My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 56

So, what exactly is the truth regarding the real and fake heiresses?

Throughout Ji Zeyuan’s narration, Zhang Linen did not say a single word.

She didn’t even truly listen to the words that followed; she simply let her mind go blank, allowing Ji Zeyuan’s voice to wash over her like flowing water.

After a long while, Ji Zeyuan felt she had explained everything clearly. She paused, peering at Zhang Linen’s reaction.

Zhang Linen’s reaction was no reaction at all.

Ji Zeyuan asked cautiously, “En’en, don’t you have anything you want to ask?”

Zhang Linen’s eyes finally moved with a flicker of realization, and her cherry lips parted slightly: “If I really were your sister, what would you have done?”

Ji Zeyuan knit her brows. This was a question she hadn’t even figured out before the misunderstanding was cleared. Now that Zhang Linen was asking her so suddenly, she didn’t have a definitive answer.

“I suppose… I would have just kept watching over you from a distance, until you got married,” Ji Zeyuan answered after some careful deliberation.

Her pitch-black eyes landed on Ji Zeyuan’s face. Her lips moved as if she had words left unsaid, but in the end, those thousand words transformed into a single sigh.

“It’s all my fault.” Ji Zeyuan’s voice choked up, sounding as if a thumbtack were stuck in her throat. “It’s all my fault for causing you so much pain, for making you become like this.”

Zhang Linen placed her hand on Ji Zeyuan’s hair, stroking it silently. Ji Zeyuan wept, her shoulders heaving as she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

Half a month later, Zhang Linen’s wounds had mostly healed. The doctor said she could be discharged, but Ji Zeyuan stubbornly insisted that since the bandages had just been removed, there was a risk of bacterial infection. She forced Zhang Linen to stay for another half-month.

During the hospitalization, Zhang Linen went for a follow-up check on her Pheromone Phobia. It would have been better if she hadn’t checked; once the results were in, the doctor scolded them both severely. What kind of treatment was this? Why had the pheromone indicators dropped even more drastically?

In her hurry to cure her depression, Zhang Linen had taken many shortcuts with various messy medications and had even abused MECT (Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy). Forget the pheromone levels—practically none of her health indicators were normal.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick? Do you think you’re so powerful? That you have to carry everything yourself?” Ji Zeyuan said, feeling both self-reproachful and terrified.

Zhang Linen gave her a dismissive, sidelong glance. “Can you stop being like this? You didn’t come back for eight years. I carried everything by myself back then. What are you making such a fuss about now?”

Ji Zeyuan slumped her head in dejection. Zhang Linen had been speaking like this lately—two out of every three sentences involved bringing up old debts. And she hit the mark every time, accurately silencing Ji Zeyuan and leaving her stuttering, unable to say a word.

On the day of her discharge, Ji Zeyuan suddenly informed Zhang Linen that she had a press conference to attend. She requested that Zhang Linen accompany her to the scene but refused to tell her what the content would be.

The press conference was held in the headquarters’ main hall. This time, there were twice as many reporters as before. As soon as Zhang Linen stepped through the door, she felt dizzy.

Noticing that Zhang Linen’s complexion looked wrong, Ji Zeyuan asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell? There are a lot of people here.”

Zhang Linen nodded slightly. Suddenly, she saw Ji Cheng, dressed in a formal suit, sitting on the rostrum. Ji Cheng was busy responding to reporters’ questions and didn’t notice her.

“I need to head over now,” Ji Zeyuan said. She took Zhang Linen’s hand and placed a small object into her palm. Without waiting for Zhang Linen to see what it was, she turned and walked toward the rostrum.

After Ji Zeyuan left, Zhang Linen slowly opened her palm. There were two rings.

One had a water-ripple band with a crown setting; the other had a rose setting.

On that day, in her state of utter despair, Zhang Linen had not only torn the wedding dress but had also taken off the ring Ji Zeyuan gave her and left it there.

Ji Zeyuan sat down in the chair next to Ji Cheng. The reporters’ microphones and the photographers’ lenses all turned toward her.

“May we ask if your one-month suspension was a choice made because you couldn’t handle the public pressure after being exposed as a fake heiress?”

Reporters’ questions were always so sharp and direct. Everyone fell silent, waiting for Ji Zeyuan’s answer.

Ji Zeyuan remained unfazed and said, “It was because my partner was ill. I requested a suspension because I needed to take care of her.”

Zhang Linen was stunned. Before she could react, Ji Zeyuan continued, “You all know her. She is right over there.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed, drawing all eyes toward Zhang Linen. Caught off guard, Zhang Linen had no idea that Ji Zeyuan would stage a public announcement of their relationship today.

“Can you reveal what illness your partner is suffering from? Is it the hereditary mental illness rumored online?”

Ji Zeyuan answered solemnly, “That is a matter of personal privacy and is not convenient to answer.”

The room broke into a roar of whispers. Ji Cheng’s expression flickered between light and shadow, his true emotions unreadable.

Ji Zeyuan and Zhang Linen looked at each other from a distance. Her gaze was soft, but after just two seconds, she returned to her usual serious expression.

“I know that the discussion regarding me in the media lately has been very intense. Therefore, I am here to announce an important matter.”

Ji Zeyuan tossed her speech into the trash bin and faced the burning gazes of the crowd, her voice loud and clear: “I have transferred all of my equity to my partner’s name. Furthermore, after discussions with my father, the primary successor of Jixia has been changed from myself to my partner.”

For a moment, the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze.

After a long silence, a young reporter held up a microphone and asked cautiously, “So, has the wedding date for you and your partner been set?”

Ji Zeyuan curled her lips into a smile and said, “That is not convenient to reveal.”

At this moment, Ji Cheng, who had been sitting silently on the side, spoke up.

“After our tireless investigation, we have identified the mastermind behind the rumors as the Director of Wharton Hospital. To cover up his daughter’s plagiarism scandal, he intentionally distorted the truth, causing an extremely damaging negative impact on Jixia’s brand image. Regarding this, we have already filed a lawsuit with the prosecution.”

Then another reporter asked, “So, what exactly is the truth regarding the real and fake heiresses?”

Just as Ji Cheng was about to speak, Zhang Linen walked through the crowd. Amidst the shocked gazes of everyone, she took the microphone from the reporter.

“The truth is that this was a medical accident caused by hospital negligence. On the day we were born, the physician on duty left their post without permission. This led to my mother mistakenly taking me, while Chairman Ji Cheng mistakenly took Ji Zeyuan back.”

Zhang Linen stood alone amidst the vast crowd. Watching her stand independent of the world and unafraid of rumors, Ji Zeyuan felt her nose prickle with emotion.

A flash of disbelief also crossed Ji Cheng’s eyes.

The reporter asked again, “May I ask when you became aware of this matter?”

Zhang Linen hesitated for a moment before answering, “During my third year of high school.”

At this point, lying would be detrimental to gathering evidence later, so Zhang Linen chose to tell the truth.

The reporter asked, “Which hospital was it?”

Zhang Linen said, “Wharton.”

The reporter continued to press, “It is rumored online that your adoptive mother was a maid for the Ji family. How could a maid’s daughter be in the same hospital as a daughter of a corporate elite?”

Zhang Linen answered methodically, “Back then, my biological mother went into difficult labor on the road, so she was sent to the nearest hospital, Wharton. As everyone knows, Wharton was only a tiny Level 2 Grade B hospital back then, and the current Director of Wharton was just a minor department head at that hospital at the time.”

These words were highly insulting. People looked at each other, none daring to comment.

Ji Cheng said, “Does anyone else have questions they need us to answer?”

The reporter who had been questioning them continued, “Since you knew the truth many years ago, why didn’t you announce it sooner?”

Ji Cheng’s gaze landed on Zhang Linen, and he said, “This pertains to our personal privacy and is not convenient to answer.”

The latter half of the press conference proceeded quickly. After all, the explosive points had already been fired off like a machine gun in the first half.

Before the press conference ended, Zhang Linen quietly slipped out through the back door of the hall. It was now late autumn, and the “Autumn Tiger” heat had passed, leaving a biting chill. She tightened the sleeves of her cotton coat.

Roughly three years ago—five years after Ji Zeyuan had left—Zhang Linen had just been transferred from a Jixia subsidiary to the headquarters. She had sat in on a board meeting with Ji Cheng’s assistant. Ji Cheng had been enthusiastically describing Ji Zeyuan’s various advantages as a successor.

It was painful for Zhang Linen to hear, so she walked out halfway through. The things Ji Cheng talked about were things she didn’t know, because Ji Zeyuan hadn’t spoken a single word to her since going abroad.

The weather then had been just like it was now—cold and desolate. The tree branches were as sparse as the top of a middle-aged man’s head, and the wind sent leaves fluttering down.

Ji Cheng had just promised her that he would force Ji Zeyuan to return after graduation. Previously, it had been an infinite wait, and though there was finally a clear timeline, Zhang Linen felt even more lost.

She didn’t know if Ji Zeyuan would avoid her after returning, or what Ji Zeyuan really thought of her. It was just… she truly couldn’t stand a life without Ji Zeyuan. It was more painful than being thrown into a vat of boiling oil.

Now, standing here, Ji Zeyuan had announced their relationship in front of everyone and returned everything to her.

It was only now that the hesitation in Zhang Linen’s heart began to dissipate. She began to be willing to believe that Ji Zeyuan really wasn’t doing this for Jixia—she truly loved her.

The cold wind made a discarded soda can on the roadside clatter. Amidst her wandering thoughts, Zhang Linen heard the rustling sounds of people starting to leave the hall.

She checked the time; it was indeed about time for it to end.

Zhang Linen took a few breaths of cold air. Just as she turned to open the door, someone pushed it open from the inside. Not paying attention, the door hit her head, making her see stars.

“Oh dear, are you okay?” Ji Zeyuan, who had opened the door, hurriedly supported Zhang Linen’s arm to check for injuries.

Zhang Linen clutched her head and said in pain, “Why did you come here?”

Ji Zeyuan pulled her hand away, blowing gently on her reddened forehead with concern. “It’s all red. Do you need some ointment? I asked the staff, and someone saw you walking this way, so I guessed you must have come out.”

Another gust of cold wind blew. Ji Zeyuan took off her own coat to drape it over Zhang Linen. Zhang Linen pushed her hand away and said, “I won’t freeze to death. Wear it yourself.”

Ji Zeyuan frowned. “Your hands are so icy, and you just got out of the hospital. You can’t catch a cold.”

She stubbornly insisted on putting the coat on Zhang Linen. Zhang Linen couldn’t win and reluctantly wore the coat.

The coat was filled with the fragrance of roses—warm and sweet.

“Let’s go,” Ji Zeyuan said, hugging Zhang Linen and rubbing her cheek with her chin.

The scent of roses filled Zhang Linen’s entire nose. Now that everything had settled, she and Ji Zeyuan were partners. Why did she still need to remain soberly restrained?

“Where is your car parked?” Zhang Linen asked. She looked up, her pitch-black eyes filled with the flames of desire.