Chapter 142 - Home

This holiday was great. A lot of things happened, good and bad. But Joreen was grateful to step on land. She was back home.

The crowd around was far more than when they had boarded two weeks ago. The press was there, fans of different public figures on the ship, families etc. When they first sailed, they had done everything in secret. Even the boarders had not been aware of the other boarders until they started to sail. But it was different now because the boarders kept updating their social media so the public knew those who had followed the ship and also knew when they were to return. 

They were all yelling excitedly to get people's attention, even the people they hadn't gone there for. Thankfully, there was a barricade stopping them from moving closer to where they were. 

Joreen heard her fans yell her name while proclaiming their love to her. There were also a few people who recognized Reen since she had quite a number of followers on her social media and sometimes left clips or her dancing or playing basketball. 

Joreen managed to give them a tight smile before she left the area to where the cars were parked. 

"Mr Ping will take you two home. With this crowd here, they could get a whiff of what's happening. We need to do everything carefully and have the police take those girls and Kyle away before anyone suspects." Jaime said to his daughters before nodding at Mr Ping who bowed after Jaime thanked him. 

Joreen turned to look at Hoy's direction. He was already walking away and heading to another corner. 

"Let's go." Reen said to her before opening the back seat. After Joreen got in, she went to the front to sit down beside Mr Ping. 

"Do you girls need anything on the way or you want to stop home directly?" Mr Ping asked. 

"Home please." Reen said immediately. She missed the house and her room. 

Mr Ping nodded and began to drive towards the house. It was already evening in town. 

Mr Ping noticed how Reen kept looking behind at Joreen who had dozed off and assured her, "She is going to be fine." 

Reen sighed softly, "I... know. I just..." 

"It's not your fault. Everything that happened was Kyle's fault and he is going to be punished for it." 

Reen nodded. "Thanks." 

Mr Ping turned to look at her in surprise. "You... just thanked me?" He asked.

"Yea. Why?" Reen looked confused. 

"You are always aggressive to me so it's... surprising." 

"I'm aggressive to everyone." She reminded him. "But you helped us find Jo. So I am willing to overlook the fact that you stole my cake the other day." 

He pursued his lips in embarrassment and decided to just look ahead and drive. 

"Can I ask you a question?" Reen asked after a while. 

"Sure. So far it doesn't have to do with cakes." He muttered making her smirk at him. She looked back to be sure Joreen was still sleeping before she asked. 

"You... are the closest person to uncle Hoy so I believe you should know best. Do... you really believe he likes Joreen... a lot?" 

"Of course!" He answered without hesitation. "I mean... everyone sees that." He pointed out. 

"What if he is just... being nice and reciprocating because he knows Jo likes him?" 

Mr Ping shook his head. "Look, actually, I have known for quite a while that he likes her well... that way. At first I wasn't sure—"

"How long has this been?" She asked curiously. 

"Don't tell anyone I told you this." He stole a glance at the backseat through the rearview mirror. "I think that was two years ago." 

"WHAT? Two.... years?" Reen asked in shock before she remembered to keep her voice down. She looked back again to be sure Joreen was still sleeping and after confirming she was, she looked at Mr Ping again. 

"She... was just 16 then. So..." 

"That's why I wasn't sure at first. I just noticed then that he kept staring unusually longer at her and was more worried about her. I caught him looking at her picture one day on his phone and he quickly turned it off when he noticed my presence." He snickered as he remembered that day. 

"Maybe he didn't even realise it until recently. I confirmed it last year. I mean.... He flew all the way down to where she was shooting a movie, got mad after what Han Yu did, bought her really expensive gifts, and trust me on this, there are already a few policemen waiting there to arrest Wei Chan and Yong. He got mad after Wei Yong tried to covet her and started digging into him." 

"Wow!" Reen exclaimed. 

"I am... speechless." 

"I know." Mr Ping laughed. "I guess he could no longer hold it in. I mean, look at her! She is now an adult and absolutely gorgeous. It would have killed him to see another man try to take her. He can be such a romantic sometimes." Mr. Ping praised his friend. 

"I guess I do no longer have to worry that he might hurt her someday right? Cause I really do not care if he is who he is, I'll hurt him back if he hurts Jo." 

"You should be worried about yourself. I'm sure he'll look for a reason to throw you in prison if your hurt your sister so be careful."

She snorted. "So what about you? Aren't you going to find a girlfriend for yourself? You are 28 aren't you?" 

He grimaced. "Thirty. And that is my private life." She snorted again. "As if anyone would want to date a cake thief." 

"Hey! I didn't steal your cake okay?" He flashed her a angry glare. 

"Yea, yea, I believe you. The cake jumped inside your mouth when you were passing. I TOTALLY BELIEVE IT."

Joreen had to keep herself from laughing. She didn't know what had happened between the two about the cake, but the banter sounded funny.

She hadn't wanted to pretend like she was sleeping since she had only been resting when they started talking about her and she didn't want to open her eyes at that point. Their conversation had gotten her attention and made her feel warm inside. Hoy had really been into her for that long? Suddenly, she was no longer thinking about all that had happened earlier with Kyle. She didn't think about the scandal, neither did she bother herself with Aishu and Xi.

Nothing was as important as this. 

She remained like that, trying to keep herself from smiling until they pulled up in front of their apartment. 

Home Sweet Home.