Moonlight Allure - Chapter 12

That evening, when Jiang Tingshuo and Song Zhia returned home, they learned from Uncle Wang that Jiang Xueyin had only taken seven doses of ordinary suppressants with her.

As a Beta, Uncle Wang didn’t understand the nuances of types or dosages. But Jiang Tingshuo knew all too well: without an Omega present, ordinary suppressants were useless during a rut. She needed high-potency, medical-grade formulas.

“How can that child be so unreliable? She doesn’t even know what suppressants she needs,” Jiang Tingshuo grumbled, standing up immediately. “I’ll deliver the high-potency ones to Xiao Xue myself.”

However, at the front gates, he ran straight into Xiao Nianru.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Tingshuo’s brow furrowed. Remembering how fiercely Jiang Xueyin had defended this woman, he was certain his daughter was still hopelessly in love. He feared that if Xiao Nianru so much as beckoned, Jiang Xueyin would come running like a loyal pup. His gaze turned wary.

Xiao Nianru could see his Affection Rating for her: a mere 5%. It was low, but at least it wasn’t negative. Unfazed, she calmly handed him a small vial of Pheromone Extraction. “Give her this. It will make her feel better.”

“You aren’t going to see her?” Jiang Tingshuo accepted the vial, his gaze sharpening.

“We are divorced. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to accompany her through a rut,” Xiao Nianru said with a faint, polite smile. “Rest assured, Mr. Jiang. As soon as the papers are finalized, I will undergo a permanent Mark-Removal surgery. I won’t trouble her again.”

“That would be for the best,” Jiang Tingshuo replied. He gripped the vial and hurried to his car.

Drip. Drop.

A water glass lay shattered on the table, liquid trailing off the edge and onto the floor. Chairs were overturned, and the bathroom door stood wide open. Jiang Xueyin sat on the damp tiles, her forehead pressed against the cold porcelain, yet the feverish roar in her blood refused to quiet.

“Xiao Nianru,” she whispered the name like a prayer. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her.

It wasn’t the Xiao Nianru from the scumbag’s eyes, but the woman from her own past life wearing a crisp white shirt, a grey pleated skirt, her long hair smelling of fresh shampoo. In the cool, clinical light of her memory, Nianru was ethereal. A beam of white moonlight illuminating Jiang Xueyin’s dark, decaying soul.

Her remaining shreds of sanity had forced her to turn off her phone. She was determined not to be a burden, just as she had been back in school. But the agony was immense; the more she resisted, the sharper the pain became.

In her daze, she heard the front door open. Intense anxiety coiled around her heart like thorns. Who is it? No one should have access to this safe house.

She pushed herself up by the wall, but her vision went black as she stood. Her body swayed, but she was caught by Jiang Tingshuo before she could fall.

“Why aren’t you resting in bed?” Her father’s brow was knit into a deep scowl. He helped her to the bed and opened the vial, letting her inhale the extraction.

As the delicate scent of lily of the valley filled her lungs, Jiang Xueyin’s vision cleared. The hollow void in her chest was temporarily filled by the phantom presence of those pheromones.

“Dad? Why are you here?” she asked blankly.

Jiang Tingshuo sighed, tucking the blanket around her. “You took the wrong suppressants. I brought the right ones. I ran into Xiao Nianru on the way; she gave me this extraction.”

Jiang Xueyin buried her face in the quilt. “Thank you, Dad. And thank her for me.”

“Call us if you need anything. I’ll head back now.”

“Okay.” She stayed huddled under the covers, letting her tears soak into the sheets. The kinder Xiao Nianru was to her, the more she loathed the original host and the more she hated everyone who had ever hurt Niannian.

Only after the door clicked shut did she emerge. She picked up the vial and inhaled again. The sensation of relief and stimulation was intoxicating, her hatred briefly drowned out by a surge of desire. It was an addiction. The scent was light and elegant, yet it made her heart throb violently.

It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. The scent of orange and lilies intertwined in the dark, sinking deeper into the abyss.

Xiao Nianru had taken a temporary leave from the film set to deliver the extraction. Jiang Xueyin had asked her to prepare it months ago, claiming she needed it to “tide her over” during Nianru’s business trips. Busy with work, Nianru had simply complied.

When she returned to the set, Li Han and Xu Wei were waiting for her, their eyes reflecting a strange suspicion.

“Where did you go?” Li Han asked. Having worked with Nianru for years, she knew her better than anyone. Nianru was gentle to everyone, but truly cared for very few. Only Jiang Xueyin could make her drop everything and leave a set.

“Her rut started. I dropped off some pheromone extraction,” Xiao Nianru said tonelessly.

Perhaps it was because Jiang Xueyin’s “soul” had changed, or the 84% rating, or the possibility they were from the same world, whatever the reason, she had acted on instinct.

“I see. Next time, you can just tell me,” Li Han said.

By the third day of the rut, the extraction was gone. Jiang Xueyin stared piteously at the empty vial, sniffing desperately until all she could smell was her own scent of oranges.

She curled up in the corner, knees to her chest, staring at her phone across the room. If she just turned it on and called, she could hear her voice. Even just a word would be enough.

Two voices battled in her head:

• “Call her! She won’t mind!”

• “You’re getting divorced. The best ex-lover is one who vanishes.”

• “You aren’t the scumbag. What she did has nothing to do with you!”

• “But in her eyes, you are both Jiang Xueyin.”

Clutching her head against the throbbing pain, she grabbed the phone and lay on the bed. She summoned her courage and dialed Xiao Nianru on WeChat.

She didn’t pick up.

A searing sting spread through her heart. Suppressing her distress, she sent two messages:

[I’m sorry. I must be disturbing you. I was in so much pain I forgot myself for a moment. My apologies.]

[Thank you for the extraction.]

She turned the phone off immediately.

At that moment, Xiao Nianru was filming. Xu Wei heard the vibration and saw the missed call from Jiang Xueyin. After a brief hesitation, she tucked the phone back into the bag, pretending she had never seen it.

It wasn’t until the shoot ended that Nianru finally saw the messages. She thought for a moment and tried to call back, but the line was dead.

Li Han glanced back from the driver’s seat, noticing the flash of worry on Nianru’s face. She frowned. “Who were you trying to call? Not Jiang Xueyin, I hope?”