A/N: Today is the 2nd Christmas Day and it is sunny -10°C outside. The cars are frozen, just like the lock on my mailbox and the mail slot. But luckily I'm here in my apartment at a cozy 21°C writing a new chapter for you.

Chapter 14

It was not even seven o'clock in the morning when Yibo's apartment doorbell rang. He cursed angrily, because he was still very tired. And anyway, he had planned to stay in bed with Zhan for a long time and sleep in properly for once. Grumpily, Yibo crawled out of the cozy warm bed and went to the apartment door, while Zhan refused to get up and snuggled into the blanket, trying to sleep on.

Yibo opened the door and standing in front of him was a strange man in an expensive black suit. He held a black classy briefcase in his hand and introduced himself as Attorney Choi. His mother's new expensive lawyer. Without wasting much time on pleasantries, the lawyer said, "Your mother sent me. But I don't want to explain that here in the hallway."

"And at this hour? I mean, it's not even seven o'clock. I was still asleep." Replied Yibo somewhat angrily.

"Unfortunately, I have a lot of appointments today, so I had to come here now."

"Well then, come in." Replied Yibo and let the lawyer into the apartment. If it wasn't his mother's new star lawyer and if he wasn't so curious, he probably would have sent him away again saying to make an appointment with him like everyone else.

Not wanting to talk to the lawyer alone and wanting a witness to the conversation, Yibo went into the bedroom and woke Zhan. In a sweet voice, he asked him to please get up and help him. Of course, Zhan could not resist his charm. So he too got out of bed, put on a robe and accompanied Yibo to the living room, where the lawyer was already waiting impatiently.

The lawyer had already used the time to get some documents from his briefcase and spread them out on the living room table. Documents at the sight of which Zhan and Yibo were confused as they came into the living room and sat down on the sofa. "So, what is all this?" Yibo asked.

"Well, are you aware of who the owner of this apartment is?" Asked the lawyer.

"Yes, my parents."

"Not exactly. The owner is your mother. She got the apartment as a wedding gift from her parents. She never registered your father with it. Therefore, she alone owns this apartment."

"So, does she want me to move out now? Or do you want me to sign a lease?"

"No. Your mother wants to do a transfer of ownership. That means she wants to give you her apartment."

"Why? I don't want to sound ungrateful, and I'm glad too. But why does she want to give me her apartment?"

"Because she wants you to be covered. She doesn't want you to continue to depend on her and your father."

"I don't want that either. But I don't think an apartment alone will do much good."

"That's true. That's why she wants to leave you a quarter of her estate. Your brother gets a quarter, too."

"So wait a minute. She's giving me her apartment and a quarter of her fortune, and just like that? Just so I can be independent of my father?"

"Just like that isn't right either. In exchange, she expects you and your brother not to get involved with your father. She wants you two to stay out of it."

"What exactly does she have in mind?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"I see. So, I get the apartment and the money, and in return, I'm just supposed to stay out of what she's up to with our father?"

"Yes. That's right."

"I wasn't planning on getting involved anyway."

"All the better. All you have to do is read through the contracts and return them to me signed." Explained attorney Choi.

Zhan took the documents and read them. He knew a little about it and said, "I would like to show these to my father. And if he says everything is fine, then Yibo can sign them." The lawyer agreed. He agreed with Yibo that he would call the lawyer as soon as he had the contracts reviewed and signed. Then the lawyer said goodbye and left.

Yibo was so surprised by all this that he didn't know what to say or think. First the call from his mother last night and now the lawyer acting on his mother's behalf. What is his mother up to? And why has she never shown what Yibo really means to her in all these years?

Since sleep was now out of the question, the two of them got ready, got dressed, had some breakfast, and then drove to Zhan's father's office. They had already informed him of their arrival from the road and when they arrived at his office, they found two hot cups of tea and some pastries.

Zhan handed the contracts to his father, who then immediately set about reviewing them with a lawyer who works in the legal department. And after only half an hour, the lawyer handed the contracts to Yibo and said, "So these contracts you can sign without hesitation. They just say that the apartment is given to you as a gift and you are the sole owner. And the one about transferring a quarter of your mother's fortune is also good. There's just this one condition that says you can't interfere in your parents' business. The lawyer told the truth."

"And she didn't tell you any of this? She just sent her lawyer with it?" Asked Zhan's father after Yibo and Zhan told him about the call from Yibo's mother.

"No nothing. She was thinking yeah she's talking to my big brother. And then she thought she was talking to someone else. I think she really didn't realize she was talking to me." Replied Yibo.

"I see. I suspect that whatever she has planned for your father will cause him to lose all his money and possessions. And so that you and your brother don't have to suffer as well, she's giving you the money."

"Then whatever she has in her hand against my father must really be enormously incriminating."

"Maybe. The good thing is, she doesn't want to drag you and your brother into all this. So you should accept her offers and really try to stay out of it."

"Well, I wasn't going to get involved anyway. I've got better things to do. Like spending my time as meaningfully and nicely as possible with Zhan."

"I like hearing that my son is so important to you."

"He is. Very much so. I would love to keep him with me forever. I love spending time with him so much that I wouldn't even want to let him go home on Sunday."

"It's only been a few days. Maybe tomorrow you'll see it differently."

"No way. The few days with him have already shown me that. I want to be with him and live together. Not just for a week, but forever."

"Well Yibo, I can only offer you to talk about it with my wife and me this weekend. Zhan is an adult and can decide for himself, of course..."

"Dad! I don't make decisions like this on my own. I want both of your consent." Zhan interjected into the conversation.

"I also want your consent." Explained Yibo.

Zhan's father smiled and said, "Then both of you come to lunch on Sunday and we'll talk about it together. And I'm sure we'll be able to come to a decision that pleases us all."

Should Yibo really be so lucky, and in addition to his freedom, soon, his independence from his parents, then get permission for Zhan to move in with him and live with him? Because during the conversation just now, Yibo didn't have the impression that Zhan's father was fundamentally against Zhan moving in with him.

Since Zhan's father had to continue working and Yibo was also planning to talk to his brother about the phone call with his mother, the two of them set off again and went directly to the company next.

They went to see Hai Kuan in his office, who was sitting at his desk with nothing to do because the Tax Investigation Department had confiscated his hard drive from his computer and he was still waiting to get a new hard drive from IT.

After Hai Kuan explained why he couldn't work, Yibo immediately wanted to tell him about the phone call with their mother. But Hai Kuan forestalled him and told him that their mother had called him that night around 1 a.m. and thought she was talking to Yibo. Yibo almost had to laugh when he heard that and told his confused brother that he also got a call where their mother thought she was talking to Hai Kuan.

They told each other what their mother said. Which was nothing different than what her mother had said to Yibo. Except that with Hai Kuan, she also mentioned that she would just do anything for her two sons. And that she wanted to free Hai Kuan from his unhappy marriage and even save him from it. What he found very strange, after she and his father had forced him into this marriage.

And Hai Kuan reported that he also received a visit from their mother's lawyer and after briefly reading the contracts, he had already decided to sign the contracts immediately. In it, it was about the quarter of their mother's fortune, but also another apartment that their mother had bought a very long time ago, without their father knowing. She now wants to hand over this apartment to Hai Kuan and give it to him as a gift. And of course on the same terms as Yibo, that Hai Kuan will stay out of everything and keep to himself where he got the money and the apartment from.

"Where is dad anyway?" Yibo asked.

"He's at a business dinner with an businessman from Norway. From the looks of it, he's not worried. After his lawyers got him away from the interrogation yesterday, he'd been out celebrating with our uncle. And my wife was there too." Explained Hai Kuan.

"She was celebrating with them?"

"Yes. And supposedly she spent the night in my old childhood room because she was too drunk to drive home."

"Yeah right. Your old room is empty. So where did she sleep there? On the floor?"

"That's what I asked her, and she said it could have been your room. As drunk as she was, she wouldn't have known the difference."

"But she should have noticed it this morning at the latest."

"That's what I told her. But she denied it and said she was too dazed. No matter what I say, she always has an excuse."

"Well, luckily you have your own apartment now. You can move in there and have your peace from her."

"Mn. And as soon as Mom's money is in my account, I'm going to quit here. I'm going to get a new job. I can't stand the sight of Dad anymore. That lying bastard! I just hate him so much."

"I can understand that, big brother. But don't get too upset with him. You'd better save your energy for your move. You shouldn't take too much time to do it."

"I want to move this week. Now I just need proof of my wife's unfaithfulness."

"Mhhh, I think mom will take care of that. She won't have told you for nothing that she wants to get you out of your marriage."

"You really think so?"

"Sure. Just give her some time."

"Oh wow. You could easily make a soap opera out of the drama in your family. Or write a novel. I'm sure if you dig just a little deeper with your family, you'll find many more interesting stories." Said Zhan shaking his head.

Zhan had always enjoyed watching or reading dramas and soap operas. But to be able to find and witness such stories in reality, he never thought he would. Perhaps because he grew up very sheltered and his parents were always loving and honest, he just never imagined that such things as he saw on TV could really happen to someone else.

And now that he is at least a small part of this drama, he just wishes it would end and he could finally have a calm and normal relationship with Yibo. Because being a part of a family drama was not so funny to him and also prevented him from getting completely involved with Yibo and the relationship. Because he keeps wondering what will happen next?