After Ditching Four Powerful Alphas, I Differentiated into an Omega - Chapter 15

She deliberately paused to keep Qiao Yu in suspense.

Although Qiao Yu was very excited, she knew with her toes that it wasn’t going to be anything good, so she didn’t dare to ask.

Her stiff expression clearly pleased Lu Shangyi. Lu Shangyi looked satisfied and finally let go of her. Qiao Yu’s palms were sweaty from excitement. The moment Lu Shangyi let go, Qiao Yu couldn’t help but feel disappointed and regretful.

If it weren’t for her concern for Lu Shangyi’s health, she would have performed a 360-degree backflip and knelt down to beg her to show her some fierce affection.

With a sigh of regret, Qiao Yu wiped the sweat from her palms and caught up with Lu Shangyi. “Sister Lu, are you and Sister Song… on bad terms?” she asked cautiously.

Lu Shangyi turned her head, her dark eyes staring at her without a single ripple of emotion. Her tone was unreadable. “What do you think?”

Although the intense pressure from earlier was gone, Qiao Yu still shrank her neck in fear and didn’t dare to bring up Song Wanying in front of her again. Qiao Yu had no idea that Song Wanying and Lu Shangyi had a grudge against each other. She thought her father might know something.

Since that afternoon, Qiao Jinghuai’s phone had been ringing off the hook. Most people were calling to subtly ask about the relationship between Qiao Yu and Lu Shangyi. A small number of people couldn’t wait to express their loyalty to him. As for the rest, they were the ones who couldn’t stand to see the Qiao family do well and called to say nasty things.

Qiao Jinghuai had been in the business world for so many years, and he was known for being friendly and polite to everyone. Although he had made his share of enemies, his reputation was still considered very good compared to others.

He never took sides. No matter how bloody the fights were between the other powerful families, he never intervened and always remained neutral. That’s why everyone was willing to show him some respect. But that was before today. Ever since the news about Qiao Yu and Lu Shangyi broke, the entire situation was filled with undercurrents and was no longer calm.

The Lu family was an old aristocratic family in the capital. Countless people wanted to climb up the social ladder by connecting with the Lu family. Although Lu Shangyi hadn’t taken a liking to anyone since she became an adult, it didn’t stop people from lining up at the Lu family’s doorstep.

Even though Lu Shangyi was a frail Omega, she still had the powerful Lu family behind her. Even if her power had been stripped away by Lu Shenghui, her mother, who adored her, would surely prepare a lavish dowry for her when she got married. In the eyes of smaller wealthy families, Lu Shangyi was a lucrative prize. No one could resist the temptation of such a windfall.

For example, even though the Qiao family had a firm foothold in the capital, Qiao Jinghuai knew in his heart that he wouldn’t be able to stay indifferent to having a daughter-in-law like Lu Shangyi.

The family Lu Shangyi married into would have at least a 50-year head start. Who wouldn’t be envious?

However, he also knew that one wrong move when dealing with a powerful family like the Lus could lead to his family’s ruin, especially with Lu Shenghui about to take over as the head of the family. Lu Shenghui was known in the business world for being ruthless and heartless. If the Lu and Qiao families were to get married, the Qiao family would be completely swallowed up by Lu Shenghui, with no chance of survival.

Qiao Jinghuai had always been polite and friendly to everyone in business. He had just managed to stabilize the Qiao family’s foundation, so he was naturally unwilling to become a subordinate to the Lu family.

Qiao Jinghuai was so anxious that he was practically pulling his hair out. But he never expected that before he could even resolve the issue with the Lu family, the Song family from the south would get involved. The moment he saw Song Wanying’s post defending his daughter, Qiao Jinghuai’s vision went black, and he almost passed away on the spot.

When did his well-behaved and obedient daughter become such a lady-killer?!

And one wasn’t enough; she had to attract two formidable figures.

Qiao Jinghuai felt like he should just have a stroke and go to the hospital for oxygen. But before he could get lost in his thoughts, his phone was ringing again. People were cheerfully congratulating him. “Miss Qiao is beautiful and sweet. You are so lucky, Mr. Qiao.”

Qiao Jinghuai automatically ignored the jealous undertone in their voices. He calmly dealt with all the inquiries, but inside, he was panicking.

They said the first generation was in engineering, the second in finance, and the third in arts. The ancestors of the Song family in the south were the ones who designed that thing for the country! Qiao Jinghuai’s hand trembled as he lit a cigarette. He had met the Songs. They were outstanding individuals, which was why they had such a brilliant and gifted daughter like Song Wanying.

Song Wanying had always been a moral person and had never been in a scandal with anyone, so her actions today made Qiao Jinghuai think.

Qiao Jinghuai knew that he couldn’t help but be tempted by a brilliant daughter-in-law like Song Wanying.

But the problem was, he never wanted to be associated with either the Lu or Song families in the first place!

The calls kept coming. Qiao Jinghuai could barely hold his cigarette, so he put his phone on airplane mode. After a while, he said to his secretary, “It must be because I gave Yu Yu too much allowance.”

“I heard she gave Song Wanying two million all at once a few days ago.”

How could anyone resist that?

Qiao Jinghuai took a deep puff of his cigarette. “Does she think she’s a god of wealth or something?” The thought that Qiao Yu was spending his hard-earned money made him lose his desire to smoke. He put out the cigarette and ordered his secretary, “Go cancel all of her bank cards. Don’t leave a single one.”

Qiao Jinghuai figured that without money, Qiao Yu wouldn’t be able to get into trouble.

Right?

The secretary nodded slightly. “Yes, I’ll get right on it.”

Qiao Yu was still sad about not getting to do this and that with Lu Shangyi. She didn’t even have the energy to play games on the sofa. She just put her phone down and stared at the large chandelier, feeling hopeless. The moment her phone screen went black, the melodic ringtone rang out, and it was so loud in the quiet room that it almost scared the soul out of Qiao Yu.

She quickly picked up the phone. “What is it?”

It was Jiang Mei’s roommate. “Qiao Yu, Jiang Mei’s aunt just came to the dorm. It looks like she found out that Jiang Mei has a part-time job.” The roommate said cautiously, “She’s here to ask Jiang Mei for money…”

Before she could finish, the phone call ended. “Thank you, I’ll be right there.” The roommate breathed a sigh of relief. From Qiao Yu’s reaction, she would definitely rush over to help Jiang Mei.

The roommate put down her phone with a sigh. “Jiang Mei is so pitiful. She just became an adult and can’t even support herself yet, but her own family is already trying to leech money off her. I saw her cousin the other day, and he was dressed so nicely. His sneakers cost several thousand.”

“Normally, Jiang Mei wouldn’t even spend five yuan on a meat dish in the school cafeteria. If Qiao Yu didn’t try to feed her, she wouldn’t have grown so well.”

Jiang Mei’s aunt, Jiang Jinfeng, had taken good care of herself over the years and looked more glamorous than most housewives. She was also pretty, so everyone initially thought she was a good person. It wasn’t until she made a huge scene because she couldn’t get money that everyone finally saw through her facade.

Jiang Mei didn’t want to have anything to do with Jiang Jinfeng, especially at school, but Jiang Jinfeng was like a parasite. She couldn’t escape her.

Her face was pale, and her expression was stiff. Her fingers involuntarily tightened, and Jiang Mei’s throat was dry. “I don’t have any money.”

“How can you not have money?!” Jiang Jinfeng sneered. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been working part-time behind our backs. Your cousin saw it with his own eyes! Do I have to post the photos on your school’s forum before you’ll give me the money?”

“I raised you since you were a baby. If I had known you were so heartless, I would have left you to fend for yourself.”

There were murmurs around them. Jiang Mei’s pale lips pressed into a thin line. Her face was drained of color in the dim light, and her body was slightly trembling, looking like she was about to fall. She couldn’t argue with Jiang Jinfeng. If Jiang Jinfeng hadn’t taken her in when she was a baby, she would have died of cold in the snow.

Even if this woman was greedy and treated her poorly, she couldn’t deny that she had raised her.

But…

Jiang Mei’s long eyelashes drooped. Her throat was tight. “I really don’t have any more money.”

How much money can a student who just became an adult have? No matter how much she made from her part-time job, she only worked two days on the weekend.

When Qiao Yu arrived, she saw this scene. The girl she had been carefully protecting for two years looked so helpless and pitiful. Qiao Yu’s fists clenched. “What are you doing?”

Qiao Yu guarded Jiang Mei behind her like a mother hen protecting her chick, her brows furrowed tightly. “Do you want to go to the police station with me again?”

Jiang Jinfeng was determined to get some money from Jiang Mei today, no matter how much. Jiang Mei had to give her something. Just as she was thinking, a clear voice suddenly rang out. Jiang Jinfeng looked up and instinctively took two steps back. “Why are you here?”

Qiao Yu squinted. “That’s what I should be asking you. How did you, a civilian, get into our school?”

With that, she raised her voice and yelled, “Security!”

Jiang Jinfeng immediately felt guilty. She had already learned twice how difficult this rich girl next to Jiang Mei was. The first time, this seemingly harmless girl had her thrown into the middle of the road, and she almost got hit by a car. The second time, this girl had her taken to the police station, where she was held for a full ten days. Jiang Jinfeng feared her to the core.

Seeing the security guards rushing over, Jiang Jinfeng immediately lost her composure. She could only glare at Jiang Mei fiercely. “When you get home this weekend, I’ll settle this with you!”

Her words were full of threats.

Jiang Mei’s dark eyes were unreadable. She stood motionless behind Qiao Yu, her heart being torn apart over and over again. She never wanted Qiao Yu to see her at her lowest, but it seemed that since the day she appeared, Qiao Yu had seen all her most pathetic moments.

All of her fake self-esteem shattered in front of Qiao Yu.

Qiao Yu ground her teeth. If it weren’t for Jiang Mei’s feelings, she would have taught Jiang Jinfeng a good lesson. What kind of aunt is so aggressive? Qiao Yu turned to her, her eyes filled with sympathy as she looked into Jiang Mei’s sad eyes. “It’s okay now. I’ve chased the bad person away for you.”

“If she dares to come again, I’ll beat her every time until she doesn’t dare to bother you anymore.”

Qiao Yu used her hand to check the corners of Jiang Mei’s eyes. When she felt no tears, she breathed a sigh of relief. She gently wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered, “Don’t be scared. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”

A warm and indescribable feeling slowly rose in her heart. Qiao Yu’s words were like a balm, slowly healing the painful wound.

After a long time, Jiang Mei’s sore and dry throat finally let out a word. “Thank you.”

“Why are you being so polite with me?” Qiao Yu let go of her and finally remembered the Lu Shangyi she had left on the side. She guiltily brought her over. “Oh, right, I haven’t had a chance to introduce you. This is Sister Lu Shangyi.”

“She was very worried about your safety.”

Jiang Mei looked up. The woman in front of her was tall and elegant, with a dignified presence. Unlike the equally stunning Song Wanying, in front of Lu Shangyi, she felt like she was a speck of dust.

Lu Shangyi’s dark eyes looked at Jiang Mei. “You look familiar.”

“Have we met somewhere before?”

Qiao Yu looked around, confused. “?!” Did she cheat on me?