Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The ringing of her phone brought Zhuang Nainai back from her thoughts.

  She hurriedly looked at Mother Zhuang and saw her eyelashes trembling, as if she was about to wake up. Zhuang Nainai hastily muted the phone, stood up quietly, and left the bedroom with Lin Xi’er.

  She looked down at the string of numbers on the screen.

  Zhuang Nainai put the phone to her ears and a high-pitched woman’s voice sounded from the line. “Hey! Is your 500 thousand prepared?”


  Zhuang Nainai paused and her expression immediately hardened along with her voice. “Not yet.”


  “Still? Then just you wait for the court summon!”


  “Summon?” Zhuang Nainai gave a cold laugh. “I said give me five days, why the rush just after three?”


  “Why does the number matter, if you can’t get it in three days, how is it that you can in five? Let me tell you, you better give it to me now, or else……”


  “Then go ahead and sue us! My mother has solid mental illness reports, the worst case scenario for her is to be put into a mental illness facility. How much do you think your daughter’s medical bills for a dislocated shoulder will be? Let me tell YOU, not 500 thousands, not even five thousands!”


  “You!”


  “I said five days, I have nothing for you now!”


  The caller snorted and replied, “Fine, I will wait for another two days!”


  The line was cut and Zhuang Nainai let out a sigh.

  That fateful day, when she left with Gu Deshou, her mother went berserk and chased after the car for some distance. She eventually got hold of a little girl on the street and insisted that she was her Nainai. As she used too much force, the girl’s arm was dislocated. Zhuang Nainai did not want to involve the police and the courts and wanted to settle it privately with the parents. They, however, demanded 500 thousand dollars and nothing less.

  Lin Xi’er was enraged. “That’s extortion! They are banking on you not bearing to send auntie to the mental facility.”


  Of course she would not.

  Even though the facility was well-equipped, there was no freedom within its walls. There was a fixed day for visitation for the week. It was no different from a prison.

  Her mother worked tirelessly all her life to provide for her, she could not let her mother suffer in the mental facility.

  Zhuang Nainai re-entered the bedroom, knelt next to her mother, and gave her a hug.

  “Mother, I do not believe that you are a thief who stole children. Even if you were not my biological mother, I’m sure that you had your reasons, am I right? So…… trust me, I will marry Si Zhengting and solve Gu Corporation’s liquidity crisis. That way, Gu Deshou would give me the 500 thousand dollars!”


  The next day, Zhuang Nainai got up at 4 am to prepare a home-cooked meal.

  She busied herself in the kitchen and hummed a tune.

  Si Zhengting would certainly approve of her as a competent wife when he receives the piping hot breakfast early in the morning, wouldn’t he?

  She left for the Imperial Group building at 5 am and reached it by 7 am, on the dot.

  It was still early. The cafe facing the building was not yet open. Zhuang Nainai stood outside and eyed the building entrance like a hawk.

  The sun steadily rose, and at last, she saw Si Zhengting’s fleet of cars approaching.

  A black BMW led the way, with the Maybach cruising in behind like a panther. All the pedestrians stopped to watch the imposing procession.