#5
1638 Words
Old Mrs. Lu led Xia Ning into the back of the vehicle, keeping her warm, steady arms wrapped tightly around the girl's trembling shoulders.
Inside the quiet, warm car, the heavy clicking of the luxury door locks signaled that the dangerous outside world could no longer reach them. Xia Ning finally stopped crying so hard.
With a soft, broken voice, she began to speak. She told the old lady everything. She spoke about her beautiful, late mother, Sheng Ruolan, who had been completely forgotten by the world. She spoke about how her father, Xia Danian, had locked up her mother's inheritance and treated her like an unwanted servant for ten long years.
She explained, with a trace of bitter anger in her eyes, how her boyfriend, Lin Hao, had ruthlessly abandoned her just last week to climb the social ladder with her stepsister, Mu Yuning, a famous b-list actress who loved to steal everything that belonged to Xia Ning.
Finally, her voice shook as she described the terrifying scene in the villa’s tea room—how her stepmother, Fang Shu, had dismissed the maids, forced her into a tight red dress, and tried to hand her over to Mr. Wang, a disgusting billionaire well over fifty years old, just to save their family firm from complete bankruptcy.
By the time Xia Ning finished speaking, the air inside the luxury car had grown incredibly heavy, thick with a suffocating tension.
Old Mrs. Lu’s face was completely red with pure, unadulterated rage. Her old, wrinkled hands clenched into tight fists so hard that her expensive jade rings clicked against each other.
"Insolent, greedy fools!" Old Mrs. Lu suddenly slammed her palm heavily against the leather armrest, the loud thud making Lu Qing jump in the front seat. "How dare they trample on a young, innocent girl like this! Xia Danian must be completely tired of living in this city if he thinks he can sell his own flesh and blood like a piece of property!"
"Listen to me carefully, my dear Ning'er," the grandmother said, her voice filled with absolute authority. "From this exact second onward, you don't have to drop another single tear. Anyone who makes our Xiao Ning cry has officially gone against the entire Lu family! I will personally make sure those greedy monsters pay for every single ounce of misery they forced upon you today."
"But Grandma... they have heavy security guards, and my father controls all my documents. I couldn't even go back to my bedroom to get my mother's old diary. I am just a broke college student with a stained apron and no shoes. How can I fight them?"
"Documents? Guards? They are nothing but tiny, pathetic ants in front of the Lu family!" Old Mrs. Lu scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.
Then, the old lady’s eyes suddenly froze. A brilliant, highly calculating idea flashed through her mind, and a warm, triumphant smile slowly spread across her lips.
The grandmother reached out and took both of Xia Ning’s small, cold hands into her own warm palms. "Ning'er, Grandma has a wonderful, perfect solution that will solve all your problems overnight. Why don't you marry my grandson, Lu Jingchen?"
"Huh?!...Marry Mr. Grumpy?!" Xia Ning gasped, her voice cracking in a funny, dramatic way. "Grandma, He absolutely hates me! He thinks I am a brainless, annoying alien from a cheap cafe, and I officially put his cold, robotic face on my personal blacklist yesterday! Plus... isn't that totally impossible? The whole world knows he is dating that super famous socialite, Su Ran!"
"Yes, the public thinks my brother is dating Su Ran, and the media loves to write stupid articles about them because she belongs to a wealthy family. But my grandmother and I absolutely despise her!" Lu Qing complained loudly.
"Why?" Xia Ning asked, her natural curiosity kicking in. Her inner gossiper was suddenly very interested, her eyes turning wide and round. "She is the top socialite in the city, right? Everyone online says she is a perfect, sophisticated goddess."
"Goddess? More like a plastic doll!" Lu Qing scoffed heavily. "She is a proud, spoiled brat who treats everyone beneath her like garbage. And she is so unbelievably fake! She has undergone so much plastic surgery that her face can barely move when she tries to smile. If she smiles too hard, I’m afraid her nose might fall off! On top of that, she is incredibly arrogant. She likes rubbing the fact that Lu Jingchen 'belongs' to her in front of the entire world, constantly posting fake, bragging stories online just to show off and gain followers. She doesn't love my brother; she just loves his massive bank account and the power of the Lu name."
Old Mrs. Lu nodded her head in heavy agreement, a look of deep disdain on her elegant face. "Qing'er is right. Su Ran is entirely superficial and full of dark greed. She is completely unfit to be the true matriarch of our household. I would a thousand times rather have a cute, genuine, and funny girl like Xiao Ning by my side every day to keep this old woman company and make me laugh."
"But Grandma, even if she is fake, your grandson likes her," Xia Ning pointed out, scratching her cheek with her uninjured hand, her mind completely boggled. "If I suddenly marry him, won't I become a horrible marriage-destroyer?"
Old Mrs. Lu patted her hand reassuringly, her voice turning very calm, steady, and wise as she explained the high-society rules. "Listen to me, child. You don't have to worry about any drama. This marriage will be a completely hidden, private arrangement between our families, totally free from the media and public eyes. High-class families do this all the time to protect assets and privacy. The outside world will still think Jingchen and Su Ran are doing their usual business dating, so the media will never bother you. You won't have to deal with the press, the red carpets, or the fake social elite circles at all."
The old lady’s eyes turned deeply protective, her grip on Xia Ning's hands tightening. "Think about the bigger picture, Ning'er. If you stay single and try to handle this alone, your greedy father and wicked stepmother will never stop hunting you down. They will find your college dorm, they will show up at your cafe, and they will keep trying to lock you up to sell you to another old businessman. But if you become Lu Jingchen’s legal wife, you will hold the ultimate, golden shield in this country. The moment your name is printed on that marriage certificate, the entire Lu empire becomes your backer. No one—not your father, not your stepmother, and certainly not that disgusting Mr. Wang—will ever dare to touch a single hair on your head again. They wouldn't have the courage."
Xia Ning went completely quiet. The silly, playful look on her face faded for a brief moment as her sharp, intelligent brain started running at lightning speed. She knew the grandmother was offering her a lifeline.
"And what about my own life?" Xia Ning asked softly, her eyes looking up to meet the old lady's. "I don't want to be a bird in a cage. I want to find a way to enter the entertainment industry. I want to become a successful actress to fulfill the dream my mother left behind."
"You can do whatever your heart desires!" Old Mrs. Lu stated instantly, her face full of pride and joy. "Your marriage will just be a secret contract to give you total safety. You can continue your career, go to your lectures, and live your life exactly the way you want. My grandson will essentially just be your highly legal, highly powerful bodyguard. If anyone tries to bully you on campus or block your path in the entertainment world—whether it's your malicious stepsister or some corrupt director—you can use the Lu family name to completely crush them like bugs overnight."
Lu Qing grinned brightly from the front seat, turning around so far she practically twisted her spine. "Yes, Xia Ning! Just think of it as hiring a very rich, very angry, and very handsome guard dog to scare away all the monsters!"
Xia Ning looked down at her bare feet, then thought about the arrogant, terrifying face of Lu Jingchen from the cafe. A playful, silly, and slightly mischievous smirk slowly formed on her lips.
I can only imagine how his perfectly handsome, stone-cold face is going to look when he discovers his beloved grandmother just handed his legal marriage certificate to a clumsy waitress.
The sheer comedy of the situation completely appealed to her lighthearted, unserious nature. Why run away and struggle in the mud when she could sit comfortably in a luxury villa and watch a cold billionaire lose his mind?
"Alright, Grandma," Xia Ning said, her bright, carefree personality fully bouncing back into her voice as she gave a cute, crinkly-nosed grin. "Since you are offering me the biggest, most expensive shield in the entire city, it would be rude of me to say no! Free protection, a luxury place to sleep, and a lifetime opportunity to annoy a grumpy giant? Count me in! Let's sign the papers."
"Good! That’s my brilliant girl!" Old Mrs. Lu cheered in pure triumph, her laughter echoing loudly inside the car. She immediately pulled out her custom phone, tapping the screen quickly. "Driver! Change our destination. Head straight to the Lu family main villa. Tonight, we are preparing the official wedding contract, and tomorrow, we are getting that legal stamp!"
- Writer
