I Am Already A Queen

Yin Jiehao naturally assumed that this icy young lady was deliberately ignoring his polite attempt at small talk.

However, a split second later, Qiao Meixia shifted the heavy stack of cardboard boxes she was holding under her arm. The sudden, slight movement caused one of her compact wireless noise-cancelling earpieces to slip free from her ear and fall onto the polished floorboards with a tiny clack.

Yin Jiehao blinked in immediate realisation, a flash of self-deprecating humour crossing his mind. ’So that’s why... She was not deliberately ignoring me at all. She simply could not hear a single word I said through those earpieces.’

He politely bent down, picked up the fallen wireless earpiece from the floor, and handed it back to her with an understanding smile.

"Thank you." Qiao Meixia said with polite brevity.

She accepted the small device, popped it smoothly back into her ear, and continued listening to her music without missing a beat.

The elevator soon arrived at the grand ground floor. After stepping out into the marble lobby, Qiao Meixia walked directly toward the complex’s designated disposal and recycling facility, placing all the flattened cardboard boxes neatly into the collection bin. Only after finishing her chore did she head out toward the apartment complex’s main security gates.

The moment her feet crossed the threshold into the evening air, she noticed a familiar, sleek luxury sedan idling quietly by the curbside. Looking more closely, she recognised it as Jiang Suhan’s personal vehicle. She walked over with an unhurried pace. The dark driver’s window rolled down smoothly.

"Get in, Qiaoqiao." Jiang Suhan said, a gentle, protective smile appearing on his face as he looked at her.

Qiao Meixia opened the passenger side door and quietly slipped into the leather seat.

"Does your friend really live inside this apartment complex?" Jiang Suhan asked conversationally as he shifted into gear and started the powerful engine.

"Hmm..." Qiao Meixia gave a small nod, her eyes fixed on the city lights outside.

"I see." Jiang Suhan did not press her with further intrusive questions.

However, deep down, his intense curiosity had already been thoroughly ignited. Very few individuals in the entire city possessed the sheer capital required to acquire real estate inside the Oakland Apartment Complex. Anyone who lived in that exclusive high-rise either possessed staggering family wealth or commanded an extraordinarily elite income. The residents who inhabited those towers belonged to the exact same high-society social strata as those residing in the Jiang Family’s gated neighbourhood. Ordinary citizens simply could not afford to even step foot in a property like that.

Even though Jiang Suhan chose not to interrogation-style question Qiao Meixia directly to avoid driving her away, that certainly did not mean he would simply let the anomaly slide. He quietly made a mental note to initiate his own discreet background investigation later. He desperately wanted to uncover the real truth about his long-lost younger sister’s mysterious past and the hidden figures surrounding her life.

Not long afterwards, the luxury sedan pulled into the grand driveway of the main Jiang Residence. The moment they stepped through the front doors and entered the sprawling living room, they were greeted by a deeply familiar, sickeningly sweet domestic scene.

Jiang Yanna was sitting intimately right beside Feng Lan on the plush sofa, leaning affectionately against her mother’s arm while chatting happily with a melodious laugh. It was a picture-perfect display of mother-daughter bonding, looking exactly the same as it always did. When Feng Lan happened to glance up and notice Qiao Meixia walking in behind her eldest son, the warm smile plastered on her face stiffened ever so slightly before quickly morphing back into her usual stern, aloof expression.

"Where on earth did you wander off to after school hours?" Feng Lan asked, her sharp gaze locking directly onto Qiao Meixia.

"We were all waiting for you outside the campus after class, Sister Meixia." Jiang Yanna added softly, turning around with a look of pure, sisterly concern. "But according to Chinan, you had already left the school grounds all by yourself."

Her delicate tone sounded utterly drenched in profound worry, as though she had genuinely been sick with anxiety over Qiao Meixia’s unknown whereabouts. However, only Jiang Yanna herself knew the absolute, ugly truth. She had never possessed the slightest intention of waiting for Qiao Meixia in the first place.

"Mom, Qiaoqiao was simply spending time at her friend’s residence." Jiang Suhan explained calmly, stepping in front of his younger sister to diffuse the rising tension.

"Hmph!" Feng Lan snorted disdainfully, her brows furrowing into a tight knot. "What kind of low-class, uncultured friends could she possibly have in this city? Listen to me very carefully, Qiao Meixia. You should immediately cut off all contact and stop associating with those questionable old acquaintances of yours. Otherwise..."

Before Feng Lan could even finish uttering her harsh warning, Qiao Meixia cut her off mid-sentence without an ounce of hesitation.

"Otherwise what?" Qiao Meixia crossed her arms over her chest, stepping forward as her dark, freezing eyes locked directly onto Feng Lan’s trembling gaze. "What exactly are you planning to do to me? Kick me out of this house?"

Feng Lan was caught completely off guard by her fierce, uncompromising aura. For a brief, agonising moment, she choked on her breath, unable to find a single coherent word to utter.

"Sister Meixia, you really should not speak to Mom in such a disrespectful tone." Jiang Yanna chimed in softly, looking up with a delicate, heartbroken expression.

Qiao Meixia slowly turned her head, her icy gaze sliding toward her. "You really never miss a single opportunity to stir up arguments, do you?"

Jiang Yanna’s face paled slightly, and she hurriedly shook her head, putting her hands up in a timid gesture.

"No! No! Sister Meixia, you completely misunderstood me! I truly did not mean it like that at all!" Jiang Yanna shook her head.

"I don’t have the slightest interest in playing along with your pathetic little tricks." Qiao Meixia’s expression remained completely flat, her tone sharp and indifferent. "If all of you are so desperate for me to leave this residence, I can pack up and walk out anytime. It’s not like I ever possessed the slightest desire to stay in this place in the first place."

Without waiting for anyone’s delayed response, she turned on her heel and glided out of the grand living room with absolute, unbothered composure.

"Look at her! Just look at that ungrateful, rebellious girl!" Feng Lan slapped her thigh in furious agitation, her face flushing crimson.

Jiang Suhan opened his mouth, desperately wanting to say something to defend his younger sister. However, after a brief moment of heavy hesitation, knowing his mother’s irrational temper, he simply swallowed his words back down, turned around, and quietly walked upstairs as well.

Watching her eldest son walk away without offering her comfort, Feng Lan’s anger flared up even higher. Ever since Qiao Meixia had officially returned to the Jiang Household, it felt as though every single dynamic and relationship under this roof had gone completely haywire.

"Mom..." Jiang Yanna gently took Feng Lan’s trembling hand, stroking it with soothing, calculated affection. "Please don’t get so angry. It really is not good for your blood pressure."

Feng Lan let out a long, deeply exhausted sigh, rubbing her aching temples tiredly.

"I genuinely don’t know what to do with her anymore." Feng Lan murmured, her voice laced with bitter resignation. "I honestly wanted to try building a proper mother-daughter relationship with her, but just look at her attitude. She constantly wears that terrifying, stoic expression on her face as if we owe her the world. I don’t even have a clue how I am supposed to approach her."

Jiang Yanna remained dutifully silent, lowering her head to hide her true expression. Deep inside her calculating mind, however, she was secretly, immensely delighted. The colder, more hostile, and more distant Qiao Meixia behaved toward the family, the less likely Feng Lan would ever forge a true bond with her biological daughter.

As long as Qiao Meixia continued her self-destructive, rebellious behavior until she officially reached legal adulthood, everything would proceed seamlessly according to their original, master plan. Once she turned eighteen, Jiang Lukang would be able to smoothly arrange for Qiao Meixia to be married off to that horrific, influential family in exchange for massive corporate benefits.

...

After returning to her private room and taking a thorough shower, Qiao Meixia dried her hair, retrieved her custom-encrypted smartphone, and logged into her private, secure chat network to message MadDog.

[Q]: Hey, send one of the bikes over to my current location.

[MadDog]: Boss! Which specific model do you want me to pull from the garage and ship out?

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***