My Name
After listening to Guo Xuehua’s patient explanation, Yang Chen slowly calmed down.
It was true. Among the women by his side, Mo Qianni was the most regular of them all. If their relations.h.i.+p continued, in the long run, she would be hit the hardest.
Liu Mingyu was about to be the lady boss of the Green Dragon Society, managing the society’s business affairs. Rose and An Xin were among the elites of society, the commoners would never touch them. It was the same for Tang Wan and the Cai sisters too. Even if he wasn’t there, they might not marry, or marry someone just to join houses. They did not need to consider the social norms and values.
While Yang Chen struggled internally, on the other side of the wall in the other bungalow, Rose was dragging Mo Qianni, who’d just finished her dinner, into her room.
Both girls were only wearing their favorite light nightgowns, fresh from the shower, smelling like soap. They were tall and full and all in all very attractive.
Mo Qianni was pressed against a desk in the bedroom by Rose, facing a list of doc.u.ments on an open laptop. She pouted, clearly upset. “Rose, please let me go. I’ve had a long day, why do I still have to help you now?”
Rose smiled and then bit her best friend’s earlobe gently.
“Ouch!” Mo Qianni exclaimed before moving her face away, “What are you doing?!”
“Qianni, just help me, please! You know I’ve never been to university, and you’ve learned finance. You can even manage so much of Yu Lei’s a.s.sets. It wouldn’t take you too long to deal with this report. I’ll make sure you sleep well tonight if you help me.” Rose’s eyes shone as she smirked mischievously.
Mo Qianni was almost crying at this point. “This is a threat! I don’t need your company tonight. Promise me, if I finish this, you won’t disturb me tonight!”
“So is that a yes?” asked Rose, delighted as her plan had worked.
Mo Qianni frustratedly said, “It’s so easy for you to bully me. Then again, the last time you messed around under my covers, my mother found out and she punished me!”
Rose didn’t understand, her beautiful eyes filled with questions. “Why did Aunt Ma punish you? I’m not a man, can’t I play with my best friend?”
“Stop it! You know my mother is still very conservative. It would’ve been fine if it was just sleeping. But don’t you think it was starting to cross the line when you went under my dress?” Mo Qianni glared at her.
Rose stuck out her tongue, then shook Mo Qianni’s arm coaxingly. She gave in.
Both girls had lived together for a while now, so they’d gotten as close as sisters. Since Ma Guifang’s arrival, she was like Rose’s G.o.dmother, and the three were closer than ever. However, they rarely talked about Yang Chen in case it triggered Ma Guifang.
When Mo Qianni was hard at work, again, someone knocked on her door. She heard Ma Guifang ask, “My dear, are you in Rose’s room?”
Mo Qianni got up immediately. “Yes, Mom. Do you need anything?”
“I want to talk to you,” said Ma Guifang.
Mo Qianni ran out immediately, without even looking back. Rose stood alone facing the computer in frustration.
After following her mother downstairs, Mo Qianni asked curiously, “Mom, is everything alright? You look very serious.”
Ma Guifang took a long look at her daughter, then asked gently, “Have you been listening to my advice?”
Mo Qianni averted her eyes. She understood that her mother was asking if she had contacted Yang Chen lately.
Before the incident at Yu Lei, in the heat of romance, both of them had vowed to stay together for the rest of their lives. She felt guilty. She half-stuttered to make out a grunt, not daring to confirm nor deny.
Ma Guifang’s gaze turned cold. “Hmph! I knew you wouldn’t listen and be a good girl! Such an ungrateful child!”
Mo Qianni teared up and whined, “Mom… we only met for a meal…”
“What, you mean you would’ve done more than that?!” Ma Guifang’s breath was labored. After a while, she finally continued, “Today, the little brat Yang Chen, visited me.”
Mo Qianni’s heart shuddered. A little afraid, but even more curious, she asked, “He… What did he say?”
“Hmph, what else? He didn’t want me to come between you both, to let you get all up in each other’s faces.” Ma Guifang frowned.
“Then Mom, you…”
“Of course I didn’t agree!” Ma Guifang hit the table. “My dear, I have already made it very clear to him today, you being with him will only have a painful ending. You’re still young, but a few more years down the road and it would be irreversible. I convinced him today, I think he would seriously consider breaking up with you. You are not to see him, do not let him change his mind!”
“Mom!”
Mo Qianni shot up, tearful and desperate. “How could you?!”
If Ma Guifang had successfully convinced Yang Chen to consider breaking up, Mo Qianni didn’t want to know what horrible things she must have said. She couldn’t control herself, so she shot up and shouted.
“What do you mean how could I? I have every right to do so!” declared Ma Guifang. “You are my daughter. It is my job to protect and give only the best to you. As a mother, I do everything for your own good. Can’t you see what I am doing here?! No matter how good Yang Chen is, he cannot be loyal and be your one and only. As a woman, you don’t have to marry the richest man, but you need the man who makes you the happiest!”
Mo Qianni paled, taking a step back. Her leg hit the chair. “I know. Ever since the second I decided to love him, I have never thought about how much he could give me. I want him, not happiness.”
“You…” Ma Guifang was so furious she couldn’t speak. As if her heart was bleeding, she asked, “My child, how can you be so naive?!”
“I love you Mom, but feelings go beyond anything I have ever faced up till now. I will eventually have to make my own decisions. Unless he personally says he wants to leave me, I will never give up.” Mo Qianni wiped her tears, looking like she’d made a decision. She turned to walk upstairs.
Ma Guifang sat on her chair, deflated. Tears flowed as she watched her daughter turn her back.
Back in her room, Mo Qianni let out a long sigh, calming the fire in her beating heart. When she was calm enough, she took her phone from the table. After a moment of hesitation, she dialed Yang Chen’s number.
At this point, Yang Chen was sitting on his bed with a laptop in his lap. He was browsing through world news to kill time, pus.h.i.+ng all thoughts out of his head.
Suddenly, his phone on the nightstand vibrated. Upon seeing it was Mo Qianni, his brows furrowed.
In the past, he would’ve picked up immediately. Now, he was afraid.
After almost twenty seconds, Yang Chen finally answered. Forcing a smile, he joked, “You must be pretty free to be able to call me.”
Yang Chen immediately scolded himself for being stupid. If was after working hours, of course she was free!
Mo Qianni was sitting on her bed, pulling the sheets up. She could feel the difference in Yang Chen’s tone. It was a little more foreign, a little further, like he was distracted.
He… Was he really considering it? she thought.
Mo Qianni pulled her thoughts away from the negativity, forcing herself to say, “What? Can’t I just call? Haven’t you missed me?”
“Heh…” he laughed a little, “Of course… I was a little surprised, that is all.”
She pursed her lips, falling silent for a moment. “I… heard from Mom that you visited her today.”
“Yeah,” came the reply in a low voice.
“Don’t take it to heart, I’ll be fine. I really am. She is just too worried about me, and she isn’t very familiar with your situation. I think everything will get better with time…” she blurted nervously.
However, Yang Chen could only feel her desperation to comfort herself. Everything felt increasingly wrong, and he felt increasingly guilty.
While he was thinking of something to say, a black pirate symbol popped up on the bottom left of his screen. It was a video call request…
He frowned. What was so important for Makedon to personally call and disturb his rest?
Yang Chen didn’t believe his own subordinates wouldn’t know how to consider the time difference.
“Qianni, I have something to do. I have to go.” Yang Chen still didn’t know what to say, so he could only end the call hurriedly to accept the video call.
Mo Qianni sat all alone in the room, her face paled as she heard him hang up.
“He… called me Qianni… My name…” Mo Qianni muttered to herself, then smiled sadly. Tears flowed down her cheeks.
On the other side, Yang Chen didn’t have time to think about Mo Qianni. After accepting the video call, he saw a bald Makedon with a complicated expression on his face. “Your Majesty Pluto, were you too bored after not killing anyone for two years? Why did you destroy the American fleet entirely?”