After Becoming a Scummy Alpha, I Refuse to Get Divorced - Chapter 14

“Shiyu, lean toward me—smile!”

The photographer professionally adjusted her camera and tried to guide the pose, but Zhu Qingran switched places with Du Shiyu in one decisive step.

“Wouldn’t I be closer to you over here? Why do you keep pulling my wife toward you?”

Zhu Qingran finally lost her patience.

She rolled her eyes dramatically, making no effort to hide her irritation or rising anger.

If she had known the photographer today was that love rival from last time—Fang Ziyan—she would have begged that photographer from this morning to do the shoot instead.

Anything but watching this woman repeatedly ask her little wife to lean closer!

It was bad enough that she was feverish, shaky, and sore all over—now she was drowning in vinegar too.

AAAHHH!

After swapping her little wife into her own spot, Zhu Qingran stared straight into Fang Ziyan’s eyes.

For a second, the air between them crackled. The atmosphere on set hit absolute zero.

“I’m shooting with a wide-angle lens. I assure you, President Zhu will be fully in frame. President Zhu isn’t that petty, refusing to let your wife appear in the shot, right?”

Fang Ziyan maintained a perfect professional smile, her tone light.

But her attitude was practically tailor-made to poke at Zhu Qingran’s nerves.

Even someone as magnanimous as Zhu Qingran was about to drown in jealousy.

Where exactly are this woman’s eyes looking?

You’re all women—haven’t you seen a chest, a waist, or a face before? What exactly are you staring at, huh? A whole lot of NOTHING, that’s what!

Of course, she only complained internally. After all, her little wife would still have to work with Fang Ziyan later. Zhu Qingran couldn’t afford to make things ugly now.

For Shiyu’s smooth, happy work life—if her wife was pleased, she could endure anything.

“I do have selfish reasons—I don’t like other people eyeing my beautiful wife. But since she bravely came here to support my endorsement shoot, I can’t fall short. I admit I’m extremely petty when it comes to people—I only have room in my heart for my wife.”

Zhu Qingran wrapped an arm around her little wife’s waist and performed a grand, shameless display of affection on the spot.

The moment she pulled Du Shiyu closer, Fang Ziyan clicked her camera several times in rapid succession.

“Not bad. Great tension in this shot. I always assumed President Zhu was lacking. Turns out all those supplements were just for show.”

She spoke casually and walked off with her assistant to edit the photos.

But that last sentence hit Zhu Qingran like a lightning bolt.

“S-supplements? What supplements?”

Her gaze darted around—and then landed on the nearby table of beverages.

There sat—

Strong-A Oral Solution.

Kidney-Boosting Tonic.

Vitality Soft Gummies.

She had never seen them before in her life—but she had eaten them.

“Secretary Liang!”

The boss roared. She felt all her blood rush upward, and then a sharp pain shot through her chest.

When she touched the warm liquid trickling from her nostril, her mind exploded in a buzzing shock.

Monday. A wonderful workday. Meanwhile, I—Zhu Qingran—my legs keep going numb, my nose won’t stop bleeding. I think this is the end. I need to revise my will again.

The shoot ended smoothly.

Zhu Qingran, pale as a ghost, sat motionless in a soft chair with tissues stuffed up her nose, silent as a statue.

The family doctor had just left, and her little wife had gone to walk him out.

Fang Ziyan was also preparing to leave and came personally to finalize payment.

“President Zhu, pleasure working with you.”

Zhu Qingran glanced at the bill, intending to pay.

But the price.

“Thi-this, isn’t this a bit too expensive?”

With tissues jammed up both nostrils, the tyrant CEO’s pronunciation was tragically mushy.

Even the lip-reading-trained Liang Jing couldn’t decipher a thing.

But Fang Ziyan understood—and laughed.

“Yes, this is the price Miss He Yimo set previously. If Teacher Du hadn’t invited me, I would’ve refused President Zhu’s request all the same.”

Fang Ziyan had just opened her mouth to speak when Zhu Qingran finished verifying her fingerprint.

By the time Zhu Qingran completed the payment, Fang Ziyan’s explanation had also wrapped up.

“What the hell? You’re the middleman who pockets the markup?”

President Zhu was stunned.

How did her sweet little wife know her love rival?

“No, no, no. To be precise, I’m the partner of the middleman who pockets the markup. Of course, we’ve never actually met. I just purely admire Miss He Yimo.”

Fang Ziyan replied with ease, not missing a beat.

Everyone still tidying up the set nearby froze.

Oh wow?

So, before the boss-lady could even complain about her cousin, the little cousin had already found someone else willing to take her in?

And it’s an online friend?

After all, according to Fang Ziyan, she and He Yimo had never met.

If they’re not online friends, what—mental telepathy?

Truly, artists lived in their own world.

“Please don’t look at me like that, President Zhu. I’ve only watched a few of Miss He Yimo’s dramas. Personally, I think she has a naturally photogenic face that truly loves the camera. As long as she doesn’t speak, her shows look amazing.

Well then—until next time.”

And with that, Fang Ziyan left.

She had already emailed the final photos to Zhu Qingran’s private inbox.

It had to be admitted—Fang Ziyan’s photography skills were top-tier. Every shot she captured was filled with emotion.

At least in those photos, Zhu Qingran could see the affection reflected in both their eyes.

All that love they usually hid so carefully was laid bare in these still frames.

Zhu Qingran had thought she would look like a jealous, bristling little guard dog, but instead she came out looking like a noble princess’s loyal feline knight.

“President Zhu, don’t take her words to heart. That teacher Fang is famous for her venomous mouth. We only need the photos—nothing else matters.”

When Liang Jing delivered a cup of warm water, she quickly seized the chance to comfort Zhu Qingran.

But Zhu Qingran turned her head slightly without reaching for it.

“It’s water?”

“It’s water!”

There was no way Liang Jing would dare bring anything else again. She adored living, after all—and wouldn’t risk her job twice.

Hearing that, Zhu Qingran finally accepted the cup. “Secretary Liang, those things must’ve been expensive, right?”

“T-those? Not expensive, not expensive at all. President Zhu, maybe I should just—”

“Send me the invoice. I’ll reimburse it.” Zhu Qingran spoke lightly, just as Liang Jing was about to request a department transfer out of fear.

Seven simple words.

Just seven words—yet Liang Jing felt as though she had risen above the clouds into a dreamlike paradise.

“President Zhu? Do you mean—” She hadn’t even finished her question when the little wife returned.

The little wife gently pulled out the tissue stuffed in Zhu Qingran’s nose and checked the situation.

“Wife, I was so scared just now.” The domineering CEO hugged her wife’s waist and nuzzled her, whining pitifully.

What Du Shiyu had originally wanted to say was also “You scared me to death.” But after holding herself back, she changed it to: “Next time, don’t just run to any doctor.”

“Mhm, okay. I’ll listen to you, wife.”

Everyone listening to their mighty CEO’s childish tone felt a bolt of shock run through them.

Liang Jing, especially, instantly understood the situation.

She didn’t ask further—she simply sent the invoice directly and privately to Zhu Qingran.

President Zhu, go get ’em!

That day, the CEO had wanted to cling to her little wife and get off work together.

But the school suddenly scheduled a last-minute Anniversary Planning Meeting, so Zhu Qingran had no choice but to reluctantly let her go.

Thus, claiming frailty, President Zhu returned to her office and binge-watched dramas all afternoon.

Watching all of He Yimo’s various roles, she couldn’t help but sigh at how much natural talent her sweet little cousin had for acting.

Yes, the debut characters had been the typical silly-sweet roles—but that didn’t change the fact that the girl had improved tremendously since then.

“This Fang Ziyan is obviously just trying to piss me off. My little girl is adorable—if anyone gets to criticize her, it’s me! Hmph! Schedule it: next month’s company watch endorsement goes to He Yimo. And hire Fang Ziyan to shoot it!”

At her command, everyone immediately started moving.

Zhu Qingran spun in her swivel chair, pulled open her desk drawer, and took out a small safe hidden inside. From it, she retrieved a ledger and a diary.

July 13 — Heavy rain. Not sure what day of the week it is. But Momo was bullied again by those male Alphas at home.

August 15 — Mid-Autumn Festival. Finally got a day off. Went to Momo’s house to deliver mooncakes, only to find the piece of watermelon she was given—the butt end—had been deliberately smashed.

On September 11th, Momo said she wanted to attend an art academy. Her family rejected the idea, saying that “posing and flaunting herself” was disgraceful. Momo didn’t cry. She told me, “Jie, I’m fine.”

The diary was filled with scattered entries, but everything before that torn section in the middle showed one thing—Momo had always been bullied.

Zhu Qingran recognized the handwriting.

It was hers.

Or rather, the handwriting of the body’s original owner.

The tone shifted abruptly in the later entries, beginning from that page in the middle.

And the very first page of that new section recorded the day Zhu Qingran’s parents died, when she took control of the family power from a pack of wolves watching her every move.

January 3rd:

Momo decided she wouldn’t go home for the New Year. I visited her at the art school and told her, “Even if you end up acting as a corpse, your big sister will back you all the way.”

March 5th:

Saved Momo’s first performance payment for her.

June 1st:

Opened a long-term black card for Momo—her birthday present.

She had only stumbled across these pages by accident. Only glanced at them by accident.

Zhu Qingran stood at the window for a long time, watching the tiny figures moving far below.

“I have to let my little sweet cousin earn money—earn that price difference! Otherwise, how am I supposed to save up for her!”

With a bright smile and an excellent mood, Zhu Qingran clocked out and headed home to her little wife.

On Wednesday, the promotional posters for the IO Premier Couple Emotion Tuner successfully went live.

In poster zones all across the city, there was always at least one spot taken by their product.

Zhu Qingran’s cold had mostly cleared up, and the day of the family banquet she promised Grandma Zhu had finally arrived.

She got off work early and drove over personally to pick up her little wife.

The school’s anniversary gala was right around the corner, and Du Shiyu had been spending more and more hours rehearsing with her students.

Originally, the two had planned to meet at a gift shop to pick out presents together.

But in the end, Zhu Qingran went to the school instead.

She leaned against the corridor’s windowsill, her back to the window as she stared straight through the glass door at her busy little wife.

It felt like a long, long time ago she had done something similar—waiting for someone inside to come out and take her hand.

Maybe it was the aftereffects of her cold, but Zhu Qingran felt off lately.

She wanted to say she was uncomfortable, but she couldn’t pinpoint where.

All she knew was that every pore on her body seemed to be working overtime, expanding day after day.

Even with winter nearly at the doorstep, she was constantly breaking out in hot sweat, constantly feeling tightness in her chest.

The scent of tea was really trying to swallow her whole.

These days, her heart was filled with nothing but thoughts of her little wife. She wasn’t acting, wasn’t pretending. At home it was all wife-at-the-dinner-table, wife-in-the-bed-warm-and-soft.

How could she possibly be “tea-flavored” like this?