I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 59.2

Heavy snowflakes fell, nearly obscuring all traces, making it impossible for Zhou Ruonian to read the words on the tombstone. She didn’t know who had died, and in the dream, her gaze never settled on the grave. Instead, she spoke in a hoarse voice, conversing with the mourners.

The faces of those guests were familiar, most of whom Zhou Ruonian had seen at social gatherings connections from the Jiang family. For a moment, she felt disoriented and instinctively wondered, Had Jiang Lianyan passed away?

But as she observed their expressions, she immediately dismissed the thought.

Though it was clearly a funeral, their faces held no trace of respect or sorrow. Instead, they wore faint smirks and responded to her with condescension. If Jiang Lianyan had truly died, they wouldn’t have acted this way.

Just as she struggled to make sense of the situation, someone suddenly linked arms with her. Turning, she saw Jiang Lianyan.

Jiang Lianyan had matured noticeably, her gaze filled with trust as she asked when the funeral would end. Zhou Ruonian broke into a cold sweat, wanting only to put as much distance as possible between herself and Jiang Lianyan. Yet, ‘Zhou Ruonian’ responded softly, a tone that sent a chill down Zhou Ruonian’s spine, making her instantly aware of their current relationship.

Were she and Jiang Lianyan together? How was that possible?

Strangely, the guests who had mocked her earlier now wore friendly smiles upon seeing Jiang Lianyan and eagerly struck up conversations. After the funeral ended, the two shared an intimate, lingering moment in the car. Each scene made Zhou Ruonian’s blood run cold.

She strained to catch a glimpse of the name on the tombstone, but the car drove farther and farther away.

Her mind drifted until ‘Zhou Ruonian’ planted a kiss on Jiang Lianyan’s lips.

The scene shifted again they were back home. Zhou Ruonian saw Jiang Lianyan holding a letter. Just moments before, she had been sneering, treating the letter as a joke. But upon seeing ‘Zhou Ruonian,’ her tone softened abruptly.

“I was reading the letter your sister wrote to you.”

As they both looked down, their eyes fell on the signature at once Jiang Luoyue.

Jiang Luoyue? Sister? How were Jiang Luoyue and Jiang Lianyan connected?

Before Zhou Ruonian could process the revelation, ‘Zhou Ruonian’ had already taken the letter from Jiang Lianyan’s hands and asked disapprovingly, “Where did you dig up something from the dead?”

Dead? Was Jiang Luoyue already dead? Then whose funeral had she just attended?

In an instant, countless thoughts flooded Zhou Ruonian’s mind her own formal attire, the mourners speaking only to her.

But if Jiang Luoyue was the one who had died, why was she with Jiang Lianyan?

Unable to discern whether what she was seeing was real or not, Zhou Ruonian felt an overwhelming urge to flee. As the dream began to collapse, she saw Jiang Lianyan naturally lean into ‘Zhou Ruonian’s’ embrace and lazily reply, “I was just reading it for fun. Are you angry with me?”

‘Zhou Ruonian’ refuted her, and perhaps to prove her sincerity, she tore the letter to shreds in front of Jiang Lianyan. Jiang Lianyan chuckled lightly, the ring on her ring finger glinting under the light. In her daze, Zhou Ruonian saw another figure standing beside them, watching silently and intently.

Upon waking from the dream, the first thing Zhou Ruonian did was search for the names of the guests who had introduced themselves to her in the dream.

She had only met these people once and had no idea what their names were. Yet, the search results that popped up on her phone matched the guest perfectly.

The subconscious mind does retain many things, but it certainly doesn’t hold information Zhou Ruonian had never known.

She tried to push Jiang Luoyue to the back of her mind and pondered more, like why the Jiang family had specifically requested her to be Jiang Lianyan’s agent. Zhou Ruonian had once believed it was because the Jiang family recognized her talents. But now, she wondered: Could it be that the Jiang family had long known about Jiang Luoyue and mistakenly assumed she was Jiang Luoyue’s agent?

The truth could easily be uncovered with a little investigation at Yunyue Entertainment. But what if the Jiang family had chosen to inquire with Jiang Luoyue’s adoptive parents?

Before that farce unfolded, Zhou Ruonian had still been lying to them, claiming to be Jiang Luoyue’s agent.

At this thought, Zhou Ruonian’s expression darkened. She called Jiang Lanhui and, amidst a torrent of curses, got her answer.

Several months ago, someone had indeed paid Jiang Lanhui a few thousand yuan to confirm that Zhou Ruonian was Jiang Luoyue’s agent.

As her suspicion suddenly became reality, Zhou Ruonian took a deep breath and hung up. The room fell into silence, but the echoes of Jiang Lanhui’s demands for money still buzzed incessantly in her ears.

The Li family had been thrown into chaos lately. Jiang Lanhui and Li Jiangang had been detained for a few days on charges of provoking trouble, and as soon as they were released from custody, they were served with a court summons.

Jiang Luoyue had meant it when she said she would sue them. Without any leniency, she tallied every expense and demanded the Li family compensate her to the tune of tens of millions.

It was an amount the Li family could never afford. Yet Jiang Luoyue remained unyielding, refusing any settlement, forcing the Li family to sell off their assets in desperation.

Their son’s dream of studying abroad had evaporated. He was now stranded overseas, even having to borrow money from classmates for a plane ticket home.

Zhou Ruonian learned all this from the harassing messages she received. Jiang Lanhui seemed to view her and Jiang Lianyan as lifelines, using different unknown numbers daily to lament and plead their misery.

But Zhou Ruonian could hardly protect herself, how could she spare any concern for them?

Thinking of her own recent experiences, Zhou Ruonian’s face darkened further. She was being ostracized at the company, shut out by the Jiang family, and the artists under her management, lacking resources, were demanding to terminate their contracts. Meanwhile, Yu Qing, whom she had once regarded as her biggest rival, was thriving brilliantly because of Jiang Luoyue.

She hadn’t even had a chance to compete before losing due to her own “obscurity.”

The stark contrast left Zhou Ruonian drifting through each day in a daze, feeling as though life wasn’t worth living.

Yet, all that glory should have been hers.

She thought of the version of herself in her dreams dressed in luxury, wearing a watch worth millions, her home filled with trophies and photos of her with artists. That was the life Zhou Ruonian had imagined countless times: establishing her own studio, achieving fame and success,

In her dreams, she had attained it all. So why was her reality so wretched?

Amidst her resentment and bitterness, the only person Zhou Ruonian could fixate on was Jiang Luoyue.

It seemed everything had started to change from the day Jiang Luoyue rejected her.

Had Jiang Luoyue known everything in advance? Impossible. Zhou Ruonian instinctively denied the idea, but then she recalled the final figure in her dream. If she could see all that, perhaps Jiang Luoyue could, too?

She didn’t know what had transpired between her and Jiang Luoyue in the dream, but since they had married, their bond must have been deep.

Maybe Jiang Luoyue was just being temporarily harsh. Eventually, she would forgive her…

Zhou Ruonian tried hard to convince herself, closing her eyes tightly as she slipped back into that long, vivid dream.

But the dream shifted once more. Zhou Ruonian no longer saw Jiang Liyan. Instead, what appeared before her eyes was her younger self and Jiang Luoyue.

She had already left Yunyue Entertainment and established her own studio. Due to the uncompromising manner of her departure, few had high hopes for her.

It was Jiang Luoyue who voluntarily gave up better opportunities and a brighter future, signing a ten-year contract with the studio. She told Zhou Ruonian that starting from scratch didn’t matter she would always stay by her side.

From then on, every time Jiang Luoyue appeared on screen, she actively promoted the studio. Every connection she made, she shared with Zhou Ruonian. She helped her unreservedly and loved her with all her might.

Even when she had been working nonstop for days, if Zhou Ruonian fell ill, Jiang Luoyue would rush back overnight to care for her. Over the years, Zhou Ruonian never heard her complain, nor did she ever see Jiang Luoyue cry. The only time her eyes reddened was when Zhou Ruonian blamed herself for not doing enough, and Jiang Luoyue insisted that the fault was entirely her own.

Amid countless criticisms, Jiang Luoyue remained steadfast, truly fulfilling her promise to always stay by her side.

The year the studio finally began to thrive, Zhou Ruonian missed Jiang Luoyue’s birthday because she was accepting an award. It was only after stepping off the stage, reminded by her assistant, that she casually sent a congratulatory text.

Jiang Luoyue replied with a lengthy message of over a thousand words, congratulating her on finally achieving everything she had ever wanted. But Zhou Ruonian, having unexpectedly reunited with Jiang Liyan backstage and rekindling their old flame, didn’t even glance at the message.

Using “a vacation” as an excuse, Zhou Ruonian went abroad with Jiang Liyan for a week. By the time she returned home, even she felt guilty. But when she opened the door, the living room was aglow with candlelight.

Jiang Luoyue stood holding a cake, her smile sincere, while fireworks bloomed brilliantly outside the window, celebrating Zhou Ruonian’s birthday.

After the birthday song, Jiang Luoyue took out a ring and a bank card.

She wanted to give everything she had to Zhou Ruonian, as proof of her feelings.

In that instant, Zhou Ruonian both in the dream and in reality stood frozen.

Because just minutes before Jiang Luoyue arrived, a drunken Zhou Ruonian had been complaining to Jiang Liyan. She criticized Jiang Luoyue for being too quiet, for not understanding social graces. She was annoyed that Jiang Luoyue knew nothing about managing a business yet still tried to involve herself in studio affairs. She was even more frustrated that Jiang Luoyue lacked ability and family background, far inferior to the support Jiang Liyan could offer,

She had spoken every harsh word imaginable, yet in the next moment, the very person she had judged so harshly stood before her, shy and cautious, carefully offering her whole heart.

“It’s okay if you haven’t decided yet.” Seeing her stiff expression, a flicker of disappointment passed through Jiang Luoyue’s eyes, but she still curved them into a gentle smile and whispered, “There will be many more birthdays. I’ll spend them all with you.”

So, Zhou Ruonian still had plenty of time to think of an answer, and Jiang Luoyue would always be by her side.