The history teacher completely ignored Michelle Hirayama and explained to Cecilia Gu, "Chairwoman, I really didn’t do anything to her!"
"Tomorrow, go to the office and adjust your position for further observation," Cecilia Gu ordered directly. "Alright, that’s the end of this matter."
Before the history teacher could respond, everyone quickly dispersed.
The history teacher regretted it so much, he almost turned green with remorse!
It’s over, it’s over—he’s left a bad impression on the Chairwoman!
It’s over, it’s over—there’s no hope for his promotion this year!
It’s over, it’s over—his bonus is probably gone too!
He thought about a lot of things, except for what Michelle Hirayama would go through after being taken away.
Rona Muir took Michelle Hirayama straight back to her own home.
As Chairwoman, Cecilia Gu couldn’t just stand by, so she followed them.
The moment they entered, Jiro Hirayama gave a light command: "Knock her out and throw her into my lab."
Michelle Hirayama was instantly terrified, screaming and hiding behind Rona Muir like a pig being slaughtered. "No, I don’t want to be dissected by Uncle! Auntie, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, please save me! Uncle always means what he says! When he was little, he even dared to dig up other people’s graves—in Japan, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do! Auntie, Chairwoman, please save me!"
Rona Muir and Cecilia Gu saw that Michelle Hirayama was genuinely scared out of her wits and sighed inwardly.
For someone so afraid, to still be this unruly—there’s really no one else like her!
Jiro Hirayama snorted coldly, "You still dare to disobey here?"
Michelle Hirayama dropped to her knees with a thud in front of Jiro Hirayama. "Uncle, I really know I was wrong! Please don’t dissect me!"
Cecilia Gu couldn’t help but say, "Tell us, what’s really going on here?"
Michelle Hirayama’s eyes were filled with panic, and she could barely get her words out.
Rona Muir finally couldn’t help but say, "Alright, alright, without my permission, he won’t do anything to you. Get up and speak. Answer whatever you’re asked!"
Michelle Hirayama glanced cautiously at Jiro Hirayama, who snorted, turned away arrogantly, and left Rona Muir and Cecilia Gu behind as he headed to his own lab.
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir knew exactly what kind of temperament Jiro Hirayama had, so they ignored him and focused on questioning Michelle Hirayama.
Once Jiro Hirayama left, Michelle Hirayama felt like her soul finally returned to her body. She shivered and said, "I just like him! He clearly agreed! Why did he suddenly change his mind?"
Cecilia Gu sighed and shook her head, pulling Rona Muir to sit down and talk. She turned to Michelle Hirayama and asked, "How did you two get together? Tell us everything."
"It’s nothing! He was the teacher, I was the student. I thought he was really knowledgeable and perfect for me," Michelle answered through her sobs. "So I told him I liked him and wanted to date, and he agreed! We went on a few dates, I said I wanted to marry him, and he agreed! Then I returned home and told my family I wanted to marry him, but they just refused... When I came back, I wanted to talk with him and figure things out, but I didn’t expect..."
Cecilia Gu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Teenage girl problems really are a headache!
Hopefully when my own Yi Nuo grows up, she won’t be this dramatic!
"You don’t even know his basic background and you want to marry him?" Cecilia sighed, pulling out a file from her bag and handing it to Michelle Hirayama. "This is all his information. I got it from the school archives."
Michelle hesitantly reached out for it, skimmed through, and her face fell.
Rona Muir found it odd, so she took the file from Michelle and looked at it closely—she almost blew her top.
"What? This teacher has been divorced for three years, cheated during his marriage, and got three girlfriends pregnant at the same time?" Rona Muir almost lost control of her rage.
Michelle Hirayama hadn’t expected this at all and was completely stunned.
"This is partly my fault," Cecilia Gu sighed. "Before, my mother-in-law managed the academy, but she spent six years in the Americas recovering, so she rarely oversaw things here. When I took over Saint Diana Academy, I soon got pregnant, and with so much piling up, I neglected to check the teachers’ ethics. That’s how loopholes and problems like this happened."
"Now the school will re-examine this teacher’s qualifications and character. Michelle, do you still think he’s the man you must marry?" Cecilia asked. "You have Japanese citizenship, so you can decide your own future. But this is China—in China, girls aren’t allowed to marry at sixteen. Do you understand?"
Michelle stayed silent.
"Since you’re studying at Saint Diana Academy, as Chairwoman I have the right and responsibility to investigate everything. Michelle, if you insist on your decision, you’ll have to withdraw from school," Cecilia said firmly. "Because at my school, except for the university division, teacher-student relationships are forbidden in high school, middle school, elementary, and kindergarten. In China, you’re only an adult at eighteen, with full civil and criminal capacity. Do you understand?"
Michelle still said nothing.
Rona Muir grew impatient. "If you won’t listen to us, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just have someone send you back to your family in Japan and let them teach you."
Michelle finally spoke up: "I’m not going back."
"Why not?" Cecilia couldn’t help asking. "If you go back to Japan, you could get married!"
"I don’t like living in Japan," Michelle answered quietly. "No one cares about me there. Here, at least someone does."
(Irrelevant system message, skip translation.)
Rona Muir gave Cecilia Gu a look.
Cecilia said, "Think carefully about it. We’ll ask for your final decision later. You’re sixteen, so you don’t have full civil or criminal capacity yet, but you can still tell right from wrong. Think seriously about your future."
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir turned and left for the study.
Rona Muir sighed and said to Cecilia, "I’ve been so busy helping your child with school enrollment lately, I forgot to fill you in. Michelle’s situation is pretty complicated. I went home for Amy Inoue and Henry Hirayama’s wedding and checked up on our family’s situation. Michelle’s story is hard to explain. David Hirayama fell in love at first sight with Michelle’s birth mother, but their families weren’t a good match. So they secretly had Michelle."
"Originally, Michelle’s birth was supposed to get her mother into the Hirayama family, but she wasn’t lucky. She died of hemorrhage not long after giving birth. At that time, another family close to the Hirayamas proposed a marriage alliance, and my father-in-law agreed. The families quickly joined, and Michelle’s position became awkward. She’s the eldest granddaughter of the third generation, but not born to the main wife. Jiro told me his brother married the first sister-in-law, but when I checked in Japan, they’d only made a private promise, not an official marriage."
"They just held a wedding, no legal registration. So Michelle’s mom could be called David Hirayama’s first wife, or just a former girlfriend. Her status was awkward. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is decent, so she didn’t treat Michelle too badly or too well—she just raised her outside the family. Only when Michelle grew older did she move back in."
"But the abandonment left a shadow in Michelle’s heart. That’s one reason for her dramatic behavior. She seems to like much older men, probably because of a lack of security," Rona continued. "This time, the Hirayama family’s attitude was fair—they trusted me and gave me full authority. Cici, what do you think we should do?"
Cecilia Gu sighed. "I didn’t expect such a hidden story. No wonder she liked Xiao A and then that history teacher. It really shows a lack of confidence and security. This child can still be saved—since your in-laws gave you full authority, let’s do our best to help her."
"That history teacher can’t stay. Not just because of what happened with Michelle, but his character isn’t fit for teaching," Cecilia continued. "Don’t worry about the school—I’ll adjust the staff and make sure Michelle gets female teachers whenever possible."
Rona Muir nodded. "Honestly, I really sympathize and feel for this child. You and I are both mothers, so we understand this feeling best."
"Yes," Cecilia nodded.
"Even though she’s Jiro Hirayama’s niece, I treat her almost like my own child," Rona sighed. "I guess I’m just soft-hearted. Cici, I’ll leave the school’s education to you."
"Understood," Cecilia smiled. "I know how you feel."
Because of love, we don’t give up.
Because I love my husband, I want to treat his family kindly.
After discussing, the two returned to the living room.
Michelle Hirayama sat there, dazed and in tears.
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir exchanged glances—why was this child crying so hard?
Suddenly, Michelle looked up at Rona Muir and couldn’t hold back anymore. She burst out crying, "Auntie, why aren’t you my mother?"