After Becoming a Scummy Alpha, I Refuse to Get Divorced - Chapter 13

Monday.

Zhu Qingran went to work.

The domineering CEO, voice hoarse and nose blocked, remained silent throughout the entire morning meeting. Aside from lifting a hand, waving, nodding, or lowering her head, she made no other movements.

According to the employees’ internal monologue at the time—every gesture of their queen exuded the aura of a ruler.

The IO Premier Couple Emotion Tuner project had already reached the mass-production stage.

Originally, the main focus of today’s meeting was to finalize the shooting location for the endorsement posters and approve the photoshoot plan.

But President Zhu Qingran seemed to have completely forgotten about it and didn’t mention a single word.

When the meeting reached its final recap, her secretary Liang Jing was the one who placed her little wife’s special cup in her hands.

“President Zhu, Miss Momo heard you intend to personally appear in the endorsement posters, so she specially recommended the best photographer to us. The photographer is available this week.”

Liang Jing whispered softly, only for Zhu Qingran’s eyebrow to immediately shoot up.

“Who recommended the photographer?”

Though Zhu Qingran’s voice was dry and raspy, her aura did not falter in the slightest.

“Miss Momo recommended her.”

Sensing her CEO’s hostility, Liang Jing’s voice gradually lost confidence.

Her boss had already publicly acknowledged the “dear little cousin” relationship, so why was she still so resistant to hearing the cousin’s name?

“Momo? Dear Little Cousin? Which Mo?”

“He Yimo.”

“What Yi-mo?”

“He Yimo.”

“What Yi-what?”

“He Yimo.”

Why did the name sound so grating to Zhu Qingran?

She absolutely refused to admit that it was her own voice that was raspy and unpleasant at the moment.

Absolutely not!

“Yes, yes—Miss He, your swee, your little cousin.”

Liang Jing immediately followed her CEO’s line of thought, afraid she might be sent downstairs to print documents.

The tragic end of the last sweet-Omega secretary was still fresh in her memory. Liang Jing had to stay on guard.

Besides, she also happened to know the secret that President Zhu went to a traditional medicine clinic to check for kidney deficiency. Her life was in danger indeed.

“That girl, He Yimo, must be trying to make a middleman’s profit. Give me the photographer’s number—I’ll contact her myself.”

Zhu Qingran would never let anyone take an extra cent from her—except her little wife.

She wanted to personally call the photographer to prevent her cousin from pocketing anything.

Unfortunately, when she made the call, the photographer stated that she only agreed to free up her schedule out of respect for Miss He Yimo, whom she admired.

If Miss He did not personally attend the shoot, she wouldn’t mind turning down the job.

Zhu Qingran was rejected!

“Cough—are all artists this full of themselves?”

Spinning once in her office chair, Zhu Qingran nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

Being turned down by a photographer wasn’t the real issue—she simply had never liked taking pictures.

Whether she attended major opening ceremonies or closing events, her group photos were always copy-pasted expressions or she simply declined to appear altogether.

But now she had to shoot endorsement photos. It was basically a death sentence.

Even CEOs sometimes got slapped in the face by their own big words.

Sickly, miserable Zhu Qingran was the perfect example.

And recently, she could feel that ever since she fell ill, her little wife had grown rather cold toward her.

Especially when watching her cough, wipe her nose, or sip water—the expression on her wife’s face was indescribable.

What was wrong with her face?

Hadn’t she been ranked number one on the interstellar “Omega’s Most Unwilling-to-Marry” list?

There were countless young, pretty, long-legged, slim-waisted girls who wanted to marry her.

And she herself only wanted one.

Well, she hadn’t gotten her yet.

Just thinking about it made her exhausted.

After working for about an hour following the meeting, Zhu Qingran collapsed onto her desk again.

“If the photographer doesn’t want to take pictures of me and my little wife, fine. But if my little wife doesn’t want to shoot the endorsement with me either, should I start practicing kneeling now?”

Muttering to herself, she stood up and walked to the carpeted lounge area of her office.

She had declared that even if she had to kneel, she would beg her little wife to do the endorsement shoot with her.

Well then—time to kneel!

She shrugged off her complicated overcoat, walked to the center of the carpet, one hand behind her back, and plucked the floral arrangement off the coffee table with the other.

Kneel!

“Shiyu!”

“Shiyu!”

“Shiyu!”

The CEO’s office door was slightly ajar, and inside, the sound of her little wife’s name mixed with the thumping of knees hitting carpet echoed repeatedly.

As the saying goes: practice makes perfect.

After several rounds, Zhu Qingran felt her kneeling had become soulful, stable, and refined.

Kneeling with emotion.

“President Zhu, Madam came from the university to deliver your medicine.”

“Shiyu!”

After being suffocated all morning by her CEO’s low pressure, Liang Jing was finally relieved to see the little wife arriving as emergency rescue.

She happily escorted Du Shiyu upstairs, only to see Zhu Qingran kneeling steadily, holding up a nearly de-petaled flower with deep affection while facing the door.

“Mm.”

Du Shiyu was clearly stunned by the scene.

But Zhu Qingran had called her name—and seemed to be offering her a flower.

Although she had no idea what kind of new trick her CEO was pulling this time, she didn’t want either of them losing face in front of outsiders. So, she responded, stepped forward, and accepted the poor flower that had nearly been shaken bald.

“Since Madam and President Zhu have matters to discuss, I’ll leave you two to it. Please continue.”

Even as Liang Jing said she was leaving, her gaze kept drifting toward the kneeling Zhu Qingran.

Her CEO’s hair was messy, her clothes were wrinkled—all because she wanted to give her little wife a flower.

And she didn’t care at all.

Was this love?

Love truly is magnificent.

Liang Jing decided that once this whole incident blew over, she really ought to nudge the boss into publishing a guidebook on romance.

Brilliant idea.

Still, she did her best to hint at things for Zhu Qingran’s sake—hoping the big boss would remember to schedule a little photoshoot date with her delicate wife.

With the atmosphere so perfect and President Zhu being sharp as ever, Liang Jing wasn’t worried at all.

After thoughtfully closing the office door from the outside, Liang Jing left. Zhu Qingran rotated the smart wristband on her wrist.

How had she knelt down earlier and not remembered to lock the door?

Well, it didn’t really matter.

She had knelt to the right person in the end.

The office door was now locked remotely through her wristband; no one would dare interrupt the two of them anytime soon.

“Get up and take your medicine.”

Her little wife took out all the packets and capsules she’d brought and placed them neatly on the coffee table.

Along with the medicine, she also set down the flower Zhu Qingran had handed her.

“I have to go check on my students’ rehearsal this afternoon, so I’ll head out first,” Du Shiyu said, turning to leave.

Zhu Qingran’s legs were completely numb—she couldn’t stand at all.

Helpless, she reached out to stop her.

“Shiyu.”

At times like this, a domineering CEO should rise smoothly to her feet, sweep her delicate wife into her arms, spin around in style, maybe even steal a loving kiss.

The BGM was already playing vividly in Zhu Qingran’s head, but her numb legs made it impossible to pull off any signature CEO moves.

All she could do was kneel like someone chasing after their lover’s car in the rain, reaching out weakly and calling, “Baby, don’t go.”

“Remember, you can’t drink tea, coffee, or milk when taking the medicine. And stay away from spicy food.”

After listing all the medication restrictions, her little wife still prepared to leave.

Zhu Qingran was stunned by that cold, detached attitude.

It felt like her wife didn’t love her anymore.

Little Zhu was aggrieved.

Little Zhu would not cry.

Little Zhu would bite back her emotions and get to business.

If she couldn’t keep her wife with charm, she’d keep her with work.

“Shiyu, the new product from the group intends to have the two of us as ambassadors. Let me know when you’re free so we can shoot the promotional posters together, and you can test-wear the tuner.”

Her tone shifted—deeper and more serious.

She really sounded like she was talking strictly about work.

“The IO Emotion Tuner?” Du Shiyu asked softly.

At those words, Zhu Qingran’s heart skipped.

So, her little wife was paying attention to her.

Paying attention in every possible way.

Behind every successful strong-A female CEO stood an excellent little wife who supported her.

That saying suddenly felt incredibly accurate.

“Our school has a lot of fans who like President Zhu. I heard our school alone accounts for quite a big chunk of the sales. Everyone keeps shouting, ‘Buy big sister’s tuner, become big sister’s new little sweetheart!’”

When Du Shiyu played the over-the-top support video, the fans’ cheers erupted in waves.

Zhu Qingran tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“I see. So, my little wife is jealous?”

Taking advantage of the moment, she caught the hand holding the phone and pulled Du Shiyu down into her arms.

Her little wife was truly beautiful—down to every soft strand of hair.

Her face was flushed now, and even looking at her profile was enough to make one’s heart race.

If not for her congestion still lingering, Zhu Qingran thought the minty scent of her little wife would be even stronger.

Bright and satisfied, Zhu Qingran hooked a strand of hair at her wife’s temple with her pinky, winding it over and over, as if she wanted to coil the person around herself completely.

“If it’s something required for work, I can help—you know I’ve said that before. I’ll help you when you need me. But, Zhu Qingran.”

Du Shiyu looked at her steadily.

“I hope you won’t let your head be full of nonsense while you’re working.”

The little wife tried to struggle upright, but she didn’t even get the chance.

As an Omega, some differences between her and an Alpha didn’t need to be spelled out—they were painfully obvious.

For instance, her pheromones were naturally suppressed by an Alpha.

Although she and Zhu Qingran had shared a bed many times, they had never gone as far as a final mark.

Even so, a temporary mark was more than enough to brand Du Shiyu with Zhu Qingran’s scent from head to toe and enough to leave her hopelessly drawn in, tightly bound by this powerful Alpha at her side.

Du Shiyu could clearly feel her whole body turning weak and molten.

If this kept up, even if Zhu Qingran didn’t do anything, she herself would lose all control.

These past few days, Zhu Qingran was sick, and her pheromones had been leaking uncontrollably.

Worried that her own pheromones would be triggered into an outbreak, Du Shiyu had taken an inhibitor on purpose.

But in front of Zhu Qingran—this self-proclaimed walking pollination machine—the inhibitor seemed to have absolutely zero effect.

Just as Du Shiyu was desperately calculating how to escape, Zhu Qingran’s fingertips absentmindedly brushed across her cheek.

That feather-light, tingling touch made her sink even deeper.

With her head slightly bowed, lashes lowered, Zhu Qingran looked impossibly gentle—and bathed in the light pouring in from the window behind her, she seemed like someone walking out of the sky.

“Shiyu, look at you. Your eyes are full of me, yet you won’t allow me to have improper thoughts about you. How mean of you.”

Zhu Qingran’s delicate features drew closer, and her slightly-dry, flushed lips pressed toward her.

Du Shiyu knew she couldn’t dodge—and strangely, she didn’t want to.

She slowly closed her eyes, sensing the silhouette before her leaning in.

But right as their lips were about to meet, Zhu Qingran blinked her beautiful fox-like eyes.

“You know, having someone I like right beside me feels so nice. Shiyu, I really, really like you.”

Her voice was already hoarse and soft. Whispering like this sounded more like she was soothing her own breath than confessing.

That brief pause made the little wife think she was being teased.

She heard Zhu Qingran let out a light laugh and thought she was mocking her wishful thinking.

But when she opened her eyes, she met Zhu Qingran’s gaze—deep, earnest, and tender.

Startled, Zhu Qingran’s hand slipped as she tried to cover the little wife’s lips, resulting in half a kiss landing on her fingertips and half on Du Shiyu’s mouth.

Half refusal, half invitation and neither willing to stop.

That was probably what both of them felt in that moment.

They kissed, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy either of them.

The domineering boss knew she was still sick, and the little wife was firm about not doing anything indecent in the office.

So, after the kiss, the entire office fell into silence.

The little wife leaned against Zhu Qingran’s shoulder; she could almost hear their hearts thudding in sync.

“Aren’t you supposed to shoot your endorsement? Have you scheduled anything with the photographer yet? If it’s today’s rehearsal, I can skip it,” she said, breaking the awkwardness first.

Zhu Qingran instantly perked up.

“Shoot? Let’s shoot now. I’ll have someone find a photographer immediately!”

She turned her wrist and activated her wristband’s communication system.

“Turn the place upside down if you have to—bring me a photographer!”

With the boss giving orders, everyone scattered to search.

But all the photographers they found were nowhere near the original one who’d tried to overcharge them.

Seeing Zhu Qingran’s deepening frown, Du Shiyu pushed a glass of water toward her. “Take your medicine.”

Then she said, “Contact Master Fang Ziyan. Tell her I’d like her to do the shoot.” She handed the contact info to Liang Jing, and instantly everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Fang Ziyan? You mean the Fang Ziyan? The one who photographs award-winning actors and doesn’t accept bookings easily?”

The cabinet members asked excitedly. When the little wife nodded, they almost exploded on the spot.

“They say everyone Master Fang has photographed ends up getting married or having kids! And if they’re divorced, they remarry—and sometimes even have two kids within three years!”

Listening to the cabinet exaggerate this myth-like photographer, Zhu Qingran couldn’t help thinking, why did that sound so familiar?