Chapitre 8: A daughter to him

'BABY JO'

Joreen frowned when her eyes caught sight of the placard amongst the group of people waiting to pick up their family, friends or employers from the airport.

Her older sister, Luo Reen, held the placard and continued to look around for Joreen amongst the other passengers who were coming out.

Since they had boarded the first class, they were ushered out through a VIP passage. So they didn't have to join the line of people coming out.

Beside Reen was Joreen's stepfather, Luo Jaime. He also seemed to be looking around for her. Joreen looked beside them for her mother but there was no sight of Wang Cixi which wasn't unusual.

"Aren't you going to wave at them?" Li Hoy asked Joreen who was simply looking at them with a happy smile. She missed her family even though she was mad about the 'Baby Jo' on the placard.

It was what Reen usually called her at home and whenever they came to pick her up from the airport like this, she always wrote that name on the placard. Well, they couldn't use 'Luo Joreen' since others would take note of it and Joreen wasn't a big fan of being surrounded by fans. It was another reason she was hiding her face with a hat and facemask.

Li Hoy wasn't much of a media person so people barely recognized him. It made things easy for him because he didn't need to try to disguise.

Joreen finally waved at them. At the same time, Li Hoy received a call on his phone and stepped to the side.

When Reen took note of the girl waving at her, she handed the placard to her father and raced to where her younger sister was to grab her in a big hug, lifting her from the ground and spinning around with her.

"Hey! You are suffocating me." Joreen said with a short laugh before her sister put her down.

"You look so thin. What have they been feeding you?" She fawned over her as she cupped her face to take off the facemask to look at her properly. "Why's there a rash on your face? You haven't been treating your skin properly right?" Reen frowned.

"You are embarrassing me!" Joreen whispered to her sister before her eyes darted to the side.

Reen finally took note of Li Hoy, "Oh! Hello!" She bowed and greeted Li Hoy with a smile.

"Hello, good to see you." He responded with a small smile as he disconnected the call and kept his phone back inside his pocket.

Joreen snorted. He always smiled to everyone else but not her.

"I don't see your mother." Hoy pointed out.

"Yes. She stayed back to make all of Jo's favourite dishes." Reen turned to look at Joreen, "She asked me to hug you for the both of us."

"Typical of her— Dad!" Joreen called excitedly when Jaime finally caught up with them and jumped on him, making him stumble backwards a little.

"Wow! You've gained a lot of weight." Jaime said with a laugh as he gently put her down. "Someone might recognize you." He reminded her.

"What weight? She's thin!" Reen pointed out.

Hoy bowed respectfully to Jaime who returned his bow. "Thank you for bringing her with you and for looking after her."

"Stop saying that." Joreen said through gritted teeth and tugged the sleeve of Jaime's coat to stop him from talking. What did he mean by 'Thanks for bringing her with you and for looking after her'?

"It's nothing." Hoy replied, looking at Jaime before his eyes went down to the smaller girl beside him, "Jo is... like a daughter... to me." He said with amusement dancing in his eyes while the corner of his lips twitched.

"W—hat? Do I look like your daughter?" Joreen snapped angrily and scoffed loudly. What he just said rang in her head again and the absurdity of it made her scoff a second time.

"You are just 30. How can you say I'm like a daughter to you?"

"Jo, easy." Jaime held her shoulders from behind and tried to keep her calm while Reen kept trying so much not to laugh.

"I'll be on my way now. Have a great day." Hoy said, bowing once more to Jaime before looking at Joreen, "Be good." He touched the top of her head where the hat was covering, "Do not get into trouble." He said before walking ahead to meet his secretary who was already waiting for him.

"I will get into trouble! Just watch me!!!" Joreen called after him loudly.

"Hey, easy! People may recognize you." Reen warned before adjusting her hat and handing her back her facemask.

"He is so annoying."

"You always complain whenever he doesn't call you yet whenever you meet, you are always quarreling." Jaime pointed out before asking, "Where are your bags?"

Although still mad, she answered as she followed them towards the exit, "They'll deliver it to the house."

"Come on, don't look so angry." Reen said and draped her hand over Joreen's shoulder.

"Go away. You all are pissing me off." Joreen said with a frown and tried to shrug her hand off her shoulder but she didn't push Reen away.

******

"What are you smiling at?" Hoy asked as he approached his Secretary, Ping Quincheng who had been waiting for him in a corner patiently. Just like Hoy, he was also dressed in corporate clothes and looked younger than his 30 years of age.

"Miss Luo looks prettier everytime I see her. I almost didn't recognize her until I saw her flare up angrily." He said with a grin.

"She's been feeding well." Hoy said indifferently as they both walked out of the airport.

"Of course, she has! You monitor everything about her like a hawk, including what she eats. I'm surprised you were able to live for many months without seeing her and quarreling with her as usual." Mr Ping opened the backseat of the Maserati for his boss to get in.

Hoy stopped to look at him and forced out a smile. "You must be tired of your job to be spilling nonsense to your boss."

"Sorry sir!" Mr Ping said immediately but without sincerity. He knew Hoy was only bluffing. They've were quite close before he began to work for him as his secretary 10 years ago. Sometimes, he forgot Hoy was his boss because of how their relationship was like.

"Just drive!" Hoy said and got on the backseat.

Mr Ping closed the door and hurried to the driver's seat.

"How did it go?" He asked when Mr Ping began to drive.

"Very well. I reviewed Mr Han's contract and also sent a copy to Mr Lin. The contract can be terminated immediately and Mr Han would have to pay for breaching the contract. Also, I've let his manager know they are both expected to meet you at the office immediately they arrive."

Hoy nodded. "Good." He said and placed his head on the headrest before closing his eyes. He was exhausted.

"But... will it be okay when Miss Luo finds out?"

"She'll get mad and throw a tantrum for sure." Hoy answered with an indifferent tone.

There was no way he was simply going to let Han Yu get away with it. He hadn't only molested Joreen who was an underage, he had also breached one of the terms of their contract. The only reason he wasn't filing a lawsuit was because Joreen had pleaded on his behalf. And that was the highest he could do for her in this situation.