The Wife Is A Superstar 4

Chapter 697 - Louis' Test

Lisa gave Jennie a "let me handle this" look before talking to Louis again.

"I'll give you some funds to start a small business and see how well you'll do. If you can make good, sustainable profit within a year, I'll allow you to continue running your business and even provide you with resources, staff, or whatever assistance you may need to grow it if that's what you want."

Louis' green eyes widened and glowed even brighter in excitement. "Wow! Really, Daddy? You'll do that for Louis? Oooooh~ Thank you so much! You're the best daddy in the whole wide world! I love you! Meow~"

He nodded, feeling good at the adorable white cat's words of thanks and affection to him, but he still maintained a stern expression. However, when he turned his head to the side, he saw that his baby girl was glowering at him and throwing him a silent yet unmistakable "what do you think you're doing" look. Disbelief and disapproval were clear in her eyes. For a fraction of a second, he froze, realizing that he was in trouble with her. Then he calmed down and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, silently reassuring her that everything would be fine and that she didn't need to worry too much.

How could she not worry? Louis' existence must be kept a secret to outsiders at all costs. Didn't they already agree before that exposing the cat AI's existence to others even if it was only by accident was too dangerous? And Lisa was still going to let Louis run his own business? Was he out of his mind?!

Did he forget that in order to run a legitimate business, legal registration was required? How could Louis do that? The virtual white cat had no legal identity. They could, of course, create a fake one for Louis but that would mean that her business would already be disreputable right from the start. As someone who lived in an infamous criminal family in her past life as Maria, Jennie would never allow her children to engage in blatant crimes, especially when it came to conducting business. She wanted to be a good role model, not a bad influence, to her children.

Jennie really wanted to scold Lisa but held her tongue instead because she didn't want to dampen Louis' happiness. She also didn't want to have an argument regarding Louis in front of others. Jae was alright, but the driver's presence made Jennie hesitant. So all she could right now was glare at Lisa, silently telling him with her fierce eyes that they needed to have an important talk later with just the two of them.

Seeing his baby girl looking pissed off at him, Lisa felt a little nervous. He raised her hand that he was holding and kissed it before attempting to coax her with a smile.

It didn't work.

She turned her head away and started to ignore him. His nervousness increased but felt a bit better after noticing that she didn't yank her hand away, allowing him to continue holding it.

Despite his baby girl's disapproval, he still intended to carry on with his idea of letting Louis run his own business, thinking that it would be a great way to divert the cat AI's boundless curiosity and impulsiveness into something more controlled and productive rather than deal with the aftermath of his innocent but troublemaking antics due to boredom. He would do his best to persuade his baby girl later but for now, he needed to set the ground rules for Louis' test first.

"Louis, listen to me."

"Aye aye, Daddy! Louis is listening because I'm a good kitty. Meow~"

"I'll give you 8,000—"

"Meow? Daddy, can you round it up to at least 10,000? Pretty please?"

"Hm? Are you complaining? Alright, let's just forget about this."

"Meow?!!! No, Daddy! Wuwuwu!!! Louis won't complain anymore. Please don't cancel this deal! Wuwuwu! Please, Daddy! Louis really wants my own business. Meow..."

"Be good, then."

The virtual white cat, whose glowing green eyes were flowing with tears, nodded and sat quietly on his fluffy butt. Satisfied of Louis' good behaviour, Lisa continued explaining the ground rules to him.

"Like I mentioned, I'll provide you with 8,000 worth of funds to start a business which you'll need to make profitable within a year. But before that, your mom and I need to approve what kind of business you want to start first."

"Okay, Daddy. Meow~"

Lisa paused because he felt his baby girl digging her nails hard on his hand after hearing him involve her in the approval of Louis' business. He sighed and rubbed her hand, not minding the slight pain from her menacing nails. Then he pulled her all of a sudden, causing her to almost fall on his lap. This earned him another fierce glare from her.

"Trust me on this love," he mouthed the words to her so that nobody could hear. "I won't do anything to harm our children and our family."

Jennie continued glaring at him for a few seconds but his sincerity made her decrease the intensity. She still felt unhappy but was willing to give him the chance to explain his reasons for allowing Louis to run his own business when he already knew the dangers of accidentally exposing his existence to outsiders. Pursing her lips, she mouthed back, "I want a full explanation tonight."

He nodded.

Then she waved a hand, letting him talk to the excited Louis, before turning her head away and ignoring him again.

Lisa released a sigh of relief. Although things weren't resolved yet, at least his baby girl was open to reason and would defer judgment after an explanation. Feeling better, he was able to focus on speaking with Louis who was listening to him attentively.

"If we approve your business, you have one year to show me results. If the results are good, you can keep the business. But if you fail, you won't be allowed to talk about starting your own business ever again. That's your test."