Chapter 193
“Well, the show’s over. Let’s go p>
Mira took one last look at Mara before hearing Owen’s voice. She stood up and followed him out.
“Mara, what happened to you p>
Adrian had just walked in, only to see a disheveled Mara being dragged away by the police.
“Dad p>
Mara tried to lunge toward Adrian, but the two officers pulled her back.
There were strict protocols for detainees meeting with family members.
“Mira, what are you doing here p>
Adrian stared at her in sheer disbelief.
This was the first time they had crossed paths since Mira had left the Mercer family.
It had been two or three months, yet instead of looking miserable and destitute like
he had expected, Mira looked far more radiant than before. She even carried herself with a new sense of maturity and sharp competence.
Mira ignored him completely and kept walking.
His gaze then shifted to Owen, who was walking beside her.
“Who is he p>
Adrian asked, his brow furrowing deeply.
“He’s Mr. Lance from the bike-sharing company p>
the police officer answered.
“Why are you two together p>
Adrian looked back at Mira.
“I have to say, Mr. Mercer, you sure are nosy, aren’t you p>
“You ungrateful wretch, what did you just call me p>
The nearby officer looked utterly confused. “How do you two know each other p>
“He’s nobody to me. We’ve severed ties p>
Adrian glared at Mira, momentarily too stunned to formulate a comeback.
“Ex-father? What kind of relationship is an ex-father p>
The officer had heard of ex-husbands and ex-wives, but an ex-father?
“It’s basically the same as a stepfather p>
Owen chimed in to help Mira explain.
“Who said I’m a stepfather p>
Mr. Mercer roared in fury.
“No, he doesn’t even qualify as a stepfather p>
“He’s just the man who used to be my father. We have no relationship now whatsoever p>
Stepfathers were usually a lifelong commitment, and most actually treated their stepkids decently.
Mira patiently explained it to the officer, but the poor guy still looked completely bewildered.
He couldn’t wrap his head around having a ‘former’ and ‘current’ father. Wasn’t a father a lifelong thing?
Even an adoptive or stepfather was for life.
It wasn’t until his colleague tugged his arm that he finally snapped out of it.
“You ungrateful wretch p>
Adrian roared again.
But Mira just kept walking toward the exit with Owen, not even bothering to spare him a backward glance.
“He’s the General Manager of the bike-sharing company p>
Norman reminded Adrian.
Norman was feeling incredibly stressed. He had assumed this would be an easy fix,
but they had run into a wall that money couldn’t break.
The company refused to sign a settlement agreement and wouldn’t consider dropping the charges.
Meanwhile, Mr. Porter kept calling,
insisting that Mara couldn’t be
detained and ideally, the Mercer family should ever find out about his involvement.
When Mr. Porter caught wind of the situation, he was practically ready to murder Mara himself. He was right in the middle of a brutal corporate war with the Mercer family, and how his own pawn was causing
unnecessary chaos.
Why the hell would she smash someone else’s rental bikes? It was pure sabotage
with zero personal gain.
It wasn’t that Mr. Porter was a saint;
it was just that in business, every
action required a return on
investment. Only an absolute idiot
would pulla stunt that guaranteed
nothing but a massive loss.
Yet, he still had to force Norman to clean up the mess, because he had major plans
for Mara in the future.
If her public image collapsed now, she would be useless to him later.
Because the situation was deadlocked, Mr. Porter was already accusing Norman of incompetence.
On top of that, Lacey was blowing up Norman’s phone with back-to-back calls, demanding to know what happened and why they weren’t home yet.
Did anyone care how hard this was for him? Being a corporate spy was a nightmare.
Left with no other options, Norman had told Lacey the truth, spilling every single detail of Mara’s idiotic actions.
They spoiled her rotten and enabled her terrible behavior all day long, so they could deal with the headache themselves.
Hearing Norman’s reminder, Adrian suddenly realized they desperately needed the bike company’s settlement agreement.
“Wait p>
“We will absolutely not forgive a criminal who hires thugs to destroy our bikes p>
Owen answered without breaking his stride.
“You ungrateful wretch p>
Mira actually stopped and turned around.
“What? Do you want me to persuade him p>
“Ms. Mira p>
Mira held up a hand. “Stop right there. I don’t deserve that title p>
She looked dead at Adrian. “I remember very clearly when I left, you told me that
even if I died on the streets, you wouldn’t care p>