an A-list celebrity? What does he have to do with the underworld?”
“He’s the young master of Lush.” Justin’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried multitudes. Gobsmacked, Gloria’s eyes widened upon hearing that. “What did you say?!”
As a non-native, Hernandez was naturally clueless. “What’s Lush?””
“They’re a gang based in Enistan,” Rachel explained, “and these organizations are legal there as they are closely knitted to the economic development in the country. Lush has the largest developmental scale, after all.”
In other words, it was an underworld gang.
“Burton Group had a collaboration with Leroy not long after he dove into showbiz, and I learned about his not-so-normal background by chance. As such, I had Frankie do some digging,” Justin added.
Everything had been fine until they started digging and nearly landed themselves in deep sh*t back then..
Leroy had Lush’s power behind his back, but for some reason, he grew up in Riverdale and later entered showbiz. However, judging from his. career development all these years, he didn’t seem to have any ties with Lush.
“Do both of you know about this?” Gloria looked at Rachel and Justin with surprise. ‘Jolly’s parents too?”
Rachel nodded in affirmation. “I learned about it a lot later, just before Springfest. Before that, I couldn’t understand why her parents would oppose their marriage either.”
‘I don’t know much of the details,” Justin commented. “However, the infighting in Enistan’s gangs is pretty severe. Naturally, Lush is no exception. The reason for Leroy to live all his years away from it all surely isn’t simple. Mr. and Mrs. Carter are envisaging Jolly’s safety.”
Jolly was all they had, and this girl grew up pampered. She never had to worry about the necessities in life. Even if she would never marry her whole life, they could continue to support her just fine. Why give her away to a man who couldn’t even be certain of his own safety?
It was only then that Gloria understood the whole thing. At that, she took a gander outside. “But knowing her, I don’t think she’ll see this as a problem.”
“Indeed.” Rachel nodded in affirmation. Despite her worries, she still said, “It’s all down to her now. This isn’t really something we can help her with.”
Just then, a phone rang, and Justin answered the call after checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Alright, I got it. Thanks.”
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
Then, the caller said something that got Justin turning grave. “Do we still have nothing on the two guys?”
While Justin was on the phone, Rachel’s brows locked into a deep furrow, and she clenched her fists tightly after hearing his words.
She knew the call was from Ryan. After learning: of Jolly’s disappearance in the afternoon, Ryan instantly took his men out with him to search for her as well. He was just a step behind Leroy. Now, he was still digging into the situation since the wedding dress was currently in his hands.
She had a feeling that a new storm was brewing.
