After Little Sweet Omega Runs with the Ball - Chapter 23.1

The small southwestern town was a world apart from the capital, with air and sunlight far superior.

There was no year-round smog that blotted out the sky, nor the incessant chime of phone notifications urging her to work.

The moment Song Shuangtian stepped out of the car, she was escorted by the staff of the sanatorium.

Yuan Yin sat in the passenger seat, while in the back were Song Shuangtian and He Yanyan, whom she had met once before.

“Nice to see you again.”

He Yanyan placed her hand over Song Shuangtian’s, and Yuan Yin’s gaze lingered on the gesture for a moment.

As if worried her little girl might be lured away by Song Shuangtian, she cleared her throat pointedly.

He Yanyan blinked in confusion: ?

Song Shuangtian asked, “You’re a doctor?”

He Yanyan nodded shyly. “I studied medical nursing abroad and took some courses in gynecology.”

Song Shuangtian had assumed He Yanyan was just a well-behaved girl, never expecting her to be a skilled physician.

The journey from the airport to the sanatorium wasn’t long just a few dozen kilometers.

After settling in, Song Shuangtian leaned against the hospital bed, frowning as she pressed her fingers hard against her abdomen. Waves of sharp, bone-deep pain radiated from her stomach, spreading through her entire body.

An omega’s pregnancy inevitably required an alpha’s pheromones for comfort, but Song Shuangtian clearly had no mother for the child by her side.

A young nurse knocked and entered, standing by the bed. “Hello, please fill out this information form.”

Since Song Shuangtian’s pregnancy was still in its early stages, she was assigned to a standard care ward.

The sanatorium’s environment was lovely outside the window stretched vast fields of flowers, with towering mountains in the distance and a shimmering lake where local farmers gathered aquatic plants to make regional delicacies.

Noticing Song Shuangtian’s stillness, the nurse handed her the form. “If writing is inconvenient, you can dictate.”

Song Shuangtian glanced at the section for the child’s relatives.

Song Shuangtian: “…”

Yuan Yin coughed twice. “Should we write Ji Mingxue’s name?”

He Yanyan, witnessing this, also felt a headache coming on. “If it’s entered into the system after filling it out, Ji Mingxue might find out.”

The problem was, Ji Mingxue would never guess Song Shuangtian was pregnant.

Song Shuangtian massaged her temples in frustration. “Leave the alpha mother section blank. For the omega mother, just write my name.”

The nurse hesitated briefly but ultimately raised no objections. She filled in the form as instructed and left, though not without casting a sympathetic glance at Song Shuangtian’s room.

During her stay at the sanatorium, Song Shuangtian noticed that the nurses always spoke to her in hushed tones, as if afraid of touching a sore spot.

In this world, fertility rates were low, especially for rare omegas like Song Shuangtian. To think she had been abandoned by a heartless alpha yet still chose to carry the child.

After all, omegas never lacked alphas willing to care for them.

Unaware of these perceptions, Song Shuangtian spent her days strolling through the gardens once the worst of the pain subsided, occasionally darting over to her aunt’s side for snacks.

Madam Qiu sighed helplessly. “What brings you here?”

Rubbing her aching temples unaware of Song Shuangtian’s pregnancy she pushed a plate of honey-glazed buns toward her.

“Aren’t you managing ST Group? From what I hear, your father has been eyeing a collaboration with M Group lately.”

At the mention of this matter, Song Shuangtian gave a bitter smile and pursed her lips.

“With my younger brother by Father’s side, I doubt he has any use for an omega like me.”

Madam Qiu frowned. “Omega?”

Song Shuangtian suddenly realized her slip of the tongue and quickly covered her mouth, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes blinking pleadingly at her aunt.

“Please pretend you didn’t hear that, okay?”

Naturally, Madam Qiu wouldn’t let it go. Her tone darkened. “You’ve become an omega?”

Song Shuangtian: “…”

Song Shuangtian: “What if I told you not only am I an omega, but I’ve also secretly gotten pregnant?”

She was wearing a loose dress today, making her look only slightly rounder.

Madam Qiu was not someone easily fooled. Her heart wasn’t strong, and Song Shuangtian didn’t dare to frighten her. “Auntie, let me explain.”

Madam Qiu leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, as if waiting for a child’s feeble excuse.

“What have you been hiding from me? As far as I know, you’ve been staying at the sanatorium for a month now.”

Song Shuangtian: “…”

The little omega covered her face with both hands, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

She couldn’t say it. Absolutely not. Auntie would be furious.

Just as Song Shuangtian stubbornly refused to confess, a nurse hurried over. “Miss Song, it’s time for your prenatal checkup.”

Song Shuangtian: !!!

Are you trying to kill me?

Betrayed again.

The nurse carefully supported Song Shuangtian, chiding her gently. “You’re so reckless. Without an alpha to take care of you, how could you neglect yourself like this? The wind is strong here pregnant women mustn’t catch a chill.”

The light in Song Shuangtian’s eyes instantly dimmed.

Damn.

A certain plant.

The sound of a teacup shattering on the floor was accompanied by the middle-aged woman’s disbelieving exclamation.

Madam Qiu frowned. “What are you saying?!”

The nurse, unaware of Madam Qiu’s relationship with Song Shuangtian, assumed they were friends.

“Miss Song is a new resident here for her pregnancy. She’s staying in Building 3. You should visit her more often, it’s so hard for an omega to carry a child alone without an alpha’s care.”

It wasn’t just Song Shuangtian who had believed herself to be an alpha before everyone around her had thought the same.

Hearing the nurse’s words, Madam Qiu felt a wave of dizziness, her fingers clutching the fabric over her chest.

“She’s pregnant?!”

Song Shuangtian closed her eyes in despair. “Auntie, I can explain.”

Her sister had entrusted her only daughter to her care before passing away. Not only had she failed to raise the girl properly, but now the child had gotten pregnant by some alpha behind her back.

In Madam Qiu’s eyes, that alpha was nothing more than a scoundrel who had seduced her precious niece.

A wave of dizziness hit her. Song Shuangtian rushed forward in three quick steps to steady her. “Auntie, I can explain QAQ”

Capital M Group Headquarters.

Ji Mingxue pressed her fingers against her throbbing temples. “You found nothing?”

Lu Xing stood before her, handing over a document that required signing.

“President Ji, the only lead we have is that Song Shuangtian boarded a flight to a city in the southwest a month ago.”

Ji Mingxue’s eyes flickered. An alpha’s rut was unbearable. Her fingers dug into the leather armrest, her normally full and rosy lips now pale and cracked. Her eyes had darkened entirely, their depths unsettlingly eerie.

Another sensitive period…

Her hypersensitivity to Song Shuangtian’s pheromones made her feel like she was going through forced withdrawal. Ji Mingxue gulped down a large cup of iced coffee.

A noble alpha in power, yet even in discomfort, she never appeared disheveled.

“Which city in the southwest?”

“All the information has been deliberately concealed. We can’t find anything on our end.”

Ji Mingxue’s eyes flickered. She knew Song Shuangtian didn’t want her to track her down.

Beside her lay Song Shuangtian’s career plan, page by page detailing the path Ji Mingxue had once mapped out for her.

If Song Shuangtian had stayed by her side for just one more year, she could have been transferred to another city as a regional manager.

Ji Mingxue would have personally gone to assist her.

But now, all of it seemed like a castle in the air, dissolving into fleeting bubbles.

It was all just a ridiculous, one-sided fantasy of Ji Mingxue’s own making.

The truth was, Ji Mingxue felt like a complete fool.

She had poured her heart into planning for Song Shuangtian, but the other woman never needed any of it.

With Song Shuangtian’s status, she could inherit ST Group, why would she need to toil away for M Group?

Every advantage Ji Mingxue thought she had now seemed laughable.

The shabby apartment, the second-hand car just props Song Shuangtian had casually picked up to extract information from her.

And yet.

Ji Mingxue closed her eyes, recalling the way Song Shuangtian trembled in her arms, the fragmented light in her gaze, and the dismissive introduction Song Chuang had given of her:

“Just a disabled person without pheromones. How could she possibly lead ST Group to a brighter future?”

“President Ji.” Lu Xing boldly waved a hand in front of her dazed boss.

Ji Mingxue: “…”

Seeing her boss’s eyes refocus, Lu Xing grinned knowingly. “Boss, there’s a meeting with ST Group this afternoon. The car is ready for you.”

Though her expression was as professional as an AI assistant, her smile was far too gossipy, making Ji Mingxue’s eyes sting.

“What are you smiling about?”

Lu Xing’s grin didn’t waver. “I’m not smiling.”

Ji Mingxue: “…”

What to do when caught gossiping at work?

A dull ache throbbed in Ji Mingxue’s chest. Her pheromones were never something to be taken lightly.

The alpha’s face remained cold as she injected a pheromone suppressant into her muscle.

She casually threw on a coat, and Lu Xing quickly followed behind, sensing the once-overpowering magnolia pheromones beginning to recede.

She sighed inwardly. As an alpha herself, sharing the same space with another alpha’s pheromones was far from pleasant.

The 52nd floor didn’t have many offices. As Ji Mingxue passed the one that had once belonged to Song Shuangtian, her steps faltered slightly.

“Did we really prepare an office for a corporate spy?”

Lu Xing: “Should we clear it out?”

Ji Mingxue’s gaze darkened. She twisted the Hetian jade bracelet around her wrist, one she could no longer remove.

Countless times, Song Shuangtian’s face, so similar to her mother’s, flashed through her mind.

Her tutor, her mentor, the coming-of-age novels she’d found in that woman’s luggage.

Perhaps that woman hadn’t liked male alphas at all but female alphas.

Just like Ji Mingxue now, falling for a little omega who resembled the one she’d once admired.

It turned out that everything was just her own wishful thinking.

Ji Mingxue’s heart ached faintly, and her entire body burned with agitation as she stood before that familiar office.

For a long time in the past, they had worked on the same floor.

Song Shuangtian would bring her coffee, smiling as she massaged her shoulders and neck.

But all of it had been an act, a cunning omega’s ploy to get close to the intelligence she held.

Ji Mingxue closed her eyes for a moment.

Lu Xing asked again, “Should we clear out this office?”

Ji Mingxue gritted her teeth. “No need.”

“Lu Xing, I just realized today how utterly tactless you are.”

Lu Xing: “.”

A heartbroken alpha is truly hard to please.

“Lock the door. No one is allowed inside.”

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