Entangled: Crisscross - Chapter 103

“Mother, why are you blaming Yingying for those malicious articles. You should blame the one who posted it.”

“Hah… so you are thinking that the person behind it was Sera Zhang? Do you have what she was doing these days? Right… you don’t. It was because you keep on following Zhang Ying!”

“Mother…”

“What do you think of Athena?”

“What?”

“I am asking you!” Madam Fu squinted her beautiful phoenix eyes. “What do you think of Athena Hill?” She leaned against her cozy black chair.

“Mother, are you trying to arrange my marriage?”

“It can’t be helped. Zhang Ying is dragging our name. Look… you were photographed with Athy and people immediately assumed that I am trying to set you up. That I am making you leave Zhang Ying because of her family troubles. I am so busy with everything else, we can’t do this all the time, Edward.”

“No. I am not going to marry another person aside from Zhang Ying.”

“You— ”

“Athena is perfect, but she doesn’t like me either. She told me she loves someone else.”

“How could that be? You grew up together. Moreover, love is something that you learn over time. As long as you are compatible, then it should be ….”

Her words were interrupted when Edward suddenly stood from the sofa. “We are not going to talk about this matter anymore. Athena and I… we are not compatible. A marriage between us will never happen.” Finished speaking, he turned his back and left his mother’s office.

“Hah…” Madam Fu snorted. She pushed her chair away from the table and got up. Then she walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window that gave her the view of the sea. “All this is because of a girl.” Madam Fu uttered.

“Madam… what are we going to do? The news about Miss Zhang’s wicked deeds when she was younger is already a hot topic. Even if it’s not true, the curse that was on the articles was already attached to her name. From now on, everything that is going to happen will be blamed on Zhang Ying and her terrible curse. I’m afraid that young master will— ”

“Leave it be.”

“Madam?”

“Since he wanted to run towards that woman, then let us teach him a lesson. Saying no to me… is never going to end well for him.”

“So… are we going to leave Miss Sera alone?”

“Yes. Leave her alone. What can she do to us? Let Zhang Ying handle her. I am done helping Zhang Ying. All she did was bring shame to my son’s name!”

“Understood.”

Meanwhile, Edward was already on his way to see Zhang Ying. He was planning to join the will reading today and show his support to the woman that he loves. After all those new accusations about the gentle and kind Zhang Ying, Edward was certain that his woman was once again crying her hearts out.

He couldn’t make Zhang Ying suffer anymore.

He needed to protect her.

But how?

He already looked into the articles, and they were posted from various sources. He couldn’t simply delete it as it was all over the Internet already. Trying to delete it would only spark a rumor that Zhang Ying is trying to avoid taking responsibility for what she did.

This is bad.

Should he just target Sera, then?

That woman…

That woman had become bolder because of the money that she received. He needed to wake her up from whatever dream she was having.

“Sir, we have arrived.”

“Hmmm.” He nodded at his driver and immediately got out of the car. After fixing his black suit, he started walking towards the enormous door. Just as he was about to open the door, someone opened it from the inside.

It was none other than Zhang Ying.

Just as he expected, Zhang Ying’s eyes were swollen again. She immediately clung to Edward’s arms.

“It’s not true. I don’t have a curse…”

“Yingying… let’s go inside. The will read is about to start.” Since Zhang Ying was still crying, Edward lifted her up and carried her like a princess.

“Ahw… look at them…” Sera said. They just arrived after Edward and they saw everything that happened just now. “Like a fairytale… a princess being carried by the prince. How sweet.”

“That — That is Mr. Fu. Why is he here? He shouldn’t be allowed to attend the reading as he isn’t a Zhang.”

“It’s fine. His presence won’t change anything.” Sera calmly said. “We should also go inside.” Her gaze was rather complicated as she stared at the mansion where she grew up. This… was Nick Zhang’s mansion. This wasn’t as big as the mansion where the old man used to live, but it was really grand as well. If she was right, the mansion had about twenty-seven rooms and three master’s bedroom.

After a few minutes, the two arrived inside Nick’s study, where the reading was supposed to happen.

Nick was already inside the room.

“It would take a few more minutes before our family lawyer will arrive.” Nick calmly said. “Would you like some tea?” He asked while looking at Lawyer Liu.

Seeing the unexpected development, Sera silently sat on one of the single-seat sleek and black chairs that surrounded the oval table inside Nick Zhang’s office. It did not surprise Sera to see that this office had been maintained and updated since she was living here. Nick still liked the modern architecture.

For instance, the table that Nick used for his meeting when he was inside the house was made of glass and other sleek material. An elegant rectangular chandelier that was hanging on top of the table made the atmosphere more modern.

“How about you, Miss Zhang?” Nick’s question brought her out of her stupor.

“Bottled water.”

Nick gave her a tight-lipped smile as he gestured his secretary to get her water from the built-in fridge inside his office. After Sera accepted the water, Edward and Zhang Ying also arrived, followed by the lawyer.

“It seems that everyone is here?” Lawyer Perri is the head of the group of lawyers that the Zhang Family hired to protect the family. He had been working with the Zhang Family for more than ten years now. Or at least that’s what the report that Sera had stated. “Let me start then…” Lawyer Perri didn’t beat around the bush.

The man started by opening a wax-sealed letter. “I have six letters here. One is for Mr. Zhang’s properties, abroad. One is for his properties in Cone Lands. Another one is his properties outside of Cone Lands. The fourth one is of the factories that he owns. The fifth is for the shares of Zhang Corp and the last one is for the shares that he owned on other companies.”

“Mr. Zhang’s wealth has an estimated total of four billion in dollars. Every party will be addressed as such; Mr. Nick Zhang as My Son. Miss Melissa Zhang as My Daughter…”

“Wait…” Nick frowned. “What do you mean, my Melissa Zhang? My sister has been dead for years!”

“Ah… I believe old master never informed you. He still included his only daughter in the will.”

“What does it mean?” Edward asked. “Since Miss Melissa is dead then…”

“Everything will be automatically transferred to Miss Melissa’s daughter, Miss Sera Zhang.” Lawyer Perri smiled. His hawk-like eyes twinkled as he roamed his gaze at the people inside the room. “Shall I continue?”

“Yes, please.” Zhang Ying said.

Since Zhang Ying and Edward were sitting directly across Sera, it was easy for Sera to see that Zhang Ying’s hands were tightly clenched. Her knuckles turned white.

‘Ah, the perks of having a glass table.’ Sera mused.

“Miss Sera Zhang will be known as First granddaughter.”

“Miss Zhang Ying will be known as Second granddaughter.”

“Miss Zhang Xin will be known as First daughter-in-law.”

“Charity Z will be known as My charity.”

Once again, the voice of the lawyer echoed inside the room.

“Now then… Let’s start with the properties of the master in Cone Lands.”

“First… is the house by the beach. It is a two-story beach house with four rooms, a garage, pool, and rooftop. It will be given to my first daughter-in-law. I hope she will enjoy the rest of her life, living peacefully by the beach.”

Hearing that her mother had something in her name, Zhang Ying couldn’t help but wipe a nonexistent tear from her eyes. However, the lawyer was not done.

“Everything inside that house will also be under my first daughter-in-law’s name. The pieces of jewelry and paintings inside the vault will all be under her name. This will serve as compensation and she will only receive this after she divorced my son, Nick Zhang.”

A thick, suffocating silence followed the words of the lawyer.

Even Sera was surprised. A divorce? Did the old man predict that Nick would divorce his wife?

“Aside from this, my first daughter-in-law is no longer allowed to set foot into my other properties and shall remove the Zhang last name. Moreover, she isn’t allowed to use my Zhang Family name in anything, including building connections to the upper echelons of society. Once proven that the conditions given were not met, the property will put under my First granddaughter’s name, instead.”

Sera widened her eyes. That old man… that old man is really cruel! Sera was expecting to become really rich after this but she never expected would be full of dramas too!