The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 17

“If you have nothing else to say, I’m hanging up now.”

Lin Yulan was already irritated by the whole situation and held a strong prejudice against Jiang Xue. Now, with Ye Jing incessantly chattering in her ear, adding to the mental pollution, Lin Yulan suddenly found her even more detestable than Jiang Xue.

Though Jiang Xue was scheming, held grudges, had a sharp tongue, and loved to weaponize Lin Yulan’s own words against her, as long as Lin Yulan didn’t provoke her and spoke properly, most of the time Jiang Xue would just sit quietly beside her. She wouldn’t drone on about others’ flaws, nor would she harbor malicious thoughts just because Lin Yulan was in the ambiguous stage with Qu Mengxin before their relationship was official. Even if Jiang Xue knew she had the opportunity, she never once badmouthed Qu Mengxin in front of Lin Yulan.

Thinking about it this way, aside from being manipulative and forcing her into marriage, Jiang Xue was actually the most flawless Omega Lin Yulan had ever met in terms of personality.

Whether as a girlfriend or a wife, she would probably be the perfect woman…

Wait!

Why was she suddenly praising Jiang Xue in her mind again?!

No matter how good or perfect this woman was, the fact that she schemed to force her into marriage was something Lin Yulan could never forgive!

Once again, Lin Yulan convinced herself. After hanging up the phone, she turned to look at Jiang Xue, only to find her still engrossed in her phone, earbuds in, completely oblivious to Lin Yulan calling her.

This infuriated Lin Yulan. It was already the second time Jiang Xue had ignored her, and she had every reason to suspect the woman was doing it on purpose!

“Jiang Xue!” Lin Yulan strode over and grabbed her wrist, displeased. “Didn’t you hear me calling you? Are you pretending not to hear me on purpose?”

Jiang Xue had turned her music up loud, initially at 80%, but even then, she could still hear Lin Yulan talking to another Omega. So, she cranked it up to 100%, completely drowning out the unwanted conversation.

She wasn’t pretending not to hear; she genuinely hadn’t.

Thus, when Lin Yulan grabbed her wrist, Jiang Xue’s expression flickered with surprise for a moment. She had thought Lin Yulan might feel guilty because of the gossip, especially with all the pointing and whispering from the staff at the civil affairs office, and was putting on a show of concern despite her disgust.

But she quickly noticed the anger in Lin Yulan’s expression, proving she had overthought it.

She had spent years with this alpha in university aside from holidays and personal time, they had been inseparable every single day.

She understood this alpha. In fact, she understood her better than she understood herself.

Yes.

Alpha’s likes and dislikes have always been straightforward. Just as Alpha openly adored Qu Mengxin without hiding it, boldly declaring her affection and presenting her with vibrant red roses on Valentine’s Day right in front of other Alphas and her disdain was equally direct.

There was no way she would ever pretend to be affectionate with someone just for appearances.

Jiang Xue removed her earphones. Though she hadn’t caught what Lin Yulan had just said, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Lin Yulan was gripping her hand tightly now, giving her the perfect opportunity to tease.

“Little President Lin, didn’t you always find me disgusting? Or does holding my hand suddenly not bother you?” Jiang Xue smirked. “Or could it be that you’re just being tsundere secretly not as repulsed by me as you claim?”

Lin Yulan knew she should immediately wrench her hand away from this scheming Omega, then coldly remind Jiang Xue to remember her place. But doing so would only play right into Jiang Xue’s trap just like before, she’d go from having the upper hand to being cornered again.

And they were right outside the civil affairs office. If bystanders saw her shove Jiang Xue away, ignorant onlookers would assume she was already abusing her Omega right after their marriage. She refused to fall for Jiang Xue’s ploy!

“Don’t flatter yourself, Jiang Xue,” Lin Yulan sneered. “I grabbed your hand because you ignored me after I called your name a dozen times. What, too busy chatting up some other Alpha to even hear your newlywed Alpha?”

Jiang Xue tried to pull her hand back, but Lin Yulan’s grip was unyielding. Resigned, she instead rose onto her toes, leaning close to whisper by Lin Yulan’s ear, “Oh? Is Little President Lin jealous?”

Lin Yulan froze. The Omega’s warm breath brushed her ear, carrying the sweet scent of honey pomelo pheromones like an electric current surging through her body, leaving her skin tingling.

As much as she loathed Jiang Xue, Lin Yulan couldn’t deny one thing: this sudden provocation had stirred a physical reaction.

A fire burned inside her, her heartbeat wild and erratic.

How could she possibly react to this manipulative woman?!

Lin Yulan’s expression darkened instantly. She jerked away as if electrocuted, shoving Jiang Xue back. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Jiang Xue scowled at the push and the outburst, ready to snap back until she looked up and froze.

Lin Yulan was flustered.

Upon closer observation, one could see that Lin Yulan’s ears were now as red as the skin of a ripe apple, her face tense, and her gaze narrowed. Not only that, but her lips were also tightly pressed together.

Could Lin Yulan actually be nervous because of her action?

Jiang Xue even wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Otherwise, how could Lin Yulan, who detested her so much that even her tone carried seven parts disgust and three parts impatience whenever they spoke, let alone physical contact, possibly feel nervous because of this? Lin Yulan’s stomach was probably already churning with nausea. So how could she be nervous because of this?

Or was it, as Jiang Xue had casually mentioned earlier, that Lin Yulan didn’t actually despise her as much as she seemed?

But if that were the case, why did Lin Yulan always say such heart-piercing things to her?

Lin Yulan seemed to notice Jiang Xue’s strange gaze and couldn’t help cursing herself inwardly for being so weak. Just a little teasing from Jiang Xue, and she was already reacting like this. She was supposed to hate any contact with Jiang Xue!

From beginning to end, the one she had feelings for was Qu Mengxing. Any physical impulses she had were because of Qu Mengxing. There was no way she could ever like Jiang Xue, a scheming and manipulative Omega, let alone feel any kind of physical attraction toward her.

It must be that Jiang Xue had done something just now.

Yes, she had caught the scent of Jiang Xue’s honey pomelo pheromones!

Once again, Lin Yulan convinced herself. She raised her head and glared at Jiang Xue with disgust, demanding, “Did you just use your pheromones on me?”

Jiang Xue wanted to explain, but Lin Yulan clearly wasn’t going to give her the chance.

“You definitely used your pheromones on me just now!” Lin Yulan covered her flushed ears, as if the action could help her calm down. “Don’t even try to deny it, I smelled your pheromones! First, you forced me into marriage, and now you’re trying to use pheromones to bind me to you for life? Well, forget it! I’ll never mark you, not in this lifetime!”

With that, Lin Yulan turned and strode toward the roadside without another glance back.

Jiang Xue wanted to follow, but after just a few steps, Lin Yulan’s glare forced her to stop. She could only stand there, watching as Lin Yulan hailed a taxi and disappeared from sight.

She hadn’t used her pheromones at all…

Perhaps it was as the saying went: when someone despised and hated you, they could find countless reasons to justify it.

Lin Yulan truly did loathe her. All those thoughts from earlier had just been her own delusions.

Jiang Xue took a deep breath, waiting for her emotions to settle before slowly walking to her parked Mercedes.

By the time she got in the car and fastened her seatbelt, Ming Zelan’s call came through.

Jiang Xue wasn’t in the mood to answer. For one, in her current state, she might easily reveal her emotions, and Ming Zelan would undoubtedly pry further, then everything that had happened between her and Lin Yulan would come to light. Secondly, she didn’t want Ming Zelan to scold Lin Yulan over this. It wouldn’t solve anything; it would only make things worse.

The relationship between her and Lin Yulan couldn’t be rushed. It would take time. Of course, she also had to prepare herself for the possibility that Lin Yulan might never accept her in this lifetime.

But now that she and Lin Yulan had officially registered their marriage, Ming Zelan was her mother-in-law in the truest sense. Not answering the call would be somewhat impolite.

After hesitating for a few minutes, Jiang Xue finally picked up the phone to call back.

“Hello? Xiaoxue, why didn’t you answer earlier?”

Jiang Xue’s emotions came and went quickly, her tone soon returning to normal. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ming. My phone was accidentally on silent mode, so I didn’t hear it.”

Ming Zelan didn’t suspect anything and only asked with concern, “So? Has that dead girl Lan completed the marriage registration with you? Did she give you any trouble? Or say anything unpleasant to you? And child, why are you still calling me Mrs. Ming? You should call me Mom now! Though if you’re not comfortable with that, it’s fine to keep calling me Auntie Ming like before. Mrs. Ming sounds so distant!”

Jiang Xue responded calmly, “Alright.”

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