Moonlight Allure - Chapter 13

Xu Wei stole a quick glance at Li Han, answering silently in her mind: Probably, yes.

Xiao Nianru denied it instinctively. “No.”

“Is that so?” Li Han’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This is likely the first time she’s gone through a rut without someone by her side. Are you worried about her? Nianru, you’ve already signed the papers. You don’t need to pour so much emotional energy into someone destined to be a stranger. Sometimes, you have to stop being so responsible.”

“I know, Sister Li.” Xiao Nianru set her phone down and massaged her temples. She simply felt that Jiang Xueyin might be facing the same existential dilemma she once did; that was why she cared a little more than she should.

She turned to look at the leaden sky outside. “It’s going to rain,” she murmured.

Xiao Nianru loathed thunderstorms. In her memories, they were always the harbingers of misfortune. She still remembered the day she arrived in this world: the thunder outside the delivery room clashing with the high-pitched screams of a woman in labor. The moment she saw the light again, she realized she had been reborn.

She used to have a very sweet younger sister, but because of a moment’s negligence, the girl went missing. On that day, while her sister played by the front door, Xiao Nianru had fallen asleep at her desk out of sheer exhaustion. She was jolted awake by a clap of thunder, but in that brief window of sleep, her sister had vanished. Her parents blamed her, hated her, and never let her forget it.

As she grew older, the neighbors praised her beauty, some saying she outshone any star in the industry. Her parents saw an opportunity. They spent a little money on a professional photoshoot and posted the results online; she became a minor sensation overnight. Soon, advertisers for children’s products came knocking.

Xiao Nianru studied in the frantic gaps between jobs. Only by relying on the knowledge from her previous life did she manage not to fall behind. Those days were bitter; she was a child laborer in all but name, working herself to the bone without a penny to her name. Even wanting a specific meal would earn her a lecture on “extravagance.”

Worse, her parents were irresponsible, often dumping her with film crews while they went off to handle their own affairs. In this world, Xiao Nianru had seen too many people with hidden, ugly agendas.

She remembered when she was twelve. She saw an Alpha with a 50% Affection Rating looking at her with undisguised lust. She knew she had to run. In her experience, any rating below 60% was impure, likely tainted by ulterior motives.

But she was only twelve; she couldn’t outrun a grown cameraman.

A thunderstorm was raging. She sprinted toward the parking lot, but in her panic, she tripped. Agonizing pain flared from her knee. The man eventually fled in fear, but she was left soaked in the rain for hours before a kind stranger took her to the hospital. Her parents’ first reaction wasn’t relief, but anger at the medical costs and her “clumsiness.” When she told them the truth, they saw it as a chance to extort the man, completely ignoring her trauma. They even told her to “reflect” on what she did to invite such trouble.

Their Affection Rating was a mere 40%—hardly higher than a stranger’s. They only loved her because she was a “cash cow.” In that moment, Xiao Nianru’s heart turned to ice. she realized with absolute clarity: These are not my parents. This world does not belong to me.

“Xiao Zhang, drive a bit faster. It’s starting to pour,” Li Han told the driver.

Halfway through the trip, the thunder began. Xiao Nianru covered her ears and closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. Li Han watched her with concern; she knew about Nianru’s phobia and the reasons behind it. She patted her shoulder gently. “It’s okay, it’s all in the past.”

Once they arrived, Li Han personally escorted her into the apartment and poured her a glass of water. The thunder had ceased, but the rain hammered against the glass in a relentless deluge.

“Are you feeling better?”

Xiao Nianru took a sip of water and nodded. “Much better.”

“If I remember correctly, your heat should be coming up in a few days. What do you plan to do?” Li Han sat across from her. “Without the divorce certificate, you can’t have the permanent Mark-Removal surgery. A marked Omega going through heat without their Alpha, it’s agonizing. Are you going to go to Jiang Xueyin?”

Xiao Nianru lowered her lashes, her thumb tracing the rim of the warm glass. “No. We’re divorced.”

“But your concern for her doesn’t look like an ex-wife’s concern,” Li Han noted, her eyes narrowing. “Since you aren’t officially divorced yet, why not just use her to get through the heat?”

Xiao Nianru looked up with a wry smile. “Sister Li, aren’t you the one who hates seeing us together?”

“I’d rather see you with her than see you in pain,” Li Han sighed, glancing at Nianru’s nape. She wasn’t an Omega, but she knew from others how harrowing it was for a marked Omega to be alone.

Xiao Nianru looked at the 70% Affection Rating above Li Han’s head. “I’ll be fine, Sister Li. Besides, the Jiang family head only looks easy to talk to. He wouldn’t allow me to accompany her anyway.”

Once Li Han left, the apartment grew deathly quiet. Xiao Nianru pressed a warm palm against her feverish scent gland. It’s coming.

She uncorked a bottle of red wine and drank. Before this world, she never touched alcohol, but she discovered it could numb the nerves. She curled up on the sofa, barefoot, and closed her eyes, looking as fragile as a wilting rose. The real pain in her stomach from the alcohol acted as a “distraction” from the internal ache of her soul. She hoped that when she woke up, the sun would be out and the heat would have passed.

Inside the safe house, Jiang Xueyin was drifting in and out of a pained, drug-induced sleep. A sudden crack of thunder jolted her awake. In the scumbag’s memories, Xiao Nianru was terrified of thunder. The original host had even used a storm as an opportunity to “worm her way in” during her pursuit of Nianru.

Seeing the lightning strike through the clouds, Jiang Xueyin’s heart hammered. She grabbed her phone, turned it on, and called Xiao Nianru. The ringing went on for so long she thought it would go unanswered. Then, the click of a connection.

“Hello,” a slightly raspy voice came through the speaker.

Jiang Xueyin faltered. “What’s wrong?”

There was a silence on the other end. Xiao Nianru didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “Is something the matter?”

“Not really, I just heard the thunder outside and was worried you’d be scared. I wanted to call you.” Jiang Xueyin cradled the phone with both hands, her voice soft and urgent. “Are you really okay? Your voice sounds different.”

Xiao Nianru lay on her sofa, her cheeks flushed with an unnatural fever. The room was saturated with the scent of lilies and the mellow aroma of wine. She took a ragged breath, her voice forced into a calm tone. “I’m fine. And you? Are you alright?”

She had been woken by the ringing. When she saw the name on the screen, a single, primal thought had consumed her: Go to her. Hear her voice. Feel her pheromones.

Only by an immense effort of will had she suppressed the biological urge to surrender.