Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Meanwhile, both Mama Mu and the secretary were scolded by Papa Mu when they returned empty-handed. “What good are any of you if you can’t get something simple done?”
Mama Mu suffered in silence, whereas the secretary knew enough to explain and absolve himself.
“Mr. Mu, they were prepared and had numbers on their side.”
“There’s no way I need someone else’s permission to bring my own daughter home!”
That would have been true if it was anyone else, but Papa Mu’s opponent was Sheng Xiao.
As long as he did not want it to happen, there was no way the Mu family would even reach a strand of Mu Qiqi’s hair.
And Papa Mu certainly did not expect that the lawyers Jing Yun sent would contact him voluntarily, with an entire group of them coming to the Mu family’s home.
“Good day, Mr. Mu, Mrs. Mu. We’re here to talk about Miss Mu as per the instructions of our client, Mr. Henri.”
Papa Mu slammed his hand on the table and rose at those words. “I don’t need someone else to raise my daughter!”
“Is that so? Then why is an underage girl like Miss Mu being sold off when we found her?” The leading lawyer retorted. “Are you sure you have been carrying out your responsibilities as guardian? We have made a thorough check regarding Miss Mu’s circumstances—she has been disowned, or do you not remember?”
“So what? I’m disciplining my daughter!”
“Yes, she is your daughter, Mr. Mu. That being said, you have left her without reaching out for three months, which is guilty of abandonment. Secondly, according to Miss Mu’s words, she has been a long-term victim of your cold violence, Mr. Mu. Even if that isn’t within any jurisdiction, who would suffer once word gets out?”
The lawyer’s remarks left Papa Mu speechless.
That was when Mama Mu interrupted. “We didn’t cut all ties. We left her under my sister’s care.”
“My apologies, Mrs. Mu, but I’m afraid we cannot take your words at face value.”
“So, you’re saying that you’re not giving back my daughter?” Papa Mu pressed; his rage unquenched.
“Strictly speaking, your family has abandoned her while our client is simply helping her out of kindness,” the lawyer insisted. “And now that we have explained things clearly, let us proceed to solutions.”
“Firstly, your family can insist on having Miss Mu back, but our client who would not want to see her suffer would definitely refuse. The situation would escalate, and eventually news of the famous chairman of Mu Shi abandoning his daughter would spread. How much the stocks of the Mu family would fall when that happens? Moreover, our client can appeal to the courts for denial of guardianship since abandonment is considered a hostile behavior.”
“If you follow me so far, Mr. Mu, that’s the first suggestion, as for the second… please sign this paper to renounce your guardianship. Our client would become Miss Mu’s new legal guardian and her rights are therefore insured, and we would assure you that this matter would not be made public. However, that also means that you must not demand Miss Mu’s return.”
“My client will hence hold custody over her until she’s eighteen. We would not stop her if she wants to come back to your side after the fact.”
“The truth is that both suggestions reach the same outcome albeit with different circumstances. If your choice is the first, Mr. Mu, our company would certainly not back down from a fight!”
“What do you think?”
To put it simply, Papa Mu was being threatened.
Even before he could retort, his weak point had been used against him, and taking back Mu Qiqi would be no different from giving up his control over Mu Shi—because his brothers were not the type to just sit and watch!
Nonetheless, he would never accept all this without doing anything.
“Your second suggestion sounds acceptable, but I cannot just give up just because your client says so. Shouldn’t I be allowed at least one condition since I did raise Mu Qiqi for seventeen years?” Papa Mu began to negotiate from a businessman’s standpoint.
“And what might be your condition, Mr. Mu?”
“Let my youngest daughter attend Eaton! Isn’t that acceptable? My lawyers won’t take it lying down either?” Papa Mu said, scheming to have Mu Tangxue keep an eye on her twin so that she would not try anything.
However, the lawyer smiled in return. “Mr. Mu, a pair of twins living separately would raise questions. Aren’t you afraid of catching fire?”
“Since you could come up with a transfer of guardianship, certainly such a trifle wouldn’t be a problem?”
“I need my client’s agreement for this.” The lawyer replied. “Allow me to make a call.”
“Please do!” Papa Mu gestured invitingly.
The lawyer relayed Papa Mu’s message to Jing Yun, who quickly contacted Sheng Xiao, who was inside Mu Qiqi’s room at the time.
“Young Master, the Mu family is agreeing to let Miss Mu go, but Mu Tangxue must be allowed to attend Eaton in exchange… or it’s the lawyers.”
Sheng Xiao glanced at Mu Qiqi, who was sprawled over bed, her face pale-white and nothing to talk about. But just as he was about to tell Jing Yun to respond with force, Mu Qiqi suddenly rose.
“I can accept that!” she told him.
Sheng Xiao looked at her amusedly. “Not afraid of getting bullied?”
“As long as I’m not with the Mu family, I’ll never be afraid of Mu Tangxue!”
“Give them the green light.” Sheng Xiao relayed her message to Jing Yun.
Being a demon who bullied others since he was a child, no one understood more than Sheng Xiao that to fully build Mu Qiqi’s confidence, she must turn the tables on her former bullies, trampling them beneath her feet.
That was why Mu Tangxue’s trick did not work with Mu Qiqi. In the end, it was no more than a question in a test!
“That’s what you have decided yourself. I don’t care if you cry to me later!”
Mu Qiqi nodded.
“Eaton is your territory. So, you’ll take her mask off when she arrives, huh?”
Mu Qiqi locked gazes with Sheng Xiao firmly, because she was now no longer someone from the Mu family, and would never suffer cold violence and bullying.
Furthermore, she now had a role model and a powerful reason. She certainly would pull herself together…
Even so, she did not want to lose Sheng Xiao’s protection.
Therefore, she asked hesitantly, “You won’t let me get bullied, right?”
Sheng Xiao gave her a long look but did not answer.
“After your fever breaks, train your body,” he said nastily. “Three km runs every morning, and not one meter short.”
“The Sheng family must be at the top in every way possible!”