I Married My Love Rival (GL) - Chapter 4
As a hub for gossip and a master of rumors, Liang Yingzhi quickly sent over the information she knew.
The Luo family was an old-money dynasty in Jiangcheng. Tracing back centuries, they had been a highly prestigious family, producing many talented individuals in business and politics. Even now, they remained a major family in Jiangcheng, perhaps not as glorious as before, but still not to be underestimated.
The compound, or villa community, where Ji Ran used to live, was home to the wealthy and powerful, and the Luo family was one of the earliest residents, owning the best lot and enjoying the highest status.
Ji Ran’s family and Liang Yingzhi’s family moved in later. She heard that Xu Zining’s maternal grandparents had also lived there for a long time. Just based on that, one could tell that the two families were well-matched.
As the Luo family’s current presumptive heir, Luo Simo was rumored to have been fostered abroad by old Madam Luo, where she received an elite education. She had only returned to China in the last two years to learn how to take over the company under the old madam’s tutelage. Consequently, there wasn’t much private information about Luo Simo.
Luo Simo herself was also very low-key. If it weren’t for the circulating news of her engagement with Xu Zining, Liang Yingzhi wouldn’t have even gossiped about her.
[It seems like she probably has to listen to her grandmother.]
Ji Ran’s initial excitement instantly faded, replaced by worry. If old Madam Luo were to show up with a bank card, throwing millions or tens of millions in her face and telling her to leave Luo Simo, how should she negotiate the price with the old madam?
Considering her granddaughter Luo Simo’s net worth, asking for one hundred million shouldn’t be too much, right?
[Don’t be sad, darling. The Xu family was so insulted this time, they might not agree to the marriage anymore. The Luo family will probably look for someone else.]
[Congratulations! Your white moonlight might remain single!]
But unfortunately, this news didn’t make Ji Ran very happy. Even if she were interested, Xu Zining probably wouldn’t accept a married woman nearing thirty, would she?
Sigh, why am I already thinking about being divorced? I just promised Luo Simo to get used to married life.
Meanwhile, Luo Simo drove into Linyuan Estate.
Since yesterday, the elders had been incessantly urging her to come home, but she ignored all of them. What did an engagement arranged by her elders have to do with her?
She had originally planned to disappear for half a month and travel as a sign of protest, but last night she unexpectedly found a better solution.
She heard that the old madam was so angry yesterday that she became ill. She didn’t go to the company today and was resting at home. When the Luo family’s extended relatives learned the news, they all came to visit the old madam.
The last time Luo Simo saw this many people in this house was two years ago when she returned to the country, and old Madam Luo introduced her and announced her as the Luo family heir.
Luo Simo’s arrival caused several guests in the living room to look up. Luo Simo vaguely remembered them as relatives of the Luo family, so she smiled and nodded at them as a greeting, then walked straight toward the old madam’s room.
Before she entered, someone had already informed the people inside of her arrival.
Her father, Luo Chengke, was the first to approach her. He met her outside the door, his face displeased. He immediately started to scold her, as if to show his paternal authority.
“Where did you go yesterday? Don’t you want the Luo family anymore? Don’t you want the company?”
Luo Simo inherited her father’s handsome looks; they both had striking features. But looking at her father, who was three parts similar to herself, Luo Simo felt no familial affection.
She only found the sound of his voice irritating.
He had never fulfilled his duties as a father, so what right did he have to put on paternal airs?
He was nothing more than a philandering, cowardly, useless man.
“Whether I get the Luo family has never been up to you.”
Luo Simo didn’t stop her steps and didn’t even bother to look at him. After leaving this remark, she pushed the door open. Luo Chengke behind her was furious but helpless.
This was indeed his biological daughter, but she was a biological daughter who had suddenly appeared in his life, and they had never shared any father-daughter affection.
The door opened. The old madam was lying in the inner room’s bed, attended by a caregiver and the old madam’s daughter-in-law, along with a middle-aged man Luo Simo vaguely recognized and a boy who looked like a high school student.
“Xiao Mo, you’re finally back! Where did you go yesterday? You didn’t reply to any messages, and everyone was worried.” Luo Simo’s nominal mother quickly rose to show concern.
“It’s good that you’re fine. Sit here and talk to your grandmother.”
The woman affectionately held Luo Simo’s arm and guided her toward the bed.
With outsiders present, Luo Simo suppressed the disgust in her heart and didn’t snap, but she quickly pulled her arm away and didn’t sit in the chair the woman offered.
“Is Grandmother alright?”
Luo Simo directed the question to the caregiver, but Jiang Li quickly chimed in, speaking warmly, portraying a picture of family harmony.
“She’s fine. She was just too anxious for a moment and felt a little dizzy. An elderly person’s health isn’t what it used to be, and she can’t take shocks.”
Jiang Li was the respectable, well-matched wife old Madam Luo had chosen for Luo Chengke, but she was not Luo Simo’s biological mother. And the things she had done to Luo Simo in the past made it impossible for Luo Simo to forgive her.
However, she was much more astute than her husband. Knowing they now had to rely on Luo Simo, she was constantly deferential toward her. While this didn’t impress Luo Simo, the performance was primarily for outsiders.
“You all leave now. I want to speak with Luo Simo alone.”
The old madam usually addressed people by their full names, and Luo Simo was no exception, sounding rather cold.
The people in the room left one by one. Before Jiang Li left, she didn’t forget to remind Luo Simo not to be stubborn and to listen to her grandmother.
Luo Simo completely ignored her.
The caregiver, who was the last to leave, thoughtfully closed the door. Luo Simo walked around to the other side of the bed and found a leather chair that looked like it would be comfortable, the same chair the male high school student had just been sitting in.
Patting the seat as if dusting off dirt, Luo Simo slowly sat down.
“I don’t care what you did yesterday, and I don’t care if you continue to resist, but you only have one last chance.”
Old Madam Luo glanced at her chair-patting motion, concealed the sharp glint in her eyes, adjusted her glasses, and shifted her gaze. She looked completely unfazed, reading the book in her hands as if she didn’t care about Luo Simo at all.
“The Xu family is very angry. You must personally go and apologize. Regardless of their attitude, you have to endure it. Explain clearly that you had an urgent matter and couldn’t attend on time. Once the Xu family calms down, this engagement will proceed. Only when you and the Xu family become one can your status as CEO Luo be more secure.”
The old madam’s words were simple and casual, yet carried an undeniable seriousness. Luo Simo knew this was her usual tactic: pretending to be calm and unconcerned while every word was a command.
And this was a lesson Luo Simo had already mastered.
“What if I don’t listen? What do you plan to do?”
Luo Simo’s smile carried a hint of rebelliousness. She could act more unconcerned than old Madam Luo. Because now, she had enough confidence and capital to resist.
“Get rid of me and start training that little boy again, just like you found me and groomed me in the first place, right?”
From the moment she entered the room, Luo Simo had clearly seen the old madam’s implied threat. The old madam was usually never close to the younger generation, yet today she had a junior sitting by her bedside.
It was as if she was reminding her, Think about your past. Plenty of people can replace you.
“Since you understand the consequences, you should know what to do.”
Looking directly at Luo Simo, the old madam waited for her to yield and endure, as she always had. But what she received was still Luo Simo’s smile, which grew even happier.
“It’s my own marriage, of course, I know what to do. Today, let me give you some good news: you don’t need to worry about my marriage anymore, old lady.”
Saying that, Luo Simo pulled out the little red booklet she had only just received this morning from her pocket.
Upon seeing this, the old madam’s perpetually composed face finally cracked. The book in her hands slipped and fell onto her lap.
Luo Simo briefly flashed the red booklet in front of the old madam, then carefully put it away without opening it.
“You know my character. I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
The old madam was silent for a long time before she composed herself. She had weathered countless storms in her lifetime, and any surprise or panic was fleeting.
“With whom?”
“I knew you’d ask that, but I don’t plan to bring her to meet you anytime soon.”
“Your wife must have our approval. This has always been the case for the Luo family heir.”
“No. My wife only needs to be someone I like. Don’t forget the negative consequences of your arbitrary decisions.”
Meeting the old madam’s gaze, Luo Simo slowly became serious, her tone earnest and resounding, but at the end, she couldn’t help but add a touch of sarcasm.
After all, she herself was a part of those negative consequences.
The old madam only had one son, Luo Chengke, whom she groomed as the heir. But he was incorrigible, causing company losses, corruption, and being addicted to alcohol and women. According to him, it was all because the old madam had caused the death of the woman he loved most and forced him to marry a stranger who would benefit the Luo family.
As for Luo Simo, she was the child left behind by that woman.
In addition to Luo Simo, the illegitimate child, Luo Chengke and Jiang Li had a son and a daughter. But one became a vegetable from a fight, and the other was jailed for breaking the law. Fortunately, the old madam had prepared early, found Luo Simo, secretly groomed her, and two years ago, gave her the identity of the Luo family’s eldest daughter.
“I believe that with Miss Xu’s temperament, she probably can’t accept a married woman like me. You should stop trying to control my marriage.
Of course, the Xu family also can’t accept me getting married so suddenly and slapping them in the face. If you don’t want to fall out with the Xu family, you’d better do nothing.”
“Whether it’s trying to find out who I married or trying to groom the next me. Though, I’m not afraid of that last point. It’s been two years. The company and I aren’t something you can easily separate.”
“If you agree, I’ll go apologize to the Xu family right now and peacefully call off the engagement, allowing the Luo and Xu families to remain on good terms. If you don’t agree, I’m afraid the news of my flash marriage will be known throughout the entire compound shortly.”
Looking at Luo Simo’s somewhat arrogant smile, the old madam suddenly recalled the silent endurance Luo Simo had shown in front of her a few days ago. So, allowing this engagement to escalate to yesterday’s scale was intentional on her part.
The child who once didn’t dare to resist has now learned to bare her fangs and threaten people.
In the end, I underestimated her.
At the mountain villa, Ji Ran had dinner, and under the cover of night, she enjoyed a soak in the pool. The summer night air in the mountains was incredibly cool. Ji Ran hugged a watermelon and felt extremely content.
She had to enjoy it while she could, lest the old madam of the Luo family show up one day and ruin her fun.
At this moment, Ji Ran didn’t know that Luo Simo had already won a satisfying battle and was on her way home.
Her phone chimed twice. Ji Ran opened it to see that Liang Yingzhi had dug up more news.
[Fresh news I just heard from my mom and the others.]
[Luo Simo went to the Xu family to apologize. I heard she was left waiting at the door for over half an hour before being allowed in.]
[They apparently said she went out of town yesterday and was suddenly taken ill, which is why she couldn’t make it back in time.]
[I wonder what kind of serious illness it was that made the Xu family agree to call off the engagement. In the end, the Xu family accepted the apology, and the two families peacefully canceled the engagement just like that.]
Ji Ran: “Maybe she wasn’t ill at all. It’s the upper class; don’t they always find a decent excuse? Luo Simo offered the way out, and the Xu family naturally took it.”
[You’ve changed! You didn’t even immediately focus on Xu Zining!]
[Be happy! Xu Zining is single, and you have a tiny bit of hope again!]
The topic was pulled back to Xu Zining. Ji Ran chewed the sweet watermelon, leaning on the edge of the pool, feeling indifferent toward her white moonlight at the moment.
[Stop talking about her. I don’t have those feelings for her. I hope she finds a good person. We each have our own happiness.]
[Okay, I’m going back to work.]
Giving a casual excuse, Ji Ran turned off her phone and swallowed the watermelon.
What good was a white moonlight compared to a sweet watermelon?
After swimming her last lap, the relaxed Ji Ran got out of the pool, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and headed indoors. But just as she reached the door, she vaguely saw a person sitting by the bar through the glass door.
When she first got into the pool, it wasn’t completely dark, so Ji Ran hadn’t turned on the indoor lights. Now, the interior was still unlit, illuminated by cool moonlight spilling in from the window on one side and the bright, daytime-like lights from the pool area on the other.
Standing in the light, Ji Ran recognized Luo Simo. Luo Simo raised her wine glass to her from afar, her body relaxed, her smile showing a hint of tipsiness. The moon’s reflection shimmered at her feet.