Chapter 26#

“Mr. Lawyer, aside from the monthly fixed alimony, I want to claim one hundred thousand dollars in emotional damages from Ham Ross.”

“Bella, you’re going too far.”

The lady sitting in front of me, her eyes reddened, said in an accusing tone, her voice filled with anger: “Mr. Ham, I think what I’m doing is perfectly reasonable. You keep telling me every day that my waist is as thick as an oil palm trunk. On top of that, you said my father is a competent farmer, mocking my legs as thick as white radishes, so I don’t dare wear a bikini anymore!”

The lady slammed the table in frustration. “Mr. Lawyer, this has caused me long-term mental distress. Here is a medical certificate from my doctor. I believe I have sufficient grounds to demand compensation for emotional damages.”

I took the medical report, lowered my head, and flipped through it as the conflict in front of me continued to escalate.

“Bella, you’re being completely unreasonable. This was just a joke. You can’t—”

“A joke? Oh, really? Mr. Ham, as you said, I’m a narrow-minded, ugly woman. I can’t simply dismiss the malicious words spewing from your mouth as jokes. Ah, maybe your little kitten, Kebeidi, would accept them, but definitely not me!”

“You—!”

Ms. Bella suddenly grabbed my hand tightly. “Mr. Lawyer, I’ve decided. I also want custody of the two children. Those little angels can’t stay with a demon like him—they’ll be corrupted sooner or later.”

“You’re impossible! Mr. Lawyer, don’t listen to her nonsense. She once publicly insulted me, calling me a pig who only eats and does nothing. I have witnesses—”

Perhaps the summer in America is too hot, making people’s tempers unusually irritable and volatile.

By the time I finally saw off this couple, whose case had suddenly transformed from a civil divorce lawsuit to a criminal case involving domestic verbal abuse and defamation, it was already lunchtime.

I sighed and shook my head, walked to the break room to brew a cup of instant coffee, and returned to my desk just in time to see the woman with the big wavy red hair sitting in my chair, flipping through the documents I had left on the table.

I thought for a moment, looked at the coffee in my hand, and went back to brew another cup.

“Master, please have this.” I handed the coffee to her. She glanced at me in slight surprise, then put the documents back on the table and took the cup with one hand.

“Ren, I’ve told you not to call me master. I think the name Catherine suits me quite well.”

She lowered her eyes to smell the coffee’s aroma, then said, “Your coffee really is the best-brewed.”

“Haha…” I laughed dryly and obediently sat down.

I couldn’t very well tell her this was instant coffee.

After graduating from J University’s law school, I came to intern at this law firm under Catherine’s name through a professor’s recommendation. Nearly a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Catherine is a Chinese-American born and raised in the U.S., surnamed Li, and a well-known iron lady in American legal and political circles. I didn’t realize it when I first arrived, but after the first time I went to court with her—

I suddenly understood.

“So, Mas—”

Her fingers tapped lightly on the desk. I quickly corrected myself and opened the file, “Catherine, this is the divorce lawsuit filed by Ham Ross and Bella Laud…”

She let out a soft laugh and shook her head.

“Dear Ren, it’s lunch break now. Even if you work this hard, I won’t give you overtime pay.”

I felt a bit awkward and let out an embarrassed chuckle. Catherine tossed her beautiful red hair and said softly, “I wonder if I have the honor of having lunch with Mr. Ren?”

There’s no denying that Catherine is a mature and charismatic professional woman.

Her suitors range from the young waiters at the restaurant next to the firm to single congressmen. She receives a certain number of bouquets and love letters every day. The most extravagant instance was a Frenchman who brought two truckloads of red roses for several days in a row, making everyone in the office sick of red roses now.

Thinking about it, my mind suddenly flashed back to two days ago when a tall, burly man jumped in front of me and challenged me to a duel to win Catherine’s heart.

Ah, the weather really is too hot.

“Uh, Mas… Catherine, I’m sorry, but I’ve already—”

“Have an appointment with me.”

Just as she raised an eyebrow, a slightly teasing laugh sounded from behind. Turning around, I saw Bai Junrui, dressed casually, standing by the door, waving at me and Catherine.

“Oh—” Catherine drew out the word meaningfully, her tone unreadable. “So it’s Mr. Bai. With that kind of clout, I suppose there’s nothing I can do.”

I looked at her apologetically. She gave a seemingly indifferent smile and said to me, “Then leave tonight’s dinner time for the lady, alright?”

Bai Junrui had already walked over and put his arm around my shoulder in a somewhat intimate gesture. “Lawyer Li, I’m sorry, but Xiaoqi’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner times today have all been reserved by me. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

“Disappointed, indeed. I recall the Chinese have a saying: ‘There will be time for that later,’ right?” Catherine’s bright smile faltered a little, but she still lifted her chin confidently, smiled at me, and then walked away from the desk.

Bai Junrui smiled as he watched her retreating figure.

As we walked out of the office, Bai Junrui suddenly mused, “Your boss is quite interesting.”

I shook my head wryly and looked ahead.

Catherine was holding a man’s arm, and they were walking together toward a car.

“Don’t get any ideas. She’s not someone to mess with.”

Bai Junrui nodded thoughtfully, then cast a meaningful glance in that direction and let out a light laugh.

His laugh sent a chill down my spine. I pulled him along and said quickly, “Cheng Chen is already here. If we’re any slower, he’ll start complaining again.”

We had agreed to meet at a Chinese restaurant.

From a distance, I saw Cheng Chen waving at us. He still looked restless and impetuous.

“Brother Bai, how long will you be staying in City B this time?” Cheng Chen was on good terms with Bai Junrui; they were close. Bai Junrui, who had just smiled at the slightly blushing waitress while ordering a few dishes, turned back and said, “Not sure yet. I might stay a bit longer this time.”

“For business?”

Bai Junrui hummed in acknowledgment. “Both business and personal.”

Just as we were laughing and chatting, two girls who had been staring at us from the front table suddenly walked over. One of them stopped in front of me with a red face, while the other pushed her forward, whispering something in her ear. The girl standing in front of me smiled sweetly and said, “Sir, could I borrow your phone?”

I paused.

Cheng Chen tossed aside some melon seeds and spoke up first, “Little sister, are you even an adult? If you need to make a call, go use the payphone up front. Big brother here can lend you a phone card.”

The two girls’ faces turned even redder. The bolder one in the back cursed, “Shit!” and pulled the front girl away, running out of the restaurant without looking back.

Cheng Chen clicked his tongue twice. “Young girls these days… This is exactly why there are so many messy cases…” Then he suddenly gave a weird grin toward Bai Junrui sitting across from him and said, “Brother Bai, I blocked that one just in time, didn’t I?”

Bai Junrui nodded as if in approval and picked up a meatball for Cheng Chen. “Keep watching out for him when I’m not around.”

“Of course. Back in college, I fended them off for Fatty so much I almost became public enemy number one.” Cheng Chen hooked my neck with his arm and grinned slyly. “If it weren’t for me, this fat fish would’ve been snapped up long ago.”

“I know you’ve done great deeds. You’ll be heavily rewarded.”

I looked at the two of them, smiled bitterly, and poked at the freshly steamed soup dumplings with my chopsticks.

Cheng Chen took the judicial exam last year and is now a prosecutor. He hasn’t become much more serious, but his mouth has somehow gotten sharper—far beyond my league.

“Brother Bai, you mentioned business and personal matters. I wouldn’t understand your business stuff anyway, so what’s the personal matter?”

Bai Junrui put down his chopsticks and smiled thoughtfully.

“Nothing much. My little sister is getting engaged. As her older brother, I have to help arrange things. This is a big event in life, so it takes some careful planning.”

At this, I couldn’t help but look up.

Uncle Shu’s family was all in City B. Bai Junrui had been sent to the north to manage the branch there. Over the years, his stock had risen considerably, and his position had grown higher. Two years ago, Uncle Shu officially announced that Bai Junrui was his adopted son, basically confirming his status as the heir.

“Xiaoqi, didn’t you know about this? Didn’t the family notify you?”

I gave a dry laugh and shook my head. During college, I spent every summer working part-time. After graduation, I had even less time. It’s been six years since I last went back to Singapore. Besides occasional contact with Old He, I basically have no connection with the Ren family. The last thing I heard was about Old Madam Ren being seriously ill—other than that, I know very little.

“Well, that’s really big news.” Bai Junrui said, as if in a cheerful mood, “Shu Yuan’s fiancé is someone you two should be familiar with. He was our classmate.”

I pursed my lips.

Cheng Chen frowned and asked, “Which classmate?”

Bai Junrui crossed his legs.

“Wang Zheng. The eldest son of the Wang family.”

In the end, during dinner, I was at Cheng Chen’s apartment, accompanied by a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish burger and a large Coke.

Cheng Chen was flipping through documents with a serious expression, while I looked down at the photos he had handed me.

“This time, my assignment is to investigate an organization suspected of engaging in illegal sex trade.” Cheng Chen looked like a thug, but when it came to work, he never slacked off.

“This is the Nightfall Club in District F. Our main target isn’t focused there, but I still feel something’s off.”

I looked at him and asked, “So you’re telling me you want me to look into the club’s related information?”

He nodded, flipped through a small stack of photos, and pointed at one. “That’s the guy. I was tailing him before, but he vanished in a flash at that club.”

“Plus, this club gathers some ‘heavyweights’ every month.”

“How do you know?”

Cheng Chen chuckled. “I’ve been watching them for over a year.”

Cheng Chen never hesitated to discuss these things with me.

I nodded in understanding, bit into my burger, and carefully examined the photos.

Suddenly, my eyes seemed to catch something. I flipped back quickly.

“What did you see that got you so tense? Found something?”

I stared at the blurry photo in front of me. It was dimly lit, showing a middle-aged man with a lecherous face, his arms around several women.

“You’ve seen him?” Cheng Chen sneered. “That weed dealer—the cops have their sights on him. They’ll lock him up for life sooner or later.”

I shook my head.

I wasn’t looking at him.

Both sides of the middle-aged man were filled with heavily made-up women. On the far left was a long-haired woman, only her profile visible.

Although it wasn’t very clear, you could still make out the outline: slightly upturned eyes, a small dimple when she smiled, carrying a charm and allure somewhere between a girl and a woman.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination.

This person… looked a bit like Li Ling.