Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

Valen appears to be unapproachable and trouble-free, but as an observant teacher, she suspects that the boy is no different from Zack who openly causes trouble. If Valen didn’t provoke Zack, would Zack always give him trouble? Valen is not the only one in the class, right? She thought.

"Why bother with such a long process? The class has CCTV cameras installed." Valen’s intention was very obvious.

At that moment, Mia slowly got up and raised her hand. If they watch the CCTV, she’d be implicated and Valen would dislike her more. So better to come out clean, she thought. "Teacher, Valen is innocent."

The class turned to look at her, including Zack.

"Mia?" Zack called with narrowed eyes. She wants to betray him!

"Zack shut up! Tell me what you know, Mia, " The teacher said.

Mia nodded and explained: "I saw Zack with a black marker, exactly that one you’re holding yesterday before we went to the cafeteria. When we returned, I didn’t see the marker anymore. Today, while we were sleeping, Zack went to your table and opened some books but I have no idea if the register was one of them." She glanced at Valen and lowered her head. This should be enough for him to start seeing her as a good person, right?

"Zack, what do you have to say for yourself?" the teacher folded her arms.

"I plead not guilty! Mia made a false allegation because Valen told her to! I refuse to suffer for anyone!"

"Fine. We’ll see what the CCTV footage says." The teacher went to her seat and opened her laptop to see, but unfortunately, the CCTV didn’t capture anything because it was broken. She frowned and closed the laptop.

"Anyone else who knows what happened?" she asked the class.

Mia side-eyed her friends and the three girls all testified against Zack.

Seeing that there was no way for Zack to deal with his predicament anymore, Valen decided to use him to throw Mia off his shoulder.

"Teacher, let’s forget it. Zack must have been driven to do it for a reason. I pardon him."

The lady was elated and smiled. If the deed was done by other students, she wouldn’t have trouble sending them to class B, which is dominated by people with fewer family connections than the Lu family. Class B students are also from wealthy homes, but the difference between them is the number of connections their family has.

So, sending a son of the first branch of the Lu family to such a class might cause the teacher some trouble, but at the same time, she didn’t want to offend Valen’s parents as the drama that Valen’s mother caused the last time was still fresh in their minds.

"That’s so good of you, Valen. It’s good to tender mercy... you, Zack, should learn from Valen. Now apologize to him and–"

"No way! I refuse!!" The little guy fumed and stormed out of the classroom with his school bag.

The teacher sighed. Being a class teacher to rotten kids is harder than getting promotions. She waved Valen off and went to report the matter to the Principal.

Meanwhile, Mia came to Valen after the teacher left to apologize, but unlike usual where he’d say a few words, this time he treated her like air.

...

After almost two months of getting treated with a piece of the rainborite stone, Damien was now free to come out to the world. The Young man didn’t believe that he’d be healed but after a full body checkup from both Matt and his doctors, it was confirmed that the ATOM in his system had been cleared off.

Damien was so excited that he hosted a large party to celebrate a new life. A lot of people, including the President, were invited, but the Xu family and the first branch of the Lu family didn’t get an invite.

With what Damien did, he indirectly announced that he was together with Alpha Chaos. Whoever Maverick hates is his enemy too.

The media, of course, couldn’t let such an opportunity to fetch some cash and destroy relationships go. An example of how callous they were, was the headlines and gossip trending.

[ Just in! The newly certified leader of the Yu family, Damien, hosted a Celebration Of Life party. He invited all the affluent families, except the third greatest family, the Xu family. With such a move, a lot of people were wondering if such humiliation was because the Yu family were belittling the Xu family! ]

[ Incredulous! The Xu family fell off the ranking! ]

[ The Yu family’s slap to the Xu family! ]

Grandpa Xu threw the tabloid in a fit of rage and shot a glare at this unbothered grandson who was sitting in front of him in the old man’s study room.

"Davis, what is going on?"

"It’s as you’ve read, Grandpa."

What was annoying the old man so badly that he almost puked blood, was his grandson’s nonchalance to such a great matter. In no time, other factions would start to attack them, thinking they’ve indeed fallen from grace!

"What do you have to say about this matter?" the old man asked. It will be better to know what his grandson thinks so they’d start working from there. They’ve already waged war with Alpha Chaos and he’s not willing to wage another with the Yu family. It won’t do them any good.

"Nothing, Grandpa."

"Nothing?!" The old man shrieked. How could he say nothing at a time like this?!

Davis uncrossed his legs and stared at the old man. "You don’t have to care about this. The Yu family has made their stance known, so I’ll handle them accordingly."

"How do you intend to do that? We are already at war with the Lu family. What will you do if the Yu family combines forces and come after us? We’d be doomed!" The old man panicked and clenched his fist on his desk.

"Maverick is attacking the organization, which means he’s a closed Chapter. I have plans laid out to take care of Rex and their friends, so in other words, the Lu family is no longer a threat. As for the Yu family, some elders are against Damien. Also, Reuben seems to want his brother dead and this party will be the best chance. So, Grandfather, worry not. In the end, we’ll be the only family standing." Davis patted his Grandfather’s hand before leaving the study room.