The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 30

Lin Yulan’s mind suddenly froze, like a computer running at full speed that abruptly crashes, leaving her unable to think.

Every word Xia Ran said was clear and understandable, but when strung together, they became completely incomprehensible to her.

It took nearly five minutes before Lin Yulan finally recovered from the mental crash caused by Xia Ran’s statement. “Xia Ran, are you joking with me? You’re saying Jiang Xue actually likes me? That’s not funny at all!”

Xia Ran countered, “If she really wanted your family’s wealth, she would have done everything possible to marry you as soon as you reunited, then schemed to get into your family’s company. But she never mentioned any of that, not even once. She even agreed to your condition of not having a wedding. Do you really think an Omega who’s solely after your family’s money and status would tolerate that?”

For an Omega marrying into a wealthy family, a grand, widely publicized wedding would be a declaration to the world that the Lin Ming Zhelan and Lin He, recognized her as the legitimate daughter-in-law, the future young madam of the Lin Group, securing her status.

But no wedding? That would be the equivalent of Lin He and Ming Zhelan subtly telling everyone that this Omega wasn’t to their liking that they refused to acknowledge her place in the Lin family. As a result, Jiang Xue would face exclusion from other elite families and even disdain from the Lins themselves. Her future status and life would be miserable.

So if Jiang Xue truly wanted the Lin family’s wealth and status, she would never have agreed to Lin Yulan’s unreasonable demand. Accepting such terms would only bring her harm, not benefit.

Lin Yulan couldn’t refute Xia Ran’s argument. When she had proposed the condition, she never expected Jiang Xue to agree, she had already prepared for rejection. Yet, to her shock, Jiang Xue accepted without hesitation.

At the time, aside from being stunned, Lin Yulan had privately mocked Jiang Xue for being an idiot. She had thought her condition would force Jiang Xue to back down, yet the woman had agreed so decisively.

“Even if what you’re saying makes sense, what if Jiang Xue just agreed to everything to guarantee she could marry into the Lin family?” Lin Yulan argued. “After all, if she couldn’t secure the marriage, all those worries you mentioned about how she’d be treated later, would be irrelevant. The first step is still getting me to marry her. Haven’t you considered that?”

Of course Xia Ran had.

True, all those concerns only mattered if Jiang Xue could ensure the marriage happened. Otherwise, they were just baseless anxieties.

“But she was definitely going to marry you.”

“What… what do you mean by that? Whether she can marry me or not depends entirely on whether I want to marry her! If I didn’t want to marry her, no matter how much my mother pressured me, I would never have married her!”

After saying these words, Lin Yulan herself froze.

That’s right.

If she had firmly refused to marry Jiang Xue back then, no matter how much Ming Zelan pressured her or tried every possible method, she ultimately wouldn’t have married Jiang Xue because no matter what, she was Ming Zelan and Lin He’s only daughter. They would never sever their parental relationship over an Omega whose social status didn’t match theirs.

“Yulan, although I don’t fully understand the dynamics between families, based on what you’ve told me before, the Lin family has many branches, but the main lineage consists only of you. This means all of the Lin family’s assets will eventually be inherited by you. If you had been determined not to marry Jiang Xue back then, Aunt Ming and Uncle Lin would never have kept pressuring you, let alone broken ties with you over an Omega like Jiang Xue who has no background. You should know this better than I do.”

Xia Ran paused, then continued, “Let me make this clear, I’m not taking Jiang Xue’s side, nor am I betraying our ironclad friendship. I just want to say that people need to learn to recognize their own feelings. Don’t always use your ex as an excuse. Whether you have feelings for Jiang Xue or not, you should know better than anyone. However, there’s one thing I agree with Jiang Xue on, Qu Mengxin went abroad during the second semester of freshman year, right? Counting carefully, it’s been almost 6 or 7 years now. If she truly had you in her heart, no matter how much her parents opposed your relationship, she would have found a way to return to China to see you. Her feet belong to her, not her parents. It’s not like her parents installed tracking devices on her, is it?”

Lin Yulan remained silent. She kept the call connected while repeatedly denying this possibility in her mind.

If Jiang Xue liked her, did she have similar feelings for Jiang Xue?

Was she really not transferring her love for Qu Mengxin onto Jiang Xue just because Jiang Xue’s face resembled Qu Mengxin’s, making her think of her ex whenever she saw Jiang Xue?

But how could that woman Jiang Xue possibly like her for real?

If she liked her, why didn’t she say so directly back then?

No.

At that time, she wouldn’t have believed anything Jiang Xue said. Even if Jiang Xue had claimed to genuinely like her, not because of her family’s wealth or the Lin family’s status in the capital, she still wouldn’t have believed her.

Lin Yulan had seen too many people desperately trying to marry her Omegas, Betas, even Alphas. But she knew what was in their hearts. None of them truly liked her; they were only interested in the Lin family and the Lin Corporation behind her.

So, if Jiang Xue had said those words back then, she would have been no different from all those others scrambling to marry her.

“Hey, Yulan, are you still there?”

Seeing that the other end had been silent for so long, Xia Ran would have thought Lin Yulan had angrily hung up on her if she hadn’t been looking at her phone screen. “Anyway, as your best friend, this is all I wanted to say when I called you. I’m not trying to force you to accept Jiang Xue. After all, Qu Mengxin was your first love and your white moonlight, it’s completely normal that you can’t forget her. But your lingering feelings for her might not necessarily be because you still like her. It’s also possible that you feel accepting Jiang Xue would be betraying her.”

“But in reality, you haven’t betrayed her at all. She was the one who abandoned you and went abroad without even saying goodbye. Even if she never officially broke up with you, her actions were equivalent to unilaterally ending things. You don’t need to wait endlessly for an Omega who might never come back to you.”

Lin Yulan chuckled. “You say you’re not on her side, yet you’re speaking up for her so passionately.”

Xia Ran was momentarily speechless, but as a proud member of the “stubborn to the end” club, she absolutely wouldn’t admit it.

The call suddenly fell silent. Neither spoke, with Xia Ran waiting for Lin Yulan to say something. She had said all she needed to, if Lin Yulan had nothing more to add, she could hang up.

After a while, Xia Ran assumed Lin Yulan had nothing left to say and was about to end the call when Lin Yulan suddenly asked, “Why… did she say those things to me?”

“Huh?”

Lin Yulan’s voice abruptly stopped.

Xia Ran didn’t understand what she meant. “What things? What are you asking about?”

Lin Yulan pressed her lips together and remained silent for a long time before repeating, “Why did she say those things to provoke me? She knew I wouldn’t like hearing them, yet she still said them. Isn’t that deliberate?”

Xia Ran didn’t know what had happened between them, Jiang Xue hadn’t mentioned anything during the car ride but given that they’d had a falling out, it must have been because of Qu Yuxin. No guessing was needed there.

But judging from Lin Yulan’s words now, Xia Ran could roughly piece together what Jiang Xue had said.

“You’re asking me, but I don’t know either. I’m not a mind reader,” Xia Ran said after some thought. “But considering how Jiang Xue cried today, have you ever thought just hypothetically under what circumstances an Omega would cry so heartbreakingly? Probably only when their heart is broken.”

Lin Yulan’s heart suddenly clenched, an inexplicable pain spreading through her.

What did Xia Ran mean by that?

Heartbroken?

Did it mean Jiang Xue was so utterly disappointed in her that she deliberately said those things to upset her?

“Then… then she?”

“Exactly what you’re thinking. Jiang Xue might have reached her limit with you, which is why she finally voiced what she’d been holding back for so long.”

Xia Ran suddenly changed her tone. “But of course, this is just my speculation. She’s liked you for so long and never sought out another Alpha after graduation, which means she’s been waiting for you all this time. Maybe this time she was just too hurt and couldn’t hold back anymore. By the way, I haven’t asked you about today yet why did Jiang Xue leave alone? Did you kick her out of the car?”

Lin Yulan angrily retorted, “No! Do I look like that kind of person to you?!”

No matter how angry she was, she could never do something so despicable.

“Why couldn’t you be? You’re always using Qu Mengxin as a shield, deliberately saying things to provoke her. Why didn’t you ask yourself then whether you were that kind of person based on what you said?”

“I…”

This was something Lin Yulan truly couldn’t refute. The things she’d said were indeed terrible, but at that time she simply couldn’t accept Ming Zelan forcing her to marry Jiang Xue. When people are furious, it’s perfectly normal to say some awful things.

“Enough. If you want answers, go ask Jiang Xue yourself. Asking me is pointless.”

Lin Yulan stammered, “She, blocked me. I can’t ask her.”

Xia Ran: “……..”

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