Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Representative agreement?” Gu Yanran’s expression was filled with confusion and suspicion. She felt unsettled. That person had just revealed a piece of information about Lawyer Vanderbilt to her. How on earth could she prove how Gu Xiangwen had retained his lawyer without admitting this?
Gu Nianzhi had come well prepared. She could never reveal that she’d gotten her information from someone else.
If she betrayed that person, she would be as good as dead…
When she thought about that person’s vicious means, Gu Yanran felt a shiver run down her spine. In a state of panic, an idea came to Gu Yanran’s mind and she found an excuse. “I think there is one. However, my father had not passed away yet. Therefore, I have no idea as to where he put it.”
This would work as well, to be honest.
Jin Wanyi took the opportunity to say, “However, since Mr. Vanderbilt has already passed on, his will be passed on to the person he had appointed to handle his cases. If the court allows, we can contact the attorney that he appointed and get him to take note of the representative agreement signed by him and Gu Xiangwen.”
Gu Nianzhi was waiting precisely for them to suggest that they would contact the person appointed by Mr. Vanderbilt. However, she still pretended to contemplate it a while before saying with an unwilling tone, “…You are only going to contact him now? Then how long will it take before you can get some news?”
“Not very long. I will send them an official letter. The fastest would be one day, at most they will take a week to reply.” Jin Wanyi was highly confident and had decided to send the lawyer’s letter the moment she got back.
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Then be quick. This cannot wait any longer.”
Jin Wanyi laughed sarcastically at Gu Nianzhi’s attitude. “It seems like Miss Gu cannot wait any longer. Mr. Gu has not even passed away yet, but you are already in such a hurry to get the inheritance.”
Gu Nianzhi had already noted that Jin Wanyi’s emotions were unstable today when she’d seen her outside of court. Therefore, her strategy was to get a suitable opportunity to upset her.
Making mistakes in court could not be ignored just by a mere apology. Gu Nianzhi smiled in a way that could make anyone burst with anger. She shook her head and said, “Lawyer Jin, you cannot say that. I do not want to take my father’s inheritance. What I want to do is to protect my father’s inheritance. How can you accuse me of wanting to take my father’s inheritance?”
“Am I wrong? Your sister, Gu Yanran, is Mr. Gu’s biological daughter. You are the adoptive daughter. Gu Yanran is the older child, you are the younger one. No matter how we look at it, what right does it give you to fight for the inheritance with your older sister?” Jin Wanyi began to be aggressive.
“I have already told you that I do not want to fight for it. I merely want to take back what was supposed to be mine under the law.” Gu Nianzhi’s smile became even more annoying. She purposely pretended to look like she was extremely proud of herself. “If Gu Yanran is unable to produce the will, then let’s split it according to the law.”
Jin Wanyi glared at Gu Nianzhi. She controlled her temper and said slowly, “Fine, then let’s split the inheritance according to the law.” With that, she produced the list of inheritance of the Gus given to her by Gu Yanran. “Let us also not fight anymore. Even though Miss Gu Nianzhi does not treat my client as her sister, my client treats Miss Gu Nianzhi as her sister still. All the inheritance on this list. My client is willing to give Miss Gu Nianzhi fifty percent of it.”
Gu Nianzhi wanted to burst out laughing when she heard that.
The inheritance list that Gu Yanran had produced was at least two-thirds shorter than what Ye Xuan had given her. Half of it was already gone. She still wanted to split it equally with Gu Nianzhi? How “generous.”
The judge looked at both of the inheritance lists and asked Gu Nianzhi, “Do you accept this offer?”
Gu Nianzhi stood up. She turned towards Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran. Both of them looked back at her nervously. “Of course not.”
Gu Nianzhi’s reply was expected by the judge and Jin Wanyi. Only Gu Yanran was extremely unhappy. She was cursing Gu Nianzhi in her heart about her greed…
“What do we do if you do not agree? This is all of the inheritance. Even if you want me to do magic and make more turn up, I will not be able to do it…” Gu Yanran sighed. “That is really all I have, sister. There is nothing I can do about it. Why don’t I give you all of this then?” She had already given in to this extent. Would Gu Nianzhi still be unsatisfied?
Jin Wanyi clapped her hands exaggeratedly as well and said, “Miss Gu Yanran really cares about Miss Gu Nianzhi, she is even willing to give Miss Gu Nianzhi all of the inheritance.” She turned and faced the judge. “Your honor, I think we can close this case. We will discuss this on a personal level with Miss Gu Nianzhi and have a mutual settlement.”
The judge looked at Gu Nianzhi. “Plaintiff, do you agree to have a mutual settlement outside of court?”
Gu Nianzhi looked at how dramatic Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran were being. She shook her head once again. “I do not agree.”
“Miss Gu Nianzhi, please think it through carefully. If you do not accept my client’s suggestion and insist on going through the court, you can at most get fifty percent of the inheritance. However, if you handle it outside of court, you will definitely be able to get more, much more.” Jin Wanyi suggested sincerely.
With terms like that, as long as you had a brain, you would definitely agree to have a mutual settlement outside of court.
Gu Nianzhi sighed as well and said, “Lawyer Jin, have you mingled around with your client long enough that you’re already looking for shortcuts?”
Jin Wanyi’s face turned white. She pursed her lips and asked coldly, “What in the world do you mean, Gu Nianzhi?”
“I don’t mean anything. ” Gu Nianzhi looked at the judge. “Your honor, I have doubts regarding the accuracy of the list of inheritance that the defendant, Gu Yanran, has produced. I do not agree that what she has produced is all of the inheritance from the Gu family. I have a list of inheritance of the Gu’s as well, and I request to get my shares according to my list instead.”
With that, Gu Nianzhi walked to the defendant stand and showed them the inheritance list that Ye Xuan had given her. “The defendant, Gu Yanran, has said that she would give me all of the inheritance from the Gu family just now. So? If you agree to give me everything on this list, I will drop all charges and we will have a mutual settlement outside of court. Do you agree?”
“Obviously we do not agree,” Jin Wanyi and Gu Yanran said unanimously.
“There we have it.” Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes and showed her hands. “Everyone knows that words are cheap. However, when it is going to affect your personal benefits, no one is willing to give it up. Therefore, defendant Gu Yanran, please drop all your pretense of being a loving and caring older sister. You attempted to hide the inheritance of the Gu family and attempted to take what was not yours. You have already broken the law, which is already a good enough reason to doubt your honesty.”
“I did not!” Gu Yanran began to panic. She began to defend herself loudly. “I did not take what was not mine! The inheritance belonged to my family. How can you say that I, someone from the family, is taking something that is not mine? Aren’t you a joke!”
“Isn’t that strange?” Gu Nianzhi smiled and looked at her with her head tilted to one side. “There are even rape cases made between married people, so how is it that you cannot take what is yours?”
Gu Yanran was at a loss for words. She looked at Jin Wanyi helplessly. Jin Wanyi thought that this was funny.
Since they had produced that list of inheritance, they should not be afraid to let anyone validate its authenticity. The list of inheritance that Gu Nianzhi had produced, could they check its validity? For example, the company that they had opened on the Cayman Islands, how would they validate that? Write a letter to the company? Those companies valued the privacy of all their shareholders so much. They must have gotten many of these letters before.
Jin Wanyi knew that the list of inheritance that Gu Yanran had produced must not be the full list. However, she did not feel that it was wrong. Only an idiot would bring the full list out to split with an adoptive daughter…
Gu Yanran was not a true Mother Theresa anyway.
Jin Wanyi thought about this and her smile began to turn evil. She looked at the list of inheritance that Gu Nianzhi had gotten Ye Xuan, smiling like a witch. “Gu Nianzhi, may I ask where you got your list of inheritance from?”
“This list of inheritance came from the previous head of finance of the household, Ye Xuan.” Gu Nianzhi turned to the judge. “I hereby request to summon him as a key witness.”
“Objection.” Jin Wanyi had anticipated this long ago. She objected to Gu Nianzhi’s summon immediately. “Ye Xuan has just ended a lawsuit with my client. The court approved of my client’s personal protection order, restricting him from appearing anywhere within the radius of ten meters around my client.”
So the personal protection order was waiting for her here…
Gu Nianzhi glared at Jin Wanyi. She had really forgotten about this.
Jin Wanyi observed Gu Nianzhi’s eyes. She guessed that Gu Nianzhi had missed this point, and smiled happily. “Moreover, Ye Xuan’s character is questionable. He was one of the suspects in Mr. Vanderbilt’s murder in America. Even though he was cleared of all charges, that was due to a lack of available evidence. It does not mean that he is not guilty of the crime. Mr. Vanderbilt and his family were murdered almost immediately after Ye Xuan met up with them.”
“Putting all of the above together, for someone who has a character issue and has received a personal protection order from the court, he does not qualify as a key witness for this case.” Jin Wanyi removed Ye Xuan’s qualifications to be a witness for the case with just her words.
The judge agreed with her as well. “The defense has made a good point. However, we do not have a law that says that we have to get rid of a witness. Ye Xuan is still able to act as a witness. However, due to his position and relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, it would be hard to use his statements as evidence. Plaintiff, do you still want him to be your key witness?”
