Rona Muir laughed along. "That's right! I was so mad just now. But seeing how he acted, I suddenly don't feel angry anymore. But, Cici, do you think this wedding will be lively?"
"More than lively," Cici replied. "Just wait and see! Make sure you don't get the short end of the stick!"
"Don't worry. Anyone who could take advantage of me is probably still in diapers!" Rona said confidently. "By the way, did you call me for something?"
"Oh, right! Look at me, chatting away and almost forgetting the real reason." Cici said seriously, "Mrs. Kerr started calling me, asking me out to lunch."
"Huh?!" Rona was stunned. "That was fast!"
"Yeah, I turned her down several times, but today I really couldn't refuse, so I met with Mrs. Kerr." Cici said, "She told me Sean Kerr won't answer her calls anymore. He stays at the office all day and doesn't even go to the hotel. All his meals are delivered, and when he's tired he just sleeps in the office lounge."
Rona mused, "Sounds like something happened at the hotel too."
"That's what I thought too, so I called Sean Kerr myself." Cici chuckled, "Guess what? Turns out Molly Mao went straight to the hotel room to corner Sean! The hotel is owned by the Kerr Family, so Mrs. Kerr easily found out Sean's room number, got a room card, and sent Molly to wait for him there."
"But when Sean saw Molly in the room, he turned around and left, didn't even give her a chance to explain." Cici continued, "Later he realized that no matter which hotel he stayed at, Mrs. Kerr would always find out. So he got fed up and started sleeping at the office instead! The company uses fingerprint access—Mrs. Kerr can get into the building, but not Sean's lounge!"
"So with nowhere else to turn, Mrs. Kerr thought of me again—wanted me to help get Sean out." Cici sighed, "Sorry, but that's just not something I can do!"
Rona burst out laughing. "There's actually something you can't do? But honestly, it's better if you stay out of this. No matter what Sean does, it's his own business. As friends, we support him, but we shouldn't meddle."
"Alright, nothing special on my end. As long as everything goes smoothly for you, just come back soon after the wedding." Cici said, "I won't interrupt your newlywed bliss—sayonara!"
After hanging up, Rona chuckled softly.
Looks like Sean Kerr is really determined this time.
Seems like this time, being set up really pushed Sean to his limit.
Otherwise, he would never go this far.
Oh well, it's his business. Best not to get involved.
It's all up to him now—better for me not to interfere.
Jiro Hirayama soon returned.
As soon as he walked in, he saw Rona sitting there lost in thought.
Jiro Hirayama thought Rona Muir was upset, so he rushed over, knelt down beside her, and looked at her with a face full of grievance. "I didn't get the short end of the stick."
Rona Muir chuckled and lowered her head to look at Jiro Hirayama.
Jiro thought Rona was jealous. He quickly pulled out three syringes from his pocket and said, "See? I came prepared. I didn't get the short end of the stick. She's no match for me."
Rona's eyes flickered, and she finally understood what Jiro meant.
So, when he said 'getting the short end of the stick,' he actually meant letting Miss Akane take advantage of him!
He said he didn't let her take advantage of him!
Rona suddenly found her own man's logic so adorably simple!
Rona smiled. "I believe you."
Only then did Jiro Hirayama break into a happy smile. "Nana, let's go get our blood drawn!"
The smile on Rona's face froze for a moment!
Here we go again!
Seriously, if you don't run experiments, will you just die?!
No matter what went on between Miss Akane and Jiro Hirayama, the wedding between Miss Akane and Jiro's cousin was finally about to begin.
Early that morning, Rona got herself ready, took Jiro's hand, and—surrounded by a group of bodyguards—headed in grand style to the wedding venue.
The wedding was Western-style, not traditional Japanese.
So Rona felt... well, zero pressure.
Anyway, today she's just attending as a family member, nothing more.
From a distance, she saw Lady Mei and Jiro's cousin walking this way, with Lady Mei's wife and a bunch of little kids trailing behind—some as old as fourteen or fifteen, others just two or three.
No matter who they were, every single one wore that icy, poker-faced look—a carbon copy of Jiro's cousin.
"Big bro, big sis!" Rona called out with a smile and nodded in greeting.
Jiro followed suit and shouted once, then fell silent.
His cousin's wife smiled at Rona, "These days, it's been such a headache having the younger siblings help look after Lady Mei."
Even as the matriarch, she still put on a polite front.
Though she always let Lady Mei do as she pleased, that's probably why Mei turned out such a quirky teenager.
On the surface, everything seemed fine.
"Come on, we're all family here," Rona replied with a smile. "Mei is doing great at the Sacred Asia Academy, and the teaching staff there is top-notch. All her classmates are noble kids, so there's no need to worry about bad influences."
The women of both families handled the greetings, while Jiro and his cousin just exchanged glances, their silent communication already complete.
Once the women were done chatting, everyone found their seats and got ready for the ceremony.
The wedding was grand, with a huge crowd.
Of course, even though Jiro's cousin's father and Mr. Hirayama are just brothers, they're still big names around here.
No way the wedding would be small!
Rona watched for a while and started to feel her back ache.
Someone nearby noticed Rona looked uncomfortable and immediately invited her to rest in the lounge for a bit.
No one was going to question whether Rona should be resting right now.
Who would dare question it?
Didn't they see how Jiro kept fussing over his wife, constantly on edge?
This mad scientist would go to any lengths for her!
Mess with anyone you want, just don't mess with him!
If you mess with someone else, maybe you can talk your way out of it.
But if you mess with Jiro Hirayama, you might as well dig your own grave!
Right now, Rona is pregnant, so it's definitely a special case!
The Hirayama family never says a word, so who would dare gossip?
Rona quickly went to a lounge at the side to lie down and rest her back.
As her pregnancy progressed, she could sit for less and less time.
As soon as Rona lay down, she actually fell into a deep sleep.
Just like that, after a quick nap, the wedding outside was already over.
She heard footsteps outside, and someone said, "Miss Akane, would you like to rest a bit longer? There are more activities coming up soon."
"Okay, I'll rest for a while. Please don't disturb me for now," Rona replied. "Just call me when the next event starts."
"Of course." The footsteps gradually faded away.
Rona heard someone enter, so she sat up, got herself together, and prepared to head out and rejoin the ceremony.
Before Rona could stand, she saw a woman in a wedding dress walk in from outside.
Rona had seen her on video before—despite the heavy makeup, her face still couldn't hide her sadness.
Apparently, Miss Akane hadn't expected to run into Rona in the lounge.
The two of them met, completely unprepared.
One was the ex-wife, now a cousin-in-law.
The other was the little sister-in-law, now the current wife.
Talk about complicated!
Rona was the first to react. She smiled and greeted, "Cousin-in-law, congratulations."
Rona spoke in Chinese.
Miss Akane smiled back. "You should say 'double happiness.'"
Miss Akane also replied in Chinese.
"Turns out your Chinese is pretty good," Rona continued in Chinese. "Too bad my Japanese is terrible—I'm not as good as you in that area."
"Yeah, my Chinese is actually pretty good. I learned it with Jiro!" Miss Akane said, giving Rona a challenging look. She glanced at Rona's rounded belly, clearly annoyed.
Rona pretended not to notice the hint, her face innocent and full of realization. "So that's it! I always wondered why Jiro's Chinese was so good—turns out he had your help. Thank you so much, cousin-in-law, for raising such a wonderful husband for me. I'm really grateful. Life in China is so easy for us, it's honestly amazing."
Tch, how childish!
With skills like yours, you think you can get under my skin?
When it comes to playing house, sis, you didn't even know the rules!
Hearing Rona say that, Miss Akane's face turned a little sour.
"Jiro really is something. He learned Chinese from you, but never told me. Otherwise, I would've brought a thank-you gift this time." Rona continued, "But you know, cousin-in-law, Jiro's got principles. If it's any woman other than me, he won't even look her in the eye. Ah, it's really a headache! By the way, cousin-in-law, I hear you're very happy now! I heard your husband treats you well, so you must be happy too!"
Seeing Rona's innocent expression, Miss Akane felt a rush of blood to her chest.
This Chinese woman is definitely not simple!
"Did Jiro ever tell you about my past with him? We used to..." Miss Akane couldn't stand it. How could she just watch Rona being so happy with Jiro? She couldn't have Jiro, but she had to make Rona uncomfortable!
Before she could finish, Rona suddenly looked past Miss Akane and smiled, "Big brother, congratulations!"
Miss Akane's next words got stuck in her throat, and she didn't dare say another word.