Su Ning was in a terrible mood.
For the sake of Swire Shipping, she felt she had already given Antonio plenty of face.
To her surprise, her repeated tolerance only resulted in him pushing his luck. No good deed goes unpunished. She felt emotionally wronged, and this low air pressure radiating from her seemed to freeze the surrounding atmosphere.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
Antonio stood frozen on the spot, his heated brain finally cooling down—
Especially after he noticed his siblings nearby.
He had been too impulsive!
He could not afford to lose Su Ning's help right now, at least not yet. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile and apologized with great difficulty:
"I'm sorry, I was just anxious a moment ago. My mother's fall had nothing to do with you. I shouldn't have said that. It was too noisy just now, so you might not have heard clearly, but my mother is trying to say hello to you."
The crying abruptly stopped.
His siblings also looked astonished. After all, Fernand and his son had always held this woman in the palm of their hands, obeying her every whim as if she were fragile glass.
No matter what happened.
Or who was right or wrong.
As long as she cried, it was over; everyone else would suffer their misplaced anger.
"And then?"
Su Ning chuckled lightly:
"There are plenty of people in this world who want to meet me and say hello. If I had to entertain every single one of them, I wouldn't have time to do anything else in this lifetime. Who does she think she is?"
"What did you say?"
The woman clutched her chest in disbelief. "I am Antonio's mother!"
"I know."
Su Ning finally deigned to give her a glance. To be honest, they didn't look like mother and son at all... She had met Fernand at the age of fifteen, so she probably had her child quite early. Plus, Asians tend to age well and she took good care of herself.
On the other hand, Antonio had a typical European bone structure. He was still in his prime, so he was fairly good-looking.
Tsk... I wonder if he'll get fat later on?
Anyway, standing together, at first glance, one couldn't tell who was older.
"So what?"
The woman was dumbfounded and it took her a long time to react. "What do you mean 'so what'? When you marry into the family, you'll have to call me mother. With a relationship like that..."
"You seem to be mistaken about something."
Su Ning interrupted her unfinished words with a sneer. "Who said I'm marrying into the family? As for you, actually having the audacity to say you want to be my mother, it really displeases me."
"Antonio."
"Come here."
She beckoned him contemptuously, like calling a puppy. Under the indescribable gazes of the others, he actually walked over. Catching sight of his mother's tearful eyes, Antonio turned his head away in embarrassment.
The others didn't understand the truth behind the so-called "marriage contract."
But he knew it perfectly well.
"Su Ning, I apologize on behalf of my mother. She doesn't understand anything, and it's my fault for not explaining things to her in time." Those who do not know are not to blame; this should surely appease her anger.
Slap—
He was slapped across the face.
"Not enough."
Su Ning's cold voice sounded. Her subordinate understood her intention and delivered another slap to the other side of his face, making it symmetrical. However, foreigners probably had thicker skin, as his face didn't swell up too red.
The force was definitely sufficient.
After two slaps, Antonio's head was buzzing. He stood frozen in place, maintaining his head-turned posture.
The bystanders gasped.
"Ah, what are you doing!"
The first to react was the woman. She screamed in horror and lunged forward the next second to check on her son's injuries, shouting resentfully at Su Ning:
"Why did you hit Anton? What did he do wrong? You are so hateful!"
"Say one more word, and he gets another slap."
Su Ning said breezily.
The voice stopped abruptly.
"Why? There is a saying that a son bears the faults of his mother. You misspoke, so isn't it perfectly justified for Antonio to be punished on your behalf? ... From what I can see, he is more than willing."
"Isn't that right, Antonio?"
"Yes."
Under everyone's strange, astonished, and disbelieving gazes, the beaten Antonio, with a terrifyingly pale face, lowered his head in embarrassment, clenched his fists, and replied.
Heh.
Su Ning chuckled twice, ignoring the intense reward broadcast sound from the system in her mind. She looked at the weeping woman, raised an eyebrow, and said softly:
"Did you hear that clearly?"
"Now that you've heard it clearly, remember to watch your mouth in the future."
The atmosphere on the scene was extremely stagnant.
Even Antonio's siblings, who had originally come to watch the show, now felt a trace of pity for him. This bowl of soft rice he was eating seemed awfully hard to chew!
Just then, someone came out of a nearby hospital room. Seeing this scene, they were momentarily stunned by the impact, but quickly recovered:
"The sir is awake and wants to see people."
"Really?"
Everyone grew excited. The "second son" couldn't care less about the soft rice anymore. He took the lead and was about to rush into the ward—
Unsurprisingly, he was stopped.
"Sir wants to see Madam, Young Master Antonio, and..." His gaze passed through the crowd, landed on Su Ning, and he spat out the last few words:
"Miss Su."
...
"You are different from what I imagined."
On the hospital bed, the emaciated Fernand spoke weakly, a flash of surprise in his cloudy eyes.
He truly hadn't expected Su Ning to be like this. Her appearance couldn't be called unattractive by any means, but her entire aura was cold, and her eyes were like freezing glaciers—
Definitely not the type Antonio would like.
Instead, she was a bit like his other wife.
"There is always a discrepancy between reality and imagination."
Su Ning's attitude was perfunctory.
"True."
The old man and the young woman exchanged a few meaningless words. Fernand was, after all, severely ill. Unable to sustain his energy, he got straight to the point:
"The shares in my hands do not include a portion for Antonio."
It was a bombshell.
The mother and son turned pale with shock. The woman was the first to break down. She threw herself onto him, crying and trembling all over: "Fernand, do you not love me anymore? Do you not love Anton anymore? Why are you doing this? Why?"
"Father..."
"Alright, stop crying."
The patient on the bed hugged his wife heartachingly. Seeing her tears flowing endlessly, he sighed deeply. However, seeing Su Ning's extremely calm expression, he couldn't help but ask in surprise:
"You don't seem surprised?"
"Of course not."
Her legs hurt from standing too long, so Su Ning sat down on the chair brought by her subordinate. Her tone was somewhat mocking and sarcastic:
"Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. Since Mr. Fernand loves this lady so much, how could he not make good arrangements for her and Antonio?"
If he didn't, it meant he couldn't.
"Exactly."
Fernand nodded helplessly. "Anna and I signed an agreement before we got married. The shares can only be left to my children with her." Saying this, he turned his head and gently kissed the top of the woman's head, speaking affectionately:
"Forgive me, I still love you."
"Mhm."
I can't take this anymore.
Su Ning weakly looked away. She thought that after experiencing Guan Jixing and Mu Wan, she could handle anything—but no matter how crazy the male and female leads were, at least they were handsome and beautiful, and most importantly, they were close in age!
"Father, can't the agreement be changed?"
Antonio asked unwillingly.
"Sorry, no."
Fernand sighed:
"The clauses have many restrictions. Unless Anna agrees, it's absolutely impossible to bypass it. I've tried many methods over the years. The shares I gave you were all acquired later."
"I'm very sorry."
He repeated it once more, then looked at Su Ning, his gentle gaze turning sharp:
"Antonio is an innocent child. I protected him too well, leaving him completely unskilled in power struggles. Originally, I thought this was fine. Even if he gets marginalized by the family after my death, being a carefree young master wouldn't be so bad."
"But then you appeared."
He paused.
"I don't know what kind of scheme is going on between you two, but it is definitely not simple love..."
"Father," Antonio said in a low voice.
"Hmph, I know what people in love look like. You can't fool me."
Fernand glanced at his son and waved his hand:
"Su, your goal must be Taigu Shipping. If my calculations are correct, the retail shares, the shares in Anton's hands, and the shares you already own add up to about nineteen percent. This is far from enough. If you agree to sign a marriage contract in front of me, I can help you acquire the other shares outside the family. Trust me, you and Anton will become the new masters of Taigu Shipping!"
In that moment, his eyes were bright and full of spirit, as if he had returned to the past.
The all-powerful tycoon of the business world!
The woman looked at him with admiration.
"Fernand..."
"You miscalculated. It's not nineteen percent," Su Ning said with a lazy tone.
"It's twenty-four percent."
How could that be? Fernand blinked in confusion. Even if there were some omissions, it wouldn't exceed twenty percent... Suddenly, he thought of something and his eyes widened.
"Miss Chrissy is truly lovely, and very smart too. She must have inherited Mr. Fernand's genes. Buying her shares cost me quite a fortune,"
Su Ning said with a smile.
A moment passed.
"Who... who is Chrissy?" The woman furrowed her delicate brows. Fernand didn't have a child by that name.
