After Redeeming the Female Lead, I Faked My Death and Escaped - Chapter 14

The winter night was silent.

Only the occasional low chirp of birds remained.

At some point, Gu Qingzhu noticed the struggling strength of the Alpha before her weakening.

By the end, there was almost no resistance left.

She watched as the woman slowly closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly.

And in that moment, the butterfly stilled.

An Alpha who had lost all ability to resist.

A woman stripped of all capacity to act.

A being who could be killed by her at any moment.

Overlapping with this scene were the faded frames of memory, long since washed out.

“Starting today, Xu Ying is your new friend. Why don’t you say hello to her?”

Suddenly, Gu Qingzhu found her vision blurring, so much so that she could barely see her own hands.

The next second, the grip on the binding rope finally loosened.

A near-deadly despair washed over her entire body as Gu Qingzhu murmured, “I just have one question.”

“You and Sheng”

“I’m sorry.”

An abrupt response cut her off at that moment.

Gu Qingzhu looked down. In Ying Xu’s beautiful eyes, there was a lake reflecting the color of the sky.

She hated that clarity. Countless nights, she had wished for leaden gray to drown that sea.

A single tear, born of reflex, slid down.

Under the light, the tear appeared almost transparent.

As Ying Xu spoke, Gu Qingzhu finally heard her clearly.

I’m sorry.

She was apologizing to someone who had nearly killed her.

Gu Qingzhu released her grip.

The fabric fell onto Ying Xu’s black coat like an accidental smudge of snow.

Time itself seemed to slow in that moment.

An eternity later, Gu Qingzhu finally heard the woman in the driver’s seat speak again.

“We’re just friends.”

“I don’t know what you saw, Qingzhu, but the flowers were ordered by Miss Cheng. Miss Sheng misunderstood. She didn’t do anything wrong, and I don’t want you to take it out on her.”

“And you?” Gu Qingzhu suddenly countered. “If she did nothing wrong, then you did?”

Silence.

Snow began to fall.

“If I made you feel this way, then it’s my fault.”

In the aftermath of near-death, fear left Ying Xu trembling uncontrollably.

Her fingers shook as they gripped the steering wheel, yet she still steadied her breathing, forcing her voice into its usual calm as she told Gu Qingzhu,

“Qingzhu.”

“I won’t blame you.”

Madwoman.

Gu Qingzhu turned her gaze to the window, the endless white stinging her eyes, sending a tremor through her heart.

Truly, an absolute. Madwoman.

As the car moved, no one noticed the sudden flash of a camera.

The snowy night returned to silence.

Half an hour later, the car arrived at the estate.

Without a word, Gu Qingzhu went upstairs, the door slamming shut behind her, leaving Ying Xu alone at the foot of the spiral staircase.

In that half-hour, the marks on Ying Xu’s neck had grown even more horrifying.

The servants, no longer fawning as usual, gasped in alarm. “Xu Miss Ying Xu, I’ll call a doctor right away ”

Ying Xu didn’t refuse.

She no longer had the strength to refuse.

The entire drive had been spent desperately keeping herself composed to avoid worse consequences.

But now, Ying Xu suddenly felt it was all meaningless.

Why not?

Wasn’t this exactly what Gu Qingzhu wanted?

For Ying Xu to die in a car crash just like the Xu Ying she longed for.

Even Gu Qingzhu herself could leave with Xu Ying.

However, Gu Qingzhu would probably rather die than wish to die alongside Xu Ying.

Suppressed resentment and fury surged in that moment, making Xu Ying’s breath quicken as she pressed her fingers harder against her temples.

Her fingertips nearly dug into her flesh, and just as they threatened to sink deeper.

“Xu Ying?”

A woman’s voice rang out, and the next second, something cold pressed against Xu Ying’s neck, sending a shiver through her body.

“Dr. Li won’t be able to make it for a while,” the woman said gently. “She asked me to use ice to soothe you first, Is it too cold?”

Xu Ying stiffly shook her head.

The woman then sat down beside her.

Her neck was damp, icy cold, yet the moisture seemed to carry the lingering warmth of the woman’s fingertips, gradually dissolving Xu Ying’s agitation.

Gu Qingzhu was a madwoman.

But Xu Ying was not.

After a long pause, she finally heard herself say, “Thank you.”

In front of her, the woman offered a timid smile.

When the doctor arrived, she was shocked by Xu Ying’s injuries but asked no questions, remaining even more silent than Xu Ying herself.

After the Alpha went upstairs, it wasn’t long before a door abruptly opened.

The long coat nearly dragged along the floor, extinguishing the faint light.

Gu Qingzhu watched the people in the empty living room bending over to clean up.

Between her fingers was a tube of ointment, emitting a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Gu Qingzhu stared at the pale skin.

Only at this moment did she fully realize.

She had almost killed Xu Ying.

With these very hands.

Human resilience far exceeds one’s imagination.

The next day, Xu Ying opened her eyes the second the alarm rang.

Instinctively, she touched her neck, but her fingertips only brushed against the original owner’s necklace.

Xu Ying stared at the cross for several seconds but ultimately didn’t remove it.

After a night had passed, the system finally dared to speak: 【Host, you… the female lead did this】

【Are you going to say she had a reason for doing this?】

What kind of reason… could justify killing someone?

The piercing question left the system silent.

Xu Ying turned on her phone’s front camera.

Despite having treated the injury the night before, the bruise on her neck remained a deep, unsettling purple.

Xu Ying finally understood how the marks on Gu Qingzhu’s neck had come to be.

Someone who was cruel to themselves would never show mercy to others. And as luck would have it, Xu Ying had become that “other.”

She pulled a high-necked sweater from the wardrobe, barely covering the marks.

But Xu Ying didn’t believe it would hide them for long.

She didn’t mind exposing her wounds, but she loathed revealing her true injuries willingly.

As she descended the stairs, she met the gazes of those around her with a warm, effortless smile.

Not wanting to see Gu Qingzhu, Xu Ying left in a hurry, missing the ointment on the coffee table.

The system didn’t bother to remind her at such an inopportune moment.

Once fully immersed in work, busyness filled every inch of her being, leaving no room for fear.

Only as the day neared its end, under the dim glow of dusk, did Xu Ying finally exhale deeply and set the script aside.

“Xu Ying!”

A cheerful voice rang in her ears. Sheng Qiuyu held two cups of coffee, pressing them against her cheeks, looking utterly adorable. “Hot or iced, which one do you want?”

Sheng Qiuyu’s temper flared quickly but faded just as fast.

Without actually seeing Ying Xu and Gu Qingzhu together, she could still comfort herself, thinking Ying Xu was just busy with other things.

So, for the entire day, just like before, she followed Ying Xu with the same warmth and clinginess, trailing behind like a little lamb.

After what happened last night, Ying Xu had to admit that compared to suffocating silence, she much preferred lively noise.

“I’m fine with anything,” she replied, noticing Sheng Qiuyu didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, so she quickly added, “What would Miss Sheng like to drink?”

Sheng Qiuyu shook the warm cup slightly.

But Ying Xu knew she always preferred her drinks with ice. Smiling faintly, she took the warm cup instead.

“Thank you.” After a pause, Ying Xu pressed the cup against Sheng Qiuyu’s other cheek. “Cold? Next time, just hand it to me directly.”

The gesture was natural, devoid of any ambiguity.

The woman’s gaze was gentle, filled with concern, and Sheng Qiuyu froze in place for a moment.

With difficulty, Sheng Qiuyu shook her head and sat down beside Ying Xu.

“So” Sheng Qiuyu started, then faltered, unsure how to begin the conversation.

Suddenly, she felt afraid, was being too enthusiastic going to scare Ying Xu?

But before this, she hadn’t exactly held back in her affectionate gestures toward Ying Xu.

Just as Sheng Qiuyu was agonizing over this, Ying Xu seemed to sense it and said softly, “It’s fine if you can’t think of anything to say. Just sitting here like this is nice, isn’t it?”

The words instantly put Sheng Qiuyu at ease.

She nodded, a smile blooming on her face, but just as she was about to respond, a faint meow suddenly sounded nearby.

“Meow”

Not far away, a white cat was approaching them. Sheng Qiuyu’s eyes lit up instantly. “Kitty!”

She immediately crouched down to play with the cat, and the white feline obediently circled her feet, its tail swaying playfully.

“But I didn’t bring any treats.” Sheng Qiuyu thought for a moment, about to call her assistant, when the cat suddenly tucked its tail and started walking back the way it came.

Sheng Qiuyu:

“How could you?!”

Her hair practically stood on end as she prepared to teach the cat a lesson with some snacks, but a soft chuckle sounded beside her.

Sheng Qiuyu paused and turned to see Ying Xu holding out a biscuit.

“From the crew,” Ying Xu said uncertainly. “A little bit should be fine, right?”

Sheng Qiuyu wasn’t sure, but the cat didn’t seem to mind.

It turned back, and Ying Xu crouched down to feed it.

Her necklace swayed with the movement, and her collar loosened slightly, slipping down.

Standing beside Ying Xu, Sheng Qiuyu looked down and saw the faint scars on the woman’s neck, stark and unsettling.

“Here”

Her voice carried disbelief. Ying Xu paused. “Hmm?”

The next second, fingers brushed against her jawline, trailing downward, the cold touch sending shivers across Ying Xu’s skin.

The scars were now exposed to the air. After a brief silence, Sheng Qiuyu abruptly unwrapped her own scarf, her movements so hurried that her hair became slightly disheveled.

The sudden motion startled the cat, which quickly darted away and hid behind a tree.

But Sheng Qiuyu didn’t spare it another glance, instead wrapping the scarf tightly around Ying Xu’s neck.

The faint scent of peaches lingered at the tip of her nose, this was Sheng Qiuyu’s signature fragrance.

“Did Gu Qingzhu do this?”

Ying Xu stood up and shook her head: “It was just an accidental bump.”

The lie was painfully obvious, and Ying Xu knew it.

Sheng Qiuyu clearly knew it too.

But the more she understood, the more it pained her.

In just a few seconds, right before Ying Xu’s eyes, Sheng Qiuyu’s eyes suddenly reddened. Tears welled up, and her voice trembled with sobs: “How could she do this to you?”

Large teardrops fell like shattered pearls.

For a moment, Ying Xu’s voice carried a hint of surprise: “Why are you crying?”

Wasn’t she the one who got hurt? Even if Sheng Qiuyu had an abundance of empathy, surely she wouldn’t actually cry over her?

Was this an act?

Ying Xu was genuinely puzzled.

Sheng Qiuyu’s gaze darted between the scarf and Ying Xu’s face: “It must have hurt so much.”

Ying Xu wanted to shake her head, but the Omega’s face was filled with such distress.

For a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to deny it.

“It did hurt a little.”

After a brief silence, Ying Xu admitted with rare honesty.

Sheng Qiuyu took a deep breath, and her tears fell even faster.

Seeing that she seemed about to start sobbing louder, Ying Xu sighed softly and preemptively comforted her: “But compared to the pain of a nearly healed wound, Miss Sheng’s tears make me feel even sadder.”