Lin Ran sat by the window, idly stirring the coffee in her cup as she watched the students hurrying past outside.
She wasn’t surprised by Su Wanyu’s invitation. The little white rabbit female lead, pushed to her limit, was finally baring her claws at her.
When Su Wanyu walked in, her face was still somewhat pale, but her eyes no longer held the sunny warmth of before. Instead, they carried a desperate resolve.
She sat down opposite Lin Ran without ordering anything, getting straight to the point.
“Lin Ran, let’s talk.”
Her voice was tight with nervousness, but she tried hard to maintain her composure.
“Talk about what?” Lin Ran leaned back in her chair, her posture lazy. “If it’s about Lu Feng, I don’t think we have anything to discuss.”
Su Wanyu was angered by her dismissive attitude, raising her voice slightly.
“Lin Ran! Do you know how wrong this is?! What gives you the right to force Lu Feng? What gives you the right to threaten him with such despicable methods? This is a crime!”
“A crime?” Lin Ran chuckled as if she had heard something amusing. “Su Wanyu, did you get your brain squeezed by a door? I’m pursuing someone I like, in my own way. How is that a crime? Has Lu Feng or his family suffered any harm so far? Not only have I not harmed him, but I’ve also helped him solve his family’s difficulties.”
“If you want to call the police, go ahead. See if your Lu Feng will thank you for it.”
“You—!”
Su Wanyu was left speechless, her chest heaving with anger.
“This isn’t pursuit at all! This is coercion! Control! Lu Feng doesn’t like you at all—he despises you!”
“Oh?” Lin Ran put down her coffee spoon and leaned forward slightly. “He doesn’t like me, so does he like you? Then why don’t you make him like you? Make him be with you.”
Her tone was light, laced with undisguised mockery. “It’s fair competition. You pursue him your way, I pursue him mine. What, you can’t win him over, so you come here to criticize my methods? Little girl, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“I…” Su Wanyu choked back her anger, trying to reorganize her words. “Lin Ran, your idea of fairness is using your family’s wealth and influence to threaten Lu Feng. What kind of fairness is that?”
“Then tell me, what would be fair?” Lin Ran tilted her head, looking at her. “Me stepping aside so you can be with him—is that what you call fair?”
Su Wanyu was furious. “Lu Feng likes me! If it weren’t for your schemes, we would have been together long ago!”
Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. “Before I came along, why weren’t you together then?”
“You grew up together—that’s enough time for you to confess a hundred times. But did you? No. Why? Because you didn’t dare. You were afraid of rejection, afraid you’d lose even the friendship.”
These words were like a knife, piercing straight into Su Wanyu’s most vulnerable spot.
She turned pale with rage, retorting urgently, “I wasn’t afraid!”
“I just didn’t want to pressure Lu Feng! He’s already so burdened—I had to consider his feelings!”
“So you waited for him to figure it out on his own? Waited for fate to arrange it?” Lin Ran sneered. “Su Wanyu, you’re too naive. In this world, the good things are taken by force.”
“Waiting? In the end, you’ll just lose them to someone else.”
Lin Ran took a sip of her coffee, then set the cup down. The glass bottom hit the table with a crisp sound.
Su Wanyu took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and regain her composure.
She stared into Lin Ran’s eyes and spoke word by word:
“Lin Ran, no matter what you say, I’m telling you that Brother Lu Feng and I are childhood sweethearts with deep feelings. It’s only natural that we ended up together.”
“You’re the one who used despicable means to force your way in, coercing and threatening him. Do you know what your behavior is?”
“You’re a homewrecker!”
“Is this what your wealthy upbringing taught you—to be someone else’s mistress?!”
She tried to claim the moral high ground with “childhood sweethearts” and “mutual affection,” using the label of “homewrecker” to attack Lin Ran.
However, after hearing this, Lin Ran’s smile only grew brighter.
Yet the warmth of that smile never reached her eyes, instead chilling to the bone.
Her gaze sharp as a blade, she said, “Su Wanyu, spare me your tired old clichés about childhood sweethearts and moral blackmail, because—”
She paused, her red lips curling into an almost malicious arc.
“I—have—no—morals.”
Su Wanyu was completely stunned.
No morals?
How could someone say such a thing so shamelessly?
Lin Ran leaned back in her chair, her tone relaxed. “Since you like him so much, use your gentleness and care to win him over, use your childhood bond to move him.”
“But if you lose—”
She paused, her smile turning sharp.
“Don’t go crying and saying someone stole what was yours.”
Su Wanyu’s face paled completely.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
Lin Ran stood up, as if suddenly remembering something.
“Oh, by the way, Lu Feng is now my servant, at my beck and call. Little Fish, you’ll have to work hard~”
“After all, competing with someone who controls every aspect of his life won’t be easy.”
She picked up her bag and turned to leave.
At the doorway, Lin Ran glanced back.
Su Wanyu sat there, head bowed, shoulders trembling slightly.
But when she looked up, Lin Ran saw something shatter in those bright eyes, and something new begin to grow.
Lin Ran curled her lips into a faint smile and pushed the door open.
Life is a battlefield, and no one can remain undefeated forever.
But she had no way out.
Whether her opponents were the cold male lead, the blackened female lead, or the powerful plot force behind the scenes—
To survive, she had to win this war!
＊
Su Wanyu sat alone in place, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Not from fear, but from overwhelming anger, resentment, and the humiliation of being utterly scorned.
Lin Ran’s words were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing her last shred of hope and thoroughly enraging her.
Fair competition?
Telling her to work hard?
That vicious woman was clearly mocking her incompetence! Flaunting her control over Brother Lu Feng!
If it weren’t for Lin Ran, Brother Lu Feng wouldn’t have rejected her, wouldn’t be living in such misery—they would have had a beautiful future together!
Anger and jealousy took deep root in Su Wanyu’s burning heart.
For the first time, a shadowy, stubborn glint appeared in her eyes.
Lin Ran, thank you for teaching me a lesson.
For showing me what survival of the fittest means.
But don’t celebrate too soon!
She took out her phone, opened her contacts, and found a name saved as “Du Hao.”
He was a senior in the finance department, with some family background, and he was pursuing her.
Because he was so chauvinistic, she found it quite distasteful, but now…
He might just become a useful blade in her hands.
Su Wanyu bit her lip and typed out a message to send.
[Senior, I’m free this weekend. Would you like to go out together?]
If she wanted to use someone to get things done, she had to offer a little incentive.
A few seconds later, a reply came quickly.
[Sure, I’ll pick you up then!]
Lin Ran walked out of the café and got into the luxury car waiting by the roadside.
He opened his phone, swiped his finger across the screen, found the contact with the dark-toned ocean avatar labeled “Possession,” and sent a message.
[8 p.m., Maze Bar, mention my name]
No greeting, no explanation—just the time and place.
The phone vibrated; a reply had arrived.
Just one word: [Okay]
Looking at that concise reply, a faint, elusive smile curled at the corner of Lin Ran’s lips.