The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 18

After fleeing the scene, Lin Yulan didn’t go home. She huffed and puffed, wanting to drown her sorrows with Xia Ran, but when the taxi arrived at the Xia residence, she suddenly remembered what Xia Ran had told her before her older sister had returned from abroad. If she barged in now and Xia Ran’s sister happened to be home, it would be awkward.

After hesitating for a while, Lin Yulan stayed in the car and called Xia Ran.

“Hey babe, what are you up to? I’m in a bad mood, come out and keep me a company.”

Xia Ran’s family also ran a business. Though not as large as the Lin Group and not a family-owned enterprise, it was still sizable compared to most companies. Xia Ran usually had to help manage the company when she wasn’t busy, leaving little time for leisure, if any, it was mostly at night. However, since her older sister Xia Yin had returned, she had more free time to focus on her own affairs.

Upon receiving Lin Yulan’s call, Xia Ran’s first response was: “What’s up with you? Ever since you got engaged to Jiang Xue, I haven’t seen you in a good mood. So who is it this time? Your mom? Or Jiang Xue?”

Lin Yulan snapped impatiently, “Why so many questions? Are you coming out or not? If not, forget it, I’ll go find Ye Jing instead.”

Xia Ran knew Ye Jing, that Omega. They had met once when Lin Yulan introduced them at a karaoke bar. Though they’d only interacted briefly, Xia Ran’s impression of Ye Jing was worse than her impression of Jiang Xue.

She couldn’t quite put it into words, but if Jiang Xue was a scheming Omega in Lin Yulan’s eyes, at least she was a beautiful, intelligent, and considerate one. Ye Jing, on the other hand, was different. That Omega reeked of stupidity, she had poor social skills and loved gossiping behind people’s backs.

In short, she had a brain but no brains, utterly foolish.

“Look, I’m just saying you’re engaged now. Sooner or later, you’ll be legally married. Even if you dislike Jiang Xue, she’s still your official Omega, your rightful wife, the one whose name will be on the marriage certificate. You should keep some distance from other Omegas.” Xia Ran warned, “And it’s not like you don’t know how much an Omega’s pheromones can affect an Alpha. What if something happens because you’re getting too close to them? It won’t just be cheating, it’ll be way worse. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The mention of pheromones made Lin Yulan recall the way she had reacted to Jiang Xue outside the civil affairs office. Instantly, her irritation flared again. “Do I look like some reckless Alpha who doesn’t know boundaries?! And Ye Jing isn’t the kind of Omega you think she is. So are you coming out or not? If not, I’m calling Ye Jing!”

Xia Ran mostly felt helpless toward her best friend. If she intervened too much, she risked pushing Lin Yulan away. But if she did nothing, given Lin Yulan’s temperament, trouble was bound to happen.

“Alright, send me the address. I’ll come find you now.” Xia Ran seemed to remember something and added, “Or you could come to my place instead. My sister is substitute teaching today and probably won’t be back.”

“Substitute teaching? You’ve already graduated, is your sister still a student?”

Xia Ran explained, “You’re overthinking it. My sister is two years older than me, how could she still be a student? I meant she’s filling in for another professor to teach their class.”

Substitute teaching for another professor? So Xia Ran’s sister is also a doctoral advisor?

“Doesn’t your sister help out at the company?”

Xia Ran replied, “She does. We take turns assisting at the company. Her teaching gig is just a nominal position at the university, she’s not a full-time professor.”

Lin Yulan asked curiously, “Then why doesn’t your sister just work at the company? You’re so capable, and your sister must be too. Why not directly help your father manage the business instead of holding a nominal teaching position?”

This was something Xia Ran had wondered about before. Indeed, it was their father’s company. Xia Yin was her sister, whether in terms of ability, education, or experience, she could easily join the management team. Why insist on maintaining that position at H University?

Thinking carefully, Xia Ran felt something had been off since her sister returned. It seemed like she was hiding some happy secret but refused to share when asked. Last night when Xia Ran consulted Lin Yulan about such matters, her sister had effortlessly offered advice on complex emotional issues.

There was only one possible explanation: she must have taken that university position specifically for someone she liked!

“Maybe she finds working in the same environment boring and wants to experience different workplaces,” Xia Ran said, keeping her speculation to herself. “But I’m not sure if my sister might suddenly return. If you’re uncomfortable with that, just pick a place and send me the address. Speaking of which, why have you suddenly become socially anxious? I remember you doing all sorts of embarrassing things in school, how come you’re so shy now? Regressing with age?”

Lin Yulan couldn’t explain why either she just instinctively resisted meeting Xia Ran’s sister, as if doing so would trigger something she didn’t want to face. “I’ll just send you the address. If your sister sees me, she might blame me for corrupting you. I’d rather not get beaten up.”

Half an hour later.

At the bar.

The daytime bar lacked blinding lights and rowdy singing. With most people at work, the daytime crowd was smaller, making the atmosphere relatively normal, no different from ordinary entertainment venues.

Even so, Xia Ran wasn’t fond of such places. But what could she do? Her hopeless best friend loved them, so she had to indulge her.

“Over here!”

As Xia Ran approached, she caught the smell of alcohol on Lin Yulan’s breath. Waving a hand in front of her nose in distaste, she ordered a non-alcoholic drink from the bartender before sitting down. “What’s wrong with you? Looking like your wife ran off with someone again.”

Lin Yulan pulled out a document from her bag and tossed it in front of Xia Ran. “What nonsense about looking like my wife ran off with someone! That would only apply if I actually liked the person in the first place.”

Xia Ran didn’t even need to process her shock and the moment she saw the three bold characters “Marriage Certificate” on the document, she was rendered speechless.

She seriously wondered if she’d missed some crucial plot development. They’d only been apart since last night and this morning, how could Lin Yulan have betrayed their sacred singlehood doctrine so quickly?!

“You… you just went and got married to Jiang Xue?”

Lin Yulan muttered gloomily, “Why else do you think I suddenly asked you out for drinks?”

Now Xia Ran understood. She pushed the marriage certificate back toward Lin Yulan and said with genuine sincerity, “Congratulations on your marriage.”

At that moment, the bride clearly wasn’t happy. In fact, if possible, she would’ve marched right back to dissolve the marriage immediately.

“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

Xia Ran replied, “Why would I mock you for this? Since you’re already married, just make do for now. If it becomes unbearable later, you can always divorce. There’s no hurdle that can’t be overcome, right?”

Lin Yulan wasn’t exactly sad either. When she’d walked out of the civil affairs office holding the certificate, she’d actually felt relieved.

But this feeling was strange, she should be furious, yet she couldn’t summon any anger; she ought to hate Jiang Xue, yet after getting married, that hatred seemed to have dissipated.

“Xia Ran, do you think I should hate her?”

Xia Ran didn’t know how to answer. While Jiang Xue’s methods were undoubtedly wrong, as her sister had pointed out, if Lin Yulan truly despised Jiang Xue, if she loathed this Omega to her core, she would have firmly resisted Ming Zelan’s threats and inducements.

The Lin family only had one precious daughter like Lin Yulan. If she had refused to marry Jiang Xue, Ming Zelan wouldn’t have severed their mother-daughter relationship over some background-less Omega.

That would be utterly ridiculous.

Instead of answering, Xia Ran asked in return, “Do you hate her?”

Lin Yulan similarly deflected, “Do you think Qu Mengxin will ever come back? If she finds out I married Jiang Xue, will she hate me?”

“But the problem is she’s already disappeared without a word for years. If she really cared about you, why hasn’t she tried to contact you all this time?”

Xia Ran took a sip of her drink, continuing under the bartender’s scandalized gaze: “Besides, asking me is pointless, you should be asking yourself. And if Qu Mengxin does return someday and learns you’re married to Jiang Xue, what right would she have to hate you? It wasn’t you who abandoned her, she left without saying goodbye. If anything, you should be the one hating her!”

Yes.

She should hate Qu Mengxin.

It was Qu Mengxin who abandoned her, chasing some so-called dream without even taking her along.

They’d promised each other even without family support, Lin Yulan would work hard abroad to build a future, then provide Qu Mengxin with a better life than before.

Yet Qu Mengxin still refused to take her away. She didn’t even leave her the slightest hope ,the phone, WeChat, QQ every possible means of contact was thoroughly deleted by Qu Mengxin. She truly couldn’t understand why that woman could be so heartless, abandoning her without a second thought.

But even so, she found herself utterly incapable of hating her.

So how could she possibly hate Jiang Xue?

Lin Yulan picked up the glass before her and downed it in one gulp, her breath reeking of alcohol as she said, “You’re right. I should be the one hating her!”

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