Chapter 20: I Have Faith In You

"Who would take such a tone with you?" The old man's voice was slight, like a peaceful lake.

"Leo." Joseph placed the teacup down, leaning on the backrest of the sofa, closing his eyes, and lifting his hands to rub the center of his eyebrow, "His father has a serious disease, sooner or later, he will come back to take charge of the Asian Area."

"Upon coming back, he made a big deal of establishing the Lily, a jewelry club."

Joseph kept silent, his eyes were dark, deep like a black hole. He spoke after a while, "So his aim is to never run the Runestone Group, only me."

"The reason why the Runestone can achieve long-term development is the combination of the stocks of our families. You are the symbol of Runestone. If he dares overstep his bounds, I'll be the first to fight against him."

The old man, Henry Lake, was the chairman of the Runestone Group, which has been in the family for generations. Dover's family earned money by supplying diamonds, and the Lake's were the retailers. Therefore a deep friendship had formed through the cooperation between the two families. But a previous financial crisis swept the two companies, and Joseph's father was too anxious and suffered seriously. He made the decision to merge the assets of the two before his death. His mother was so inconsolable that she followed in death with him. At that time, Joseph was in school and had a younger brother. Without Henry's help, he couldn't have made it this far.

The Runestone Group was the fruit of the two families' painstaking efforts, but it was hard to decide if it belonged more to the Lake or Dover family. After Joseph came to work there, he decided to change the name of the group to Runestone. Joseph worked from the ground up and had been developing the mine for years. He was down to earth because of this. That's why Henry appreciated him, so he promoted Joseph, who now dealt with all the matters of the company, and Henry was left with the leisurely position of chairman.

"I'm getting familiar with Leo, so please take it easy." Joseph only said a few words, but they were powerful. He got up to pour water for Henry, slow and calm.

"I have faith in you." Henry took a sip of his drink, "But Leo intended to go without us to the mine in South Africa. You must have known he would do that. Joseph, I'm old now and no longer able to handle this kind of stress."

With a faint smile, Joseph said, "Civilized people look to the law, but brutal people use violence. The fittest survives." He reached his hand out, his long and slender fingers playing with the rim of the teacup. "If necessary, we will use the latter. It's normal to see a bit of blood." His last sentence was an understatement but was terribly fierce.

"All right. The world belongs to the young, I get it. But Ruby is timid, and you can't scare her. I trust you." Joseph's finger stopped for a moment, but he quickly returned to his calm demeanor and nodded without words.

****

Flecks of light from the floor lamp looked like diamonds scattered on the floor, and the Lake villa was extremely luxurious. Upon entering the underground parking area, a car stopped at the stall slowly. Before the driver got out and opened the car's door, Ruby pushed the car door away and staggered to get out with a drunk, red face. Seeing Joseph not far from her, she walked toward him hurriedly.

Joseph raised his eyebrows slightly. She pounced before he could move, clinging to his neck, and smiled sweetly at him. The driver was shocked and hastened carefully," Mr. Dover, I'm so sorry..."

"Why is she so drunk?" The woman in his arms reeked of alcohol and hung off him with almost every part of her body. He had to hold her up as he asked the driver this in a strict way.

Cold sweat dripped down the driver's forehead. Before he could answer, Ruby Lake, opened her mouth. Her voice was soft and tender, like a kitten, "Joseph, I went to his wedding. He's married..." As she said this, tears fell from her face.

Joseph kept calm and said helplessly after a while, "You are a woman of high status, don't be so let down."

"I'm not. He's married, and I will be too. I went to his wedding because I wanted to tell him with great confidence that I'm married, and I'm married to you, a famous diamond tycoon." Ruby smiled with tears still on her cheek. She lifted her eyes and looked at Joseph as she touched his cheek. She was so beautiful under the spell of intoxication. "A lot of women desire you. Joseph, I find that each time I see you, I love you more."

"Jason, come here and send her upstairs." Joseph was indifferent to her sweet words.

But Ruby clung to him more closely. She lifted her head as more tears fell, "Why didn't I meet you first? If I had, I would have loved you and wouldn't have had to suffer all those years..."

"Ruby, your heart is not in the right place, you should go back to your room and have a long rest," Joseph said patiently.

"Why don't you have a rest with me? Joseph, please don't go tonight." Ruby cuddled him closely. Her face was wet with tears.

But his face turned serious, and he pulled her arms down with a low voice, "Be a good girl. We've already reached an agreement about this."

"Joseph..."

"Jason," Joseph shouted with a low voice.

The driver hurried to take her away.

"Don't disturb Henry, and tell Brenda to make a hangover tea." After ordering simply, he walked toward his car, leaving without turning around.

"Joseph!" Ruby called out, teetering.

"Madame, you need to go upstairs and take a rest, otherwise, Mr. Dover will be unhappy with you." Jason hesitated to hold her but instead persuaded her in a low voice.