My Soft, Delicate Fiancée Turned Out to Be an Alpha - Chapter 5

Feeling somewhat embarrassed by Jiang Rou’s teasing, Shen Wanli straightened her expression. “You don’t know how these alphas compare.” Jiang Rou tilted her head. “But you’re an alpha too.”

“So you need to be careful around me as well,” Shen Wanli said.

Jiang Rou let out a sudden chuckle. Catching sight of Shen Wanli’s dangerous expression, she quickly wiped the smile from her face, though her shoulders still trembled with suppressed laughter. “Don’t worry, Sister. It must have been what your classmate said earlier.”

Shen Wanli hadn’t expected Jiang Rou to be so observant, and she nodded.

Shen Wanli rubbed her throbbing head. The discomfort of a hangover permeated her body, and the red blood-shot veins in her eyes laid her exhaustion bare.

Looking up at the chandelier in the living room and recalling the dream she had last night, Shen Wanli touched her chest.

Even if she had been unwilling to admit it back then, the version of her in the dream had still been filled with a strong sense of possessiveness over Jiang Rou.

And what about Jiang Rou? Recalling the events of last night, Shen Wanli faced her own avoidance for the very first time.

Back then, she had thought that speaking out directly would be a form of hurt for both of them, without realizing that years of avoidance were the real hurt.

Fortunately, whenever problems arose, Shen Wanli always tried her best to solve them.

Just as she was about to call Jiang Rou for a proper talk, she received a call from Jiang’s mother. Shen Wanli paused; the two of them rarely spoke on the phone. Could something have happened to Jiang Rou? Shen Wanli hurriedly answered the call.

“Well, Wanli, Xiaorou’s state has been a bit poor ever since she came back yesterday. Did the two of you have a falling out?” Jiang’s mother asked somewhat awkwardly. After all, it wasn’t really appropriate for an elder to pry into the affairs of juniors, but having a rough understanding of Jiang Rou’s state over the past two years made her worry.

“Alright, I’ll go check on her.”

At this point, Shen Wanli couldn’t care less about whether things were awkward between them. After all, she had promised to take good care of Jiang Rou’s injured foot and ultimately hadn’t managed to do so.

Shen Wanli hurried over to the Jiang household, exchanged a brief conversation with Jiang’s mother, and then walked over to Jiang Rou’s bedroom.

Pushing open the door, a rich fragrance of tuberoses rushed toward her. The room was pitch black, not even the curtains were drawn open, making the entire space look exceptionally gloomy and reflecting the terrible state of its owner’s mind.

Shen Wanli knew that Jiang Rou had always been afraid of the dark. Especially in a room devoid of even a sliver of light, this naturally made Shen Wanli worry even more about Jiang Rou’s condition.

“Xiaorou, why aren’t you turning on the lights?” Shen Wanli asked softly.

There was no movement in the room for a long time, so long that the silence almost made Shen Wanli think Jiang Rou wasn’t even inside, before Jiang Rou finally spoke up. “Why did you come?”

Jiang Rou’s voice lacked any temperature, sounding completely lifeless.

Shen Wanli’s heart trembled. Tracing the sound to locate Jiang Rou, she walked over and discovered that Jiang Rou wasn’t lying on the bed, but sitting by the window.

Shen Wanli picked up a piece of clothing and draped it over Jiang Rou’s shoulders. “The floor is cold. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

Jiang Rou let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Why are you always like this? I treated you like that yesterday, you’re the victim, so why are you coming over to comfort me? Why do you always have to be so gentle? Then why didn’t you just keep being like that back then?”

Jiang Rou’s accusation, carried on the edge of a sob, made Shen Wanli’s heart feel as though it were being tightly gripped, filled with pain and a suffocating sensation. Shen Wanli took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have failed to talk things through with you back then. I thought that was a decent way to resolve it, but I didn’t realize it would still end up hurting you.”

Shen Wanli remembered the striking words on the diagnosis sheet she had glimpsed on the table in Jiang’s mother’s study moments ago: “Pheromone Disorder.” The feeling in her heart at that moment had been heavy.

As a class monitor, Shen Wanli had always ranked first in academics, and naturally, she performed very well in physiology classes.

One of the causes of pheromone disorder is an intense aversion to one’s own pheromones.

The scent of tuberoses wasn’t a particularly unpleasant pheromone; the only reason Shen Wanli could think of was that Jiang Rou despised the fact that she had turned into an alpha.

Jiang Rou seemed surprised that Shen Wanli was apologizing for something that happened years ago, but then, as if realizing something, she asked, “You saw the medical record, didn’t you? You don’t need to feel sorry about this. This has nothing to do with you.”

Listening to Jiang Rou’s stubborn words, Shen Wanli felt an even more complex mix of emotions in her chest. “I’m not doing this because of that. I just feel that I shouldn’t have acted that way back then.”

Hearing those words, Jiang Rou smiled with a hint of irony. “One way before differentiation, another way after differentiation. Is being an alpha really that important?”

“I’m sorry,” Shen Wanli said with difficulty.

The air fell quiet again for a moment before Jiang Rou spoke. “I forgive you. However, this illness I have now might be related to your rejection back then, so I might need your pheromone soothing for a while. I.”

Before Jiang Rou could finish, Shen Wanli agreed outright. “Alright, come live at my place.”

Jiang Rou turning into this state was largely her responsibility; she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“Then. Can we still be sisters?” Jiang Rou’s voice carried a hint of careful hesitation, making Shen Wanli’s heart ache all the more.

“Of course. As long as you’re willing, you will always be my younger sister.”

Hearing Jiang Rou’s agreement, Shen Wanli finally let out a sigh of relief.

When Jiang Rou was carried down the stairs by Shen Wanli, Jiang’s mother looked startled. “This.”

“Auntie, let Xiaorou come stay at my place for a while because of this illness.”

On their drive back home, Shen Wanli’s phone rang. Glancing down, she saw it was Mother Shen, so she handed the phone to Jiang Rou to answer.

“Wanli, dear, Han’s daughter told me that you have a partner. What’s that about?”

Hearing Mother Shen’s question, Shen Wanli recalled Jiang Rou’s previous antics at the restaurant, feeling a sudden wave of a headache as she looked over at Jiang Rou.

Since Jiang Rou had agreed to be good sisters with Shen Wanli, she couldn’t just leave it unexplained now. She had no choice but to say, “Auntie Shen, I was just teasing Sister Hanqing back then. I didn’t expect her to actually believe it. I’m so sorry.”

Hearing Jiang Rou’s voice, Mother Shen paused for a moment before reacting. “Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. Well, Wanli, your Uncle Han still thinks very highly of you and wants to invite you out for a meeting alone.”

Hearing Mother Shen’s words, Shen Wanli recognized it as her mother’s probing. She also remembered her previous claim about wanting to find an omega, knowing that if she didn’t find someone soon, her mother would start suspecting her and Jiang Rou.

“Alright, Mom, just handle it however you see fit.”

Shen Wanli agreed readily.

Beside her, hearing Shen Wanli’s words, Jiang Rou’s gaze deepened, as if it could suck things into a vortex, though she ultimately said nothing.

Back home, Jiang Rou leaned against the couch, her tone somewhat listless. “Sister, I’m still feeling a bit unwell. Can you use your pheromones to soothe me?”

Since she had already promised Jiang Rou, how could Shen Wanli break her word?

Jiang Rou rested her head directly on Shen Wanli’s shoulder, breathing in the scent of coconut milk.