Chapter 1231: Chapter 1226: Threatening Him with His Daughter (2000+)

Twenty minutes later, Hannah Hargrave and Harry Zachary came out of her room, both neatly dressed with no sign of what they’d just done.

...

At the detention center, Zhou Qiang has already been formally sentenced, sporting a buzz cut, wearing prison clothes, and handcuffed.

Tang Zhuo sat opposite him, separated by steel bars.

"Zhou Qiang, you still claim you’re not being directed by someone? Then, who sent money to your wife for the New Year?" Tang Zhuo looked nonchalant, having left home, where he should’ve been welcoming the New Year’s Eve with family, to rush here after speaking with the president, hoping to find a breakthrough with Zhou Qiang.

"You’re kidding, right? My wife is just an ordinary woman; who would send her money for the New Year." Zhou Qiang feigned difficulty and smiled, but the panicked flash in his eyes was keenly caught by Tang Zhuo, who let a faint smile curve his lips and softly asked, "Really?"

He then took out his phone, fiddled with it for a while, and placed it on the platform between the bars, saying calmly, "Listen to this." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Tang Zhuo played a recording on the phone; it was Zhou Qiang’s wife’s voice, "...I don’t know the man either. He claimed to be my husband’s friend and knew that it’s tough for us women, so he brought over some money, saying it was a promise he made to my husband..."

Tang Zhuo put away the phone, raised his eyes casually, and asked, "How do you explain this?" Not waiting for Zhou Qiang to respond, he continued, "You’re not going to tell me you don’t know either, so don’t play dumb with me!"

Tang Zhuo spoke deliberately, blocking Zhou Qiang from making excuses.

Zhou Qiang smacked his lips, licked them, and looked troubled, "Please stop pressuring me. It was really a drunken driving accident caused by my anger; no one manipulated me."

Tang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly, "No one manipulated you? Then what about your daughter? I’ve already sent people to investigate at the school, and it’s not because your daughter’s grades were outstanding that she was specially admitted; someone paid an exorbitant extra fee for her. To put it bluntly, your daughter is a special fee student, not admitted based on her own grades."

Zhou Qiang...

He smacked his lips again, rendered speechless.

"Still don’t want to talk?" Tang Zhuo continued to ask, his slightly lifted eyes sharp, "Our president said, as long as you reveal who’s behind this, he’ll pay you double what she paid you!"

After Tang Zhuo said this, Zhou Qiang clasped his cuffed hands together, pleading, "I beg you, please stop forcing me. There’s truly no one behind this; I can’t say..."

"Why not?" Tang Zhuo coldly asked, and Zhou Qiang kept quiet due to his slip of the tongue.

Still holding his hands in front, he blankly stared at Tang Zhuo, met his sharp gaze, licked his lips, and said, "I also feel bad about your president’s wife being injured that way, but..."

"But what?"

Tang Zhuo seized the opportunity to push for answers, Zhou Qiang sighed and said, "I’m powerless in this situation!"

If he knew how crucial the person’s identity was back then, no amount of money would have tempted him.

Initially, that man said that the husband’s wife had a mistress outside, who was previously just a little maid in the house. Surprisingly, she seduced the husband...

Now her husband is divorcing her for that maid, claiming they need to get rid of the maid’s unborn child to secure her position...

In the heat of the moment, he agreed, only to realize later that things weren’t as simple as they seemed, discovering both sides were figures he couldn’t afford to offend.

This side pressured him hard, while the other directly threatened him with his daughter, telling him if he spilled everything, he’d never see his daughter again in this life.

Zhou Qiang regretted so much at this point, not only having done an immoral deed but also crossing paths with people he shouldn’t have.

For the sake of his daughter, he could only go against his conscience.

Seeing Zhou Qiang’s predicament, Tang Zhuo tightened his gaze and asked, "Do you have something you can’t tell?"

Zhou Qiang was startled. After realizing, he quickly waved his hand, "No, no, everything was done by me, and no one ordered me, no one ordered me."

Tang Zhuo knew he had come here for nothing this time, stood up, and casually said, "Mr. Zhou, I trust you’re a sensible person too. I’ll go for now; let me know when you want to tell me, and I’ll come back to see you."

Before leaving, Tang Zhuo pushed the plastic bag that had been resting on the platform forward, "Your wife asked me to bring this; freshly cooked dumplings."

After Tang Zhuo left, Zhou Qiang, trembling, picked up the bag of dumplings and mumbled painfully, "I really have no choice either..."

...

Leaving the detention center, Tang Zhuo called Nicholas Croft, believing Zhou Qiang had been caught in a predicament and thus dared not reveal the behind-the-scenes instigator...

After hearing the assistant’s report, Nicholas Croft remained silent for a while and said, "Release a message saying my wife is now critically ill..."

"Yes, President, I’ll spread the news tomorrow!"

Over in the United States, after ending the call, Nicholas Croft continued arranging the hospital room, placing fresh flowers in the vase on the cabinet beside the bed—a bouquet of pink lilies.

He took out the newly bought lingerie—a couple’s style, as he couldn’t find crimson which would be celebratory, opting for a more vibrant purple.

"Lara, it’s New Year; Uncle bought new clothes for us; we’ll change into them later."

Sophie Foster hugged her knees, leaning against the bed, her small face resting on her knees facing the window.

"Want to breathe some fresh air? Once we’ve changed into new clothes, Uncle will take you out for a meal."

Nicholas Croft placed both sets of lingerie on the bed, then unbuttoned his shirt in front of Sophie Foster, changed into the newly bought lingerie, and after tidying up, asked, "Lara, do I look good in them?"

Sophie Foster slowly turned her head, resting her cheek on her knee, exposing her unevenly contoured left side fully to Nicholas Croft, looking at him with no expression and asked, "Uncle, is Lara really ugly now?"

Nicholas Croft’s action of adjusting his collar halted, his fingers tightening unconsciously, meeting Sophie Foster’s emotionless gaze, he sat next to her, enveloping his large hand over her injured face gently rubbing and soothing, "No, Lara’s just a bit hurt; after some cosmetic touch-up in a few days, you’ll recover."