After Mistakenly Marking My Ex’s Older Sister, the Disabled Alpha Stood Up - Chapter 9

Not long after Jin Yunxi left, Yan Qingruo stirred awake.

Her lashes fluttered, and in the haze between sleep and waking, the faint scent of cedar lingered at the tip of her nose, clinging and refusing to disperse.

Her fingertips brushed against the warm medical patch on the back of her neck. The IV line swayed lightly with her movement as she tried to sit up.

What… happened to me?

Memory came to her like foggy shards of glass. In the chaos of collapsed supermarket shelves, she seemed to recall someone wrapping her in a gray wool coat infused with cedar. But the person’s face was lost in the wail of an ambulance siren.

An inexplicable sense of emptiness welled in her chest.

“Ruoruo, thank goodness you’re awake!” Lu Ge rushed to the bedside, eyes brimming with tears.

“Lulu?” Yan Qingruo blinked, dazed. “Why are you here? What… what happened to me?”

Her slender, pale fingers moved to her neck. The heat at the back of her nape spread upward, swelling in her brain like a whirlpool. Right at the center—where the needle had pierced—warmth pulsed, impossible to ignore.

The IV dripped steadily, trying to cool the fire raging inside.

She remembered going to the supermarket for groceries. But… for whom?

Lu Ge’s tears streamed down. “Wuwu, Ruoruo, I’m just so glad you still remember me!”

She was so worked up that the apple in her hand rolled to the floor, completely forgotten. Breathlessly, she blurted out, “You don’t know how scared I was when Secretary Jin followed you all the way into the emergency room—”

“Secretary…?” Yan Qingruo’s amber eyes flickered in confusion beneath the hospital lights.

Lu Ge froze. Hadn’t the doctor warned that the Omega-maturation drug might affect her memory? Could it really be true?

Quickly, she recounted the entire chain of events. At the end, she slapped her thigh, saying: “It’s all thanks to her today! If she hadn’t rushed over, you would’ve been taken away by the Enforcement Team!”

“She?” Qingruo repeated softly. Her temples throbbed; fragments of memory surfaced—cedar, a gray coat, a protective figure—yet the face remained blurred.

“Lulu… who are you talking about?”

“Jin Yunxi, of course! The Queen’s Chief Secretary, Acting CEO of the Jin Corporation.” Lu Ge waved her hand in front of Qingruo’s eyes. “Ruoruo, don’t tell me you’ve gone stupid—”

“I don’t know her.” Yan Qingruo frowned faintly. “Who’s Jin Yunxi?”

Thud. Lu Ge’s jaw dropped, the apple she had just picked up slipped again, rolling across the floor.

“Ruoruo—you actually forgot your wife?!”

“My… wife?” Qingruo pointed to herself, heart skipping with a mix of curiosity, anticipation, and a twinge of fear. When did I get married?

It was unbelievable. She remembered everything else clearly—but not her own spouse?

Lu Ge quickly pulled up Baike (encyclopedia), typed in Jin Yunxi, and shoved the phone in her face. “Look—this is your wife! Your wife is Jin Yunxi!”

Qingruo stared at the screen.

On it, Jin Yunxi was addressing parliament. A tailored ash-gray suit traced the elegant lines of her waist. One hand rested on a gold-inlaid ebony cane.

Gold-rimmed glasses framed a pair of cold, striking features. The chain of the spectacles glimmered faintly against her pale collarbone. Her face was cool and refined, yet impossibly beautiful.

Qingruo gave a reserved hum, but her fingertips unconsciously caressed the screen as her heartbeat quickened. “Mm. She’s… not bad.”

Definitely her type.

“‘Not bad’?” Lu Ge huffed, then grinned mischievously as she opened Qingruo’s file app. “Yesterday you livestreamed a whole list titled One Hundred Heart-Throbbing Moments Living with President Jin. Hah—this entry—tsk, tsk!”

Qingruo caught a glimpse of one line— “When she dries my hair, her slender fingers hook around my waist, the prayer beads brushing against the tie of my nightdress…”

She snatched the phone back, face flustered. “No peeking!”

Lu Ge: Hmph!

But Qingruo only tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with practiced calm, smiling sweetly. Lu Ge, you don’t even have a wife. Even if you peek, it’s useless.”

Lu Ge: What the—! She gaped, feeling utterly insulted.

Qingruo’s smile turned honey-sweet. “I only didn’t want you to feel… lonely at night after reading it.” She toyed with her hair, voice soft and teasing.

Lu Ge gritted her teeth. This was torture. Was this really her friend?

Arms folded, she sneered. “So, in front of the Secretary-General you play the dutiful wife, huh? Didn’t know you had this side.”

Just then, the light tap of a cane came from outside. Qingruo’s fingers froze mid-motion. Her eyes lit up instinctively, like stars catching fire.

Lu Ge followed her gaze, lips curling. Oh-ho—your wife is here!

Nothing could be more thrilling than when your best friend’s wife also happened to be your idol.

When Jin Yunxi entered, she caught sight of Qingruo’s calm, composed face instantly blooming into rosy brightness. Judging from their voices earlier, she and Lu Ge had been bickering?

Qingruo… bickering?

In all their year of marriage, they had lived like polite strangers—never raised voices, never shared such candid, playful moments. Yunxi felt a pang of unfamiliarity.

Little did she know—this was only the beginning.

In her hand, she clutched divorce papers and a check for fifty million. After what Lu Ge said—that Qingruo had faltered at the supermarket because someone owed her money—it struck Yunxi with a jolt of guilt.

Because the debtor… was her.

At that moment, Qingruo turned her head, smile bright as dawn. Her eyes sparkled. “Ah Yun?”

Just like in her diary—that was how she always called her.

Jin Yunxi’s cane nearly slipped on the floor. She steadied herself, heartbeat faltering, gaze flicking toward Lu Ge in silent question.

Lu Ge leaned in and whispered, “Secretary Jin, it seems Ruoruo losts her memory. She remembers everything… except you. Don’t worry, though—I already told her you’re her wife.”

Puffing her chest, she added smugly, “I even walked her through the hundred sweet moments you two shared. Like a teacher doing review before an exam!” She secretly airdropped a copy of the document to Yunxi.

Jin Yunxi opened it.

…

Silence. Only silence.

“Yan Qingruo, are you feeling alright?” she finally asked.

“No.” Qingruo’s lips trembled with a faint pout. Her amber eyes blinked, and at the sight of Yunxi, a strange warmth rose inside her.

“Where does it hurt?” Yunxi’s voice was cool as ever.

“Ah Yun… I’m thirsty.” Qingruo’s tone lilted with a spoiled whine. She licked her lips lightly, gaze soft and misty, full of expectancy.

Yunxi looked away. Normally, Qingruo addressed her as “President Jin,” polite and distant.

Poised as ever, she gave her assistant a glance. The assistant promptly poured a glass of water and handed it over.

But a pang of disappointment flickered across Qingruo’s face. Why wasn’t Ah Yun the one to give it to her?

She glanced at Yunxi’s young, composed face. Qingruo was three years older, yet the diary entries showed that it had always been Yunxi caring for her, never the other way around.

Her cheeks tinged pink. In her mind, endearments from the diary replayed. But here, Yunxi looked almost… unfamiliar.

Her hand absently touched the medical patch on her neck. She imagined how awful she must look. No wonder Ah Yun kept her distance. Maybe it was just because Lu Ge was present? Yunxi didn’t want to show intimacy in front of outsiders.

Still, the moment she laid eyes on her, Qingruo had already accepted her instinctively—as if she truly was her partner.

“Ah Yun, I’m on an IV drip… can you feed me?” Her voice was soft, frail, with a few delicate coughs. She looked every bit the fragile, lovely patient.

Yunxi’s brows arched faintly in surprise. The motion was elegant, like cedar branches swaying in the mountain breeze.

She took the glass and stepped to Qingruo’s side.

“Ah Yun, sit here~” Qingruo’s eyes glimmered with starlight. She scooted aside on the bed, gaze brimming with expectation.

A strange stiffness crept into Yunxi’s legs, but seeing her patient so fragile, she relented and sat down.

As Qingruo leaned against her hand to sip, her gaze clung to Yunxi’s face, unwilling to look away.

Do I really know this face? The closer she looked, the more she felt she could never get enough.

Her diary had recorded it clearly—every morning after exercise, Ah Yun would sweetly feed her water.

Lu Ge, unable to stand their lovey-dovey display, slipped out with the assistant, leaving the room quiet and private.

Yunxi’s hand was long and elegant, the joints sharp, coldly beautiful.

Qingruo drained more than half the glass. Yunxi set the cup down and instinctively leaned back, wanting distance. The mingling scents of daffodil pheromones and the faint remains of that Omega-inducing drug teased her senses.

But before she could move far, she was pulled into warmth.

“Wifey~ I still want more.” Qingruo’s lips parted like a clingy, spoiled kitten. Her arms looped around Yunxi’s neck, soft mouth brushing her ear, voice sweet and delicate, dripping with charm.

Yunxi’s fingers jolted, the glass slipping. Water spilled across the sheets.