After Mistaking My Sister’s Friend for a Scumbag Alpha - Chapter 5

“It wasn’t me,” Shangguan Shi replied calmly.

A flash of disappointment crossed Jiang Wanyi’s eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she bit her lip, her voice tinged with an undeniable gloom. “Oh, it wasn’t you? I actually thought you were standing up for me.”

Seeing the Omega in such a state, Shangguan Shi opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately remained silent. This matter truly was not her doing, and she could not take credit for it.

However, after their dinner that night, she had instructed Assistant Han to investigate Song Manyun. Han moved quickly and cleared the details by the following day; a plan targeting Song Manyun had already been drafted this morning. But since it hadn’t been implemented yet, the withdrawal was indeed not her work.

Jiang Wanyi bit the inside of her lip and pushed aside her disappointed expression. Still, her focused gaze did not pull away from the Alpha’s face. Three seconds later, her eyes suddenly curved into a smile, and her voice was sweet and sincere. “Sister Shi, you are so beautiful.”

The Alpha’s chopsticks paused for a fraction of a second. She offered only a faint response: “You are better looking.”

Jiang Wanyi noticed, however, that the Alpha’s movements became significantly slower after that. Every action seemed as if it had been rehearsed to appear naturally elegant. Wanyi was quite satisfied with this development; it indicated that the Alpha was starting to care about her image in her presence. It meant the distance to making the woman fall in love, or at least becoming deeply interested was closing.

******

After the Omega left, Shangguan Shi called Assistant Han into the office.

“Are you in a relationship?” Shangguan Shi asked.

Han froze for a moment before reflexively shaking her head. “No.”

“I recall you having someone you liked,” Shangguan Shi noted.

“I do like someone,” Han admitted with a wry smile. “But they might not necessarily like me back.”

“If you don’t confess, how would you know they don’t like you?”

Han let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t dare. I’m afraid that if I’m rejected, we won’t even be able to remain friends.”

“You could try testing the waters first,” Shangguan Shi suggested.

Han shook her head. “I don’t even dare to do that. We’re called friends, but we don’t actually have much interaction. In her eyes, I might just be an acquaintance. If she realizes I’m testing her, I’m finished.”

Shangguan Shi’s gaze shifted as she realized her relationship with Jiang Wanyi was very similar. Because of Jiang Qianyi, they knew of each other, but they had very little contact. Jiang Wanyi’s affection seemed to have appeared out of thin air, and the girl was incredibly composed in her presence without a hint of genuine shyness. The shyness was clearly an act; Wanyi’s acting was excellent, but Shangguan Shi could still see through it.

Did Jiang Wanyi truly like her? What exactly was she after by approaching her?

******

It was Monday again.

“Love letters.” Her friend Liu Wen pulled a dozen pink envelopes from her bag and handed them over.

Jiang Wanyi took them and tucked them under her textbook without looking. “Don’t accept these next time.”

“I don’t want to,” Liu Wen grumbled. “But some people just leave them on my desk or shove them into my hands. It’s hard to just throw them away.”

Wanyi rented an apartment off-campus and spent very little of her free time at school, but since Liu Wen lived in the dorms, she was an easy target for those trying to reach Wanyi.

“How about this? Next time someone asks for your help, just tell them I’m already married.”

“Mm… wait, what?! You’re married?!” Liu Wen was so startled that the second half of her sentence rose in volume, causing most of the people in the classroom to look their way.

Fortunately, the professor walked in the next second, and everyone stopped staring so blatantly.

Wanyi lowered her voice. “I’m not married yet, but I will be soon.” If everything goes according to plan, she added mentally.

Liu Wen was even more shocked, but she managed to keep her volume down this time. “Who are you marrying? You don’t even have a partner!” Was she no longer Wanyi’s best friend? She didn’t even know if her friend was seeing someone.

“Who says you have to have a partner before you can get married? Can’t I just go straight to the wedding?”

“I mean, technically you can… so who is it? A man or a woman? Do I know them?”

“A female Alpha who is much older than me,” Wanyi said. “You don’t know her; it’s an arrangement through my family.”

“A business alliance?” Liu Wen guessed.

Wanyi nodded. “Mm.”

“How much older? Like, ten years?”

“Yes.”

An image of a plain-looking old woman appeared in Liu Wen’s mind, and her gaze turned piteous. “It seems being a second-generation socialite isn’t all perks.”

Wanyi was quite low-key at school, but Liu Wen had been to her house and knew she came from an incredibly wealthy family. Seeing her friend offer a “bitter smile” and then pick up a pen to look like a strong student focused on the lecture, Liu Wen was about to offer a few more words of comfort when a piece of chalk accurately struck her head.

“Liu Wen, Jiang Wanyi,” the professor called out their names. “Come up and demonstrate.”

Demonstrate what? Liu Wen was completely lost.

******

By noon, the news that the school beauty, Jiang Wanyi, was married had reached the front page of the campus forum.

[1L: My mind is blown. Someone please tell me this is fake.]

[2L: It’s real. I was there. Liu Wen was incredibly loud about it.]

[3L: I sent a love letter yesterday, and today I’m heartbroken?]

[4L: Married but still maintaining a single persona? That’s pretty low.]

[5L: She maintains that persona to hook rich people, not you. Why are you so pressed?]

[6L: Exactly. Even her husband isn’t upset about the green pasture on his head.]

[7L: Does 6L know something? Details, please.]

[8L: I’ll just say this: the person who saw her dining with a tycoon at a top-tier restaurant two weeks ago has already been fired, though they’re calling it a “withdrawal.”]

[9L: Is it SMY? The restaurant where she worked was definitely top-tier.]

******

Jiang Wanyi thought she could stay calm, but when she saw people intentionally spreading rumors and steering the narrative, she still felt a surge of anger. She forwarded the forum post to a contact saved as [Tech Geek] along with a large digital “Red Envelope” of money, asking them to find out exactly who was behind the smear campaign.

Afterward, she forwarded the post to Shangguan Shi.

[Sister Shi, I said something wrong today, and now everyone thinks I’m already married.]

[What I actually said was that I’m about to be married. Crying Emoji]

[Scumbag Alpha: Do you need me to help you delete the post?]

[Jiang Wanyi: They’re slandering me; the administrator will delete it.]

[Jiang Wanyi: But now the whole school thinks I’m married. Should I clarify?]

Shangguan Shi could see that the girl was pushing for the marriage to happen.

[Shangguan Shi: Wanwan, do you truly want to marry me?]

She had spoken to Jiang Qianyi about it, yet she still didn’t quite understand Wanyi’s reasoning. The girl was far too composed; she didn’t seem like someone truly in love.

[Jiang Wanyi: Of course I do. I dream of marrying you, Sister Shi.]

[Scumbag Alpha: In that case, ask your teacher for leave. We’ll go get our marriage certificate registered this afternoon.]

Wanyi’s breath hitched. She never expected to achieve her goal so suddenly. She replied quickly: [Okay! I don’t have classes this afternoon anyway.]

[Scumbag Alpha: I’ll pick you up at three.]

Once we’re married, we’ll have to live together. I’ll finally be facing the scumbag’s true ugliness. Wanyi’s heart raced. She took several deep breaths before typing: 

[Pick me up at my place. I live near the campus; I’ll send you the location at two.]

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