Lin Tianba wasn’t stupid. He knew better than to get too involved with people like this.
Brother Dao chuckled, but then his expression suddenly turned cold. "Boss Lin, you have one month. You’ll pay 30% interest, and this villa will serve as collateral. If you have any objections, you can refuse now."
Lin Tianba stiffened. He had to admit, he was a bit scared. The interest rate was ridiculously high.
Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian also looked uneasy, their brows furrowed at the mention of such steep interest.
Lin Tianba gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, consider it a way to make friends with Brother Dao."
After signing the informal IOU, Brother Dao tucked it away and looked at Lin Tianba with a smile.
"Boss Lin, I won’t elaborate on the consequences of failing to repay. I’ve been in the capital for years, and I’ve never failed to collect a debt."
"You wouldn’t want your wife teaching foreign languages at an entertainment club, would you?"
At these words, Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian were visibly shaken, a sense of foreboding creeping into their hearts.
Liu Yuemei tugged at Lin Tianba’s sleeve, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead, nodding.
"Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll repay the principal and interest within a month."
He knew all too well what would happen if he failed to repay. With Brother Dao’s influence, Liu Yuemei might indeed end up teaching foreign languages at an entertainment club—or worse, he himself might be dragged into something similar.
Brother Dao left the Lin family villa, satisfied, and the Lin family let out a collective sigh of relief as they sat back down on the couch.
"It’s all that little brat Lin Ran’s fault. He’s cost me an extra 30 million. One day, I’ll make him pay for this."
Liu Yuemei frowned. "Actually, the loss is 330 million, and with the things we sold at a low price, it might even reach 400 million."
Four hundred million! In all her years with the Lin family, she had never seen such a sum of money, and now it was about to go to that little brat.
Lin Jian started crying.
"Dad! Even if Big Brother forced you to give him all the money, I wouldn’t blame him. After all, he’s my only brother."
Liu Yuemei chimed in, "I hope Little Ran will come to his senses after getting the money. After all, nothing in this world is more important than the bond between father and son. If he kneels and apologizes and gives up the money, you should forgive him, dear."
Lin Tianba’s anger surged.
"You two are too kind-hearted. You treat him like family, but he doesn’t see you the same way."
"Even if he kneels and apologizes and gives up his share, I’ll still give him a good beating before I let him be my son again."
Liu Yuemei said worriedly, "Dear, we must repay the loan within a month. Otherwise, I’m afraid Brother Dao might do something terrible to our family."
Lin Tianba replied, "Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. That ungrateful brat, I…"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became, as if he’d explode if he didn’t vent his frustration.
After a moment of thought, he turned to the housekeeper. "Granny Wang, throw out all of Lin Ran’s belongings. I don’t want to see anything related to him in this house."
Granny Wang sighed. "Sir, when the young master came back last time, he already took everything with him. There’s nothing left, not even the bicycle by the door—he smashed it."
Lin Tianba was stunned. "He only took one suitcase. How much could he have carried away?"
When Granny Wang didn’t respond, Lin Tianba stood up angrily. "Fine, I’ll do it myself."
With that, he stormed toward Lin Ran’s room. Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian exchanged glances, but it was too late to stop him.
Lin Tianba pushed open the door to Lin Ran’s room and froze.
"Why is this a storage room?"
Granny Wang looked at him, puzzled.
"Sir, this has always been a storage room. The young master has lived here for ten years."
Granny Wang didn’t understand. The villa had plenty of rooms, so why had the young master been relegated to a storage room?
She also didn’t understand why the Lin family, despite their wealth, had always treated the young master so poorly.
She was just the housekeeper, but many tasks had been pushed onto the young master.
Was Lin Ran really Lin Tianba’s biological son?
Liu Yuemei caught up behind him. "Dear, didn’t you say you wanted Little Ran to live a simple life to avoid developing bad habits? That’s why I had this room prepared for him."
She glanced inside the room and also froze.
The room was less than five square meters. Aside from a bed and a simple wardrobe, there was nothing—no windows, barely any space to stand.
"Dear, it’s my fault. I didn’t notice the room had no windows."
Lin Tianba rubbed his forehead. "Forget it. He’s a boy. It doesn’t matter."
He stepped inside, intending to find something of Lin Ran’s to throw out, but there was nothing.
The wardrobe was empty, and so was under the bed.
"Granny Wang, when did Lin Ran come back to take his things?"
Granny Wang replied, "Sir, I told you already. The young master took everything when he came back last time. He had nothing—just a pair of shoes that had been repaired many times, two high school uniforms, and one set of everyday clothes that I once gave him."
Lin Tianba was at a loss for words. It suddenly dawned on him that Lin Ran had never had much money to buy clothes.
A pang of guilt struck his heart.
He realized that he hadn’t paid much attention to his son over the years.
If Lin Ran gave up his share and knelt to apologize, perhaps he could forgive him.
The boy was probably just going through a rebellious phase.
Lin Jian glared at Granny Wang, thinking she had spoken too much.
Liu Yuemei quickly added, "Dear, I did offer to take Little Ran shopping for clothes, but he always said he didn’t want anything. Don’t blame Granny Wang."
Granny Wang: ??? What are you talking about?
With this excuse, Lin Tianba stepped down from his high horse.
"If he didn’t want anything, then it’s not our fault."
"Sigh! I’ll talk to him when we meet tomorrow."
Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian exchanged another glance but said nothing.
Lin Tianba contacted Xu Kai, saying he wanted to meet Lin Ran and give him his share.
When Lin Ran received the message, a sly smile spread across his face.
Everything was going according to plan.
Lin Tianba, did you think this was over?
Once you hand over the money, your nightmare will truly begin.
"What are you smiling about, Ah Ran?"
Luo Yao, lying beside Lin Ran, asked.
Lin Ran held the beauty in his arms with one hand and used the other to feed her a grape.
Luo Yao opened her mouth and "chomped" it down.
"I’m smiling because you look so cute when you eat."
Luo Yao chewed thoughtfully.
"It’s not as good as imported ones."
Such a small request—of course, he’d indulge her.
Luo Yao had become increasingly clingy to Lin Ran. Whenever she saw him, she couldn’t help but attach herself to him.
Lin Ran enjoyed her clinginess too. He had to take good care of his yandere wife.
"Ah Ran, I have a business trip tomorrow. Be good while I’m gone."