Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 384; Reclaiming 9

"Don’t accept any more calls from them," he instructed Ting Fei, who had remained nearby. "Divert everything to voicemail, or simply switch off the phone entirely for the rest of the day. I don’t want to be disturbed again."

"Understood, Master." Ting Fei retrieved the phone and left the kitchen to ensure no further interruptions would occur.

Lu Yuze returned his attention to the children, helping Yuyan season the vegetables properly while Chen Xiao watched with solemn attention. The Lu family had never been available for him during the years when he’d needed support, when he’d been young and vulnerable and struggling to protect what mattered most to him. Why should he make himself available to them now, when they came begging for assistance with problems of their own creation?

Across the city, Lu Chen stared at his darkened phone screen for a long moment, processing the complete dismissal he’d just experienced. His youngest brother had hung up on him. Had laughed at the family crisis. Had offered no help, no sympathy, no acknowledgment of shared blood or obligation.

He sighed deeply, pocketed his phone, and returned to the boardroom where his executives waited. There was nothing more to be done about Lu Yuze. The youngest brother had made his position abundantly clear, he owed the family nothing, would provide nothing, and had no intention of engaging with their problems regardless of how desperate those problems became.

The meeting resumed. Business continued. And Lu Yuze remained exactly where he’d positioned himself over decades of careful separation, completely outside the Lu family’s reach or influence.

Meanwhile, across the city at the central police station, a very different scene was unfolding in the holding cells where Lin Feng and Madam Chen had spent an increasingly desperate night and morning.

The heavy metal door to their respective cells clanged open with a sound that made both occupants flinch. Two uniformed officers entered with official paperwork in hand, their expressions professionally neutral. Lin Feng looked up from where he’d been sitting on the narrow cot, his expensive tailored suit now wrinkled and stained beyond recognition, his normally immaculate appearance thoroughly destroyed by hours in confinement. His eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep and the kind of stress that comes from watching one’s entire life collapse in real-time. In the adjacent cell, Madam Chen had finally emerged from her sedation, though she remained curled on the cot with the vacant, devastated expression of someone whose mind was still trying to process impossible loss.

"Mr. Lin. Madam Chen." The lead officer’s voice was professionally neutral but carried an undertone that suggested he felt no particular sympathy for either of them. "You are hereby being transferred from this facility to Black Water Ridge Penitentiary, maximum security wing, pending your court hearing."

Lin Feng stood abruptly, the blood draining from his face so rapidly that he swayed slightly. "Black Water Ridge?" His voice cracked on the words. "That’s... that’s for violent criminals. For murderers and traffickers and dangerous offenders. This is simple assault and battery. Misdemeanor charges at worst. There must be some mistake. This doesn’t warrant maximum security detention."

"The charges have been upgraded," the officer said flatly, consulting his paperwork without looking at Lin Feng’s increasingly panicked expression. "Multiple counts of assault on medical personnel, destruction of hospital property, resisting arrest, creating a public disturbance in a medical facility, and interfering with emergency services. Additionally, given the ongoing investigation into other serious matters related to your company...." he didn’t specify exactly what those matters were, but everyone knew he meant, ".....the court has determined you represent a significant flight risk and potential danger to witnesses and ongoing investigations."

"Wait, wait, please wait." Lin Feng’s voice rose, desperation bleeding through the careful control he’d been trying to maintain. "I need time. I need to contact my lawyer. I have every right, legal representation is guaranteed. You can’t just transfer me without letting me arrange proper counsel."

"You’ve been given access to phone calls," the officer replied without emotion. "Multiple times over the past twelve hours. What you do with that access is your business."

"The calls aren’t connecting!" Lin Feng’s composure cracked further, his hands trembling as he gestured helplessly. "I’ve been trying to reach my attorney since I was first detained. His office isn’t answering. His personal line goes to voicemail. I’ve left messages but received no response. Something is wrong, he should have contacted me by now. He’s been my lawyer for fifteen years. He wouldn’t just abandon a client."

The officer’s expression remained unmoved. Professional detachment in the face of what was clearly becoming an emotional breakdown.

"Please," Lin Feng continued, his voice taking on a quality close to begging now. All pretense of a dignified businessman had evaporated, replaced by raw desperation. "Give me more time. Let me make more calls. I need to reach my daughter. Shuyin, is at my mansion. She’ll arrange bail, she’ll contact lawyers on my behalf. If I can just speak to her, explain the situation....."

"You’ve called your residence seventeen times," the officer interrupted, still consulting his paperwork. "According to our logs, the calls connect but are either not answered or are answered and immediately disconnected. We cannot force anyone to accept your calls, Mr. Lin."

The truth of that statement hit Lin Feng like a physical blow. Seventeen calls. Seventeen desperate attempts to reach his own home, his own household staff, his own daughter. And nothing. Complete silence. Either no one was answering, or worse, someone was deliberately refusing to take his calls.

"That’s impossible," he whispered, though even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t impossible at all. "The house has staff. Multiple people. Someone should be answering the phone. Someone should be helping me. I’m their employer, their....."

He stopped, realization dawning with sickening clarity across his features. Someone had instructed the household not to answer his calls. Someone had cut off his access to resources, to help, to the very infrastructure he’d counted on to extract him from this situation.

And there was only one person with both the authority and the motivation to do that.

Shuyin.

"My daughter," he said again, but this time his voice carried horror rather than hope. "Where is Shuyin? What has she done? She’s supposed to be, she should be helping me. She’s my daughter. She can have access to my accounts, my lawyers, everything. Why isn’t she...."

"We don’t have information about your family members’ whereabouts or intentions," the officer said. "We only know that multiple attempts to contact your residence have been unsuccessful."

In the adjacent cell, Madam Chen had been listening to this exchange with growing dread. She pushed herself up from the cot, her movements unsteady, her face still puffy from hours of crying and the lingering effects of sedation. "Our lawyers," she said, her voice hoarse and breaking. "We have the best legal representation money can buy. Multiple firms on retainer. Someone should have contacted us by now. Someone should be arranging bail, filing motions, doing something."

"If your lawyers choose to respond, they’ll have access to you at Black Water Ridge," the officer said. "You’ll be allowed supervised phone calls during designated hours. Legal counsel can arrange visits. But we can’t make anyone answer your calls or accept your case."

"Can’t or won’t?" Lin Feng demanded, some of his earlier anger resurging through the desperation. "Someone is blocking our access. Someone with influence is interfering with our legal rights. This isn’t standard procedure. You’re treating us like... like we’re already convicted criminals rather than citizens with rights!"

"You assaulted hospital staff," the officer replied, his tone hardening slightly. "Multiple witnesses. Security footage. Medical personnel requiring treatment for injuries you inflicted. You destroyed property. You created a dangerous situation in a medical facility. These aren’t allegations, Mr. Lin. These are documented facts. And the court has determined that Black Water Ridge is the appropriate facility to hold you pending your hearing."

"When?" Madam Chen asked, her voice small and frightened in a way that suggested she already knew the answer would destroy her. "When is the hearing?"

"The third of next month," the officer said. "Five days from now. That gives you adequate time to arrange legal representation and prepare your defense."

"Five days?" The words came out as a broken whisper. "We’re supposed to stay in that place for five days?"