Reborn as a Scummy Alpha, I Became Every Heroine's Obsession - Chapter 39

After parting ways with Feng Jiying, Gu Qiqi sat by the river in a daze. She sat there for a long time.

It wasn’t until the sky had begun to darken that she finally returned to the student dormitory.

[System: Host, are you scared of Liu Huaijing or something? Otherwise, why are you dragging your feet like this?]

Scared of her? Why would I be?

It wasn’t like Liu Huaijing was going to eat her.

[System: You never know.]

Too much had happened lately. She just wanted some time to be alone and think.

Gu Qiqi figured that by this hour, Liu Huaijing should have already left.

Liu Huaijing was different from Feng Jiying.

Feng Jiying was born with a halo. She stood above everyone, looking down with quiet dominance. Her words carried weight like golden commandments. No one dared to take them lightly.

So even though Feng Jiying was forceful and decisive, she did everything in the open. She didn’t rely on underhanded tactics or play mind games. She said what she meant and acted directly.

Liu Huaijing, however, was not like that.

She was someone who had crawled her way up from the mud, from the lowest depths.

If she didn’t use every trick at her disposal, she would only be trampled underfoot.

In that sense, she and Gu Qiqi were the same kind of person.

But that similarity didn’t make Gu Qiqi feel any warmth. It made her uncomfortable.

She didn’t want to be enemies with Liu Huaijing. But she didn’t want to be close, either.

Gu Qiqi remained quiet as she opened the door to her private apartment with her key.

As the door swung open, she was met with warm lights and the delicious smell of food.

Liu Huaijing stood in the kitchen, her slim figure wrapped in an apron over a green cheongsam. The apron strings were loosely tied at her waist, further accentuating her graceful curves.

She had just placed two dishes on the table. Hearing the door open, she turned and smiled gently.

“You’re back.”

Gu Qiqi didn’t respond.

The lighting was soft, the room was cozy, and the food smelled amazing. Everything seemed perfect.

And yet, Gu Qiqi couldn’t shake a strong sense of wrongness.

She frowned.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”

Liu Huaijing finished setting out the bowls and chopsticks, then calmly took off her apron and draped it over the back of a chair.

“What are you talking about, Miss Gu? We’re currently in a forced match. I’m your omega. Wherever you are, I’m supposed to be there. Taking care of one’s alpha is an omega’s duty.”

She walked toward her with a slow, elegant sway, then pulled out a chair for Gu Qiqi and made a polite gesture.

“If there’s something to discuss, let’s do it after dinner.”

Then she returned to her seat, resting her chin in her palm with a soft smile as she watched Gu Qiqi.

“Why do you insist on clinging to me?” Gu Qiqi asked coldly.

As someone who had struggled her entire life in the border district, Gu Qiqi hated conversations laced with hidden motives. She hated being constantly tested, never knowing someone’s true intent.

“I thought I made myself clear. This is a relationship of mutual benefit. You haven’t fulfilled the conditions I asked of you, so stop clinging to me.”

Her voice was sharp, and her gaze piercing, as though she wanted to tear through Liu Huaijing’s disguise.

“Don’t think I didn’t realize what happened this morning. You planned that whole scene. You said those things just to catch me off guard and push me down. The beeping from your terminal? That was a signal that Feng Jiying was nearby, wasn’t it?”

“You wanted her to misunderstand our relationship. But you misjudged one thing. Feng Jiying and I are not what you think. I don’t know what you hoped to gain from that, but I’m not someone you can manipulate so easily.”

As she spoke, Gu Qiqi’s pheromones and mental pressure unconsciously intensified.

When an alpha and omega were bound by a forced match, their reactions to each other’s pheromones were magnified several times.

Gu Qiqi couldn’t sense Liu Huaijing’s pheromones, but Liu Huaijing could very much feel hers.

And she had already consumed Gu Qiqi’s pheromone suppressant candies.

That only deepened her dependence.

Liu Huaijing clutched her chest as her face flushed. Her eyes grew hazy, and her breathing came in short, sharp gasps. She gripped the table to hold herself upright.

Yet she looked up at Gu Qiqi with unmistakable excitement.

This was exactly the feeling she liked. She liked the defiant, untamed energy that Gu Qiqi radiated.

She wanted an alpha like this to surrender to her, to belong to her completely.

“What’s wrong with liking you?” Liu Huaijing said breathlessly.
“Even as the king of the black market, I’m not allowed to fall in love?”

“In interstellar society, due to gender differentiation, alphas are naturally attracted to omegas. The stronger the alpha, the more irresistible they become.”

“You’re strong. I want you.”

Gu Qiqi ruffled her already-messy wolf tail haircut in frustration.

“Feelings are supposed to be mutual, not forced. Why does it have to be me?”

“What’s so good about me anyway? I was born in the border district. I carry the stigma that all Central City omegas look down on. I have no family, no prestigious background. I can’t even control my own mental strength or pheromones properly.”

“I’m only eighteen. I’ve just gone through gender differentiation. I’m not a mature alpha with charm or stability.”

“You’re beautiful, with a great figure, money, power, even multiple secret identities. Why are you chasing after someone like me?”

Liu Huaijing gave a bitter smile.

“Everything you said is true. But the heart is the hardest thing to control. When you like someone, you just do. When you don’t, nothing can change it.”

“Pheromones are the most honest proof. I’m addicted to yours. I want you. You don’t have to give me a chance, but you can’t stop me from trying.”

The delicious dishes on the table were growing cold.

Gu Qiqi had no appetite. All she wanted was to deal with this situation.

Liu Huaijing took a few deep breaths, slowly pushing back against the effects of Gu Qiqi’s pheromones.

“You say you don’t see Feng Jiying differently. Then why, when she saw me on top of you and walked away, did you instinctively run after her?”

“You’ve never resisted her like you resist me. Even when she ended your match early, you didn’t seem happy. Now that I’m the one in a forced match with you, why won’t you look at me? Why is it okay for Feng Jiying, but not for me?”

Liu Huaijing stood up slowly, bracing herself on the table as she stepped closer and closer to Gu Qiqi.

“You think Feng Jiying is sweet and innocent? Kinder and more honest than me?”

“Well, according to my people, the Feng family is currently investigating your sister in the orphanage where you used to live in the border district.”

“Don’t be naive, Miss Gu. You are one of the very few alphas in interstellar society to come from the border district and still awaken with an S+ mental power rating.”

“I’m sure the major families and factions are all aware. Gaining you would be a massive upgrade to any force’s combat potential.”

“And I believe someone like you, protected by an official federal directive, is much more powerful than you let on. But I don’t care about any of that. What I want is you.”

“As for what others want, I can’t say.”

Liu Huaijing’s breath was still unsteady. She leaned half her weight on Gu Qiqi, wrapping her arms around her waist for support.

She rested her chin lightly on Gu Qiqi’s shoulder, her warm breath brushing against her ear.

“I’ll assign guards around the orphanage to make sure no one harms your sister. That’s my promise. My sincerity.”

“The food’s getting cold. Eat while it’s still warm.”

“Since you don’t want to see me, I’ll take my leave.”

Gu Qiqi stood still, frowning as she listened.

After Liu Huaijing finished speaking, she left the apartment, staggering slightly as she leaned on the wall for support.

[System: Host, I don’t blame you for being cautious. Liu Huaijing really is clever. That was a perfect example of retreating to advance. She deliberately provoked you, making you angry so you would release your pheromones and mental pressure, which would affect her. Then she played the pitiful and seductive act in front of you. And in the end, without asking for a solution, she walked away as if making a silent sacrifice, trying to win your sympathy.

Host, the more an omega behaves like this, the more you must not fall into her trap.]

After Liu Huaijing left, Gu Qiqi looked at the table full of food. Despite the warm lighting and enticing aroma, the food tasted bland and unappetizing.

When she thought about her sister still suffering in the border district, her heart clenched and her fists tightened.

If Liu Huaijing was telling the truth, Gu Qiqi couldn’t understand why her sister refused to return to Central City.

She didn’t feel like eating, but the dishes still needed to be cleaned.

Having extra chores without warning only made her more irritated.

As she washed the dishes, her thoughts drifted again.

She had never told Feng Jiying that she had a sister in the border district.

So how did Feng Jiying find out? How did she trace it all the way to the orphanage Gu Qiqi once lived in?

What was she planning to do with that information?

Could Liu Huaijing be right? Did Feng Jiying have an ulterior motive?

Had she discovered her weakness and intended to use it against her?

Memories of their time together flashed through her mind like scenes from a film. Each moment felt real, yet the feelings within them had become difficult to interpret.

Some emotions didn’t just settle in the heart. They seeped into the bones, and trying to erase them was as painful as tearing muscle from bone.

Gu Qiqi didn’t want to think about it any further.

After leaving Gu Qiqi’s apartment, Liu Huaijing’s unsteady figure quickly straightened. She lifted her chin with quiet pride, her aura sharp and dignified like a poised peacock.

Her car was already waiting at the curb.

She entered the back seat and leaned against the cushion, fingers pressing lightly on her temple, eyes closed as if resting.

The person in the driver’s seat was none other than the woman who had once posed as a civil affairs worker outside the marriage office. She had been the one who pulled Gu Qiqi over to choose Liu Huaijing as her matched omega.

Min Zhiya glanced at the rearview mirror.
“Boss, how did it go today?”

Liu Huaijing massaged her aching temples.
“That Gu Qiqi is unbelievably stubborn. Thankfully, I wore a pheromone suppressant patch and took an inhibitor shot. Otherwise, it would’ve been nearly impossible to resist her pheromones.”

Min Zhiya asked carefully,
“This is the first time you’ve shown serious interest in an alpha. Do you want me to investigate Miss Gu’s background more thoroughly?”

Liu Huaijing nodded.
“Feng Jiying is even more difficult to deal with than Gu Qiqi. She keeps saying she doesn’t care, keeps pretending to hate her, but her actions say otherwise. She already started digging into Gu Qiqi’s weaknesses. She even found her sister in the border district. Good thing we increased our security there.”

Min Zhiya hesitated.
“Boss, could this be connected to what happened with the Four Great Families back then? I mean… Miss Gu’s surname is also Gu.”

Liu Huaijing let out a quiet scoff.
“Coincidences like that don’t happen so easily. Besides, we already have Gu Qingyun. If the main branch of the Gu family had any survivors, the extended relatives would know. The Gu family is extremely united. They take pride in their bloodline. If someone from the main family still existed, they wouldn’t let Gu Qingyun take the position of family head.”

Min Zhiya nodded.
“Should I assign a few people to keep a close eye on Miss Gu?”

“No need to pressure her too soon,” Liu Huaijing replied. “That would only make things worse. As long as Feng Jiying keeps sending her people, we just need to create some small misunderstandings.”

The first step in taming Gu Qiqi was breaking her connection with Feng Jiying.

The harder something was to obtain, the more people desired it.

Min Zhiya frowned slightly.
“Boss, won’t that draw too much attention? Going up against the Feng family directly won’t bring us any real advantage.”

Liu Huaijing turned her wrist and lightly touched the green jade bracelet on it. Her lips curled into a faint smile, but there was no warmth in her eyes.
“Min, who said anything about doing it in the open? The black market’s specialty is hiding in the shadows.”

Min Zhiya grinned, revealing a neat row of white teeth.
“Understood.”

Half a month passed.

Feng Jiying realized that Gu Qiqi hadn’t contacted her at all.

Xiao Bai messaged her:
[President, Miss Gu’s location tracker stopped working a while ago. The people we sent out to look for her still don’t know where she went.]

Feng Jiying frowned as she stared at Xiao Bai’s small holographic image on the terminal. With her other hand, she gently stroked the little calico kitten sleeping soundly on her lap.

Half a month had passed, and the once-skinny kitten had become chubby and healthy.

Its previously dry, scruffy fur now looked soft and shiny. It was curled up quietly, purring in a little ball on Feng Jiying’s lap.

Feng Jiying said,
[Prepare the car. We’re going to her dormitory.]

After ending the call, she massaged her aching temples.

She had been overwhelmed with work lately, barely catching a breath.

And now Gu Qiqi had chosen this time to go missing.

Looking down at the kitten nestled in her arms, Feng Jiying let out a cold chuckle.
Typical irresponsible alpha. Picked it up and then left it behind.

When she arrived at Gu Qiqi’s dormitory, she rang the doorbell repeatedly, but there was no answer.

The little calico kitten, now perched on her chest, poked its fuzzy head out from inside her collar and let out a soft cry.
“Meow, meow, meow.”

At that moment, the sharp sound of high heels clicking on the ground caught both their attention.

Liu Huaijing walked up, twirling a key that had clearly been secretly duplicated. A faint smile played at her lips.
“President Feng, ringing the doorbell? Didn’t Gu Qiqi tell you she was sent on a mission by the 330th Military Academy?”

Feng Jiying pressed the kitten’s head back down gently and coolly adjusted her metal-rimmed glasses.
“She told me. She also said her cat would be staying with me for now. Xiao Qi has been missing her.”

Liu Huaijing’s smile remained, clearly amused and seeing through the situation.
“Alright then. Would you mind stepping aside? I came to tidy up her room.”

Feng Jiying stood motionless in front of the door, showing no intention of letting her through.

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