I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 47

While Jiang Luoyue was being pestered to change a contact name, inside the Jiang Corporation’s executive CEO office, Jiang Yu repeatedly dragged the video timeline back and forth until a knock on the door abruptly snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Come in,” she said, relaxing only when she saw it was her assistant, Lu Yin, who entered.

Lu Yin came in to deliver documents and coffee. Hearing the sounds coming from the computer, she casually asked, “Is that Jiang Luoyue?”

Right after “Hate Me” paused its live broadcast, it shot to the top of trending lists across various platforms, making it impossible to ignore the context. Lu Yin had casually scrolled through a few short videos, all of which detailed how Jiang Luoyue had been exploited by her parents, leaving her deeply sighing with sympathy.

Jiang Yu nodded uncomfortably and turned her gaze to the stacks of thick documents.

Ever since she had inexplicably dreamed of Jiang Luoyue some time ago, Jiang Yu had begun investigating her and the Li family. These documents contained the compiled information gathered over the past few days.

Only after Lu Yin left did Jiang Yu sit alone in the office for several minutes before finally opening the files.

The first thing that caught her eye was the investigation results regarding the Li family. The records showed that Jiang Lanhui and Li Jiang had been married for many years without having children. Yet, five years after moving to City A, they suddenly brought home a four-year-old girl, claiming she was their child.

However, when asked about the specific date of birth, they only provided the year and month, avoiding the exact day.

From the very first time Jiang Yu saw a photo of Jiang Lanhui, she had noticed that the woman bore little resemblance to Jiang Luoyue. This lack of resemblance became even more apparent as Jiang Luoyue grew older. If not deliberately suggested, no one who saw the two together would guess they were biologically related.

Puzzled, Jiang Yu looked into all of Jiang Lanhui’s hospitalization records and was startled to discover that Jiang Lanhui had indeed given birth to a baby boy, but the infant had died of illness just ten days after birth.

Medical records don’t lie, Jiang Lanhui could not possibly be Jiang Luoyue’s mother.

After learning this, Jiang Yu found herself at a loss for words, recalling Jiang Luoyue’s composed and mature rebuttals on the show.

Inside the second folder was a stack of photographs spanning over a decade, from Jiang Luoyue’s first acting role at age five to her hastily arranged birthday celebration the previous year.

With each passing year, the youthful innocence faded from her face. At some point, she had learned to conceal her emotions, until only a faint smile remained.

Jiang Yu gazed at the photos, her fingertips gently tracing the girl’s face in the images.

Long before Jiang Lianyan joined the variety show, she had accidentally discovered that the contours of Jiang Luoyue’s eyes and brows bore a striking resemblance to her own mother, Jing Lan. And after seeing these childhood photos, she even felt a moment of dazed confusion.

If she had a younger sister, she would surely look exactly like Jiang Luoyue.

That sister would be seven years younger than her, watched over as she grew up, cherished and pampered by the family, never having suffered any grievances. Well-behaved, sensible, never rebellious or out of line the kind of child everyone would be proud of,

After a long while, Jiang Yu set down the documents and let out a sudden, soft scoff. She thought she must be under too much mental stress, to be so affected by a fleeting, illusory dream.

So what if Jiang Luoyue’s origins were questionable? So what if she truly resembled Jing Lan?

She only had one sister, and the Jiang family only had two daughters, Jiang Yu and Jiang Lianyan. There could never be a third.

It was all just her overthinking, worrying unnecessarily and letting her imagination run wild.

Jiang Yu ignored her trembling hand, forcing herself to calm her thoughts and immerse herself in work.

But this feigned composure did not last long.

As the official account of Hate Me suddenly released footage from after the live broadcast was interrupted, the hashtag #Jiang Luoyue’s Parents# once again trended on social media. A sudden, urgent ringtone abruptly shattered the long-standing gloomy atmosphere in the office.

Jiang Yu’s head throbbed with pain. Recognizing her father’s name on the screen, she pressed the answer button. But what reached her ears was her mother, Jing Lan’s shocked inquiry: “Xiao Yu, have you seen the trending topics? Jiang Luoyue, she.”

“She looks just like your sister.”

In an instant, Jiang Yu’s entire body stiffened, and a chill ran through her.

How she answered her mother, how she left the company, Jiang Yu could no longer remember. Even as she soaked in the bathtub, enveloped by warm water, she still felt cold all over.

It seemed that as soon as she closed her eyes, she could see her younger self, holding the hand of her even younger sister as they walked out of that overgrown, desolate mansion.

After giving birth to Jiang Yu, Jing Lan had been told by doctors that she might never have another child. Her mother had always felt regret about this until Lianyan came along.

Jiang Yu couldn’t remember when she had started to resent Lianyan. Perhaps it was even before her sister was born, when her mother repeatedly mentioned “Lianyan,” irritating her. After Lianyan was born, whether she cried or laughed, it only felt grating to Jiang Yu.

At times, a sinful thought would emerge in her mind: If Lianyan disappeared, would her mother love only her? Would everyone’s attention shift back to her, instead of focusing on a useless child who couldn’t even walk?

The first time she attempted this plan, Jiang Yu was ten years old, and Lianyan was three.

Everyone’s assessment of Lianyan was not wrong, she was an obedient child. Wherever Jiang Yu took her, she followed without a word. Even when Jiang Yu left her in a deserted park, she just played with a pinwheel, waiting for the sister who had told her to wait obediently to take her home.

Jiang Yu stood and watched for half an hour, until her legs were covered in mosquito bites, but no so-called kidnappers appeared. In the end, she reluctantly took Lianyan home.

Dissatisfied, she believed it was just Lianyan’s good luck. So, the second time, she left Lianyan in a bustling commercial street. This time, Lianyan was quickly discovered, and an announcement was made throughout the area to find her guardian. Jiang Yu was singled out like a criminal, forced to claim Lianyan and take her back.

The third time, the fourth time… She lost count of how many times she tried to abandon Lianyan. Then, Jiang Yu’s eleventh birthday arrived. Because her mother was away on a business trip, the birthday celebration was particularly simple, only a few scattered friends besides herself.

They all knew she disliked Lianyan and played petty tricks on her. That was the first time Jiang Yu saw Lianyan cry. Unlike other babies who wailed loudly when upset, Lianyan cried quietly, shedding tears without a sound, aside from occasional sniffles.

Startled, Jiang Yu scolded her friends for the first time, telling them to get lost. As she stood there, panicked and angry, unsure how to comfort Lianyan, Lianyan stumbled over to her side, tears still on her face, looked up, and said, “Happy birthday.”

Along with this blessing, she handed Jiang Yu a hand-drawn birthday card.

Mother, sister, her, a grassy field, balloons, an animal that might be a dog or a cat, and a crescent moon.

On the back, written in English: I love you.

And a line of crooked Chinese characters: Can you take me to the amusement park?

Before this, Jiang Yu had never received such a gift.

Her family expected her to mature early, while her friends seemed to regard her as a leader, treating her with a hint of fear. She had no true friends, no doting relatives. She played the role of the Jiang Yu others expected, venting her limited sense of self onto Lianyan.

She had never imagined that the first time she would feel the emotion of “being loved” would come from the younger, weaker sister she had so thoroughly despised.

To this day, Jiang Yu still remembered her response and the way Lianyan’s eyes sparkled, as if filled with starlight, after she answered.

She had told Lianyan in person that she loved her too. Once she finished her studies, she would take her to the amusement park.

It was the decision Jiang Yu regretted most in her life.

At the very moment she first offered her sincerity, cautiously trying to please someone else,

She lost Lianyan.

When Jiang Yu jolted awake from her dream, the water had long gone cold. She lowered her gaze, drying her hair. The roar of the hairdryer was deafening, the ringing in her ears reminiscent of the time her father, upon hearing the news, had slapped her across the ear.

Her father had been deeply shaken, and her mother seemed to have fallen ill as well. Not long after, they brought home a new child and told Jiang Yu that from that day on, she would be her sister, Jiang Lianyan.

Jiang Yu had protested this wasn’t Lianyan. At first, she was met with a slap. Later, it was endless silence and neglect. Only when she addressed the girl as Lianyan did she regain her family’s affection, smilingly told that the Jiang family had only two children.

Jiang Yu and Jiang Lianyan no one would be missing, and no one extra would appear.

This was a rule they themselves had set so why had they suddenly broken it?

Wouldn’t it have been better to keep things as they were?

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Jiang Yu recalled a conversation she’d had as an adult with a branch of the Jiang family. They had joked about their grandmother’s favoritism, how she had left such substantial assets and shares to Jiang Lianyan, while they received only scraps.

That was the first time Jiang Yu learned that in their grandmother’s will, the assets and shares allocated to Lianyan were exceptionally generous.

The timing of her disappearance had been too convenient, their grandmother was still alive then. If the news had gotten out, the will could have been altered at any moment, and the shares allotted to the rest of them would undoubtedly have diminished.

So, for the sake of profit, anyone could become Lianyan.

After first learning the truth, Jiang Yu returned to the Jiang family and had her first argument with her mother, even physically grappling with her father. She demanded to know why they were so heartless, only to be met with the retort: “Isn’t this better?”

Jiang Lianyan was nothing but a puppet. As long as she was meticulously cared for, she could forever shine brightly for the Jiang family. She wouldn’t compete with Jiang Yu for assets and could even provide her with support so why was Jiang Yu dissatisfied?

Was it indignation on Lianyan’s behalf? But, after all, it was Jiang Yu who had lost Lianyan.

Looking at the distorted face in the mirror, Jiang Yu slammed her fist against the glass.

The cracks spread like a spiderweb. She let the blood from the base of her thumb soak her bathrobe and coldly dialed Lu Yin.

“Give me Jiang Luoyue’s contact information.”

Jiang Yu needed to verify it herself.

If it was a lie, all the better.

She would follow Jiang Lianyan’s wishes and thoroughly resolve Jiang Luoyue, leaving no future troubles.

If it were true.

Jiang Yu fell silent, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his phone.

He would return to Jiang Luoyue everything that should have belonged to Lianyan.