"What? He said he was married and it turned out to be true!" Michelle Hirayama instantly became upset. "But I've got my eye on him!"
Rona Muir shot Jiro Hirayama a look, signaling him to deal with his eccentric niece himself.
Jiro Hirayama, never one to hold back, switched straight to mockery mode: "With the way you look, you think you could win him over? If you set your sights on Benjamin Franklin, maybe he'd climb out of his grave to marry you!"
Michelle was completely stunned by his harsh words.
Clearly, it takes one troublemaker to deal with another.
Jiro Hirayama frowned and said, "You better behave yourself these days. Don't make your aunt angry, or else get out! I'll call home right now and have my brother send someone to take you back!"
"No, Uncle! I don't want to go back!" Michelle was genuinely scared now. She rushed over, grabbed Jiro Hirayama's arm, and admitted her mistake. "I'm sorry, I really am! I swear I won't make Aunt angry again!"
Rona Muir shook her head and said, "Alright, your room is ready. Go rest for now. We'll call you when it's time to eat."
After sending Michelle off, Rona Muir finally asked Jiro Hirayama, "Seriously, how did the Hirayama Family end up with a daughter like this? What's going on with your brother's family?"
Jiro Hirayama finally explained, "Michelle is the daughter of my first sister-in-law. My current sister-in-law is the successor."
Rona Muir was stunned. "What do you mean?"
"My brother has been married twice. His first wife died after giving birth to Michelle Hirayama. Later, he married again, and that wife kept spoiling Michelle until she turned out like this," Jiro Hirayama explained. "The kids from his second wife were raised strictly, all of them are rule-followers, like wooden dolls."
Rona seemed to sense something unusual and grew interested. "Was this intentional praise to set her up for a fall?"
The so-called 'intentional praise leading to a downfall' means putting someone on a pedestal, only to let them crash down hard, leaving them broken and unable to recover.
"I don't know if it was intentional or not. Michelle Hirayama didn't really grow up with her parents—she was fostered elsewhere until recently brought home," Jiro Hirayama said. "That's why she's so unruly, sneaking out without permission. If any of my brother's kids from his second wife did something like this, they'd probably get their legs broken and be thrown out to reflect on it in the street."
Rona nodded. That made sense.
The Hirayama Family really was a true aristocratic clan.
Families like this definitely have strict rules.
But how did Michelle Hirayama end up like this? Did her grandparents really just ignore it?
After all, she's still their granddaughter!
Could it be that the Hirayama Family has other plans?
So they just let the eldest daughter-in-law raise Michelle Hirayama like this?
She’s only sixteen, but is it really okay for her to be so naive about the world?
Rona couldn't help but ask again, "Michelle ended up like this, and your family really doesn't care?"
"Why should they care?" Jiro Hirayama retorted. "Isn’t it great to be free and do whatever you want?"
Rona couldn't help but roll her eyes.
How could she forget!
Compared to Michelle, the real troublemaker is Jiro Hirayama!
Honestly, Michelle’s schemes—like trying to push people into affairs—are nothing compared to Jiro Hirayama, who started grave-robbing and collecting specimens when he was just a kid!
Maybe the Hirayama Family is so fed up with Jiro’s extreme antics, they just ignore Michelle’s milder ones.
Alright, what happens when two troublemakers collide? This is going to be wild.
Rona said, "No way, I need to give Cecilia a heads-up—my niece has her sights set on her assistant's husband!"
Sure enough, when Cecilia heard that Jiro Hirayama’s niece was interested in Xiao A, she almost laughed herself sick on the spot.
After hanging up, Cecilia turned to Xiao Wang, who looked confused. "Xiao Wang, looks like you’ve got a rival in love."
Xiao Wang looked baffled. "Madam, don’t tease me. I know exactly what kind of person my Xiao A is. He’s been the CEO’s assistant for so long, surrounded by temptations, but he’s never strayed. When we got married, he was still a virgin."
Cecilia could barely stop laughing. "When Xiao A went to Japan for business, he ran into Jiro Hirayama’s niece, Michelle Hirayama, on the way back. Michelle immediately fell for him and insisted on marrying him. She even snuck off to China without her family’s permission!"
Xiao Wang burst out laughing. "It’s fine, I’m not worried. I trust Xiao A’s integrity! He would never betray me."
Just then, Charles Yin walked in from outside.
"Why are you home so early today?" Cecilia asked curiously. "Did you finish everything at the office?"
Charles hugged Cecilia as soon as he walked through the door. "There’s a banquet tonight. Go get ready and come with me."
"What kind of banquet?" Cecilia asked curiously. "Is it fancy?"
"Not too formal. It's at the Kerr Family's house," Charles replied with a smile. "Mrs. Kerr sent invitations—she's got some amazing treasure to show off. Rona got an invite too."
Cecilia looked up in surprise. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Rona's already married, so why is Mrs. Kerr still concerned?"
"Who knows?" Charles replied with a smile. "You could ask Rona if she's going."
Without another word, Cecilia dialed Rona. "Rona, I heard you got an invite from the Kerr Family too. Are you going?"
"Of course I'm going," Rona replied cheerfully. "If I didn't, I'd look guilty. I'm married now—nothing Mrs. Kerr does will affect me. Since she's got something amazing to show off, I have to see it for myself!"
That's Rona for you!
Never afraid of a challenge!
After hanging up, Cecilia said to Charles, "I need to keep an eye on Rona tonight. She's pregnant, so she can't get too worked up."
"Alright," Charles nodded. "I have a feeling tonight's going to be even more exciting."
Cecilia thought for a moment. With Mrs. Kerr's domineering personality, she was probably setting up another matchmaking event for Sean Kerr.
Mrs. Kerr is nothing like Mrs. Jiang.
Mrs. Jiang always respects her son's wishes.
But Mrs. Kerr only wants a daughter-in-law she likes!
Tsk tsk, I'm really curious what kind of daughter-in-law she'll choose!
Cecilia really underestimated Mrs. Kerr!
When Cecilia and Charles arrived at the Kerr Family's estate, Rona was already there.
But Rona didn't bring Jiro Hirayama—instead, she brought Michelle Hirayama.
Wendy, who was standing beside Cecilia, immediately fixed her gaze on Michelle.
The tension in the air was palpable.
Rona looked up and spotted Cecilia, immediately waving her over.
Cecilia nodded at Rona, then went to greet Mrs. Kerr and exchanged a few pleasantries. After saying hello to the others, she finally walked over to Rona.
Rona introduced while nibbling on food, "This is my eldest niece, Michelle. Michelle, this is Cecilia, and this is Xiao Wang, Xiao A’s wife."
Michelle immediately stood up politely to greet them. "Hello, Sister Cecilia. Hello, Sister Xiao Wang."
Rona couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Call me Aunt! And call them Aunt too! We're from different generations, you know? Call them Aunt Cecilia and Aunt Wang!"
Cecilia and Xiao Wang both burst out laughing at the same time.
Cecilia laughed, "I'm more than ten years older than you, so calling me Aunt is actually pretty accurate."
Xiao Wang agreed, "Yeah, we're really not that young anymore."
Michelle pouted, "No way! I have to call Rona Aunt because she's my uncle's wife. But you two didn’t marry into the Hirayama Family. If I call you Aunt, it makes me sound way too young!"
Michelle finally used her brain and didn’t say, 'If I call you Aunt, how could I ever end up with Uncle?'
Cecilia sat down across from Rona and asked in a low voice, "What kind of treasure did Mrs. Kerr get her hands on that she’d call us all here to show off?"
"Who knows?" Rona replied nonchalantly. "I’m just here for the food. I might be pregnant, my appetite’s been amazing lately."
Michelle looked around restlessly, unable to sit still.
Rona warned her, "No causing trouble!"
Michelle immediately promised, "I swear I won’t cause any trouble! I just want to walk around a bit!"
Rona needed to talk privately to Cecilia, so she nodded, "Just don’t wander off too far. The main event is about to start."
With Rona’s permission, Michelle bolted off like a wild horse, vanishing in an instant.
Xiao Wang knew Rona wanted to speak with Cecilia, so she said, "I’ll go get you some food."
Cecilia nodded.
After Xiao Wang left, Rona said to Cecilia, "You’ve seen my niece now, right? She’s only sixteen, but I bet she’s going to stir up a storm here. Have Xiao Wang keep an eye on her so nothing goes wrong."
Cecilia laughed, "Xiao Wang said she trusts Xiao A. But honestly, Michelle really does have her uncle’s style!"
"Yeah, for pure drama, the Japanese are always a notch above," Rona said seriously. "Their whole family is like a mix of adult Jump and shonen Jump manga."
Cecilia couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Honestly, Rona’s description was spot-on!
Jiro Hirayama is the adult Jump, and Michelle Hirayama is the shonen Jump!
"One more thing," Rona said calmly to Cecilia. "No matter what the Kerr Family decides tonight, don’t stand up for me."
Cecilia’s heart skipped a beat. "Did you already find something out?"
Rona gave a bitter smile. "I just found out—Sean Kerr got set up by his own mother!"
Cecilia’s eyes widened instantly. "What do you mean?"
Rona continued with a wry smile, "Remember how I ended up with Jiro Hirayama? We got caught in bed together. Mrs. Kerr thought that trick worked, so right before you arrived, she caught Sean Kerr in bed with another woman!"