Pregnant With the Villain Boss’ Baby - Chapter 23

Amidst the collective gasps of the crowd, a loud bang echoed as food and tea splattered everywhere.

Yun Mu squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for a pain that never came. Instead, she heard the heavy sound of an impact.

Hmm? She slowly opened her eyes to see a figure standing firmly in front of her. Perhaps due to the sheer speed of the movement, stray strands of hair brushed against Yun Mu’s face, but she didn’t care. She stared blankly at the back of the person shielding her.

It was Youying!

Youying had her foot planted on the small round table that had been in front of them, kicking it up so it acted as a slanted shield for the three of them. The table wasn’t large, but it was perfectly positioned to intercept the direct wave of scalding liquid. Hardly a few drops actually managed to splash onto them.

“Aaaah!” A shrill scream erupted—the voice of the female Beta from moments ago.

“Youying,” Yun Mu said, her face turning cold as she stood up.

“Mm.” Youying effortlessly moved the table aside, clearing their line of sight.

The female Beta was rolling on the ground, clutching her shoulder. She kept it covered, making it hard to see the extent of the damage, but the exposed skin on her arms and face was already bubbling with angry blisters. Her face, twisted in agony and covered in tears, was a chilling sight.

Yun Mu looked down at the teapot lying nearby. The lid had popped off, and the last of the steaming liquid was trickling out. It wasn’t hard to piece together what happened. When the teapot flew toward them, it must have hit the table Youying flipped up and bounced straight back onto the attacker. Self-inflicted justice, perhaps?

“Sigh…” Lin Mi, being the youngest, was visibly shaken. She clung to Yun Mu’s arm, trembling. Yun Mu didn’t push her away.

Even though this was the Cloud World, injuries like this still hurt. The sensory feedback was identical to reality. While the physical body wouldn’t be scarred, the mind experienced every bit of the agony of a real burn.

“What happened?”

“What’s going on over here?”

A crowd rushed over, led by several Alphas. Lin Mi was quickly gathered into Wang Danyan’s arms and soothed, while Feng Cen reached out to grab Yun Mu’s shoulders to check for injuries. Youying immediately swiped his hand away.

“Move,” Feng Cen growled, his face turning a shade of green.

“She doesn’t need your concern. Don’t forget you’re a public figure,” Youying said, her voice like ice as she stared him down.

Feng Cen choked on his rage. His fists clenched and unclenched as he glared at Youying, through gritted teeth. He did a quick visual sweep of Yun Mu to ensure she was truly unharmed before turning his attention to the female Beta on the ground.

“Who are you?” Feng Cen demanded. Under his commanding voice, the ignored Beta became the center of everyone’s scrutiny.

The Beta looked terrified. Her eyes darted around the circle of faces before she burst into fresh sobs. “Waaaa! I didn’t do it on purpose! I just tripped! I swear I didn’t mean to!”

The heavy atmosphere grew even more stifling under her grating cries.

“Who brought this person in?” Director Peng pushed through the crowd to the center. He scanned the scene, his eyes landing on the sobbing girl. He glared at her, clearly piecing together the situation.

Everyone exchanged looks, but no one stepped forward. Just then, Gu Mi’er’s manager walked over, looking indignant.

“Director Peng, someone broke into Mi’er’s dressing room. Her ceramic teapot, worth tens of thousands, is missing…” The manager’s stern tone faltered as he looked at the ground. There, lying in the mess, was the very teapot he was talking about.

“I…” The Beta’s eyes flashed with panic. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was instantly silenced by the manager’s cold, lethal gaze—a look that treated her like a dead woman walking.

The life seemed to drain from the Beta’s eyes. She went limp, the hand clutching her shoulder falling away. When the crowd saw her shoulder, there was a collective intake of breath.

The flesh was a mix of raw pink and dead white—mostly white where the skin had fused with the fabric of her shirt. It was a sickening sight, and a faint, disturbing smell of cooked meat wafted into the air. The tea had been hot enough to literally cook the skin on impact.

The Beta struggled to push herself up, her face ghostly pale from the pain. Her body shook, and as she moved, the tension caused the burned skin on her shoulder to crack, spilling blood onto the floor. Still, she managed to bow deeply to Director Peng.

The Alphas present hardly reacted, but many of the Omegas turned pale at the sight. Some even turned away to gag.

“I’m sorry… I lost my mind. I stole the item… I wanted to hurt people. I… I…” Before she could finish, her strength failed her, and she collapsed into a dead faint.

“…Call the police.” Director Peng looked at Gu Mi’er’s manager in a long, silent stalemate. The manager didn’t flinch, meeting the Director’s gaze with an unyielding aura. Finally, Director Peng let out a long breath and waved a hand, signaling the end of the matter.

Yun Mu frowned slightly. She could see that Director Peng wanted to hush things up. When he looked at her with a mix of apology and helplessness, she understood his difficult position.

Just then, Youying leaned in and whispered, “Leave it to me. I’ll get you what you want.”

Youying started to step forward, but Yun Mu caught her hand and shook her head.

As the crowd dispersed, everyone knew who the real mastermind was, even if the matter was being officially dropped. They cast subtle, knowing glances at the retreating back of Gu Mi’er’s manager.

“Why didn’t you let me go after them?” Youying asked after a long silence.

“I hate enemies who hide in the shadows. I prefer to strike only when I can crush them completely, leaving them no room for a comeback,” Yun Mu said, sitting back down and lazily twirling a lock of hair. She glanced at the direction the Beta had been carried off.

“In the Cloud World, even an injury that looks that bad only causes minor fatigue in reality. A bit of rest and she’ll be fine. Besides, look at that girl’s eyes at the end—she’s clearly tied to the mastermind in the real world too. If we push too hard now, they’ll just spread rumors that I’m ‘petty’ or ‘heartless’ toward a poor girl who ‘tripped.’ It’s not worth the PR hit.”

“Yun Mu, I’m stepping away for a moment,” Luo Ling said. She was busy using her comms to take photos of the bloodstains and the tea on the floor.

“Sure. Just don’t let Wenwen see. She’ll make a scene,” Yun Mu said with a wave.

“Obviously.” Luo Ling shot Yun Mu a look that said ‘As if I’d let my girl worry about you,’ and hurried off in her high heels.

“Where is she going?” Youying asked.

“To pull the surveillance footage, of course. Everywhere in the Cloud World except private rooms is monitored. Collecting every shred of evidence the moment something happens—that’s the only way to play the game,” Yun Mu explained. She pulled a small bag of potato chips from her purse and started snacking, the crunch-crunch sounding oddly peaceful.

Youying stared at her. To be able to eat so calmly while looking at blood and debris… it completely redefined her view of Omegas. She had seen Omegas in much more brutal environments eat to survive, but Yun Mu was doing it with such elegance and natural ease.

Wait, that wasn’t the point.

“Does this… happen to you often?” Youying’s voice was slightly husky.

Yun Mu gave her a strange look but answered honestly. “The entertainment industry isn’t as glamorous as it looks on the surface. The water is deep. Without a background, if you want to be a star, you need luck—and a very high level of vigilance. Otherwise, you’d be eaten alive before you even realize it.”

She shrugged. Actually, it’s better here than in my old world. Since everything is virtual, a failure doesn’t mean your physical life is over.

Hearing those words, Youying felt a sharp pang in her heart. To reach the top without any backing… she could only imagine how hard Yun Mu had worked.

A thought seemed to strike her. She clenched her fist. “I need to step away for a moment too.”

“Where to?” Yun Mu asked.

“…The bathroom,” Youying said after a brief hesitation.

“Oh. Well, try not to fall into the toilet. And bring me back some juice while you’re at it,” Yun Mu chirped, waving her off.

Youying nearly stumbled. Fall in the toilet? As an Alpha? She realized Yun Mu was just teasing her into running an errand.

But as she walked away, the heavy feeling in her chest vanished, replaced by a strange warmth. Behind her mask, a rare smile touched her lips, and her eyes softened significantly.

“Okay.”

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