Journey to Happy Ending

Chapter 1789 No Longer Young (Part One)

"Oh? You mean..." she paused to think. "Is the actress not your girlfriend? Then, is your girlfriend Miss

Chen?" Jasmine probed. She continued guessing and was not about to let Justin off the hook easily.

Before her brother could respond, Leena butted in, "What? Miss Chen? No, no, no! That girl is so rude.

And I don't think she deserves to be with Justin." She might not get along well with Justin, but she felt

she had to jump in and speak on the young man's behalf. She knew this so-called Miss Chen and her

assessment of the girl was that she was ill-bred.

"Are you serious?" Jasmine asked in disbelief. She had seen Miss Chen before and thought she was a

pretty girl. But she had no idea what kind of person she was.

"Well, you'll know if you spend some time with her. I heard she is determined, but has a bad character," This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Leena offered. She quickly shook her head after saying this. She was not fond of gossiping, but several

of her friends had complained to her before that this Miss Chen was very rude.

"Are you here for the food or the gossip?" an impatient Justin asked. He was fed up with all the

gossiping, and he didn't even know who this Miss Chen was, so the guy decided to interrupt the

discussion.

"Of course we're here for food. But what's wrong if I chat with Auntie Leena?" Jasmine fluttered her

innocent doe eyes while looking at her brother. She was perplexed by Justin's behavior. Usually, her

brother was calm and gentle, but Jasmine noticed that whenever Leena was around, he was easily

pissed off.

"Let's leave him out of the conversation," Leena suggested. "I had a manicure yesterday. What do you

think of it?" She held out her hands to show Jasmine her newly-painted nails. There were countless

topics that women could talk about when they hung out together.

Blowing out a breath, Justin didn't know whether to laugh or cry in exasperation. Surrounded by three

women, he was no match for them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to relax. Then he

decided to keep his mouth shut.

Jasmine had planned to hang out with Joyce after lunch, but her grandfather called and asked her to

come home right after. She had no choice but to bid everyone goodbye.

Meanwhile, Leena and Justin still had work that afternoon, so Joyce was left alone. She didn't want to

go back home yet to avoid her mother's nagging. The young lady decided to head straight to CY

Technology instead.

After years of hard work, Rain successfully turned CY Technology into a well-known multinational

corporation, whose worth and prestige was many times more than what it was before. Rain had faced a

lot of challenges in the past few years; he had had to manage the company and deal with the Ke family.

His father, Sanford, had died two years ago, and eventually, the Ke family members stopped their

attempts to harass Rain.

When Joyce arrived at the office of the CEO, it was an empty room that greeted her. She pouted before

throwing herself on the couch.

"Where could Dad be? Is he in a meeting?" Joyce mumbled. "I'll just wait for him here," she said to

herself and settled down. The man she was looking for was chatting with Edward.

"I really envy you," Rain sighed. "You hardly need to work with Justin taking over the company," he

said. Inhaling deeply, Rain wished he had a son like Justin. But by his estimation, he needed to work

for at least several more years. Huey was strong-minded and independent, and no one could make him

change his mind.

"Do you really believe Justin is easy to influence? If I hadn't feigned illness back then, I would probably

still be busy working like you," Edward said with a cunning smile. In the beginning, Justin refused to

take over the company and wanted to travel around the world. Edward had been afraid his traveling

would last for many years, so he had bribed Tom to tell Justin that Edward had developed a serious

disease and needed rest and quiet to recover, leaving Justin with no choice but to take over the

company.

"As far as I know, your son is a clever boy. So I can't figure out why he fell for that ploy so easily," Rain

said to express his doubts. The two men knew Justin was as cunning as his father, Edward. So, it was

quite baffling and strange for Justin to allow himself to fall in that trap.

Rubbing his chin, Edward remarked, "I didn't even think about it until now. I agree that it is strange." It

made him ponder about his son and his life. Now middle-aged, Edward was as handsome and

charming as before. And many women still fell for him.

"Well, stop thinking about it then! Justin is your son, and he will not turn against you, all right?" Rain

advised. He patted Edward's shoulder while he shook his head. He felt his friend was thinking too

much.

"It's hard to say. I feel my son is far more cunning than me now. I even think he's plotting something,"

Edward said worriedly. His gut feeling told him Justin was cooking up a scheme behind his back, but he

had no idea what it was.

Seeing the worried look on Edward's face, Rain opted to tease him, "I feel sorry for you having a hard

time dealing with your son." He hoped his remarks would lighten his friend's mood.

"Come on! Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black? Dealing with your son Huey isn't a walk in the

park either," Edward snapped back. He smirked at the surprised look on Rain's face.

"Okay, okay! You got me," he conceded. "Sometimes, I wonder if Huey is really my son. He's a boy with

a few words. Could he be Luke's son?" Rain enjoyed cracking jokes when he was with Edward. He

himself was a party animal, but Huey was his complete opposite -- cold and reserved.

"Oh, never mind. It's better that we don't discuss our sons. Why don't we go for a drink this evening,"

Edward suggested. Ever since the two men, along with Duke, got married and had children, they

seldom had time to hang out. Edward admitted that he missed the good old days with his buddies.

"Yeah sure, why not? Joyce is back, so all of Annie's attention will be on her. She'll turn a blind eye to

my drinking with you." Rain grinned. Every time his twins, Huey and Joyce, were home, he felt like an

outsider as his wife only cared about their children.

"Is Joyce back? So that means school is over. Oh, I almost forgot it!" Edward slapped his forehead and

thought he must be getting too old to remember these things.

"It's acceptable that you don't remember those stuff because your kids are no longer students," Rain

rationalized. When he spoke about his daughter, Rain couldn't help but flash a broad smile. Joyce used

to be strong-willed as a child, but once she grew up, she transformed into a quiet and elegant lady.

"Does Joyce have a boyfriend? She's pretty and thoughtful, so I have no doubt that many boys will fall

for her," Edward pointed out. Like Rain, he was quite fond of Joyce because he thought the girl's

character was similar to his wife's. Both were aloof.

Joyce's father shrugged. "I don't think so." He wasn't totally sure about his daughter's life either. Joyce

didn't like sharing her thoughts with others, including her family.

"Is that because you and Annie forbid her from dating boys?" Edward said. He stared at Rain, waiting

for a reply. His theory was Rain didn't want his baby girl to have a boyfriend so soon.

Challenging Edward, Rain remarked, "Really? So, you think that protecting her is being unreasonable?"

He thought himself as an open-minded dad. Joyce was in her twenties, and she could have a boyfriend

if she wanted to. Rain didn't think he had to interfere in his daughter's life.

"Well, is it because your daughter is too picky? She does have a mind of her own," Edward remarked

while sipping coffee and staring at Rain. He clasped his hands in front of him before speaking again.

"She resembles me in that aspect. We're both responsible people when in love. Once we give our heart

to someone, we will be the most faithful partner. So, it's not easy for us to fall for a person that easily,"

Rain said. It made him realize that he had to talk with Joyce.

Edward broke into laughter. "Are you kidding me? You were a playboy before you met Annie, okay?" he

said with a scornful glance at Rain. He always thought Rain was shameless for talking about being a

faithful partner.

Rain coughed at his friend's remarks. "Edward, Edward. You and I used to be lady-killers. But now,

we're all focused on our families." He bowed his head momentarily to think. When his son and daughter

were younger, Rain used to worry about their safety. Now that they were grown up, he had something

else to worry about -- their love lives.

Things were different now, but he had to let his children lead the lives they wanted. Edward had a

different outlook. "In my opinion, we should enjoy life here and now. We're no longer young. What if

one day we don't wake up?" He had witnessed the death of many people around him, so he was

somewhat a pessimist when it came to the future.

"What you said makes sense. Our kids have their own lives, and it's better if we don't interfere," Rain

said. Nodding his agreement, Rain thought of how satisfied he was with his life now. He had a beautiful

wife and incredible twins. Before Annie came back into his life, he had originally thought he would be

alone for the rest of his life.