Chapter 618 Why Are You Here

Ronald's words stirred all sorts of feelings in Jean.

'Am I supposed to be happy by what he just said? What did he really mean when he said that?

Is it a good thing to not have your appearance changed even a wee bit in the last fifteen years?' wondered Jean. Probing her feelings to understand whether she felt pleased or bittersweet at Ronald's supposed flattery, Jean soon forgot that Ronald was still standing in front of her.

"I'm telling the truth..." uttered Ronald hastily as he saw Jean's lips curl into a wry smile. From what he had known about her since their childhood, he knew that her half-smile was never about happiness. This made Ronald afraid that he might have said something wrong, which might have led to a misunderstanding. Anxiously, he felt the urge to explain that he meant to praise her beauty and innocence. But, the cat had got his tongue. Red in the face, a nervous Ronald was sweating profusely.

"I know," replied Jean reading the anxiety clearly written on Ronald's face. In her bid to console him, she even uttered, "I believe you."

'I believe you, ' repeated Ronald in his mind again.

After these simple words from Jean, his face suddenly lit up with a childlike smile. He was still shy and did not know what to say next. Eyes fixed on her, he scratched his head to dissolve the tension between them.

Jean's mind was rather clouded by the memories of her childhood.

The image of a chubby Ronald came in front of her eyes. His features seemed so crowded on his face and his body was as plump as a traditional Chinese rice-pudding. He always moved slow when compared to others kids.

At that time, children often teased and bullied him because of this.

What was worse, he was also isolated by most. On such ocassions, Jean had found him hiding in a corner crying.

Anyhow, Jean wasn't much better off than Ronald.

Her mother had died when Jean was still too young, which left her unexposed to Joy and Shirley's bullying. Overcome by grief and loneliness, Jean soon withdrew into herself.

Feeling no love at 'home', she got what Ronald was putting up with.

With no friends and no desire to play or socialise, Jean didn't talk too much and mostly stayed at the back, out of everyobody's sight.

One of the worst times she saw Ronald facing was when he got beaten by several even-aged children. Seeing him lying there on the ground, surrounded by a group of bullies, Shirley and Winner's beating her up came to her mind. Anger rose inside her against the group kicking Ronald, for she felt as if she was the one getting beaten by them.

The young Jean decided that she would report these playground bullies to her teacher. So, she walked up to them and warned them in clear, stern words. The group of little bullies ran in fear of the teacher's punishment, leaving a bruised Ronald. Beaming with courage, she gave her hand to Ronald to stand up and never felt that horrible fear again.

Ronald was clearly thankful

“Who does she think she is? I won’t marry her even if she is the last woman on earth,” said Hiram Rong.

“Marry into a family with tens of billions of assets? How lucky I am! I won’t be so foolish as to break off the engagement. At worst, I can receive money as part of the divorce settlement,” said Rachel Ruan.

Their great-grandfathers made a pact about their engagement a hundred years ago...

ave Zed as my husband.

Of course, my friendship with Ronald is treasure-worthy too, ' thought Jean.

"Thanks for caring for me, Ronald," replied Jean with a smile on her face. She added, "Many things have happened to the Wen family in the past six months. Winner died, and Shirley has been suspected of murder. And she will be locked up in prison for the rest of her life. And Henry has suffered a stroke and is now in hospital. As for Joy, after what she had gone through, which is too much for her, she fell ill…"

said Jean. She kept Joy's real illness a secret because she could not find the right way to describe the Wen family.

Although the information of Joy's illness would soon be announced to the public, still, Jean did not want to say anything right now. She did not want others to know this from her, not even Ronald.

After all, the Wen family had been through too many ups and downs. It was karma. But she just did not feel right to say this herself.

And she could not bear to tell others about Joy's tragic situation at this moment.

Meanwhile, Ronald was looking at Jean in silence.

"You must have been through a lot. Perhaps you would not have suffered so much if I had come back earlier," said Ronald in a sorry tone, with regret written all over his face.

"It's all right. I'm all right now," uttered Jean amazed. She was surprised at his words and added, "I've got someone here to protect me, so I'm fine."

"What? Did you mean that you have a boyfriend now?"

asked Ronald surprisedly. His eyes were eagerly watching her, waiting for an answer.

Noticing Ronald's surprised look, Jean could not help but be amused as she wanted to share the news of her happy marriage. She laughed and replied, "Well, actually, I'm already…"

"Jean…" someone else's surprised voice interrupted her mid-sentence.

She could only pause and looked at where this voice came from. With an amazed look on her face, she asked, "Maranda, why are you here?"