Chapter 180: Result And Punishment
"My judgment is done. The custody of the young girl will be granted to the Noir family."
"Haha, thank God!" Liana stood up and hugged Tiana with joy.
Tiana, with tears of happiness falling from her eyes, hugged Liana back, and both started celebrating together.
"Welcome to our family, officially!" Alice jumped into their embrace and the three hugged tightly.
"Thank you so much, Your Honor," Daniel also stood up and walked toward them.
Unlike before, when Tiana was too shy to hug Daniel, this time she boldly signaled him to join the group hug.
Daniel thought he misunderstood at first, but when he saw her signaling again, he just smiled and hugged them all.
A bright smile appeared on Tiana’s face. From today on, she officially had a new family—a family that loved her, and that she loved in return.
"Hmph. Don’t celebrate too early." Liz muttered while watching the scene, then turned to leave.
They were going to use the contract soon and take control of this rebellious girl again. They wanted to go the soft route, but this Tiana could only blame herself.
However...
"I don’t recall giving anyone permission to leave," Your Honor suddenly said.
"Huh? Your Honor, wasn’t the hearing over?" Liz and Klein’s lawyer asked.
"Of course not. This is an Awakened court—things work differently. Tell Mr. Klein to return to the courtroom."
For some reason, Liz suddenly felt a very bad feeling in her chest. Something bad might be about to happen.
It didn’t take long before Klein returned to the courtroom. Seeing his daughter and those bastards celebrating made it easy to guess the result.
Still, to be sure, he asked his wife again, and Liz gave him a short summary.
"The custody decision has been made. Now we move on to your punishment—for the abuse of a young Awakened and causing her mental and physical harm, under the Juvenile Awakened Protection Act," Your Honor suddenly said.
Hearing the word punishment shocked both Liz and Klein.
"Your Honor, what do you mean by punishment? Wasn’t this just about custody?" Liz said in panic.
Even the others were shocked—neither Liana nor Daniel expected this turn of events.
"According to the Juvenile Awakened Protection Act, the two of you are required to pay a fine of 10 million Zen and serve five years in prison."
"What?! That’s impossible!"
"We don’t have ten million Zen! Even if we did, that’s way too much!"
"Your Honor, we can’t go to prison for five years! What about our business?! Please reconsider!"
"The decision has been made and is not subject to change," Your Honor replied coldly.
Liz and Klein’s faces turned even paler. Sweat began to drip down their faces, and their bodies started trembling.
How could they go to prison for five years? They’d never even been near a prison!
If they had known something like this would happen, they would’ve never filed for custody! What the hell had they done?
Desperate, they tried to convince Your Honor—but seeing no way out, they suddenly knelt in front of Tiana and Liana.
"We were wrong! We messed up, please forgive us, daughter! You know us! You know we wouldn’t survive in prison! Please, we’re begging you!" Liz sobbed with snot running from her nose and tears filling her eyes.
"Please forgive us, daughter! I promise we’ll never bother you again! We’ll never hurt you again!" Klein said, terrified.
Tiana and even Liana hesitated a little. They truly didn’t expect these two arrogant bastards to suddenly kneel and start begging.
Tiana looked at Liana. Even though she hated her family, she didn’t really want to see them like this.
"Your Honor, is it possible to..." Tiana looked at the judge, but before she could finish her sentence, he interrupted.
"Child, whether you want it or not, they will be punished. This punishment is based on the law." He then stood up and walked out.
The court officers came in, arrested Klein and Liz, and took them away. They kept crying and begging the entire time, but it was useless.
They were also given only three days to pay the 10 million. Otherwise, their sentence would increase from five to fifteen years in prison.
Although Tiana felt a bit sad, Liana comforted her, and then they all left and returned home.
"So, how does it feel coming home now as a real member of the family?" Daniel smiled and asked.
"I feel happy and excited. It really feels like my own home now." A smile appeared on Tiana’s face.
"We should celebrate today! Not only is Tiana officially part of our family now, but those two bastards also got what they deserved!" Alice said with a huge grin.
"Alice is right! I’m going to cook the best lunch you’ve ever had," Liana said with a smile and went to the kitchen.
The two girls and Daniel went to their rooms to change clothes and then returned to the living room.
Soon, lunch was ready and they ate it together. All three of them could swear it was the most delicious meal they’d ever had.
It was clear Liana had given it her all and poured a lot of love into it.
After that, they spent the whole day celebrating and having fun. They used the villa’s recreational features like the pool, and Daniel even went to the store, bought a giant inflatable water slide, and set it up by the pool.
He made sure his family had an amazing day and kept smiles on their faces the whole time.
Of course, he didn’t forget to tease his little sister a bit, too. In the end, he told them that tomorrow, he’d be challenging the second floor of the tower, and that he probably wouldn’t be around for a while.
Although all three were sad, there wasn’t much they could do. Even Tiana felt a bit down. Over the past two weeks, she had grown very attached to Daniel and truly saw him as a brother.
Daniel comforted them as much as he could and promised it wouldn’t take long.
After that, they all went to bed. The next morning, Daniel ate breakfast, called a taxi, and headed to the Awakened Association. He didn’t forget to arrange guards to watch over his family.
To enter the second floor of the tower, he needed two keys, and he only had one right now. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to find another in the Celestial Domain.
He contacted August in advance, and August told him he could come to the Awakened Association to buy one.