One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 1

Buzz—

Buzz—

The faint glow of the phone screen persisted, illuminating a face deep in sleep within the pitch-black room.

The vibrations traveled through the sofa, but the young Alpha lying there remained oblivious. A drumstick, precariously balanced in her hand, wobbled.

Clatter, tap-tap.

Finally, the drumstick fell, letting out a series of crisp, rhythmic bounces.

The Alpha opened her eyes at the sound, staring blankly at the dim light before her. After a long moment, she unfolded her curled limbs and reached out to answer the phone.

“Hello…”

Before the raspy voice could even settle, a voice much brighter and sharper than the sound of the drumstick broke through. “LianLian, why did you take so long to pick up? Haven’t you got out of bed yet?”

The caller ID on the screen read “A-Nan.”

This was A-Nan’s usual tone, and the Alpha was used to it. She slowly sat up from the sofa, let out a low “mm” from her throat, and said, “I’m up.”

Her voice remained hoarse.

A-Nan caught it immediately. “Ah, did you end up drinking last night? We clearly agreed not to drink because today is your graduation ceremony. Sigh, well, your rental is close to the school anyway. If you get up and get ready now, you’ll make it in time. Don’t be late!”

The Alpha had already stood up, fumbling in the dark room to turn on the light. In the sudden, blinding white glare, she squeezed her eyes shut and hummed in response again.

It was still a listless “mm.”

Seeing that she couldn’t find any enthusiasm, A-Nan stopped beating around the bush. “Oh, come on, it’s just a graduation ceremony! Don’t be nervous. After it’s over, Siyu and I will come to give you flowers and take out our outstanding graduate out for a good meal. Congratulations on graduating!”

The Alpha, who was trudging toward the bathroom, suddenly froze. Her voice carried a hint of urgency. “Don’t come.”

A-Nan didn’t catch the tone and continued excitedly, “Don’t be shy! When Siyu and I graduated, you came to us. We…”

“Don’t come.”

She interrupted A-Nan, her knuckles involuntarily curling. “I… have things to do.”

A-Nan had an epiphany, thinking of the graduation confession rumors that had long circulated around the school. “Ah, is LianLian meeting someone? I get it, I get it. Good luck! I’ll be waiting for the good news.”

At this point, it was hard not to see the misunderstanding, but the Alpha hesitated for a moment and chose not to explain. “Mm.”

After listening to a few more words of encouragement from A-Nan, the call ended. She glanced at the screen.

June 22^nd Monday 7:03 AM

Setting the phone aside, she turned on the faucet and splashed a handful of cold water onto her face.

It wasn’t A-Nan’s fault for calling so early. She was the one who said she would get up at 6:30 AM to give herself some buffer time.

But after returning home last night, she regretted it.

So, she stayed up most of the night, getting dead drunk in the hope that when she opened her eyes, today would already be over.

Raising her head, she saw a pale face in the mirror. Beneath her dark eyes were unmistakable dark circles.

It was like a blunt reminder: a reminder that she was nothing more than a low-energy, D-grade Alpha.

She lowered her eyes, feeling a rhythmic throb of pain in her head.

Maybe she should just act like nothing happened and go back to sleep.

She picked up her phone again. Aside from a few scattered messages congratulating her on graduation, there was only the schedule sent out in the class group chat last night. Among them was a picture: the seating chart for the graduates participating in the ceremony.

She clicked on the image. Her name wasn’t there.

Scrolling further up to an even earlier message, the participation survey for the graduation ceremony clearly stated—

Xiao Shuangyu: Not attending

Stepping out of the flower shop with a pre-ordered bouquet of tulips, she got into a taxi waiting outside. The scenery outside the window began to blur by.

At eight o’clock, the car radio began broadcasting the morning news. The rolling check-ins in the class group chat finally quieted down. The graduation ceremony had begun.

Xiao Shuangyu closed her eyes. Decades of minutes seemed to pass before the car stopped halfway up a mountain. She opened the door and stepped into the sultry, heavy air that felt like it was waiting for the rain to fall.

Not far away, the large characters for “Fu’an Garden Cemetery” on the marble pillars were faint in the gloomy weather. But just by standing there, the light bouquet of tulips in her hand began to feel heavy.

How loathsome.

Her feet felt like they were stuck to the ground. Her head was heavy, and her vision swayed.

The rows of neat tombstones were irritatingly orderly. The damp, stifling air made it hard to breathe, and the scent of the tulips became suffocating.

She kept her head down, walking with dragging steps, turning here and there without needing to think, like a dark ghost drifting through the graveyard.

When two figures appeared directly ahead, she came to a halt. Numbly, she placed the tulips at the corner of the grave.

Then, keeping her head low, she quietly retreated behind the two people.

The two pairs of eyes never rested on her for a second, but after her arrival, the sound of sobbing grew louder.

“Mingyi… my Mingyi… why take my best child away? I’ll never find my good child again…”

Loathsome.

“Stop crying. No matter how much you cry, Mingyi isn’t coming back. What does this look like? Aren’t you afraid of people laughing at you…”

Loathsome.

The wind rustled. The voices of the mothers continued. Xiao Shuangyu’s downcast eyes lifted slightly, peering between the two people in front of her at the vibrant photo on the tombstone.

It was a face seventy percent like her own, yet the temperament was opposite. Even the black-and-white tones couldn’t diminish the radiance of the woman in the photo; her foxlike eyes were curved beautifully.

No one would have expected that smile to be frozen forever on this day last year.

She was Xiao Mingyi.

A genius, an ultra-high-level Alpha who had differentiated into S-grade, an incomparably excellent monster, the shining child of “other people’s families,” and the treasure of her mothers.

She was also the sister Xiao Shuangyu hated most.

From the moment she was born, she had lived in comparison to Xiao Mingyi.

Comparing differentiation grades, comparing achievements, comparing charm—comparing everything she had and everything she lacked.

She was loathsome in life, and loathsome in death.

But the deceased Xiao Mingyi had left a vacancy by that person’s side.

Her brain, hazy from sleep deprivation and the hangover, felt a bit dazed. She blinked her dry, stinging eyes. Her gaze slid from the much larger bouquet of tulips in front of the grave and dropped back down.

Then, she quietly, surreptitiously looked toward the direction she had come from.

Will she come?

Xiao Mingyi, who was only three years older than her but had moved at a rocket-like pace that left others in the dust, had provided few opportunities for them to meet. It wasn’t until Xiao Mingyi moved her company back to the country that she began to see her at home more frequently, along with the different Omegas always in her arms.

That promiscuous woman had no qualms about bringing those Omegas home, bringing them to her room overnight, never promising a relationship, never taking responsibility for the past.

But then, one day, she emerged from her room covered in a nauseating scent of pheromones and told her with a smile that it was time to settle down and get married.

Less than a week later, Xiao Shuangyu suddenly received notice that Xiao Mingyi was getting married the next day.

At the wedding, she saw Omega for the first time—the Omega became her sister’s wife.

So elegant, so beautiful, so touching, and with those beautiful… eyes…

A flash of bright yellow appeared before Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes, held in a fair arm.

It was a bouquet of yellow roses.

A slender Omega wearing a long dress walked slowly through the dull, gray world.

Her hair was pinned up, her features gentle. As if sensing a gaze, she quietly looked up.

Suddenly, those deep green pupils crashed directly into Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes. Faintly, she nodded in acknowledgment.

It was Ji Zhuozhou. She was here.

Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes widened involuntarily, a tiny spark of joy fluttering within her.

However, faced with this rare “meeting” in a year, she frantically lowered her gaze, only looking up cautiously after a moment.

But that gaze no longer lingered on her. A mist-like scent brushed past her face, so close it felt as if it were embracing her body.

So close.

So, so close—

She couldn’t help but inhale deeply, greedily drinking in the scent.

The owner of the scent didn’t get too close. Ji Zhuozhou walked to the mother’s side and spoke in a low voice, “Auntie Xiao, Su…”

Slap!

The bright yellow rose petals were struck away, flying into the air and scattering everywhere.

“It’s been a year! Why do you have to come here today and act so hypocritical? You don’t even know what flowers Mingyi liked! I shouldn’t have let you marry her. If it weren’t for you, Mingyi wouldn’t have died! You jinx, get out!”

“Just leave. You can pay your respects at the house, but not here. I won’t stop Auntie Xiao a second time.”

Amidst the fierce words was a sharp, stabbing gaze.

Where the mothers’ eyes fell, those emerald eyes narrowed slightly. From the damaged yellow roses, Ji Zhuozhou pulled out a single, intact stem and gently placed it before the grave.

That splash of yellow lay quietly beside the large bouquet of tulips, keeping its distance from the small bouquet in the corner. A single stem, solitary and distinct.

Ji Zhuozhou spoke again, but this time to the Xiao Mingyi on the tombstone: “I’ve come to see you.”

The mothers ignited instantly. A waterfall of harsh words poured out. Had they not been in front of Xiao Mingyi’s grave, they likely would have pushed Ji Zhuozhou to the ground already.

The frail-looking Omega seemed to have no way to defend herself, yet she remained determinedly unresponsive.

Xiao Shuangyu’s excessively dark pupils were fixed secretly on Ji Zhuozhou’s profile, on the tight set of her lips, and then turned to stare at that yellow rose.

The language of yellow roses is “faded love.”

Ji Zhuozhou was seriously mourning the long-dead Xiao Mingyi, even if she wasn’t acknowledged by the mothers, and even if she wasn’t liked by them.

It was truly enviable.

So enviable.

This jealousy had taken deep root the first time Xiao Shuangyu saw Ji Zhuozhou in a wedding dress next to Xiao Mingyi. It had grown wildly, burning fiercely.

Until this very moment, it burned Xiao Shuangyu beyond recognition.

A thick, black sludge seemed to surge out from her dark eyes, crawling out of the sockets and clawing toward Ji Zhuozhou’s face, wishing it could bite Ji Zhuozhou’s green eyes so she would only look at her.

The noise was incessant.

It didn’t stop because of her gaze or her jealousy.

Her head felt dizzier, her body more numb.

The hard-won silence didn’t last. The mothers suddenly threw up their hands and left together.

Only she and Ji Zhuozhou remained before the grave.

Alone!

Xiao Shuangyu completely ignored Xiao Mingyi on the tombstone. She felt her breathing hitch, and she inexplicably began counting seconds, trying to record this rare moment together.

But her chaotic thoughts prevented the recording from going smoothly.

After a moment of silence, the gentle Omega turned her head and spoke softly. “Are you leaving?”

Xiao Shuangyu was instantly tongue-tied, unable to make a sound for a long while. Her frantic gaze dropped quickly, and her head followed with a stiff nod.

It was the same path back, winding and twisting.

Xiao Shuangyu followed half a step behind Ji Zhuozhou. Her heavy gaze never left Ji Zhuozhou’s profile for a second; she felt entirely lightheaded.

It wasn’t until Ji Zhuozhou stopped at the main gate and turned to ask how she was getting home that Xiao Shuangyu realized the path had been so short.

The mothers had ignored her existence as usual. Xiao Shuangyu had no other choice. She fumbled for her phone and spoke her first words after leaving the house in a low, raspy voice.

“I’ll call a cab.”

As she finished, she realized those deep green eyes, tinged with a bit of gloom, were watching her. The overcast sky made those eyes look even deeper. “You…”

Xiao Shuangyu’s breath hitched, and she looked away in a panic.

But Ji Zhuozhou looked at those pale lips and continued, “You don’t seem very well. Do you want to go get something to eat?”