The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 72.2

Lin Yulan took the note, murmured a thanks, and then returned to her car with it.

Phone calls weren’t allowed on planes, and Lin Yulan had Chu Yuan’s number. She was desperate to call immediately and confirm Jiang Xue’s condition, but she held back. Feeling utterly hollow, she slumped over the steering wheel, ignoring her ringing phone. Only after nearly half an hour did she finally pick it up and press it to her ear.

“I understand. I’ll return to the company now.”

After Jiang Xue left, Lin Yulan seemed like a ghost of herself. Her work routine remained unchanged she still did everything she was supposed to, with the same meticulous attitude but her assistant could tell she was suffering inside. She was functioning, but it was as if she had become a machine.

Ming Zelan only found out about the situation several days later, through hushed employee gossip and the fact that Lin Yulan hadn’t returned to the Lin family villa in days. Sensing something was wrong, she finally cornered Lin Yulan during one of her rare visits home.

“Xiaoxue left?”

Lin Yulan stayed silent.

Ming Zelan pressed, “When did she leave?”

Thinking Ming Zelan was blaming Jiang Xue for leaving without notice, Lin Yulan quickly defended, “Her school was rushing the schedule. She had to leave in a hurry and didn’t have time to tell you.”

“Who’s asking about that? Do you think I’d blame her for leaving without a word?”

“…”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. After all, we’re the ones who wronged her. She has every right to be upset. But you only regretting it now that she’s gone, moping around like this, who are you trying to fool?”

“I’m not.”

Ming Zelan had initially thought the incident during Lin Yulan’s heat cycle might have eased the tension between them. Now, it seemed this stubborn girl had just taken advantage of the situation!

“What don’t you have? Look around the company, who can’t see the state you’re in now? If you knew this would happen, why did you act that way in the first place?” Ming Zelan didn’t hold back when lecturing, leaving no room for argument. “Honestly, I think it’s good that Xiaoxue left. At least she won’t be ruined by a scumbag like you. It’d be even better if someone took her far away, so she never has to lay eyes on a jinx like you again in this lifetime!”

“She wouldn’t do that!”

Lin Yulan really didn’t want to hear the rest of Ming Zelan’s harsh words, each one stabbing right into the most painful part of her heart. What kind of mother actively wished for her own daughter to divorce her Omega?

But as the saying goes, careless words wound the listener. Lin Yulan took Ming Zelan’s words to heart, and the more she thought about them, the more unsettled she becameand the more afraid. Finally, a week after Jiang Xue left, Lin Yulan couldn’t resist calling Chu Yuan directly.

“Hey, it’s me.”

Given the time difference between the country and abroad, it was already past 10 PM in Melbourne when Lin Yulan called. Chu Yuan was in the middle of eating, while Jiang Xue was showering in the bathroom. When she realized it was Lin Yulan on the phone, Chu Yuan nearly dropped her food.

“Ah, Little President Lin!”

She had picked up the nickname from Jiang Xue. Instinctively, Chu Yuan glanced toward the bathroom before saying, “Xiaoxue’s in the shower right now. Do you want to call back later when she’s out?”

Actually, Lin Yulan had tried contacting Chu Yuan right after Jiang Xue’s flight landed, but just her luck Jiang Xue had caught her red-handed. After that, Jiang Xue had outright warned Chu Yuan that if she dared answer Lin Yulan’s calls again, their friendship would be over.

As a result, Chu Yuan now answered Lin Yulan’s calls with extreme caution, as if guarding against a thief.

“She’s showering?”

“Yeah.”

“Why so late?”

“It’s not that late, really.”

Ten-something PM wasn’t particularly late for young people, even midnight wasn’t unusual. But Melbourne was nearing winter, and the weather was getting colder. Lin Yulan was worried Jiang Xue might catch a chill.

Realizing this, Chu Yuan quickly amended, “Our dorm has hot water, available 24/7. Xiaoxue won’t get cold, Little President Lin. Don’t worry.”

“Then is she eating well over there?”

No foreign country could compare to home, and even within the same country, regional food differences existed, let alone between nations.

Chu Yuan answered honestly, “At first, she really struggled to adjust. Xiaoxue barely ate anything for the first few days but don’t misunderstand, Little President Lin! That was pretty much the case for all of us. Later, we just started buying groceries and cooking for ourselves.”

Lin Yulan fell silent, though it was unclear whether it was out of heartache or something else. She didn’t speak for a long while. Chu Yuan didn’t dare hang up after all, she had eaten so much of Lin Yulan’s food before. She couldn’t just take without giving.

“Little President Lin, is there anything else you want to say? If not, I should probably hang up. Xiaoxue seems like she’s almost done showering, and I can’t let her find out I took your call again, or she’ll cut me off for good!”

Lin Yulan finally spoke. “Do you have enough funds?”

“Huh?” Chu Yuan was momentarily confused.

Then she heard Lin Yulan say, “Send me your bank account number.”

The statement carried the unmistakable air of a domineering CEO. Chu Yuan’s brain short-circuited for a second, not quite understanding why Lin Yulan was asking for her bank details. “L-Little President Lin, what do you mean? I don’t really get it.”

Lin Yulan said, “I’ll have my assistant transfer some money to you later. Make sure to accept it.”

Transfer some money to her?

What did that mean?

Was she trying to bribe her?

Chu Yuan finally realized what Lin Yulan was trying to do, albeit a bit late. “No way! If you send me money and Xiao Xue finds out, she’ll skin me alive!”

Lin Yulan replied, “Then just don’t let her know.”

Chu Yuan: “…” That actually made sense, leaving her with no good reason to refuse!

“Still, no.”

“I just want you to take the money and buy Xiao Xue more food.”

Jiang Xue was hesitant to spend money freely, mainly because the house she bought for Zhang Rong and her husband wasn’t fully paid off Jiang Xue had covered half, and the rest was on a mortgage, which she was still slowly paying down.

Though Lin Yulan wanted to clear Jiang Xue’s debt for her, Jiang Xue refused, so she had no choice but to drop the matter.

“But if I buy her food, Xiao Xue will definitely notice. She’s not stupid!”

That was true.

Lin Yulan thought for a moment and added, “You don’t have to do it often. Just occasionally. She won’t notice.”

At this point, Chu Yuan couldn’t refuse anymore. After all, Lin Yulan was just worried about her wife struggling abroad, and Chu Yuan had no real grounds to turn her down.

“I won’t send too much. Don’t feel pressured.”

Chu Yuan assumed “not too much” meant an amount comparable to an ordinary person’s living expenses. But when she saw the transfer from Lin Yulan with six zeros trailing behind her jaw nearly hit the floor.

This was what the wealthy considered “not too much”?!

Truly, the world of the rich was beyond her comprehension.

But now that the money was in her account, Chu Yuan couldn’t just send it back. International transfers came with hefty fees Lin Yulan might not care, but Chu Yuan certainly did.

So, from then on, Chu Yuan carefully used the enormous sum Lin Yulan had given her to buy extra groceries and nutritional supplements for Jiang Xue.

Lin Yulan kept an eye on whether the transferred funds were being spent. If they were, it meant Chu Yuan was doing as asked. Even if Chu Yuan skimmed a little off the top, as long as she fulfilled the task, Lin Yulan was more than happy to let her.

But when she saw the balance decreasing only by tiny increments each day, Lin Yulan realized her worries were unnecessary, Chu Yuan wasn’t the kind of person she’d assumed. That put her mind at ease.

Still, not being able to call Jiang Xue or video chat with her left Lin Yulan feeling hollow, as if she knew a priceless treasure belonged to her but couldn’t touch or hold it. The ache was unbearable.

Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Lin Yulan went from sending emails twice a day to every few hours sometimes even less than an hour apart flooding Jiang Xue’s inbox with messages.

Xiao Xue, have you eaten?

I haven’t eaten yet. Work has been so busy. My mom and dad see how distracted I am every day, so they keep piling tasks on me, saying if I focus on work, I won’t have time to think about you.

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