The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession (GL) - Chapter 1

Imperial City, Fengyue Bar.

A beautifully dressed female alpha leaned lazily against the sofa. The dim lighting in the private booth fell softly across her stunning face. Her eyes were lowered as she poured one drink after another down her throat without pause.

A short-haired female beta soon came over and sat beside her. When she saw how recklessly the alpha was drinking, she reached out to stop her and sighed.

“What’s going on with you today? Who upset our President Lin this time? If you keep drinking like this, your parents will give you hell when you get home.”

Lin Yulan brushed her hand away, raised another glass, and drank it in one gulp.

“You’re here.”

As she spoke, Lin Yulan straightened her posture and poured a glass for her best friend Xia Ran, who had been her closest companion for years.

“Since you’re here, drink with me.”

Xia Ran refused immediately.

“Drink what? If you drink any more, are you even planning to go home tonight? The last time you got me drunk, I was scolded for a whole week. I’m not falling for that again. If you want to drink, drink by yourself.”

Lin Yulan was already in a foul mood. Hearing this, she just picked up the drink she had poured for Xia Ran and downed it without hesitation.

“Stop drinking already.”

Xia Ran couldn’t watch anymore. She reached across the table, grabbed the remaining bottles Lin Yulan had ordered, and shoved them under the table.

“What’s going on with you today? What happened? Did you get into a fight with your parents?”

But Lin Yulan wasn’t the type to come to a bar just because of an argument at home. Xia Ran had seen her fight with her parents before. Usually, it would end with both sides giving each other the silent treatment for a few days. Then Lin Yulan would pack her things and crash at Xia Ran’s place. Once the tension eased, things would go back to normal.

But this time felt different. Lin Yulan’s mood was clearly worse than ever. Something else had happened.

“No.”

Then she paused and said quietly, “Well… kind of.”

What did that even mean?

It either happened or it didn’t. How could it be both?

Xia Ran was growing frustrated. She grabbed Lin Yulan’s shoulder and shook her gently.

“What happened? Just say it already. Stop being so vague and dramatic.”

Lin Yulan winced the moment the topic came up. A sharp pain spread through her chest, and she felt a surge of anger rushing to her head. She couldn’t help but reach for the alcohol again to numb herself.

“Give me the bottle.”

Xia Ran was sitting about half a meter away, but even from that distance, she could smell the strong scent of alcohol coming off Lin Yulan. She raised a hand to wave it away from her face.

“President Lin, how much have you had before I got here? You reek of alcohol. You smell like someone pickled in booze. Enough already. I’m calling the waiter to bring you some hot water. Sit here and wait.”

“I don’t want water. I want alcohol.” Lin Yulan grabbed her arm tightly. “I’m in a very, very, very bad mood today. Let me drink. Otherwise, I’m afraid I might explode and blow a hole in the sky.”

Hearing that, Xia Ran felt even more certain. Lin Yulan had definitely come to drink away something serious.

But she also knew Lin Yulan’s personality well. She was the type to deal with problems on the spot. She never held grudges. She never believed in waiting years for revenge or hiding feelings.

If this wasn’t about work or school, then it had to be something at home.

“Did your parents do something again?”

Lin Yulan lowered her voice.

“Xia Ran, I’m getting married soon.”

“What?”

Xia Ran was so shocked she could barely speak.

“Married? Your parents are forcing you? To who? Don’t they know you already like someone? Why would they force you into marriage?”

It was true. Lin Yulan had always had someone in her heart. That omega was her first love, her one and only, her unreachable dream.

Xia Ran had known about this since high school, even before she and Lin Yulan had become close. In fact, she had met the girl. Lin Yulan’s first love had been the deskmate of Xia Ran’s own deskmate. The three of them had spent all three years of high school in the same class.

The omega’s name was Qu Mengxin.

Xia Ran had thought that after graduation, Lin Yulan and Qu Mengxin would stay together, slowly build their relationship, and eventually get married. But things didn’t go that way. While Xia Ran and Lin Yulan stayed in the country for college, Qu Mengxin transferred overseas after just one year of university, forced by her family to break up with Lin Yulan.

Xia Ran had felt bad for them. She had even encouraged Lin Yulan to chase after her if she really loved her. It was better to try than to live with regrets.

But Qu Mengxin’s parents had clearly never approved of Lin Yulan. They didn’t even allow a proper goodbye. They forced Qu Mengxin to delete Lin Yulan’s contact information, block her everywhere, and leave without a word. Just like that, the two lovers were separated.

“Your parents think Qu Mengxin isn’t coming back, so they just…”

“So what if she doesn’t come back?”

Lin Yulan slammed her palm on the table. Her fingers curled into a tight fist, and her thumb dug so hard into her skin that her hand turned pale. The veins on the back of her hand stood out clearly.

“Even if she never comes back, does that mean I have to marry someone I don’t love?” She looked at Xia Ran with red eyes. “Just because she’s gone, does that mean I have to give up? That I have no choice but to do whatever they say? Marry whoever they pick for me?”

Xia Ran couldn’t answer that. Lin Yulan’s life was nothing like hers. As the future heir to the Lin Group, many parts of her life had been planned before she was even born. Marriage, for someone like her, was rarely about love. It was a calculated arrangement between powerful families. A transaction of status, reputation, and interests.

If Qu Mengxin’s parents hadn’t stepped in, Lin Yulan’s parents might have approved of her. She had the looks, the grace, and the charm to be an ideal omega daughter-in-law. She had even been the school beauty during high school.

But fate had other plans. If two people weren’t meant to be, no matter how hard they tried, it just wouldn’t happen.

Xia Ran asked carefully, “Who do they want you to marry?”

She thought it would be the heir of another wealthy family. Maybe some well-known omega from a powerful background.

But Lin Yulan answered with a blank expression.

“My parents want me to marry Jiang Xue.”

“What? Jiang Xue? You mean the Jiang Xue, I know?”

Lin Yulan didn’t respond. Her silence made the answer clear.

Xia Ran was stunned. She never expected the person Lin Yulan was being forced to marry would be Jiang Xue.

Jiang Xue had been their classmate in university. She was gentle, quiet, and rarely spoke much. Her grades were always at the top of the class, and she received scholarships every year. She was a true academic overachiever. Most notably, Jiang Xue bore a striking resemblance to Qu Mengxin. The similarity was about sixty percent, and because of that, Lin Yulan had always treated Jiang Xue quite kindly.

After Qu Mengxin left, Lin Yulan would often see traces of her in Jiang Xue. To cope with her feelings of guilt and regret toward Qu Mengxin, she had unconsciously transferred her tenderness to Jiang Xue. It went beyond just kindness. One could say she had almost poured out her heart for her.

But Lin Yulan also knew that this was not right. After all, no one wanted to be treated as someone else’s replacement. So she kept a respectful distance. Any help she offered was always done indirectly. She never gave Jiang Xue any false hope or signals that could lead to misunderstanding.

Xia Ran asked, “But Jiang Xue knows you already have someone you love. She knows that person is Qu Mengxin. Why would she still agree to something like this?”

Lin Yulan let out a cold laugh. “Surprised, aren’t you? She hid it well, didn’t she? All these years, none of us saw it coming. Now she doesn’t even bother to pretend anymore.”

Xia Ran didn’t know Jiang Xue very well. She had only noticed her back in university because of her resemblance to Qu Mengxin. Jiang Xue had always buried herself in her studies, rarely socializing. She was either in the library or in the dorm. Xia Ran barely had any interaction with her, so her impression of Jiang Xue was limited to being a quiet, smart omega who kept to herself. She had never thought Jiang Xue might be hiding anything beneath that calm exterior.

And back in university, there was never anything suspicious about her. After Qu Mengxin left, Lin Yulan would occasionally bring Jiang Xue along to eat with them, but Jiang Xue never showed any interest in Lin Yulan. There wasn’t even a trace of affection. She would quietly eat, then leave to take care of her own things. So how had things suddenly come to this?

After graduation, Jiang Xue became a professor at H University, and they lost contact. The only reason Lin Yulan still had any connection with her was because her niece happened to be Jiang Xue’s student. It had nothing to do with Jiang Xue’s resemblance to Qu Mengxin.

Unless during that time, Jiang Xue had truly fallen in love with Lin Yulan and had secretly worked to win over her parents. That would be a different story altogether.

Xia Ran asked, “Didn’t your parents always say they wanted you to marry someone with equal status? Jiang Xue’s background clearly doesn’t match yours. Why would they suddenly make an exception?”

It wasn’t just that they were unequal. In fact, one could say that Jiang Xue was completely marrying above her station.

Lin Yulan raised a hand to her forehead and gave a bitter laugh. “That omega has been targeting the Lin family from the very beginning. She got close to me on purpose. She acted like she didn’t care about anything, then went behind my back to win over my parents. Now she’s forcing me to marry her.”

Xia Ran had never really liked Jiang Xue to begin with. Even though Jiang Xue seemed quiet and mild-mannered, Xia Ran had always sensed something hidden beneath the surface. Now that Lin Yulan had pointed it out, the coincidences really did seem suspicious.

“So, what are you going to do now? It sounds like your parents have made up their minds. You probably won’t be able to change their decision.”

Lin Yulan’s laugh grew louder and colder.

“Marry her? Jiang Xue must be dreaming.”