Only If Your Want Me

By the time everyone began leaving the Kang manor, it was already 1am.

The last people to leave were Lu Xia and Kang Liu Ran. The couple walked hand in hand, as Lu AnLing and Kang Jun walked the two to the door. Suddenly, Kang Liu Ran got a call. Looking at his phone screen, the man frowned but he still answered it anyways.

When Kang Liu Ran was gone, Kang Jun looked towards Lu Xia and bowed his head to her, "Thank you for all you've done..."

Seeing Kang Jun bow to her Lu Xia couldn't help but freeze. She had never expected such a sight. Waving her hands in front of her face, Lu Xia said, "No no... don't be silly... we're family and either way, Judge Li owed me a favor after I saved his son's life. A little injunction is nothing to him!"

Kang Jun shook his head and then he looked at Lu AnLing lovingly before turning to Lu Xia. "I'm very grateful for all you're doing for us. Not only with the judge but the paternity test, I owe you more than I can ever pay back."

Kang Jun had never known how to be truly grateful but this was because he had never cared about anything before. Every time someone did something for him or gave him something, to Kang Jun, they were irrelevant because he had no emotional connection to what he was receiving. But when it came to the custody of his daughter, this meant the whole world to him.

Looking at Kang Jun, Lu Xia saw this in the man's eyes. As the warmth grew, Lu Xia couldn't help but smile, "Leave it to me. I'll make sure everything goes off without a hitch. And if you want to repay me, just make my cousin the happiest girl in the universe. After everything, I think she deserves it, don't you?"

Kang Jun smiled. "I do."

Lu Xia was going to say something else but then, Kang Liu Ran walked back to the three.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kang Liu Ran asked.

Seeing the curiosity and jealousy in the man's eyes, Lu Xia laughed out loud and then brought Kang Liu Ran into a passionate kiss.

Watching them, Lu AnLing blushed hard. Seeing this, Kang Jun wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her at the top of the head.

Near the dining room doors, Elder Kang watched the two couples be intimate and despite the chaotic evening, Elder Kang couldn't help but feel like things were looking up. Though he himself still had things he needed to do...

After Lu Xia and Kang Liu Ran we're gone, Lu AnLing breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to sleep. She felt as if a whole days worth of stress had just come crashing down upon her.

Seeing that her body was a bit shaky, Kang Jun grabbed Lu AnLing tightly and whispered, "Go to bed..."

Lu AnLing turned her head and then nuzzled Kang Jun's neck. "What about you?"

"I'll be right up," Kang Jun said and then he kissed the top of her head.

Hearing this, Lu AnLing nodded before she made her way up. Because she didn't know what room she was to stay in, Elder Kang accompanied her upstairs and showed her. He also showed her Kang Mingyu and Kang Mei Xue's rooms.

After accompanying Elder Kang to his room, Lu AnLing went to both Kang Mingyu and Kang Mei Xue's rooms and kissed the kids on the cheeks. Feeling it, soft expressions appeared on the kid's faces but only Kang Mingyu had woken up.

As soon as he saw Lu AnLing in front of him, Kang Mingyu grabbed her pure white dress

Feeling this, Lu AnLing turned around.

Seeing the complicated emotions in Kang Mingyu's eyes, Lu AnLing sat down on his bed and touched his head lovingly. She did not say a word, instead, the look in her eyes asked the boy what was wrong.

Hesitating, Kang Mingyu looked around the room awkwardly, after a small while Kang Mingyu said,

"Auntie... are you my mom now?"

If anyone else had asked this, The question would have been innocent but Kang Mingyu's eyes contained a mix of hope and fear...

Qiao Lan had really made her mark on Kang Mingyu, she had beaten into him an image of a mother which was not motherly at all. Instead, the image of a mother in the boy's mind was like a demon...

Seeing this, Lu AnLing smiled sadly. She then brushed the boys fringe away from his eyes and sighed,

"Only if you want me too..."

***

Meanwhile, Kang Jun stayed downstairs. As he sat on the couch, Kang Jun saw the housekeeper walk out of the dining room. She had just finished cleaning up.

Getting up to face the housekeeper, Kang Jun said, "You're fired."

Hearing his words, the woman froze in her spot.

"Fired? Why? I've been serving the Kang household for years..." her voice was low and weak. She was an old woman and her age showed on her pitiful face but Kang Jun didn't care.

Kang Jun: "You were an accessory to child abuse. Get out and don't come back."

Due to Kang Jun's unwavering words, the woman crumbled to the ground. Walking away from the old woman who began to cry, Kang Jun's eyes caught sight of Rong Xin.

Without stopping, Kang Jun said, "Make sure she leaves."

Rong Xin bowed. "Of course, sir."

***

Many days had passed since Lu AnLing had moved into the Kang manor and she was still getting used to it.

It was much bigger than Kang Jun's other home so, to Lu AnLing, the house felt a bit lonely... mostly when Kang Jun went to work.

And on days when Lu AnLing also had to work, Lu AnLing worried about the kids, but when the couple wasn't home, Kang Jun made sure to send the kids and Elder Kang to their other home where Rong Lihua would take care of them.

Rong Lihua still felt a bit awkward with Elder Kang, mostly with Kang Zhi's warning still looming over her head but deep in her heart she felt something for the man that she couldn't fight.

Lu AnLing thought that this was sweet but she also prayed that nothing bad would happen to the old woman ever again...

That day, Lu AnLing had planned on spending the day with the kids and the two elders but Manager Hong had called Lu AnLing sounding frantic.

After Manager Hong had hung up, Lu AnLing had rushed to Halo Stars.

There, Lu AnLing made her way to the meeting room designated by Manager Hong.

Inside, Manager Hong sat awkwardly.

Lu AnLing sat opposite the woman and examined her. Seeing how fidgety she was, made Lu AnLing uncomfortable so she was about to say something but then, Mo Sheng walked into the room.

He greeted Manager Hong and then he sat by Lu AnLing's side.

Mo Sheng and Lu AnLing high fived each other as they exchanged questioning looks.

Seeing that Mo Sheng had no idea why they were there, Lu AnLing asked,

"What's going on?"

The room was quiet for a second and no one moved. After a small while, Manager Hong passed Lu AnLing her cellphone.

Curiously, Lu AnLing grabbed it and read the contents while Mo Sheng tried to look over her shoulder.

Manager Hong: "For Trailblazers, you two know that you need to break the tie... you need to create a whole new song and arrange a performance..."

As Manager Hong spoke, only Mo Sheng listened. Meanwhile, seeing the name, Lu AnLing laughed. "The groups we tied with are Ning Jie and TYL... Is it even allowed for two artists from two different companies to participate together in this competition?"

Manager Hong shrugged. "There isn't any rule against it. Either way, I've already asked the question. Apparently, TYL is giving all the winnings to Ning Jie,"

'TYL...it's all about fame, isn't it?' Lu AnLing internally scoffed as she remembered what Tang Bingyi and Elder Tang had told her.

In the room Lu AnLing was the only one who knew that this name stood for Tang Yiling...

Mo Sheng: "The TYL? Seriously? They're one of the best songwriter in the country!"

Lu AnLing scoffed. "Considering the fact that we tied, my song is just as good..."

Hearing this, Mo Sheng retracted his previous words. "Bro... what was I even saying, you're the best. I bet you can kick TYL's ass!"

"Damn right I can!" Lu AnLing said as she pursed her lips.

Hearing how confident the two sounded, Manager Hong did not know whether to be confident in their talents or to freak out.

Not wanting to affect their mood, the woman just stayed quiet. Though looking at Ning Jie's name, Manager Hong felt her heart hurt. As Manager Hong felt this, at Ning Jie's home, Lin Li and Ning Jie were sitting on the couch.

Looking at her phone, Ning Jie frowned. "Lu AnLing. Lu AnLing. Lu AnLing... why does she always want to take things from me? She took my opportunity to sing with Liang Ke, she took my manager away from me and now she wants this!"

Lin Li looked at Ning Jie as she threw a tantrum but she didn't say anything. She just sighed.

Suddenly, a voice said, "Did you say Lu AnLing?"

Ning Jie And Lin Li turned to look at Tang Yiling who walked through the door. The woman wore posh sunglasses and a slim fit jumpsuit.

Waking in, Tang Yiling sipped her coffee. Seeing that no one was answering her, Tang Yiling frowned, "Yes? No?"

Ning Jie: "Yes..."

"Who is Lu AnLing to you?" Tang Yiling said as she sat on the couch, right beside Ning Jie.

Ning Jie began to tell her her relationship with Lu AnLing.

"So she's a backstabbing bitch!" Tang Yiling said; adding fuel to the fire.

Hearing this, Lin Li shook her head, "No, not exactly—"

However, before Lin Li could finish her sentence, Ning Jie sighed hard, "Exactly!"

Lin Li wanted to interrupt but it was clear that she wouldn't be able to talk sense into Ning Jie. Mostly with Tang Yiling by her side.

And Lin Li didn't want to offend the great TYL.

Many people suspected that Ning Jie had always had backing in the industry. Well... they were right.

Ning Jie has been friends with Tang Yiling since childhood. Since before Tang Yiling had been taken in by the Tangs and gone through plastic surgery to become prettier. They had spent their childhood together...

Looking at Ning Jie with a smile, Tang Yiling said,

"Don't worry honey, that song I wrote for Trailblazers was just me playing around. For the performance, I'll go full out. We'll totally embarrass Lu AnLing!"

Hearing this, Ning Jie's eyes lit up. She wanted a bit of revenge. She didn't like the fact that Lu AnLing had sung with Liang Ke in her place but Ning Jie had reflected upon that and had understood that she was being a brat. Lu AnLing had only tried to help her save face...

However, when she was going to apologize, she had found out that Lu AnLing had signed with Halo Stars and that her manager was Manager Hong.

This caused Ning Jie to snap.

Manager Hong had always been there for Ning Jie. Even when Manager Hong has quit, Ning Jie knew that the woman would still come back to her but this time, she hadn't and it was all because of Lu AnLing!

Rage filled Ning Jie's gut. She had long since been blinded and Tang Yiling was not helping the situation by adding her own grudge towards Lu AnLing.