Contractual Cohabitation GL - Chapter 33

The next morning.

Yao Shushu only came downstairs and returned to her room very late last night, lying beside her insomniac husband, and it took her a long time to fall asleep. At this moment, she was lying quietly on the bed, her face relaxed in deep sleep.

The door to the master bedroom upstairs had not been opened since Yao Shushu left, and it was unknown whether the person inside was asleep or awake, or what they were doing.

Meanwhile, the Jing father and daughter, who lived under the eaves of the Jing residence, had already washed up, returned from their morning exercise wearing matching sports attire, showered, and were now sitting face-to-face on the living room sofa for a heart-to-heart talk.

Jing Xiaonan poured cups of Tieguanyin tea for her father and herself; this was the pair’s habit during talks for over a decade. Jing Bokun sipped the tea, secretly praising his daughter’s improved tea-making skills. After some thought, he decided to first put aside Jing Xiaonan’s emotional issues and start with other matters.

“Nannan, how much do you know about the lawsuit that led to your father’s withdrawal from the legal profession a few years ago?”

That was about eight years ago, the year Jing Xiaonan was taking her college entrance exams.

At that time, the case caused a sensation in the legal community, not only because the lawsuit involved a hugely important figure in the business world, but also because after the case concluded, Jing Bokun, who was then a famous top lawyer in the legal community, was announced to have his license revoked, making it impossible for him to ever again engage in the judicial profession. As a popular lawyer, Jing Bokun naturally attracted media attention. However, because the case’s details were blocked by a powerful, manipulative organization operating behind the scenes, no matter how the news was reported, they could only speculate on possibilities, mostly guessing that Jing Bokun was involved in bribery and perverted the law. After the blow of losing his job, Jing Bokun’s lifelong reputation was further destroyed by this negative news.

Jing Xiaonan, as the daughter of the person involved, was filled with grief and indignation upon hearing the news. She knew her father—a man of integrity with clean hands—and such rumors were simply preposterous and outrageous! Because the media’s focus was on her own father, she faced various pressures and bullying both at school and in society during the peak of the storm. If she, as a family member, endured such hardship, what humiliation did her father experience?

Unfortunately, she was only sixteen at the time, and because her parents wanted her to concentrate on her college entrance exams, she couldn’t devote too much energy to this matter.

Six months later, her exam results were released. Society’s attention to her family was also diverted to other scandals involving famous families or political figures, and the storm gradually subsided. However, Jing Xiaonan did not forget this past. With a top ten score in all of Australia, she abandoned the medical school she had always dreamed of and resolutely filled out “Finance and Law Double Degree” on her application.

Her father’s dream of being a lawyer was shattered, so she would continue it for him without asking for the reasons!

Jing Xiaonan lived a purgatorial life during her four years of university. While her classmates frolicked in bars, she memorized historical case studies at home. While young people her age wasted time, she networked with outstanding people from all walks of life across the country at social events. If there was any highlight in those four years, it was meeting Gao Jiong, Qin Yan, and the girl named Yin Xueyan.

Eight years have passed since the incident, and her parents had never voluntarily told her what exactly happened back then. Jing Xiaonan respected her family’s privacy. Although she gradually gained more resources and power, she never secretly investigated the matter. She didn’t expect her father to bring it up today.

“Actually, I don’t know much. I only heard that you, Dad, were the defense lawyer for the defendant back then, and this defendant was a director of a multinational company. His company’s products were accused by hundreds of victims and their families. It was said that the product seemed effective, but actually had extremely harmful long-term side effects, and even killed four of the victims.”

Jing Bokun nodded. As the matter was brought up again, everything from back then was vivid in his memory. However, he had grown to see things more lightly over the years, and much of the pain from back then had been let go.

“Then Nannan, do you still remember the outcome of the lawsuit?”

“The defendant you defended, Dad, lost. The evidence and witnesses were all dug up by the plaintiff’s lawyer. The company completely went bankrupt, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the compensation fine exceeded hundreds of millions. And soon after, you, Dad, were accused of knowingly violating the law, obstructing judicial fairness, and your lawyer’s license was revoked.”

Jing Bokun smiled elegantly and asked again: “Then do you know how the plaintiff’s lawyer managed to uncover that evidence and those witnesses?”

Jing Xiaonan shook her head; she truly did not know.

“Actually, I secretly sent all that evidence to him.”

“……..” This fact was too shocking. Jing Xiaonan’s thin lips were slightly parted, and she couldn’t utter a single word for a long time.

Jing Bokun smiled and ruffled his daughter’s short hair: “The company that hired me was truly inhumane. They knew the extent of the product’s harm but did such a despicable thing for their own benefit. But at the same time, the power and influence behind them were too immense. I didn’t know this when I took the case, as only by getting close to their core situation was it possible to obtain the evidence. At that time, I was already the defendant’s defense lawyer. If I continued to work for him, I would be aiding and abetting an evil person. Unfortunately, even if I deliberately didn’t use all my effort to argue, they wouldn’t have lost too badly because the company had destroyed most of the evidence. At most, they would have been charged with negligence, and the fine would have been no more than a few million.”

With a mocking smile, Jing Bokun shook his head: “Killing several people and crippling hundreds, only to be fined a few million. Ha! Is human life really so worthless?”

Jing Bokun couldn’t claim that every defendant he had defended in his life was innocent, nor could he say that he always upheld justice, but that time, he truly couldn’t uphold the so-called lawyer’s duty.

“So, you, Dad, went to great lengths to use your identity as the defense lawyer to collect evidence and then anonymously sent it to the plaintiff’s lawyer?” The emotional fluctuation was too strong; Jing Xiaonan couldn’t articulate her current feelings.

“Mhm.”

Her mind was in chaos for a moment. After a long while, Jing Xiaonan asked again: “Then, did the company that hired you, Dad, find out? Is that why they caused your license to be revoked?”

Unexpectedly, Jing Bokun shook his head.

“Although I couldn’t assist the heartless company, I also absolutely had to protect you and your mother. If those people had known what I did, our family of three would have disappeared eight years ago. The license revocation was only due to resentment that I didn’t win the lawsuit, not because they detected anything.”

So that was it. Jing Xiaonan still nodded, feeling somewhat dizzy. A moment later, a sharp gleam suddenly flashed in her unfocused eyes: “No, Dad. I’ve always felt that although I put extreme effort into founding my law firm, some processes, like gathering talent and winning the first few battles, were a little too smooth. To prevent anyone from secretly harming me, I carefully investigated and found that Uncle Hong Ze’en, a prominent figure in the legal community, has been quietly supporting Pengju. He was also involved in that case. He…”

“He was the plaintiff’s lawyer.”

Jing Xiaonan was speechless once again.

“He knew?”

“Your father doesn’t know how much he guessed, but when we faced each other in court, I deliberately let things slide. Others couldn’t tell, but he is an extremely talented lawyer. He must have understood this in his heart.”

Scratching the short hair on her head, the information conveyed in this conversation was truly overwhelming. Jing Xiaonan needed time to process it carefully.

Jing Bokun watched his daughter, whom he deeply cherished, with a slight smile, remaining silent. A few minutes later, the next question indeed followed.

“Why do I feel that you suddenly decided to tell me this today not just to educate me about not forging evidence? How do you know about all my affairs in Australia?” Jing Xiaonan stared into her father’s eyes, abruptly sitting up straight on the sofa, propping her elbows on the armrest, and squinting: “Could it be that the man in the gray coat who followed us when Luochen and I went to the zoo…”

“Hahahahaha!” Ah! This child! This level of perceptiveness! She truly is my daughter! Jing Bokun thought, laughing and clapping his hands, completely ignoring the fact that half the credit for creating this little person belonged to Jing Xiaonan’s mother, Yao Shushu.

“I didn’t send him!” After laughing, Jing Bokun explained. “That was someone from the Ye family.”

“Then…”

“Your father has always maintained an insider contact at Maple Leaf.”

Jing Xiaonan pondered this for a moment, her jaw dropping as if in free fall, shocked by her own speculation.

“That case back then… Dad, don’t tell me that the defendant… that your client was actually a subsidiary of the Ye family?”

Jing Xiaonan seemed somewhat absent-minded and restless for the rest of the day.

Ye Luochen was not much better, reverting to her thoughtful state. She didn’t avoid Jing Xiaonan, but when she looked at her, there was a complex, even scrutinizing, look in her eyes.

However, Jing Xiaonan hadn’t fully recovered from the information bombardment from her father in the morning and naturally didn’t notice her abnormality.

It turned out that, as she suspected, her father’s client back then was an undisclosed subsidiary of Maple Leaf, the first step Maple Leaf had taken ten years ago to enter the Australian market. This company was managed by Ye Luochen’s uncle and aunt, and Jing Xiaonan’s father had personally sent two close relatives of Ye Luochen’s father’s generation to prison.

Of course, as Jing Bokun said, the Maple Leaf side was unaware of his betrayal, only believing that he hadn’t put in his full effort to defend the two. Otherwise, they might have taken much harsher action. Having his license revoked would have been child’s play compared to such a consequence.

“Actually, Miss Ye’s grandfather, Ye Tiancong, only put more effort into finding his long-lost eldest son because he had lost a son and daughter and was without a next-generation heir. That’s why Ye Luochen was found not long after the case, becoming the Ye family’s third-generation young lady.”

Her father’s words echoed in her ears. Jing Xiaonan swallowed her lunch without tasting it, realizing that everything had been predestined in the dark. If her father hadn’t secretly exposed the despicable ways some people in the Ye family made money back then, Ye Tiancong might not have been so determined to find his son’s family. Ye Luochen would not have become a member of the Ye family, wouldn’t have needed to come to Australia to escape that family, and the contract cohabitation with her was simply to have her own life.

What was the cause, and what was the effect?

Should she, Jing Xiaonan, be grateful, or should she feel regret?

What about Ye Luochen? If she knew this, what would she think?

Given her integrity and kindness, she certainly wouldn’t resent her father’s actions back then. It’s just that the entanglement between her Jing family and the Ye family seemed to have just begun, and who knows how many more incidents it would lead to.

Maple Leaf’s attempt to enter the Australian market ten years ago ended in utter failure, which also explained why such a large corporate group had businesses in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia, but had never expanded to Australia. And now that the Maple Leaf people were returning to reclaim this business territory, what would happen?

Thinking this, she gradually felt that this was a huge chess game, and she and Luochen were merely pawns within it.

Turning her head, she gazed deeply at Ye Luochen, who was sitting quietly on the side. Jing Xiaonan reached out her hand and tightly grasped the slightly cold, soft hand.

Even if she was just a pawn, she would be the one with the most influence, the one whose move could affect the whole game. For no other reason than to properly protect the woman beside her.