After Redeeming the Female Lead, I Faked My Death and Escaped - Chapter 17.2

Cheng Fei had come prepared. She held a special device connected to the hotel’s broadcasting system.

If Ying Xu didn’t comply, Cheng Fei could at any moment loudly accuse her of sexual harassment, ensuring the entire hotel would hear her voice.

In a Cheng family hotel, the Cheng family’s word was law. Even if Cheng Jun stepped in to protect Ying Xu, the scandal would be too ugly for Gu Qingzhu to ever believe her again.

Cheng Fei made no attempt to conceal her plan. Inside Ying Xu’s mind, the system even emitted a ticking alarm: [Please believe, Host! You will definitely not be in any life-threatening danger!]

Meaning that apart from life-threatening situations, nothing else counted as danger?

Ying Xu inwardly scoffed at the thought, but she was genuinely curious about Cheng Fei’s intentions.

In front of rooms 303 and 304, Cheng Fei paused.

Holding two keycards in her hand, she glanced between the two door numbers before finally reaching for the latter.

“Who cares… as long as the pay is good?”

Before the door closed, Ying Xu caught Cheng Fei’s careless murmur.

Ying Xu tried to open the door unsurprisingly, it was locked from the outside.

Who had instructed Cheng Fei to do this?

Gu Qingzhu?

The moment the name surfaced, Ying Xu instinctively dismissed it. For one, if Gu Qingzhu wanted, “Ying Xu” would always be at her mercy, ready to be tormented at any moment, she wouldn’t bother with such roundabout methods.

Secondly… Gu Qingzhu didn’t seem like someone who would tolerate children, especially not ones as unruly as Cheng Fei.

Aside from Gu Qingzhu, the only other suspect was Cheng Jun.

But Ying Xu had been invited here by her. If anything happened, the blame would fall squarely on her. Cheng Jun was far too shrewd to risk tarnishing her own reputation like this.

The air carried only the scent of pheromone suppressants, devoid of any aphrodisiac effects. It didn’t seem like the setup for some forced seduction plot.

So, what exactly did the person who told Cheng Fei to bring her here want her to do?

Ying Xu stood in the entryway, surveying her surroundings.

It was a two-bedroom apartment, the walls between rooms thin, the soundproofing abysmal. Outside the window was an open-air swimming pool, and in the distance, scattered sparks flickered fireworks, perhaps.

Only the third floor. Ying Xu opened the window, assessing the height.

If all else failed, she could always jump.

A broken leg was far preferable to encountering something far worse.

Perhaps the shadow cast by Gu Qingzhu’s actions had stretched too far, but in many situations, Ying Xu’s tolerance threshold had been forcibly expanded.

When she suddenly noticed the marks left by the Omega on her body, Ying Xu froze.

Before she could fully process it, footsteps sounded outside the door once more.

This time, it was the sharp click of high heels against the floor, crisp, like jade shattering on tile.

Confirming the sound was approaching room 304, Ying Xu instinctively opened the nearest door.

A few soft clicks, and the door swung open.

“My deepest apologies.”

The woman’s voice was thick with exhaustion, yet it still carried an unmistakable politeness and restraint.

Almost the moment the words trailed off, Ying Xu abruptly lifted her gaze.

It was Gu Qingzhu.

Why was Gu Qingzhu here? Hadn’t she left Star City?

But the voices outside didn’t pause for the confusion in Ying Xu’s mind.

“I understand that Xu Ying’s departure is unbearable for Madam Wei, for you, for anyone in the Xu family. But I, too, cannot accept this outcome.”

“But the timing is too delicate.”

“I just want to see her once, even if only for a few minutes. Even if just to lay down a bouquet.”

Gu Qingzhu’s voice was low, her tone laced with a pitifulness Ying Xu had never heard before, faint traces of tears trembling beneath her words.

Since crossing into this world, Ying Xu had always known she was merely a stand-in for Xu Ying. But Gu Qingzhu rarely reminded her of this fact to her face, so much so that Ying Xu had come to see Xu Ying as little more than a blank page, unworthy of attention.

Until now.

Hearing the woman, who had always been so proud and haughty in front of her, now speaking in such a pitiful and pleading tone, endlessly repeating the same tiresome words she usually detested.

All of it, just to beg Xu Ying’s family for a few minutes to see her deceased lover.

Ying Xu finally realized just how unshakable Xu Ying’s image was in Gu Qingzhu’s eyes.

Of course.

The corner of her lips curled into a mocking smile as she exhaled, overwhelmed by indescribable emotions.

No matter how wonderful a living person could be, how could they ever compare to the dead, the one Gu Qingzhu held in her heart, worshipped like a deity, and idealized day after day?

“Qingzhu.”

Beside her ear, the man sighed deeply. “Xu Yan has already lost a daughter. Xu Ying’s death hit her hard. You should understand.”

Gu Qingzhu’s lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with palpable disappointment.

Another futile attempt.

Before she could say more, the call ended abruptly.

Clutching her phone, Gu Qingzhu took a quiet breath. Though the room was warm as spring, she still felt the damp, cold air of Xing City flooding her lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Her schedule was packed. After leaving Qinghong last night, she had gone to a neighboring city for a commercial shoot. Throughout the day, aside from brief rests in the car, she hadn’t closed her eyes once.

Despite this, she still had to attend the evening event, subjecting herself to the scrutiny and judgment of countless eyes.

The exhaustion in Gu Qingzhu’s gaze deepened.

Steeling herself, she was about to head downstairs when an all-too-familiar ringtone suddenly pierced the silence.

It was a soothing English song, its opening notes unmistakable.

Because Xu Ying had loved it, Gu Qingzhu had once listened to it on repeat a hundred times in a single night.

Now, there was only one person in Gu Qingzhu’s life who still used this song as their ringtone.

“Ying Xu”

Perhaps due to her flustered movements, the person in the room accidentally answered the call.

A woman’s voice, brimming with energy and confusion, rang out abruptly.

“I’ve been looking for you forever,where are you? I can’t see you”

The Alpha didn’t respond.

Perhaps realizing she had been discovered, after a brief silence, the door opened.

Ying Xu hung up the call, set her phone to silent, and felt an uncharacteristic pang of awkwardness.

She looked up at Gu Qingzhu. “I”

Though only two days had passed, Gu Qingzhu looked even thinner than before, her exhaustion so palpable that Ying Xu instinctively tightened her grip on her phone.

Was it because of Xu Ying?

For once, Ying Xu couldn’t find the right words to smooth things over.

After a long pause, she finally sighed softly, lowered her eyes, and asked quietly, “Qingzhu. Do you, need to rest for a while?”

Gu Qingzhu stared at that familiar face and suddenly recalled the photo Sheng Changming had sent her last night.

Even if Ying Xu seemed unwelcome in the Xu family, it at least proved that she had once been very close to Xu Ying.

She had met Wei Xuyan before, and Wei Xuyan knew her.

Her lips parted slightly, about to speak, but what reached her ears was an unexpectedly gentle question.

Words trapped in her throat, Gu Qingzhu stared blankly at Ying Xu.

Throughout her packed schedule over the past two days, no one had asked if she was tired. Everyone only discussed work details with her, and even her assistant, who had been by her side the entire time, had grown increasingly cautious after her recent outburst.

Gu Qingzhu rarely hesitated, but in this moment, she faltered.

Her fingertips dug unconsciously into her palms. After several seconds of silence, she took a deep breath.

“Ying Xu.”

Ying Xu couldn’t discern Gu Qingzhu’s thoughts. Hearing the woman speak, she instinctively responded.

“I’m sorry about what happened last time.”

Those words made Ying Xu’s heart skip a beat.

With past experiences in mind, hearing such words again only made the suffocating feeling cling to her like a shadow.

She didn’t even dare to look at Gu Qingzhu, lowering her head as she murmured an acknowledgment.

But the malicious words she had braced for never came.

“Consider this as me owing you one,” Gu Qingzhu said softly. “You can ask for anything resources, shares, money.”

Finally, Ying Xu raised her face.

What met her was a pair of eyes brimming with complex emotions.

The system had assigned Ying Xu the task of making Gu Qingzhu fall in love with her.

But because of Gu Qingzhu’s actions, Ying Xu’s inner desires had long shifted from completing those tasks to wanting Gu Qingzhu to “regret.”

Not just regret for her cruelty.

But for everything she had done to the original host.

Ying Xu knew that such a flippant apology was far from enough.

Yet perhaps because she now inhabited the original host’s body and shared “Ying Xu’s” emotions, she suddenly felt her eyelids grow heavy, an unprecedented ache filling her heart until only one thought remained.

Maybe this was enough.

Until Gu Qingzhu spoke again.

“You heard, what I just said, right?”

“I know you’ve always been close to Xu Ying and have a good relationship with the Xu family.”

“Ying Xu,” Gu Qingzhu said, lowering her head for the first time in front of Ying Xu. “Could you contact the Xu family and tell them it was you who wanted to see Xu Ying? Just once?”

“Consider this as me owing you one.”

Ying Xu stood still, listening to Gu Qingzhu repeat the word “owe.” Her lashes trembled, tears rolling down, so cold they made her fingertips shake.

She had always known that Gu Qingzhu was cold and extreme by nature. For someone like her to humble herself and apologize, it could only mean genuine remorse.

But who had ever decreed that a proud person couldn’t cast aside their usual stubbornness and pride, bowing their head to what they once scorned the most.

Just to catch one last glimpse of the moonlight that had long since faded away.