Chapter 726

This money, just consider it temporarily deposited with them.

When this pair of siblings is forced to return to the main family in the future... let's see how he collects it back with interest!

Natsume Akihira snorted coldly in his heart, but his face barely squeezed out a smile that looked magnanimous.

He pulled three brand-new ten-thousand-yen banknotes from his exquisite leather wallet.

"Here, take it!"

He handed the money toward Natsume Chikage.

"Is that enough now? Hurry up and let me in!"

Natsume Chikage reached out and took the banknotes, but still blocked the doorway, without the slightest intention of moving aside.

"No."

His answer was short and resolute.

"If you want to talk, talk here. You are not qualified to step into this home."

Natsume Akihira's face sank again.

"Why not?! I already gave you the money!"

Natsume Chikage didn't answer, just unhurriedly took out his phone, lit up the screen, and glanced at the time.

His voice was as calm as stating a fact.

"You have 2 minutes and 56 seconds left."

He started the countdown.

"55."

"54..."

Natsume Ruri, behind her brother, poked out half her body and urged angrily:

"If you want to talk, talk quickly, otherwise go back quickly!"

A flash of annoyance crossed Natsume Akihira's expression, but he finally suppressed it and squeezed a cold snort from between his teeth.

"Hmph!"

He straightened his suit collar, his tone carrying undisguised mockery.

"Really two... annoying little brats!"

He cleared his throat and put on a posture of revealing the truth.

"Your father was indeed infinitely glorious before he went bankrupt; you should remember that."

"But when he was nearing bankruptcy and had nowhere to turn, do you know he borrowed money everywhere?"

Natsume Chikage frowned slightly.

"We know."

"But those debts, father had already used the large amount of remaining assets under his name at the time, as well as real estate mortgages or sales to repay them, didn't he?"

Natsume Akihira's mouth hooked into a meaningful cold smile.

"Know?"

He deliberately raised his tone.

"How could you possibly really know everything! Let me tell you, less than a month before your father passed away, he privately borrowed a full forty million yen from Ms. Natsume Tsubaki of our main family to turn around and pay off debts!"

His tone suddenly intensified.

"To this day, this money has not been repaid even a cent!"

"Previously, the main family was busy with affairs and had no time to attend to this 'small matter.' But now, we have freed up our hands."

"Debts must be repaid, it's only natural!"

"Now, there are only two choices in front of you."

He held up a finger.

"One, honestly follow me back to the main family. As long as you go back, the main family can let bygones be bygones regarding this old debt for the sake of family affection."

Then, he held up a second finger, his voice turning cold.

"Two, then pay back the forty million yen, not a cent less! From now on, we owe each other nothing, bridges are bridges, roads are roads!"

Natsume Ruri, hearing this, her small face turned pale in a "whoosh."

"F-forty million yen?!"

Her voice trembled slightly due to shock.

"W-we... where would we get so much money!"

Kaga Reisa, on the side, hearing this astronomical figure, couldn't help but cover her mouth and stand frozen in place.

She hadn't expected at all that the Natsume siblings' father actually carried such a huge debt.

She pursed her lips slightly, her worried gaze moving back and forth between Natsume Ruri and Natsume Chikage, her fingers unconsciously twisting together, and she had already started to calculate quickly in her heart how to ask her parents for help...

However, Natsume Chikage was not scared by these words at all.

He even felt it was a bit ridiculous, the corner of his mouth hooking into a cold arc.

"The words are spoken quite beautifully, very seriously."

His tone carried undisguised skepticism.

"But empty words have no proof. Just based on your mouth, I say your main family owes us forty million instead, wouldn't that be the same?"

Natsume Akihira seemed to have expected him to say this, and an "as expected" expression appeared on his face.

He snorted coldly and calmly took out a transparent file bag from the briefcase he was carrying.

Inside, a slightly old piece of paper was clearly contained.

"Knew you would say that."

He held the file bag up in front of Natsume Chikage and tapped it with his fingertip.

"Now, open your eyes and look clearly! This is written in black and white—your father, Natsume Hiroya, on X year X month X day, personally signed this forty-million-yen loan contract from Ms. Natsume Tsubaki of the main family!"

Natsume Ruri, seeing this, was anxious in her heart and immediately reached out to take the file bag.

She quickly pulled out the IOU inside, her gaze eagerly scanning the signature, seal, and amount terms above.

A few seconds later, her face became even paler, and her fingers trembled slightly.

As if seeking support, she tightly pinched the corner of her brother's clothes beside her, her voice carrying panic and helplessness.

"Brother... this IOU... the signature and seal... seem... seem to be real..."

Natsume Chikage, hearing this, calmly took the IOU from his sister's hand.

He lowered his head, his gaze carefully scanning every word and every seal mark on the paper line by line.

However, not only did panic or despair not appear on his face, but the meaning of that cold smile became even more obvious.

After reading it, he casually handed the IOU back to Natsume Akihira, his movements understated.

"The main family, just wanting to bluff us with such a piece of paper?"

"It's... too ridiculous."

Natsume Ruri looked up at her brother in astonishment, her eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Why could her brother still be so calm? Even finding it ridiculous?

Natsume Akihira was also stunned, then his face sank completely.

"What do you mean by this?"

"Black and white, legal document, do you want to deny it?"

The smile on Natsume Chikage's face converged, and his eyes became sharp and clear.

"First of all,"

"According to the clear provisions of Articles 896 to 899 of the Japanese 'Civil Code': heirs only bear the debts incurred by the decedent during their lifetime within the value of the inherited estate."

"To put it more bluntly, if the children clearly renounce the right of inheritance, then they do not need to bear even a cent of the responsibility for repaying any debts incurred by their father during his lifetime."

His gaze turned to Natsume Ruri, carrying a hint of comfort, then stared back at Natsume Akihira.

"And after our father passed away, my sister and I, Natsume Ruri, had already signed legal documents, voluntarily and clearly renouncing all rights of inheritance."

"In this case, no matter if this IOU is true or false, no matter if father owed forty million or four hundred million, it has nothing to do with us two siblings—nothing at all!"

"If the main family really just wanted to collect debts, and not have other ulterior motives..."

"Sending you here with an expired IOU, wanting to get a wolf with empty hands, making us pay back money? That's too dull."

He chuckled.

"If that were really the case, I would even doubt how your main family managed to grow the business to its current scale."

Natsume Ruri, after hearing these words, was stunned at first, then instantly remembered something! ===== CHAPTER 727 =====