One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 41

It was the first time Xiao Shuangyu had smelled it, and she couldn’t quite describe what kind of scent it was.

But within the soft, hazy atmosphere of the mist and rain, that scent appeared arrogant and domineering, much like the pheromones an alpha with a strong sense of possession would deliberately leave on their partner.

Only, it wasn’t a pheromone; it was a scent that clearly did not belong to Ji Zhuozhou.

Xiao Shuangyu followed Ji Zhuozhou into the living room, unable to distinguish who the scent belonged to or whether it felt familiar.

Her dark gaze swept over every part of Ji Zhuozhou’s body, sniffing forcefully and surreptitiously.

It seemed… aside from that faint scent, there was nothing unusual.

Was it accidentally tainted?

Seeing that she was still following, Ji Zhuozhou stopped and turned back to look at her. “Lianlian, why are you following me? Aren’t you going to eat?”

Even without moving closer, the scent began to waft from the takeout boxes in her hands, drifting into her nose and attempting to blur that strange scent on Ji Zhuozhou’s body.

Xiao Shuangyu spoke up, her question slipping out. “Sister, did you just go to meet someone?”

Her tone was a bit muffled, carrying a few hints of cautious wariness.

She didn’t want her question to sound offensive or aggressive.

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t feel that way at all. She gave a slight nod, making no attempt to hide it. “I went to handle some business. Lianlian, why do you think I went to meet someone?”

Ji Zhuozhou had no family and no friends; as early as their wedding over a year ago, this was no secret.

In truth, Ji Zhuozhou wasn’t surprised that she could guess, but when Xiao Shuangyu reached out a finger to point at her, saying there was the scent of someone else, Ji Zhuozhou was still somewhat shocked.

Ji Zhuozhou lifted her arm to sniff it. “Is there a smell? I don’t remember smelling any perfume.”

Xiao Shuangyu shook her head.

It wasn’t perfume.

It was an aura, a scent that emanated from a person’s body.

Just like the misty rain scent on Ji Zhuozhou, that smell was an aura belonging to another person, and it made her feel displeased.

After all, an aura is a difficult thing to retain. For that scent to remain on Ji Zhuozhou’s body until now, nearly faded but still present, it meant the contact had been substantial enough.

In other words, Ji Zhuozhou had spent a long enough time with that person.

And she knew nothing about it—she didn’t even know how many times Ji Zhuozhou had met this person.

Even last time, when Ji Zhuozhou took time off to meet someone and came back very late, she hadn’t been able to smell such a scent on her.

Xiao Shuangyu suppressed her rising displeasure. She continued to question Ji Zhuozhou, “Sister, what business did you have with this person?”

Her concern was obvious, and fearing that Ji Zhuozhou wouldn’t say anything, she followed up with a muffled supplement: “Sister, we agreed to discuss things together.”

Ji Zhuozhou looked at her, those emerald-like eyes transparent and beautiful, as if some emotion flashed through them too quickly to be caught.

Ji Zhuozhou said, “It’s nothing much. I went to Star-flash.”

Xiao Shuangyu froze.

That was Xiao Mingyi’s company.

Her brows immediately knit together. “Are they bullying you?”

Ji Zhuozhou was amused by her expression and shook her head. “It’s not like that.”

Having said that, Ji Zhuozhou took her hand and led her toward the dining room, pressing her down into a chair by the table. She took the food containers back from her hands, opened them, squeezed out the chopsticks, and handed them to her. “You eat; I’ll talk.”

She spoke with a firmness that brooked no refusal.

Xiao Shuangyu stared intently at Ji Zhuozhou’s face. The gentle, beautiful features were calm and indifferent, not looking like a lie told just to put her at ease.

Her wild guesses were meaningless; being in a stalemate with Ji Zhuozhou would only delay hearing the story.

Xiao Shuangyu looked up fixedly at Ji Zhuozhou. Without even looking at the food in front of her, she picked something at random and stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth.

Her cheeks puffed out. She chewed deliberately and pointed to her own face toward Ji Zhuozhou.

Ji Zhuozhou couldn’t help but follow her gesture and pinched her cheek. Xiao Shuangyu suddenly stiffened under her touch.

Ji Zhuozhou acted as if she hadn’t noticed, her eyelashes curving slightly. “Since Lianlian has invited me, I won’t decline.”

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned, blinking her eyes in confusion.

What invitation?

Seeing that she had even forgotten to chew, Ji Zhuozhou pinched her twice more before letting go. She sat down beside Xiao Shuangyu and sighed with emotion. “Lianlian is really so cute. Every time I see Lianlian eating, I really want to give you a pinch.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes widened.

She hurriedly looked away, her gaze flitting everywhere.

After flitting away, it quickly returned. She forced herself to swallow the food in her mouth and spoke in a small voice, “Sister can pinch whenever she likes.”

As she spoke, she even tilted her head slightly toward Ji Zhuozhou.

Ji Zhuozhou burst into laughter, her soft, gentle voice landing right there. “I’ve pinched you today. Hurry up and eat.”

Xiao Shuangyu gave an “oh,” pulled her head back, took another mouthful of rice, and looked back at Ji Zhuozhou.

Only after looking did, she remembers she shouldn’t talk with food in her mouth, so she could only blink her eyes to signal Ji Zhuozhou.

What’s going on with Star-flash?

Ji Zhuozhou understood her signal. “Lianlian, you know Star-flash was started by your sister and two friends, right?”

Xiao Shuangyu nodded; she had heard of it.

Ji Zhuozhou said, “Star-flash got caught in a trap during the new round of financing. They want me to buy back the equity to prevent the company from changing hands.”

“If it goes through the public transfer process, they have the right of first refusal, so they can protect Star-flash.”

Xiao Shuangyu understood. If they were discussing such matters, it really would be hard to explain in just a few words. It seemed that scent belonged to one of them, or perhaps both.

She had heard Xiao Mingyi on the phone with those two before; their voices and tones both revealed deep ambition and boldness.

If it were them, perhaps having such an aura wasn’t surprising.

But she still felt displeased. Xiao Mingyi’s friends were the same type of people as Xiao Mingyi: smart, decisive, confident, and flamboyant.

Ji Zhuozhou liked Xiao Mingyi; there was no guarantee she wouldn’t fall for someone of the same type as Xiao Mingyi’s friends.

Xiao Shuangyu swallowed the food in her mouth. “Did Sister agree?”

Ji Zhuozhou nodded. “Mhm. That’s your sister’s company. I can’t let someone else take it away.”

Xiao Shuangyu suddenly lost her appetite.

After those two bought the equity from Ji Zhuozhou’s hands, Ji Zhuozhou would no longer be tied to Star-flash—the company Xiao Mingyi founded. One more link between Ji Zhuozhou and Xiao Mingyi would be severed.

It should be a good thing.

But why did the thought of Ji Zhuozhou making this choice specifically to protect Xiao Mingyi’s life’s work make her eyes and heart feel so bitter?

Xiao Shuangyu lowered her gaze. “Will it be difficult for Sister? My mother…”

After all, for the longest time, the mothers didn’t want the equity that originally belonged to Xiao Mingyi to be diluted further, which was why they strictly forbade Ji Zhuozhou from transferring it.

Ji Zhuozhou understood her concerns. “I will explain it clearly to Aunt Xiao and return all the money to her. She will understand.”

If they opposed it, if they stopped it, the company Xiao Mingyi built from scratch would fall into the hands of others. Aunt Xiao and Aunt Su would be even less likely to agree to that.

This equity had been a burden to Ji Zhuozhou from the start. If she could use this opportunity to handle it, she would no longer need to expend energy on it every other day.

Her own matters needed to be accelerated as well.

Xiao Shuangyu’s voice suddenly rang out, muffled. “I’ll go with Sister.”

Ji Zhuozhou met those excessively dark eyes. Xiao Shuangyu said, “I will protect Sister.”

Ji Zhuozhou couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

In a trance, it was as if the Xiao Shuangyu from a year ago in the hospital—the one who suddenly jumped out to block her and take a slap from Xiao Jingning—had appeared before her eyes again.

Her phone rang.

Ji Zhuozhou snapped back to reality and looked at the string of numbers on the screen with no contact name. She stood up, her expression indifferent. “I’ll take a call. Lianlian, eat more.”

With that, Ji Zhuozhou walked toward the nearby study.

The door that always left a crack open for Xiao Shuangyu was now closed. With a click.

A dark, viscous gaze followed closely, falling heavily upon the tightly sealed door.

Suddenly, those eyes shifted slightly.

Ji Zhuozhou closed the door.

The bedroom door.

Xiao Shuangyu stood quietly in front of Ji Zhuozhou’s door. On her pale face, a pair of pitch-black eyes stared lifelessly at the doorknob.

She saw it.

The photo frame that had disappeared from the desk at some point had returned to the desk when Ji Zhuozhou left the study.

It wasn’t even lying face down as it usually was; it was propped up, standing right in front of Ji Zhuozhou.

Why?

Because she said she wanted to go with Ji Zhuozhou to see the mothers? Or because she said she wanted to protect Ji Zhuozhou?

Was that number really a call so important that Ji Zhuozhou forgot to leave the door cracked for her?

Was it really not just a telemarketing number that Ji Zhuozhou used as an excuse to leave her side?

Or did that call say something that made Ji Zhuozhou think of Xiao Mingyi?

Something that made Ji Zhuozhou find Xiao Mingyi’s photo again in the study, and made the Ji Zhuozhou outside the study close the bedroom door.

Why?

Gloomy emotions dripped patter-patter from Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes, almost heavy enough to smash the doorknob open.

The misty rain scent passing through the cracks gradually grew richer. Unconsciously, Xiao Shuangyu reached out and thud-thud knocked on the door.

Before hearing a response, she twisted the doorknob.

Before she could even walk to Ji Zhuozhou’s bedside, Ji Zhuozhou had already familiarly moved toward the inner side of the bed, leaving a space and patting the spot beside her.

Xiao Shuangyu didn’t say anything. She climbed onto the bed with bravado, lying beside Ji Zhuozhou. Looking into Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes, she asked in a muffled voice, “Is Sister thinking about my sister?”

Ji Zhuozhou had many thoughts, and indeed she was thinking about what to do next after handling the equity. Hearing this, she did not deny it. “Mhm.”

As soon as she spoke, before Ji Zhuozhou could ask what Xiao Shuangyu was doing here, Xiao Shuangyu had already propped herself up on her arms and pressed over.

Her eyes flowed with a sticky ink-like darkness as she leaned in to kiss Ji Zhuozhou’s soft lips, letting that wanton flow of ink block out Ji Zhuozhou’s voice.

She said, “What would she do?”

She said, “How does Sister like it to be done?”

She had intended to ask clearly exactly why, but the moment she heard Ji Zhuozhou admit to thinking about Xiao Mingyi, jealousy devoured her logic.

Her hand rested lightly on Ji Zhuozhou’s hair, waiting for Ji Zhuozhou’s voice, waiting to pry into the secret past of Ji Zhuozhou and Xiao Mingyi, waiting for an ordeal.

Ji Zhuozhou was somewhat stunned, but looking into the depths of Xiao Shuangyu’s dark eyes where something was burning, her own heart began to burn as well.

It burned intensely, overflowing.

Ji Zhuozhou responded to her kiss. She said, “A bit more intense.”

In an instant, Xiao Shuangyu’s heart felt as if it had been hollowed out, making it almost impossible to breathe.

She lowered her gaze.

She kissed Ji Zhuozhou’s lips, and amidst the rising heat and ragged breathing, her mind was a mess.

Ji Zhuozhou trembled uncontrollably in her arms, turning to bury herself deep into the soft pillow, her voice whimpering and broken.

It was the first time Xiao Shuangyu had seen Ji Zhuozhou like this.

She was going crazy.

Her jealousy grew wildly, her voice turning hoarse.

She spoke, she questioned, she growled in a low voice—

“Here, does Sister like it?”

“Here, has she ever touched here?”