As a Scummy Omega, I Ran Away with the Baby - Chapter 35

When Bei Nanyan realized she couldn’t get the upper hand here, she stopped clinging and simply turned to her phone out of boredom. Gu Yining was glad for the rare quiet and slipped into the inner room while the car was parked, also pulling out her phone.

But once it was open, she didn’t know what to do with it. The videos she normally liked suddenly couldn’t hold her attention, and when she tapped open WeChat, it was nothing but endless work-related chat groups.

What made things worse was the fact that she had an appearance scheduled in a few days—a red carpet for BaiXing’s anniversary gala, a job Bei Nanyan had accepted on her behalf. Such an event all but guaranteed running into Bai Qingqiu. Running into an ex was awkward enough, but now Bai Qingqiu was also someone’s mother.

Bei Nanyan really had too much time on her hands. If she wasn’t stirring up trouble, she was finding ways to make Gu Yining’s life difficult.

Yet Gu Yining didn’t actually have that many feelings toward Bei Nanyan. Well—perhaps a little. She had been jealous of her, especially back when she loved Bai Qingqiu the most. Why? They were both Alphas, both “roses.” Whether in personality, looks, or height, they weren’t all that different. So why did Bai Qingqiu love Bei Nanyan so deeply?

She hadn’t understood it back then, and she didn’t now. During those restless nights over the past five years, she often replayed the same thought: What if she had met Bai Qingqiu first? Would Bei Nanyan have been relegated to being her stand-in instead? It was a humiliating thought, one even she despised herself for having. Rationally, she knew it was impossible—Bai Qingqiu was nine years older. There was no way she’d have stayed single, waiting for Gu Yining to grow up and go to college.

Besides, Bei Nanyan and Bai Qingqiu were truly cut from the same cloth—too arrogant, too self-righteous.

Funny, wasn’t it? She was jealous of Bei Nanyan, and Bei Nanyan was jealous of her. And at the root of it all was always the same woman—Bai Qingqiu.

Before boarding, Gu Yining carried an iced Americano onto the plane, trying to wash down the cloying sweetness of the macarons Bei Nanyan had shoved at her earlier. The saccharine aftertaste lingered, turning bitter, like a lump of greasy meat stuck in her throat.

At check-in, Bei Nanyan had deliberately chosen the seat right in front of her. Even if they weren’t sitting that close, there were so few people boarding business class on a domestic flight that running into each other was unavoidable.

When Bei Nanyan saw her return with the iced coffee, she reached out to ruffle Gu Yining’s freshly cut short hair, her face twisting into exaggerated shock, as though she’d seen a ghost.

“Gu Yining, I was only joking earlier—you didn’t have to go this far and actually drink that stuff!”

“Maybe I just happen to like it,” Gu Yining shot her a glare as she sank into her seat. “Seriously, can we not bring her up again?”

“I thought you were the one who loved bringing her up. Or are you saying you don’t want to vent at all about suddenly having a daughter pop out of nowhere?” Bei Nanyan leaned against the divider between their seats, her tone teasing, full of schadenfreude.

It was maddening. And she couldn’t even rip into her outright. Gu Yining refused to acknowledge any resemblance between herself and this crude, empathy-lacking woman.

Honestly, Bai Qingqiu must have been blind to ever use her as this woman’s stand-in.

“What does that have to do with you?”

“Of course it does—I’m your ex’s ex.”

“Yes, you are.” Bei Nanyan was clearly trying to get under her skin. Gu Yining forced herself to keep her temper in check, replying with a deliberately flat tone. Her face betrayed nothing, though both of them knew perfectly well she was far from calm inside.

“You’re far tougher than me,” Bei Nanyan applauded with mock sincerity, though how much of it was genuine was anyone’s guess.

“One question—why are you always so obsessed with watching me and Bai Qingqiu’s mess? You’ve been like this for five years.” Gu Yining asked at last. She’d wanted to for a long time, but back when Bei Nanyan pretended to show goodwill, she hadn’t wanted to be so blunt.

Now that the atmosphere between them had already soured, why waste the moment?

Surprisingly, Bei Nanyan actually lowered her head and thought about it for a while before answering, her voice unusually sincere.

“Maybe because things between her and me ended so badly. You know what she’s like. Back then, she tormented me. I had to reply to every single message instantly. If she caught me chatting too happily with someone else, I had to explain and coax her. I was the one suffering, but somehow when the story spread, I was always the one in the wrong. After we broke up, all our mutual friends treated me like I was on death row, saying how I’d betrayed her, how I’d let her down.”

Her tone was casual, but the bitterness beneath it was unmistakable, sharp enough that Gu Yining felt it too.

She had never asked about what had happened between Bei Nanyan and Bai Qingqiu. Hearing it now was nothing but asking for trouble. This was her first time learning the details of their relationship.

So Bai Qingqiu used to be like that?

Gu Yining was a little taken aback. With her, Bai Qingqiu had never been so controlling—or rather, her control had been framed as “rules.”

Rules about what she couldn’t do, what she had to do, how exactly she should behave.

Back then, Gu Yining had called that love. Having someone tell you exactly what to do, how to get along with them—it had felt reassuring.

And she had swallowed it all like honey.

“I was the one who initiated the breakup. I never expected that after we split, she’d turn to you. Watching her get entangled with you was like proof that she couldn’t let me go. It felt incredibly satisfying, honestly.” Bei Nanyan shrugged.

“It’s not like proof—it is proof.” The scar was uncovered once again, but this time, Gu Yining felt less pain. Enough years had passed that she could face it more steadily.

The truth was simple: her so-called relationship with Bai Qingqiu had never really existed. What had existed was Bai Qingqiu and Bei Nanyan’s.

Bai Qingqiu had never truly treated her as Gu Yining, whether it was in small things—like that bowl of tangyuan she’d said she didn’t like, only for it to appear right in front of her anyway.

“So, what do you plan to do about that kid?” Bei Nanyan asked curiously.

“The way you phrase that makes it sound like she’s an object.”

“Not that different.”

“She’s not mine to raise. What can I do? If I even get the chance to see her, I’ll consider myself lucky.” Gu Yining’s patience was wearing thin. She had said all she needed to say—there was no point in dragging this out.

“She didn’t ask you to, Well, fair enough. She probably thinks neither of us is worth her time.”

“I’m me. You’re you. There is no us.” Even Gu Yining’s best self-restraint was wasted on this shameless woman. She emphasized each word.

“What’s the difference? You’re basically me.”

“I am not!”