Chapter 68 Part 1

At ten-thirty that night, Lin Xianing returned home.

She had gone to the neighboring city to handle some matters. With the turmoil at Lin Corporation, those veteran shareholders were pulling out all the stops, each trying to grab a bigger slice of the pie for themselves. After dealing with that, she had gone to see Lin Manhe.

Lin Corporation bore the Lin name, and she had plunged it into chaos only to force a division of the family assets—not to let it change hands entirely.

Her cousins didn’t care about any of that. For the sake of profit, they would resort to any means necessary, even if it meant selling the family business to outsiders.

Lin Corporation could be divided up, and they could squander Eldest Uncle Lin’s legacy however they pleased for all she cared.

But Lin Manhe’s assets? They weren’t getting their hands on those.

That was why she had gone to see her father today. He had already been placed under house arrest.

In Lin Manhe’s private villa, Lin Xianing came face-to-face with the man she called her father—a man who, in just a single month, seemed to have aged a decade.

“Dad.”

Lin Manhe merely gave her a cold glance and said nothing.

Lin Xianing didn’t expect him to be in a good mood, but he seemed relatively normal at the moment.

She had just run into a servant clearing away the dinner plates, and it looked like his appetite was fine.

He clearly wasn’t about to starve himself to death and give up his lavish lifestyle.

“Has Mom come to see you with Xiaming?”

Lin Manhe slouched messily on the sofa, sipping his tea with a carefree air, as if utterly confident that nothing serious would happen to him.

At her words, Lin Manhe let out a scoff. “What’s your goal here?”

“Do you want me to transfer my assets into your name?”

He shook his head helplessly. “Your mother’s just a housewife who’s always lived under my protection. Your brother has talent and ability, but he hasn’t seen enough of the world’s ugliness—he’s still too naive.”

“And you? You entered the entertainment industry at seventeen or eighteen. By all rights, after ten years, you shouldn’t still be this naive, thinking I’d hand over my empire to you.”

“I’ll be under house arrest for three years at most. It won’t stop me from meeting people and handling work as long as I stay in this villa. After three years, I’ll still be me.”

“If I transfer the assets to you kids—even though you’re my children—I’d sleep better knowing the money and power stay in my hands, wouldn’t I?”

Lin Manhe had been through so much aggravation lately that both his words and actions had lost their old polish. He struck straight at the heart now, sharper than ever, caring only for his own comfort.

Lin Xianing paid no mind to his attitude. She smiled. “Dad, do you have any idea how much effort it took me to cut off your social connections?”

“How much effort to keep you from having any say in Lin Corporation’s decisions for three years?”

“You can cling to your assets all you want. But when you get out, I suspect everything in your accounts—even your secret stashes—will have to go toward compensation.”

“You’ve deceived Eldest Uncle Lin for so long. You think he’ll let you off easy once you’re free?”

Lin Xianing settled into the seat across from Lin Manhe without waiting for an invitation.

She had to admit, the man knew how to live well. Genuine leather sofas, antique ornaments, and the jade stone he was fiddling with in his hands—worth a million or two, easy.

And there he was, toying with it casually. One bump or drop, and its value would plummet.

The villa’s walls were all floor-to-ceiling windows, offering sweeping views of the outdoor pool, the little garden beyond it, and the pond in the garden with its faux-antique stone bridge—an odd mismatch for the modern villa, but it satisfied Lin Manhe’s fishing hobby.

Most people bought villas for the comfort, after all. They could renovate however they liked, as long as it didn’t ruin the neighborhood’s aesthetic.

Lin Xianing admired the view while Lin Manhe seethed with anger.

“What do you want?”

He suppressed his fury, straightened up, and finally seemed ready for a proper talk.

Lin Xianing poured herself a cup of tea and spoke unhurriedly. “I managed to inherit Grandma’s assets right under all your noses and hold onto them. I don’t think you’d question my capabilities after that.”

The process of claiming her inheritance had been a bloodbath. What got her through wasn’t just that one will.

Lin Manhe drained his cup and poured another, as if trying to cool his temper.

He hadn’t just stood by during her fight to secure the inheritance—he’d tripped her up behind the scenes, hoping to snag some benefits for himself.

He knew exactly how she’d overcome the obstacles they’d thrown at her, even sacrificing her marriage in the process.

Of course, he would have done the same. But that had only been step one. What followed was hellish difficulty, and even he wasn’t sure he could have navigated it.

That was why he’d always acknowledged his daughter’s abilities.

He knew she could back up her words with action. “Fine. What’s your goal?”

Lin Manhe was adjusting his mindset, from initial refusal to cooperate to sitting up straight and listening intently.

Politeness first hadn’t worked, so Lin Xianing had swung the hammer—knocking him silly before settling down to talk.

“You must know about the situation at Eldest Uncle’s house.”

A dozen children, their mothers, and those mothers’ families—all embroiled in the fight over the spoils.

Eldest Uncle Lin was mired in even bigger lawsuits. He’d spent a lifetime getting old without getting wise. He couldn’t handle the Lin Family’s chaos, played dirty tricks well enough, but real business warfare couldn’t be won with backroom scheming.

Especially with his sons’ ruthless ambitions. In the ensuing scramble, he’d been boxed into a corner.

His sons were watching him closely. For the Lin Family Head to be rendered so powerless…

It might have something to do with Lin Manhe’s overpraising, blindly supporting everything Eldest Uncle Lin did and inflating his ego.

In truth, Eldest Uncle Lin had never truly controlled the Lin Family. When Third Uncle Lin was around, the two had clashed constantly, evenly matched only thanks to Lin Manhe’s backing.

Without Lin Manhe—and now with his sons turning on him—he was finished, no threat at all.

But as Lin Xianing had pointed out, if Lin Manhe was confined for three years without his power base and faced a mountain of compensation claims, Eldest Uncle Lin could crush him effortlessly if he wanted revenge.

Because Eldest Uncle Lin was making a decisive sacrifice, ready to divide most of the family wealth among his sons. As long as one proved filial, what would he lack once he was free?

Lin Manhe, clutching his assets so tightly, would only watch them slip away like sand the harder he gripped.

Eldest Uncle Lin might have been deceived too thoroughly by Lin Manhe. He’d come to see power for the illusion it was, recognized his own limits, and stopped chasing empty prestige. As long as he could live comfortably for the rest of his days, he’d be content.

But once Lin Manhe had nothing left, Eldest Uncle Lin would be the first to come for him—and he’d have the means to do it.

Lin Manhe considered his two children. What if he lost everything?

Lin Xianing probably wouldn’t care if he lived or died. And Lin Xiaming, for all his talent, lacked experience. He could easily be stripped bare by Eldest Uncle Lin’s sons.

Lin Xiaming’s gaming company was impressive for his age, but against Eldest Uncle Lin, it was like a toy car ramming a tank.

Lin Xianing drawled lazily, “And then there’s the Wu Family. Need I say more?”

Would Wu Yu’s family truly help her and Lin Xiaming? Or would they seize the chance to line their own pockets? Human nature was unpredictable.

Under Wu Yu’s lead, the Wu Family had joined the fray. On the surface, they seemed uninvolved, but they were quietly angling for their share.

Even without Lin Xianing’s intervention, would Lin Manhe have it easy amid such chaos?

Once the Wu Family controlled Wu Yu and Lin Xiaming, Lin Manhe’s assets would bear the Wu name instead.

Could Lin Manhe really accept that?

Evidently, he could. At the mention of the Wu Family, his face grew grim.

Compared to the sharks at Lin Corporation, the wolves his own wife and son had brought in were far more terrifying—inviting predators into one’s home. Once the wolves realized the owners couldn’t drive them out, they’d devour the household.

When his wife had brought it up last time, he’d objected outright.

Even when Wu Yu swore the Wu Family was there to help, he knew how fragile family ties were for people like them when profits were on the line.

Confined to the villa, his internet access and visitors were strictly limited. He couldn’t handle many matters promptly.

Lin Xianing knew her mother had brought in her family purely for self-interest—at least to get Lin Xiaming his share of the assets first.

She herself had no interest in the family business. Her own wealth rivaled Lin Manhe’s.

All she wanted was a clean split of the Lin Family—not their empire.

Her brother had visited her at Summer Group precisely because of this, which had finally steeled her resolve to confront their father.

Lin Xiaming had hemmed and hawed for ages before saying, “Sis, there’s something Mom told me not to tell you.”

Her heart had stirred. They were close in age, more like friends than siblings at times.

But as adults, with guys and girls drifting apart on certain topics—not to mention her hectic career and his new business after graduation—they’d grown distant. It had been years since they’d really talked heart-to-heart.

She hadn’t expected her brother to seek her out and reveal Wu Yu’s scheme.

Lin Xiaming had reassured her repeatedly. “Sis, Dad’s affair… as his kid, I can’t accept it. I feel for Mom too.”

“I think she’s right. If I want Dad to settle down with her and not bring any illegitimate kids home, this is the way.”

Then, earnestly: “Sis, don’t worry. If the plan works, everything will be split fifty-fifty with you. I won’t take a penny more.”

“You can take more if you want. I just want the family gaming company—the rest is yours.”

Lin Xianing fell silent. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved. Lin Xiaming was the only one in the family who had thought of her.

Lin Manhe’s wealth ran into the billions—thousands of billions, not mere thousands. For Lin Xiaming to offer an even split meant he truly cared for his big sister. Helping him wasn’t out of the question.