CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60; FINALLY FREE

By 10:00 AM, they were standing outside the courthouse, blinking in the morning sunlight like creatures emerging from a cave.

Free.

Actually, impossibly, miraculously free.

They were really free....

Tank let out a sound between a laugh and a sob, her massive frame shaking.

Blade covered her face with her hands, tears streaming through her fingers. Razor simply stood there, too overwhelmed to even process what had just happened.

Within hours, the news broke on the internet.

The morning papers and online news sites exploded with headlines:

"JUSTICE SYSTEM EXPOSED: Four Women Wrongfully Imprisoned have finally been released through justice!"

"Corruption in the Courts: How Bad Evidence Destroyed Innocent Lives"

"The Rotten Core of Our Legal System: A Case Study in Failure"

The judge who had overseen their original cases was immediately suspended pending investigation. By noon, formal charges were filed against him for accepting bribes and tampering with evidence sending innocent people to prison.

The entire scandal was moving with the kind of speed that only happened when someone powerful wanted to make a point, and wanted to make it loudly.

But standing outside that courthouse, the four women felt the weight of a different reality settling over them.

They were free.

But where could they go from here?

Tank had no home, her apartment had been seized years ago. Blade’s nursing license was revoked. Razor was only twenty-two, with no family who wanted her back. And Shuyin’s entire life had been destroyed, her reputation shredded across every media outlet.

They stood there, lost, until a familiar figure approached.

Ah-Ling, the young secretary from last night, walked toward them with purposeful strides. He was dressed impeccably in a crisp suit, his expression professional but not unkind.

"This way, please," he said, gesturing toward the parking lot. "The car is waiting."

They followed him to a black sedan with tinted windows. Ah-Ling opened the back door, and inside, sitting comfortably with a business magazine in his hands, was Sixth Master Lu.

He looked up as they approached, his electric blue eyes assessing them calmly.

Tank was the first to react, bowing deeply despite her size. "Thank you," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us. We don’t know how to repay...."

"Yes, thank you!" Razor added quickly, bowing as well. "We owe you our lives. If there’s anything we can do...."

Blade simply bowed, too overcome to speak, tears still tracking down her face.

Lu Yuze didn’t respond. Didn’t even acknowledge their gratitude in their presence. His eyes remained in his magazine, as if they hadn’t spoken at all. Like that didn’t exist.

The three women exchanged confused glances, their gratitude curdling into uncertainty. They didn’t know if he had heard them or not...

Shuyin climbed into the car without any ceremony or care, and before sitting in the remaining space, she turned to face her three companions, her jade eye glowing faintly in the car’s dim interior.

"You don’t need to thank him," she said, her voice cold and matter-of-fact. "You should thank me instead. And as for him..." she gestured dismissively toward Lu Yuze, "your lowly lives don’t interest him. He doesn’t see you as human. You’re just... collateral. Bonus items in a transaction."

The words were harsh, brutal in their honesty. But this was how this man was; she didn’t need to look into his memories to know what kind of person he was. His actions at the moment said everything.

But before anyone could process them, Shuyin simply settled herself onto Lu Yuze’s lap, perching there as naturally as if it were a throne, making room for the others to fit in the sedan.

His body immediately went frigid... It’s been years now, and she was the second woman to sit on his lap apart from the deceased wife and daughter.

Ah-Ling took the driver’s seat. Tank, after a moment of hesitation, slid into the passenger seat beside him, her large frame barely fitting. Blade and Razor squeezed into the back, pressed against the door to give Shuyin and Lu Yuze as much space as possible.

They were still wearing those old, faded clothes, garments that had probably been donated to the prison years ago, washed thin and colorless with age. The fabric hung awkwardly on their bodies, sizes all wrong, making them look like refugees rather than freed citizens.

Lu Yuze still hadn’t looked up from his magazine. Hadn’t acknowledged any of them beyond Shuyin’s weight on his lap, which he accepted without comment.... He couldn’t toss her away right? But he felt like her body was a little bit colder than other normal bodies.

The car pulled away from the courthouse, and the four women sat in uncomfortable silence, each processing their new reality.

They were free.

But they were also completely dependent on the man who’d bought that freedom.

And none of them, except perhaps Shuyin, had any idea what price would eventually be demanded in return.

"Can’t you take another sedan?" Lu Yuze finally spoke, though his tone carried no real heat. He couldn’t even muster genuine irritation, not when his daughter’s life hung in the balance, dependent on this strange woman currently occupying his lap. He tossed his magazine toward the back seat with resignation.

"We will take this one. It works well too," Shuyin replied nonchalantly, her attention already drawn to the window, watching the city streets roll past.

It was her first time seeing such a place, truly seeing it, not just through borrowed memories. Even though Lin Shuyin’s recollections gave her knowledge of this world, experiencing it firsthand was entirely different. The towering buildings of glass and steel, the endless stream of vehicles, the masses of humans moving like schools of fish through concrete canyons.

Everything was marvelous, so different from her world. Though her ocean realm had its own unique beauty, ancient, magical, timeless, the humans had built their own kind of wonder here. A surface world of metal and light and constant motion.

Lu Yuze studied her profile for a moment. Could he argue with her and actually win? Unlikely. And what would be the point even so? They were going to live as a couple for the next few years before divorcing anyway. He might as well get used to her... peculiarities.

"Buy a nice apartment or villa for me," Shuyin said suddenly, still gazing out the window. "Somewhere these three can settle comfortably."

She needed to make proper arrangements, ensure their lives could return to some semblance of normalcy outside prison walls. She’d promised Lin Shuyin’s fading spirit to protect them, and that meant more than just getting them out. It meant giving them a chance at actual life.

"Already got that done," Lu Yuze replied. He owned several villas lying idle across the city, investment properties, and safe houses he barely thought about. Giving one away was nothing. "There’s a place ready. Fully furnished."

"Ooohhh... So thoughtful of you," Shuyin murmured, and there might have been the faintest hint of approval in her tone.

Soon the sedan pulled up to a property in a quiet, upscale neighborhood. The villa stood in its own private compound, surrounded by high walls and lush gardens, secluded from the noise and chaos of the city. Its security was top-notch.

The three women climbed out, staring up at the building with expressions of disbelief.

"This is... this is ours?" Razor whispered, her voice trembling.

"It’s perfect," Tank breathed, her eyes actually watering.

Blade simply stood there, overwhelmed, unable to process that they’d gone from a prison cell to this in less than twenty-four hours.

Shuyin remained in the car, but she leaned toward the open door. "Give me the cash money you have. Or make sure food has been supplied and new clothes delivered. They need to be comfortable, everything they need to start over."

"Already sorted," Lu Yuze confirmed, pulling out his phone to send quick instructions to his staff. "My people will deliver groceries, clothing, toiletries, electronics, and everything within the hour. And I’ll have my men check in regularly to supply them with anything else they want."

"Good." Shuyin seemed satisfied with his fast attentiveness. She turned to the three women still standing outside, looking lost. "This is yours now. Live well. Don’t waste the chance you’ve been given."

"Princess...." Tank started, but Shuyin had already closed the door.

"Let’s go," she said to Lu Yuze. "We have other businesses to attend to."