After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Scars

“A line has been crossed,” Ling Qiu said, shaking her head.

There was an invisible boundary between her and Fang Ziyue; once crossed, there was no turning back.

Understanding Ling Qiu’s current personality, Fang Ziyue did not push her. Once she developed her own power to the point of being able to stand on equal footing with Ling Qiu, the thorns on her wife’s outer shell would naturally soften.

Fang Ziyue was the only “real” person in this world, so Ling Qiu wanted her to grow strong quickly. At the very least, after her own death, Fang Ziyue needed to have grown enough to protect herself and remain unharmed by Ling Nianyao and Qu Haoyu.

“The servants are all gone. I’ll go recruit people tomorrow,” Fang Ziyue said, changing the subject. She didn’t want to see the desolate gloom on her wife’s face anymore. Fang Ziyue never wanted to see that deathly stillness again.

“Okay.”

Coming back to her senses, Ling Qiu gave the small cake in her hand a squeeze and replied, “Check their backgrounds thoroughly.”

She had an idea she wanted to test…

Fang Ziyue nodded. She would certainly investigate them. Otherwise, if she recruited more servants like Auntie Wang or Uncle Liu regardless of her wife’s reaction she herself wouldn’t be able to resist hitting someone. Those two had received so many benefits from Ling Qiu and had grown fat and sturdy under her care, only to turn around and bite her savagely.

Ling Qiu, who had no appetite, set the cake aside. Suddenly remembering something, her gaze darkened. She tilted her head toward the woman unwrapping sweets for her and said displeasedly, “Also, Ling Nianyao came by today. It was very annoying.”

Fang Ziyue paused. She looked up and asked, “Did she come to tattle?”

As one of the fellow heirs, the fact that she was kept by Ling Qiu’s side was bound to make the others restless. But the most anxious of all would be the over-impulsive and highly ambitious Qu Haoyu.

“As long as you know.” Ling Qiu leaned back, sinking into the soft cushions. Her voice was somewhat raspy and weak. “If you can’t handle this well, you don’t need to come back.”

Ling Qiu felt a headache coming on just thinking about today’s mess. Since Fang Ziyue wanted to stay in the Ling family, she had to demonstrate her capability. If she could step over the other heirs, Ling Qiu would naturally hand the Ling Corporation over to her. Handing over a clean and complete Ling Corporation to Fang Ziyue would be her reward for serving as a personal assistant these past few days.

Fang Ziyue had the same intention. Over the past few days, she had visited the Ling branch office that belonged to the original owner. Power had slipped away; the company’s internal revenue had been completely cannibalized by Qu Haoyu’s people. This was actually perfect; Fang Ziyue could simply focus on developing her own faction from scratch.

With the experience of two lifetimes and the original owner’s private stash of money, Fang Ziyue progressed rapidly. Of course, Qu Haoyu and Ling Nianyao were unaware of this. Qu Haoyu even treated Fang Ziyue as the same old “straw man” he could easily fool into biting Ling Qiu again.

The people Qu Haoyu sent this time not only failed to sway Fang Ziyue but also suffered a major setback. Fang Ziyue caught them red-handed, forcing Qu Haoyu to pay a ransom in “land and reparations” to get them back.

Qu Haoyu was unwilling to shell out money for useless trash who couldn’t even handle a small task. But since the people had been recruited by Ling Nianyao, she forced Qu Haoyu to pay quite a bit of money against his will to maintain her image of being beautiful and kind-hearted.

“That bitch! She was faking it before!” Having smashed a room full of vases and decorations, Qu Haoyu cursed, his eyes bloodshot and his breath ragged. “She’s in league with that cripple Ling Qiu. Yes, it must be!”

He had wondered why Fang Ziyue had agreed so readily when he asked her to hire an assassin to kill Ling Qiu before. It must have been a conspiracy between her and Ling Qiu they wanted to lure him into revealing a weakness!

“Good thing I kept a trick up my sleeve.” Qu Haoyu broke into a cold sweat. If the “dead cripple” had caught him back then, even with “Immortals” protecting them, he and Nianyao would have suffered a total defeat.

Ling Qiu was like a poisonous insect hiding deep in the grass, biting them from time to time. While not a fatal blow, she could cause them significant damage. And now she had Fang Ziyue by her side two difficult enemies!

“Brother Haoyu, calm down. I’ll help you vent your anger.” Seeing the young man’s face turning green with rage, Ling Nianyao touched his arm with a pained expression. Qu Haoyu’s face was quite handsome, but his aura was far too “greasy,” making him look wretched and cowardly not even remotely close to being gentle or elegant.

But what did that matter? Ling Nianyao leaned into Qu Haoyu’s embrace, thinking sweetly: No matter what Brother Haoyu becomes, I love him.

“Nianyao, how are you going to help me?” Qu Haoyu tilted Ling Nianyao’s chin up, narrowing his eyes in what he thought was a handsome, wicked smile. “Darling, what’s your plan?”

“Oh, Brother Haoyu, you’re so handsome!” Ling Nianyao giggled, dazzled by his looks. She was becoming more and more satisfied with him.

In the beginning, she had only snatched Qu Haoyu away to spite Ling Qiu, wanting to see her aloof cousin lose everything. But now she didn’t think that way; she had truly fallen for him this handsome, wealthy man.

“I’m going to do this… and then…” Ling Nianyao whispered her detailed scheme into Qu Haoyu’s ear.

As he listened, the smile on Qu Haoyu’s face grew. His moderately handsome face became twisted and ugly, filled with malice. “Good, good, Nianyao. Whether I can get back at that bitch surnamed Fang for the grief she caused me depends on you.”

“It definitely won’t be a problem.”

Ling Nianyao smugly took out her phone and began messaging her socialite friends. She was going to organize a “Socialite Evening Banquet,” where everyone would wear their most gorgeous, expensive gowns and most dazzling jewelry to stomp that “mutt” into the mud.

Everyone who knew Fang Ziyue knew the woman had zero aesthetic sense; she always dressed in gaudy, tacky colors, yet she was obsessed with saving face. If someone said she dressed vulgarly, she would scold or hit them. But today was different. Fang Ziyue had become a public target; no one would help her for the sake of being a Ling heir anymore. Even the other heirs were secretly waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

Early the next morning, an invitation was delivered to Fang Ziyue’s hand.

“Socialite Evening Banquet?” Fang Ziyue looked at the gold-embossed font on the invitation and felt it looked like a pyramid scheme flyer. “This thing looks very fake.” She flicked the invitation and complained to Ling Qiu.

Having been persuaded into finally leaving her dark room, Ling Qiu sat by the flower bed soaking up the sun and narrowed her eyes. Fang Ziyue watched as a trace of disgust first flashed across her wife’s cold face, which then turned into pure confusion.

Ling Qiu was wondering why an idiot like Ling Nianyao was protected by an unknown power. Had she saved the entire universe in her past life? It was unbelievable. This childish, “playing house” style of fighting—like girls pulling each other’s hair appearing among people like them was so low-class it was laughable.

But…

Ling Qiu suddenly looked up at the person before her dressed in a white shirt, jeans, and sneakers and asked hesitantly, “Do you even have a gown?”

She still remembered the eyesore Fang Ziyue wore on the day of her kneeling punishment. It could be said that this woman’s aesthetic sense was a disaster.

“No, but I can make one right now.” Fang Ziyue spread her hands. What was so hard about that? In her previous life, all of her wife’s clothes from evening gowns to underwear and socks—were designed and handled by her personally. Even all the accessories were arranged by her. With three days left, there was plenty of time to design a high-spec gown.

“Who is designing it?” Ling Qiu had a bad feeling. It couldn’t be this person designing it herself, could it?

“Don’t look at me like that; you’ll hurt my confidence, Madam” Fang Ziyue rested her chin on her hand, drawling lazily. Her low, magnetic voice sounded like a spoiled child, scratching at Ling Qiu’s heart like a cat’s paw.

Ling Qiu simply closed her eyes and ignored her, telling her through silence: Do whatever you want. Anyway, she wouldn’t be the one losing face.

But Fang Ziyue persisted in bothering her wife. “If I say I don’t have a gown and can’t get one, will the Madam help me?”

Her hot breath hit Ling Qiu’s neck, causing her shoulders to shrink back instinctively. When she opened her eyes again, Ling Qiu knit her brow and pushed the approaching face away, saying with disgust, “Too close.” The sun was out; she didn’t find it too hot to be so close.

“Don’t run, Madam, you haven’t answered me yet.” Fang Ziyue looked at the impatient Ling Qiu with a snicker. In her hand was a piece of grass she had plucked from the flower bed, waving it like a cat teaser wand.

Ling Qiu was annoyed by her teasing. She gave her a sideways glance and said coldly, “No.” Since she wouldn’t be the one losing face, she didn’t care.

Hearing this, Fang Ziyue clutched her chest, slumped into her chair, and sighed piteously, “Madam is so heartless, my heart is breaking”

Ling Qiu was completely worn down by her theatrics. It was strange; in front of Fang Ziyue, her volcano-like temper always settled down unintentionally. Her tolerance for Fang Ziyue exceeded her own imagination.

But no matter how Fang Ziyue acted, Ling Qiu didn’t speak again. It wasn’t until dinner time, after Fang Ziyue had pushed the wheelchair back into the house, that Ling Qiu suddenly said, “There are gowns in the last room on this floor. I don’t know if they’ll fit you.”

Fang Ziyue was stunned. It took her two seconds to react and burst into laughter. She only caught a glimpse of her wife’s reddened earlobes before the door was slammed shut in her face. Fang Ziyue instinctively raised her hands to shield her face. Any closer, and she’d have had a nosebleed three feet long! Her wife was too ruthless!

The woman, feeling slightly aggrieved, trotted into the room her wife had mentioned. She felt a bit nervous before opening the door. Like a warrior entering a dragon’s lair, she didn’t know what kind of treasure the dragon had hidden inside.

Upon entering, she saw rows of clothing racks. Gorgeous dresses hung from one end of the room to the other. There were long trench coats, expensive skirts, and mini-skirts. It was every woman’s dream dressing room; any piece of clothing was worth a fortune and so beautiful it could accentuate the wearer’s strengths to the limit.

Closest to Fang Ziyue was a black, off-the-shoulder dress adorned with diamonds, its cinched waist covered in soft, smooth black feathers. Fang Ziyue could imagine it: her wife wearing this gown would look like an elegant black swan, the center of attention as she twirled at a ball.

But now… they were covered in dust. These beautiful clothes had been blanketed in dust, becoming dirty and neglected.

Fang Ziyue suddenly realized: Was it because of her legs?

Indeed, it was.

Leaning by the window, Ling Qiu’s expression was indifferent. She used to love wearing beautiful dresses. Even though she couldn’t stand and could only sit in a wheelchair, she still dressed with dignity and elegance.

Until the day of her birthday banquet. That day, she wore her favorite sea-blue mermaid skirt, chatting happily with business partners by a champagne tower. Suddenly, the tower was pushed over. Ling Qiu tried to push her wheelchair to dodge, only to find that the hem of her skirt had been tied to the wheels it was tangled and wouldn’t budge.

Trapped in place, Ling Qiu could only turn her face away helplessly and raise her hands to protect her head and neck, letting the glass cups full of wine smash all over her…

The scars beneath her long sleeves were itching slightly. Ling Qiu felt the many uneven marks through the fabric ugly and painful. However, they were also a form of experience. One learns from one’s mistakes.

From that day on, Ling Qiu threw her dresses aside. Burdensome beauty would only cost her her life; from then on, she only wore well-fitting, efficient formal suits.

The wind outside the window was blowing a bit sharply. Ling Qiu narrowed her eyes, her pale fingers pulling down her upturned cuffs.

Fortunately, it was all in the past.

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