Chapter 208
by Need_More_SleepChapter 208: Buy Me
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
In the living room, Gloria clung tightly to Mi Xiaoliu, refusing to let go—yet careful not to squeeze too hard and hurt her.
Nuomi circled around Mi Xiaoliu’s feet, unwilling to let her leave.
“I want to go home.”
Mi Xiaoliu, too, didn’t dare struggle too forcefully, afraid Gloria might hit her.
Gloria used to knock her on the head. It hurt.
“This is your home. I’m your real sister,” Gloria insisted, her grip unyielding. “No one here will hurt you.”
“I want Heli.”
“Heli is on a business trip. She won’t be back for a long time. Stay here for now.” The Chairwoman gently stroked her head.
This was the first time in days she’d been able to touch Mi Xiaoliu—even if it was only because Gloria was holding her in place.
My precious daughter.
She knew Misha might never forgive her. After all, she had once coldly declared, “Let Misha die.”
Now, she wanted nothing more than to make amends—to ensure her daughter’s safety and happiness, if only to ease her own guilt.
At the very least, maybe they could update the family portrait.
“Give Mommy a chance to make things right, okay? Mommy has money now. I’ll buy you anything you want.”
That was why she had sent Heli away.
It was only natural. Even if it wasn’t what Misha wanted, the Chairwoman couldn’t bear to see the woman who had stolen her daughter—especially when Heli’s goal was to resurrect the very person who had tortured Misha.
The fact that she hadn’t stormed the lab with an RPG to desecrate the corpse was already a show of restraint.
Mi Xiaoliu stopped struggling.
Gloria still didn’t let go, afraid her sister would bolt the moment she loosened her grip.
“Don’t be scared. Daddy’s home—he’ll protect you. Have something to eat first.” The Chairwoman brought an egg tart to her lips.
Mi Xiaoliu turned her head away.
The Chairwoman stepped back and handed the tart to Okulet, signaling him to try.
A few of the newly hired bodyguards in the living room twitched at the sight. So this was the intruder who broke into the Lasvedo mansion that day. No wonder the master had ordered them to stand down.
Which meant the man of the house—kept by his wife, jobless, claiming to be an ex-cop—had gotten his ass handed to him by his 13-years-old daughter.
Why do rich women always go for pretty boys with no backbone?
Mi Xiaoliu still refused to eat. Barefoot, she retreated to a corner of the bedroom—Gloria had carried her over in just her pajamas, without shoes.
“Master…” Sasha spoke up but didn’t know how to comfort her.
Okulet knocked and entered, placing food on the bedside table. “Eat something. Heli wouldn’t be happy if you starved yourself.”
Mi Xiaoliu sat silently on the bed, hugging her knees, motionless.
“…Eat while it’s warm. If she comes back and sees you this thin, she’ll be sad.” Okulet gently patted her head and left.
He felt ashamed. In his early years as a cop, and later hunting the Red Prince, he’d never had time to learn how to raise a child.
But his old subordinates once told him, if a kid refuses to eat out of stubbornness, just beat them once. They’ll behave.
Of course, that wasn’t an option here. Okulet could only hope Mi Xiaoliu would “secretly” eat once she was alone.
But when he checked later, the food remained untouched—now cold.
“Young Miss.”
By noon, when Shen Qing knocked on the door, Mi Xiaoliu was still curled in the same spot, staring blankly at the wall. Her phone buzzed repeatedly with unread messages from Yiwen.
She didn’t try to run back. She didn’t eat.
Motionless. Even when food was brought to her lips. Even when her stomach growled.
It broke the Chairwoman’s heart.
“…Take her back.” She forced out the decision.
“Back.” What a bitter word. Three people in this room shared blood with that child. This should have been her home.
A child she carried for nine months—now so distant, because she had been the one to abandon her first…
“Take my car.” The Chairwoman handed the keys to Okulet.
His own car had been towed that day for obstructing traffic.
But she had no intention of letting Heli return. She couldn’t be sure of Heli’s true motives.
If her daughter had died, and some undead creature suddenly appeared before her—she would never let that thing walk free.
Okulet shook his head.
“A forced melon won’t be sweet,” he had already said.
Okulet entered the room: “Eat something first, then I’ll take you home.”
Mi Xiaoliu remained motionless, hugging her knees with her head bowed quietly.
“No strength left?” Okulet walked over, trying to help her up.
Mi Xiaoliu slumped against him, her body burning with fever, her breathing labored.
Unlike the warmth from Yiwen’s touch, this was an abnormal heat—a high fever.
“Doctor!”
“Misha!”
In her dazed state, Mi Xiaoliu saw chaos erupt outside.
“Sweetheart, we’re almost at the hospital…”
Someone tried to give her an injection.
Mi Xiaoliu, now clad in her new combat outfit, resisted fiercely and ended up jabbing the doctor instead. But as her weakened body finally gave in, she fell into true unconsciousness.
People don’t easily catch fevers in summer.
……
“It’s nothing critical—her Dark Element has worsened. Start her on a day of steam therapy. And don’t let her use her abilities anymore.”
This day had finally come.
“Dark Element worsening? The doctor said it would take at least a year…”
When the police received Yiwen’s missing person report, Officer Humpback Whale immediately called Okulet—only to get the shocking reply that this was his biological daughter.
And now, she is in the hospital.
Bowing his nearly ceiling-scraping bald head, he was overcome with guilt.
The child Wei Shi had entrusted to him before leaving—he’d barely checked on her, treating it as just another duty. And now, the call came that she was hospitalized again.
“This is normal. Dark Element worsens with ability usage. What’s puzzling is that it took this long to deteriorate, given how recklessly she’s been using her powers.”
The Lasvedo family’s elderly doctor pointed out the window at the 11.3-kilometer-long blue line scorched into the city.
He rubbed his arm.
To give this girl an injection, he’d first endured several stabs himself before resorting to a specially reinforced needle to pierce her skin.
Kids these days—their fear of shots has reached absurd levels.
As for “reckless ability usage,” he was referring to Mi Xiaoliu’s previous antics—dashing wildly through the city, hurling buildings and bridges around.
“She has the Dark Element…” The Chairwoman stood frozen, momentarily dazed.
A vague memory surfaced—Heli had mentioned this before, but at the time, she hadn’t cared. Why would she bother about some random kid’s illness?
But this was an incurable disease, one humanity still hadn’t conquered.
No wonder Heli had shifted her research focus to Dark Element back then.
She took a shaky step back—she’d lost count of how many times her legs had given way these past two days.
Why must fate treat my daughter like this?
————————
“Awake? Heard you refused to eat while I was gone?”
When Mi Xiaoliu opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Heli. The second was Yiwen, barred from entering at the door after gifting a cockroach taxidermy specimen.
Yiwen glared resentfully.
You mama’s girl, ignoring your “boyfriend’s” messages the moment the school nurse left. Had me worried sick.
She’d have to intensify her time-dilation training—maybe slow down just the Dark Element’s progression. Her father’s whereabouts would have to wait.
Though the Chairwoman had told Heli to get lost, she hadn’t left immediately. Transporting her sister’s corpse wasn’t a quick task—freezer pods weren’t small, and moving a body openly wasn’t an option.
She’d also compiled extensive Dark Element research data and optimized inhibitor formulas for the Chairwoman, not bothering to overexplain herself.
And then she’d been summoned back—ordered to continue her Dark Element research.
Tossed aside when unwanted, called back when needed.
Though furious, she’d returned without protest.
Mi Xiaoliu clung to her: “Missed you.”
“I was gone one day.” Heli patted her back. “You stop eating the moment I leave?”
Mi Xiaoliu stayed pressed against her, silent.
“She’s your mother. I’m not.” Heli said flatly.
Immediately, she felt Mi Xiaoliu’s grip tighten on her clothes, refusing to let go.
“Hey!” Yiwen snapped from the doorway.
Everyone sees you as her mother—even you seem to enjoy it. Why say something so cruel?
“Here.” Mi Xiaoliu pulled out a bank card from her wallet and handed it to Heli.
“What’s this for?” Heli blinked.
Mi Xiaoliu looked up: “Buy me.”
Inside was tens of thousands of Mira—savings from months of unspent memory withdrawals.
Insurance against being sold off.
She believed her presence at the Lasvedo mansion meant Heli, short on cash, had sold her to Gloria.
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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