Sweet Wife in My Arms

Yan Huan shook Su Muran's hand and reclaimed it before she could secretly squeeze it hard.

Lame. I have seen enough of that trick during my previous lifetime.

Su Muran could only retract her hand. Even her fingers felt awkward. She rubbed a finger on her own forehead and kept smiling in an attempt to hide her awkwardness.

"Forgive me, I didn't even recognize you at first because you got even prettier since we last met," she praised.

"Thank you," said Yan Huan lukewarmly.

The rest of Su Muran's words were stuck in her throat.

Anyone else would have returned the compliment and said something along the lines of "You have gotten even prettier too!", but "Thanks" was all Yan Huan said.

Was she a narcissist, or was she looking down on her?

"Director Yan, I have questions on some parts of the script. Can you give me some advice?" asked Yan Huan, turning to Yan Hua without paying any more attention to Muran. This was the best way to treat people who are prideful and conceited and think that the world revolves around them.

Ignoring them was the greatest insult to them.

As expected, Su Muran's face turned to the color of a pig's liver. She might have thrown a hissy fit had she been her past immature self.

"What's she doing here?" Su Muran asked her manager. Her life had always been a smooth sail; everything she asked for was granted, and any request she made was fulfilled. No matter where she went, she was always the center of envy, the girl favored by the gods. Everyone, from her school days to her acting career, has shown her respect. Everyone except for that one person.

Yan Huan.

She was her archnemesis, a disastrous existence that had been pushing her down since her appearance. Whenever their movies hit the cinema concurrently, Yan Huan would always win by a landslide, no matter how much the budget on her side.

They were always compared side by side, and every comparison ended with Yan Huan's complete victory.

She had never wanted to see Yan Huan again in her life, so there were some things she had to know right now.

What was this woman doing here?

"After probing around," said Su Muran's manager as she guided her to a desolate place, worried that she might provide more opportunities for unglamorous photos that would hurt her reputation again. "I found out that Director Yan has invited her, at a handsome price, to act as the Empress."

"What?! She's playing the Empress?" Su Muran couldn't believe her ears. She was playing the Empress. The Empress!

The Empress was the antagonist of the show, the enemy of Su Muran's role, Qing Jun.

"She's playing the role of my enemy?"

Su Muran felt completely irritated.

"There's no way I would agree to this," she said. She would never play the role of Yan Huan's enemy.

"What's wrong? Are you scared of her?" asked her manager cautiously.

"Scared? Heh, what a joke. I, the great Su Muran, scared of her?" she sneered. Despite that, her fingers curled into a fist. "I just don't like her face."

Right, her manager could agree to that. There wasn't a single actress who didn't hate Yan Huan's face--a face that was easily recognized and well-liked by all.

Her face was not only regarded as beautiful by Asia standards but also international standards. Her beauty was classy, gentle, defined, and at the same time versatile.

Her face suited every role and image, which was why directors liked working with her. She could be molded into any character. In comparison, Su Muran was a lot less versatile, despite being quite beautiful herself.

Just by standing shoulder to shoulder, it would have been easy to pick the winner. Combine that with Yan Huan's acting skills, no other actresses could even stand a chance.

"It's either her or me." With that, Su Muran turned and left immediately. Her manager tried to keep up, but Su Muran was too fast and had already left by car. 　

There was nothing her manager could do either; with so many eyes on them, wasn't she asking for trouble? She quickly told the crew that Su Muran had to leave because of family issues. 　　

Yan Huan smiled at the excuse and said nothing. Others might buy it, but not her. She knew that Su Muran had left abruptly out of rage.

Perhaps she had even said something like, "It's either her or me!" Sadly, that was impossible.

First off, Yan Huan had already accepted the offer, so she wasn't going to leave for sure. She would be a fool to not tap into such a blockbuster drama.

On the other hand, Su Muran couldn't back out either. It was obvious that she was only putting up a tough front and would be back again soon.

When Su Muran returned to the Su Estate, she went straight into Su Qingdong's study.

She walked over and propped herself up with both hands on the table.

"Dad, Yan Huan's going to act in my drama."

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?" asked Su Qingdong. He didn't see anything wrong with that. Yan Huan was the one to decide what she wanted to act in, so what could he do about it?

"I don't want her to be in my drama."

Su Muran was not stupid enough to happily play opposing roles with Yan Huan, an actress prettier than herself. She hated to admit it, but Yan Huan was indeed exceptionally beautiful. Having a secondary lead who was prettier and more famous was no different than slapping her on the face. Plus, she was fully aware that Yan Huan's acting skills were much better too. 　　

A secondary lead with better skills, looks, and fame. Was she here just to steal her thunder?

"What's wrong, Ranran?" Su Qingdong rarely saw his daughter this angry. "She will play her role and you play yours. Why would there be any problems?"

"Of course there would be problems," said Su Muran. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. What could she say? That she was afraid of Yan Huan stealing her thunder? That she was afraid that things would end up like the last time, when people berated her for being a husband-stealer even when she was the main lead?

Reaching where she was at and earning an important spot in the industry hadn't been easy, and she didn't like the idea of becoming the icing on someone else's cake, slaving away in the shoots just to make Yan Huan more popular.

"I don't like her, Dad."

Su Muran remained before Su Qingdong. In the past, Su Qingdong had always removed the people she disliked from her sights with the snap of the finger. She was confident that he could do the same to Yan Huan and send her skittering as far away as possible.