Sweet Love 1V1: Spoiled by The Executive - Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Ling Yuqing is an actor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ling Yuqing’s eyes were bloodshot, a sight designed to evoke pity. If Ling Tianya was a man, she would definitely have a strong urge to protect this pitiful lady.
Unfortunately, Ling Tianya was a woman, and a heartless one at that.
“What a coincidence.” Ling Tianya eyed her from the corner of her eyes, before ignoring her again.
Ling Yuqing’s expression flickered for a moment, before it went back to the ‘harmless rabbit’ mode, “Tianya, I’ve been intending to contact you, but I don’t have the means to…”
“Eh.” Ling Tianya huffed, taking out her phone to check her emails.
Ling Tianya’s arrogant nonchalance made Ling Yuqing want to tear into her like a tiger to an antelope, but she knew that in a public place such as that, she could not do such a thing.
“Tianya, Mom and I are living in the hotel now. Because of what happened at Grandma’s birthday, Mom and I were chased out of the house. Grandma’s still angry…” Ling Yuqing’s voice took a turn, she sounded like she was seconds from crying, “Dad says that as long as Grandma’s still angry with us, Mom and I can’t go home…”
“Is that so?” Ling Tianya finally put down her phone, meeting Ling Yuqing’s eyes, her smile sinister, “But, what has it got to do with me?”
Ling Yuqing was stunned into silence at Ling Tianya’s words. By the time she wanted to give her reply, Ling Tianya had already run out of patience and had stood to head towards the ballroom.
Seeing that Ling Tianya was about to leave, Ling Yuqing chewed at her lip, deciding to just go all out. She grabbed onto Ling Tianya, before falling to her knees without care.
“What are you doing?!” Ling Yuqing’s extreme actions definitely were not within Ling Tianya’s expectations, “What’s going on now? What is this woman trying to do?”
The ballroom was a crowded place, many people were passing by. Especially the actors that had finished their audition. They were definitely shocked by the scene, and started to gossip amongst themselves.
“Tianya, please don’t be angry at me and mom anymore! We’re family! I know, because my mom’s not your biological mom, and that I’m not the Ling family’s blood daughter, you’re unable to accept us…but, you’re important in me and my mom’s heart. Those years you weren’t around, me and mom did all we could to take care of the family in your stead. I’ve always treated Dad as my real Dad to lessen the pain that your departure had on him…” Ling Yuqing sobbed through her words, her sorrowful display really pinching the hearts of many.
Even though Ling Yuqing looked like she was apologizing to Ling Tianya, she was actually insinuating that Ling Tianya went missing for years, and Ling Yuqing was the one that had fulfilled the role of a daughter for her, being filial to their elders. She implied Ling Tianya was an unfilial woman that did not care about the family for years, hurting their father!
Not surprisingly, the audience started to take out their phones to record the scene, the criticism against Ling Tianya already starting.
Paired with what had happened in the ballroom earlier, Ling Tianya quickly became the talk of the town.
“Wow, it’s really a pity that you aren’t and actress.” Ling Tianya sniggered, looking at Ling Yuqing as though she was seeing a clown.
It looked like Ling Yuqing had learned some new tricks over the years. She knew that just pretending to be weak was useless by then. She started to learn how to manipulate societal pressures.
Ling Tianya had just returned to China for her development, if rumors about her unfilial acts and bullying of her step-sister started to spread, her chances of working in China would be slim when coupled with the fact that her reputation was already a mess.
Chapter 47: Flip The Black and White
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The noise outside was getting louder, and finally interfered with the audition in the dining hall.
The audition was not going well that day, and now this? Zhang Heng’s whole face turned purple.
“Go and see what’s going on.” Guan Meiyi told Li Fei quietly.
A minute later, Li Fei ran back with exciting news, “Ling Yuqing and Ling Tianya were making a scene outside. Ling Yuqing was kneeling on the floor and crying. It looks like she was being bullied.”
Li Fei had become quite familiar with Guan Meiyi’s family situation after working for her the past a few years. She met Ling Yuqing in person a few times too.
“What?” Guan Meiyi shot up from her chair and cried out, “Ling Tianya was bullying Yuqing? She made her kneel in front of her?”
Guan Meiyi said it loud enough that the entire dining hall could hear. She intentionally made Ling Tianya the bully in the story, even though Li Fei didn’t say that it was Ling Tianya who forced Ling Yuqing onto her knees.
Most people had no idea who Ling Yuqing was. They were still intrigued by the story where the screenwriter of the show forced someone to get on her knees.
“If you would excuse me, I have to go check it out.” said Guan Meiyi as she ran out looking rather concerned.
Outside the dining hall, Ling Yuqing was on the floor, grabbing Ling Tianya by the bottom of her dress, crying helplessly and pleading to her not to be angry.
Guan Meiyi walked up with her eyebrows furrowed, “What is going on? Why are you kneeling on the floor, Yuqing? Get up now!”
Seeing Guan Meiyi, Ling Yuqing played up her victimhood even more. She pushed away Guan Meiyi’s hand and cried, “Sister Meiyi, please help me talk to sisterTianya. Please ask her to stop hating my mother and me, after all we are a family! I don’t want to see my father being stuck in the middle. I know all he ever wanted was for us to be a happy family…”
In front of the pitiful face of Ling Yuqing, Guan Meiyi scolded Ling Tianya with a great sense of justice, “Tianya, you are back now, why can’t you just let go of the past? All these years you were gone, Yuqing was the one who was staying by the side of uncle and grandma, fulfilling the duty of a daughter. For the sake that she took up the duty you were supposed to have, can you please let it go? This is a public place, what do you want people to think about the Ling Family?” As she spoke, Guan Meiyi made another attempt to help Ling Yuqing up, “What do you want from us? Ever since you’ve come back, the family is in shambles. Now you are forcing Yuqing to kneel in front of you? You are way out of line!”
Guan Meiyi’s argument was sensible yet full of emotion. She wanted everyone to see her as the big sister.
Ling Tianya looked at Guan Meiyi deliberately. What a big white lily you are! Standing on the moral high ground and accusing me, with no regard for the actual black and white of the story!
By that time, people from inside the dining hall had come out, witnessing what was unfolding.
Ruan Zeyan focused his eyes on Ling Tianya, although it was hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling under that cold expression.
“Sister Meiyi, please don’t blame sister Tianya. As long as she accepts me, I’m willing to do anything.” Ling Yuqing’s nose and eyes were bright red, looking like a small animal who didn’t want to get hurt, “My mom did something unforgivable to Tianya six years ago, now we’ve both been kicked out of the family house. I miss my dad and grandma every day… sister Meiyi, please help me ask sister Tianya to forgive me and my mom, this way we can go home…”
Ling Yuqing intentionally left out of some important details of the story. She didn’t mention what her mother did to hurt Ling Tianya six years ago, so to strangers’ ears, it sounded like Ling Tianya was just being a jerk to her step-mother and step-sister!
Chapter 48: You’ve Lost Your Final Chance
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Guan Meiyi’s public image had always been positive, she was charitable, elegant, had a good background, and had never had nasty dating rumors. She was a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry.
When Guan Meiyi had started to reprimand Ling Tianya, everyone thought that Ling Tianya was an arrogant bully.
There were even people that had were streaming the incident live on the internet, and it blew up even faster when Guan Meiyi stepped in. Of course, Guan Meiyi was the just elder sister, Ling Yuqing was the poor step-sister being bullied, and Ling Tianya was the only one getting the bulk of the scoldings.
“So she’s TY? I can’t believe I’ve liked her work for so long, she’s actually such a bitch!”
“That’s going too far! Bullying her was bad enough, now she made her kneel in public!”
“Eh, there’s so much drama in the socialite circles. In the past, there’ve been stories of the legal daughter bullying the illegitimate child. What more, it’s the step-daughter now!”
“Most of TY’s works were filled with different schemes and plots, intertwining with depth and complexity. It was so satisfying to watch, but thinking about it… she must be a conniving person herself to be able to write such things!”
“Unfollow! Ban! Protest! Who would want to watch works by such a woman?!”
The internet was a powerful place; within a short period of time, Ling Tianya became a household name. Conveniently, the news reports from six years ago came up in the search results with her name, and Ling Tianya became a much-hated person quickly.
Faced with all the criticism, Ling Tianya was barely fazed at all. She merely looked down at Ling Yuqing who was still on the ground, “Ling Yuqing, stand up.”
Ling Tianya was still so collected unexpectedly.
Things were not playing out as Ling Yuqing thought. She had blown up the situation, Ling Tianya should have been scrambling to beg her to stand up, before coaxing her to calm down. Then she should have been negotiating with Ling Tao to bring her and her mom back to the Ling family.
Ling Yuqing shook her head, “Tianya, I won’t get up until you’re willing to accept me…”
“Huh! That’s just emotional blackmail!” Ling Tianya thought. “I’ll give you one last chance, do you want to get up?” Ling Tianya’s gaze pierced through Ling Yuqing.
Ling Yuqing lowered her head, sobbing silently, not planning to get up at all.
“Very well.” Ling Tianya nodded, “You’ve lost your chance.”
Ling Yuqing raised her head to look at Ling Tianya, an uneasiness bubbled from within, but she still insisted on kneeling despite the pain in her knees. Things were already at that stage, she might as well go all the way.
Even if Ling Tianya is heartless, and didn’t help her convince Ling Tao, the pressures of the gossip and criticism would one day crumble Ling Tianya, making her life more difficult from then on. If word reached Ling Tao’s ears, he would assume that Ling Tianya had bullied her, and as the victim, Ling Tao would definitely take pity on her. There would then be a chance that she would be allowed to move back home.
“What do you mean, Tianya? Are you just going to let Yuqing keep kneeling like that? How can you be so cruel?” Guan Meiyi continued to criticize Ling Tianya.
Ling Tianya paid no attention to her words, she started to fiddle with her phone. Not too long later, her phone started to play a video, one of Qu Wan and Ling Yuqing conversing in the main hall.
Ling Tianya increased the volume to the maximum, the sounds of the mother-daughter pair flooding the entire room.
“Mom, when can we go home? My friends already know that we’re staying in the hotel, I feel that they look at me differently now…”
“The old hag’s still angry, your dad won’t let us back as long as she’s still angry. Ling Tao’s great, he’s just stupid. She’s already a step into her coffin, why should he still be afraid of her? All these years, wasn’t I the one taking care of her?”
Chapter 49: Only Have Yourself to Blame
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ling Yuqing was dumbfounded, eyes wide-open while her body froze on the ground. How on earth did Ling Tianya get that video on her phone?
The video kept playing: “At the end of the day, it was all Ling Tianya’s fault. I thought she would have died somewhere by now. Dad tried so hard to find her back in the day and was told she got in a car accident. We didn’t hear from her for so many years. God knows how she managed to come back alive — more than just alive, she is doing fantastically!”
Hearing her own voice coming out of the speakers, Ling Yuqing finally realized what was happening. She climbed back up in a flash, “Stop it, stop the video!”
Ling Yuqing tried to grab the phone from Ling Tianya’s hand. She made a few steps, but her knees buckled up after being on the floor for so long. She fell backwards, hard, onto the floor again.
Ling Tianya looked at her emotionlessly, moving a step back with her phone still in her hand.
The recording kept going: “Sooner or later, Ling Tianya is going to be the biggest problem for us. We have to find a way to get rid of her, once and for all. You and I will never have a future in the Ling Family otherwise.”
“Mom, is that Ling Tianya over there?”
The video kept going. Ling Yuqing came at Ling Tianya hysterically, “I asked you to stop that, are you deaf?!”
Eyes still red, Ling Yuqing looked scary rather than scared, compared to how she was just a minute ago.
“Are you scared?” Ling Tianya asked Ling Yuqing, “I gave you a chance earlier, but you didn’t take it!”
In the end of the video, Ling Yuqing looked over at Ling Tianya with a wicked smile on her face and said, “Mom, let me go mess with Ling Tianya — maybe I’ll get us a ticket back home!”
“Fine, let’s do it! It’s best if you can destroy that bitch’s life and reputation!”
The video stopped. Ling Tianya put away her phone and looked at Ling Yuqing and Guan Meiyi mockingly.
Nobody expected the story to take such a dramatic turn. In the end, Ling Yuqing was the shrewd bitch who played victim in order to make Ling Tianya look like a bully and ruin her reputation at the same time.
No kidding! Influential families were so complicated!
The truth was only revealed at the last minute!
Guan Meiyi’s found herself in an awkward position. Earlier, she sounded so justified when she was scolding Ling Tianya. After the video, she seemed like the bad guy now.
Guan Meiyi was not really worried about public opinions. With some PR manoeuvers and philanthropic acts, everything would be fine. What she did care about was Ruan Zeyan’s opinion. She wanted him to see her as fair and kind, instead, she looked like a fool.
To her dismay, Ruan Zeyan’s face changed expression. His eyebrows furrowed with an increasingly sharp look in his eyes.
Guan Meiyi was screaming at herself inside, she played the wrong card that day…
“Ling Tianya, you did this on purpose! You set me up!” Ling Yuqing yelled, face completely distorted. There was no doubt that she was the biggest loser that day.
A smirk spread on the edge of Ling Tianya’s mouth, “I already knew you two were staying at this hotel. Do you really think I would be so dumb to not come prepared? More importantly, I gave you an opportunity when I asked you to get up from the floor and stop your pathetic little act. If you did what I asked for, I wouldn’t have played that video. You only have yourself to blame, see?”
Chapter 50: She’s Just a Two-Faced Bitch
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I… I…” Ling Yuqing’s face was turning paler by the second, looking around helplessly.
Right then, the audience finally understood what was going on and had immediately switched sides to criticize Ling Yuqing.
“She’s just a two-faced bitch!”
“Right? She’s the kind of person that pretend to be weak to emotionally blackmail others, how annoying!”
“What a drama queen, why didn’t she get into acting? She’s so good at it, she even convinced Guan Meiyi!”
“Tsk, how did you know Guan Meiyi didn’t know about her plan? Who knows, maybe they were in cahoots? The socialite circle’s a deep trench, don’t just look at the surface-”
“True, Guan Meiyi immediately started to criticize Miss Ling the moment she got there. She didn’t ask about what happened at all, that’s definitely suspicious…”
All these comments definitely did their damage, Guan Meiyi was having trouble maintaining her facade. Her eyes kept gravitating towards Ruan Zeyan, somehow she felt that the man was getting colder by the minute.
Guan Meiyi’s heart sank, she knew the current situation was against her. She wanted to embarrass Ling Tianya, but who knew Ling Yuqing was an absolute idiot and would fall into Ling Tianya’s trap just like that.
“What are you saying? Our Meiyi had been in the ballroom, why would she know about this? If you dare say another word of rubbish, or incriminate Meiyi, I’ll make sure that your road would be bumpy from now on!” Li Fei harshly warned the people who gossiped about Guan Meiyi.
Guan Meiyi certainly held a significant amount of power in the entertainment industry, in addition to her family background, so Li Fei’s words of warning were certainly useful The people that still wanted a future in the entertainment industry were smart enough to shut up at least.
Guan Meiyi recentered herself, her expression changing like a switch, to one where she was suddenly enlightened. Her face was apologetic as she approached Ling Tianya, gently saying, “Yaya, I’m sorry. I didn’t understand what was going on before scolding you. I just want the family to be peaceful, I don’t want to see anything unpleasant happening. The moment I came out, I saw Yuqing crying on her knees, and I just jumped to conclusions… Ah, let’s not talk about it. It was my fault, please don’t be angry with me. I was tricked by Ling Yuqing too…”
Guan Meiyi’s words were full of sincerity, conveniently pushing all of the blame onto Ling Yuqing. She was just a sister that wanted her sisters to get along, she was tricked too. The person that caused the whole mess was still Ling Yuqing.
Ling Tianya gave Guan Meiyi a smile, “I know you’re the most kind, why would I blame you? Just don’t be so decisive and rash next time, cousin. After all, you are a public figure, it wouldn’t be good for you if word got out.”
Hearing Ling Tianya’s words, Guan Meiyi’s face froze before she smiled unnaturally. “Yes, I should be more careful. We’re about to collaborate on a new show, we should get along better as sisters, after all, we are the ones with blood relations, aren’t we?”
Guan Meiyi’s words didn’t work to just shorten the distance between her and Ling Tianya, but also to push Ling Yuqing further out of the picture. After Ling Yuqing’s stunt, everyone knew that she was not the Ling family’s biological daughter, but a step-daughter that followed her mom’s marriage into the family.
A step-daughter was actually so arrogant as to backstab the biological daughter in public, she was definitely not a good person!
Ling Yuqing was feeling a little sick to her stomach, she pinched her lips, wanting to say something, but there was nothing she could say. Even Guan Meiyi had drawn a line between them, she felt isolated in the whole situation. Giving the evil eye to Ling Tianya she said, “Ling Tianya, I will admit I was wrong!”
After tumbling through the past few years, Ling Tianya knew that she was not some pure, innocent character anymore, she had learned to put herself first. She shook the phone in her hand, “There are more videos in my phone, all of the conversations between you and your mom in the hotel’s public space. Should I play some of them to let everyone know what you’ve been talking about?”
“What…” Ling Yuqing looked at Ling Tianya’s phone in her hand. The past few days she and her mom had been talking bad about the Ling family a lot, they had even talked about the Guan family too. If those videos are exposed, then she and her mom were better off dead.