342 Break up
An Xiulan was sitting on her desk, staring out of the window sighing. Instead of working on her cases, she was staring at nothing for no reason and her thoughts were all over the place.
“What’s up with her?” Zhang Yiming asked as he looked at An Xiulan who looked really down today.
“I think she broke up with her boyfriend, ” Ming Jun said. “That’s why she looks so crestfallen.”
“Who broke up with who?” The intern asked as she came inside to leave some files.
“Xiaoqi, stop being nosy, ” Ming Jun gave her a look.
The intern Xiaoqi pouted but she placed the files on the desk and went out. As she came out of the office, she looked at the other intern and said, “Guys, I think Miss An is nursing a broken heart. I heard she broke up with her boyfriend.”
“That boy must be a jerk to break up with Miss An. She is so pretty, gentle and intelligent. Do you think something is wrong with the boy’s eyes?” Another intern grumbled.
Xiaoqi nodded her head. “Boys are jerks and now we found out they are blind too. If they can break up with someone as perfect as Miss An, do you think we are safe?”
The other intern began feeling bad for An Xiulan. The feeling of sympathy was shared by the entire office as the news of An Xiulan’s breakup flew from one intern to another intern. In every department, An Xiulan and her breakup was the hot topic.
During the lunch break, An Xiulan walked to the cafeteria alone as Ming Jun was working on a case and Zhang Yiming had gone to attend a meeting with Mr Long, their boss. Throughout the entire lunch break, she was receiving looks of sympathy. She couldn’t help but think why people were behaving so weirdly in the office.
When the lunch break ended, she was on the way to her office when she saw the CEO’s assistant on the way and heard that Amanda Ning was calling her to her office. She knocked on the door before entering.
“Miss Ning, you called for me?” An Xiulan questioned.
Amanda nodded her head. “Please take a seat. How are you?”
An Xiulan couldn’t understand this foreign concern but she smiled and said that she was doing fine. “I believe you have a case for me.”
“Mr Lu talked with you about the company’s decisions to give you other cases, “Amanda said. “What do you think about it?”
“Well, I’m not as against it as I was earlier. But I don’t want to be forced to take cases that I feel are not for me, ” An Xiulan said. “And I don’t want to be put in a different team. I don’t mind taking more civil law cases but I don’t want to give up on criminal law cases.”
“Rest assured, nothing that you fear will happen, ” Amanda assured her. She showed her the file and said, “This is the case I want you to take.”
An Xiulan opened the file and furrowed her brows when she saw that it was a divorce case. “This looks quite messy.”
Amanda sighed. “It is. The client is my father’s friend’s son. That’s why I’m told to do everything in my power to help him out but I have never seen such a messy case in my entire career. The Client’s name is Liu Han. He fell in love with his wife in college and married when they graduated. Everything was going fine between them until they were not married. They were like those couples in romantic movies that everyone gushes about. But when they got married, problems popped up one after another. A few days back, his wife sent him divorce papers. He retorted by sending a notice that said he will not accept the divorce papers as he knows that his mother-in-law is manipulating his wife. One thing led to another and the supposed mother-in-law proved that Mr Liu was mentally and emotionally harassing his wife. I guess you know what to do.”
An Xiulan read the case file and felt a headache coming. She couldn’t help but say, “The story was like a typical TV drama story.”
“Oh, you will be surprised to know that Mrs Liu is a celebrity, ” Amanda smiled.
An Xiulan looked at Amanda and then reached the last page of the file where a picture of Mr and Mr Liu was glued.
“That’s Mu Wanwan, ” An Xiulan said in disbelief.
“You know her?” Amanda asked, surprised.
“We went to the same high school, ” An Xiulan answered. “She was in the same class as my brothers. I’m surprised she got married. She was younger than all of us.” She paused for a moment and then said, “This means the mother-in-law is Yang Zi.”
Amanda nodded her head. “What do you think about Miss Mu and Miss Yang?”
“It’s been seven years and I don’t even recall anything about them, ” An Xiulan said. She asked again. “Are you still giving the case to me knowing I went to the same high school as Miss Mu?”
“It’s not like you were besties, ” Amanda said. “I still think you are perfect for this case. Would you like to meet Mr Liu?”
An Xiulan nodded her head.
“He will be here in a few minutes, ” Amanda said. It didn’t take long for Mr Liu to arrive. The interview took place in the conference room where no one was present except for An Xiulan and him.
“Mr Liu, why do you think Miss Yang is manipulating her own daughter?” An Xiulan questioned. “As far as I know, Miss Mu and Miss Yang share a very harmonious relationship. Although Miss Yang is Miss Mu’s stepdaughter, she treats Miss Mu very well.”
Liu Han sighed. “I’m not denying that. She really treats Wanwan very well. But she tends to control everything in Wanwan’s life from what she studies to what kind of career she could get into.”