Chapter 54 Even Deadpool Has a Weakness

This was a good man, someone who had bled for his country, built bridges for society, and given everything for his family.

Someone who had been betrayed, deceived, and abandoned by the judicial system.

Someone who had fallen from heaven into hell, been shattered to pieces, and then wandered the streets for six years.

He was not a bad person; he was just someone who had loved the wrong person.

Mu Xin leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

An image appeared in his mind—not John's daughter, not the woman named Catherine, but a game of chess.

He currently had Tobias, Jessica, Victoria, Robert, Richard Miller, Tom Carter, Senator Klein, and Governor Mike DeWine in his hands.

But these people were all in cooperative relationships; they gathered together for the sake of interests and would disperse for the sake of interests as well.

He needed something more solid—not interests, but loyalty.

Not a transaction, but a sworn soldier.

He opened his eyes and looked at John Mitchell sitting beside him.

This man had skills, experience, and the potential for loyalty.

What he needed was not money or a job, but a chance to stand back up, a chance to take back everything that belonged to him.

If Mu Xin could help him achieve this—not through charity or sympathy, but by truly helping him regain custody of his daughter and helping him make the woman who betrayed him and her lover pay the price.

Then this man would become his most loyal follower.

Not an employee, not a subordinate, but someone who would take a bullet for him.

"John," Mu Xin said, his voice low. "Do you want to see your daughter again?"

John did not answer; he did not even move.

But Mu Xin saw his fingers—those hands covered in old scars and calluses—the knuckles tightened abruptly, gripping the pant leg on his knee, then slowly relaxed.

"I'm not asking if you want to; I'm asking, if I can get you custody of your daughter back, what can you give me?"

John slowly turned his head and looked at Mu Xin.

In those eyes, there was vigilance, suspicion, and a deep-seated distrust that only comes after being cheated by life too many times. He was judging whether Mu Xin was just another con artist.

"You can't do it," John's voice was flat. "I appealed twice, and the lawyer I hired said my case was hopeless. A judge wouldn't grant custody of a child to a homeless person."

"That was in the past," Mu Xin leaned back in his seat, tapping his fingers gently on the armrest.

"In the past, you had no money, no job, no house, and no lawyer. Now, you will have all of these."

"Where are you getting the money?"

Mu Xin smiled. "I have invested nearly two hundred million dollars in Ohio, and my hotel project investment is one hundred and twenty million."

"I donated twelve million to Butler County and eight million to Preble County."

"Do you think, if I find the best family law firm and hire a lawyer who can help you win the case, how much will it cost?"

John was silent. He looked into Mu Xin's eyes; he had seen this look in the army.

It was the look a commander had before issuing a mission—what I need you to do, what I can give you. The deal was fair.

"What do you need me to do?" John asked.

"Finish your story first," Mu Xin did not answer directly. "You said you appealed twice and lost both times. And then? Did you just give up?"

"After the second loss, the court ordered me to pay the overdue child support within thirty days, or I would be detained."

"I only had a few hundred dollars left on me at the time, not even enough to pay the lawyer's fees. I called my ex-wife and begged her for a few months' grace."

"She said no. I said, then at least let me see my daughter. She said, pay the money first, then we'll talk."

His voice grew lower and lower. "I went to find that man, her boss, the partner of that PR firm."

"I wanted to talk to him, at least let him know he had ruined a family. I waited downstairs at his company for three hours. When he came out and saw me, he didn't even get out of his car; he just had security chase me away."

"And then?"

"After that, I had nothing left. No house, no savings, no job, no phone, not even a photo of my daughter."

"Have you tried looking for a job?"

"I have," John's voice carried a hint of a bitter smile. "But every time there's a background check, they contact my ex-wife."

"Do you know what she says? She says I have violent tendencies, emotional problems, and a record of stalking and harassment."

"Who would hire a man who has had a restraining order issued against him by a court?"

Mu Xin's fingers paused on the armrest. This woman was much more ruthless than he had imagined. It wasn't just about money; it was about completely erasing John from society.

"Later, I stopped mentioning my background. I went to construction sites to move bricks, to restaurants to wash dishes, to warehouses to unload cargo."

"But every time, I couldn't last long before someone found out I was a homeless man."

"The boss was afraid of trouble, so they fired me. Later on, I didn't even bother trying anymore." He chuckled.

"After staying on the streets for a long time, you get used to it. You get used to being ignored, used to being shunned, used to being treated like air."

There was silence in the car for a long time.

Mu Xin looked at the sky outside the window, which had already turned completely dark, calculating in his mind.

John Mitchell was not Tobias. Tobias needed money and dignity; give him a five-hundred-thousand-dollar annual salary and ten percent in shares, and he would be loyal to the end.

What John needed was deeper. He was a man who had been completely shattered, wanting to piece himself back into a human being.

And the core of this "human being" was not a job or money, but his daughter. As long as his daughter was in his hands, he would never be able to run away.

Mu Xin realized one thing: even a sworn soldier must have a weakness.

You cannot control someone who has no weakness.

John's weakness was his daughter.

Mu Xin didn't need to use this weakness to threaten him; he just needed to help him get this weakness back and then help him protect it.

After regaining custody, everything—his daughter's schooling, life, medical care, education—would all be supported by Mu Xin from behind the scenes.

John would understand that without Mu Xin, he couldn't protect anything.

This was not a threat; it was a fact.

"John," Mu Xin's voice broke the silence. "I will help you get custody of your daughter back. Not by appealing, not by going to court, but by taking it back directly."

John looked at him and didn't speak.

"Your ex-wife, Catherine. Where does she live now?"

"Columbus, North Side, not far from Ohio State University."

"Is she still working at that PR firm?"

"No," John's voice was flat. "She quit after the divorce."

"I heard she's working at a non-profit organization now, but I don't know specifically what she does."

"What about your daughter? What is her name, and how old is she?"