The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 21

Alpha had indeed drunk quite a bit, her words slightly slurred, but Jiang Xue still understood the gist of it. She didn’t feel upset instead, she found it somewhat amusing that Alpha was drowning herself in alcohol, as if trying too hard to hide something.

“You’ve been drinking?” Jiang Xue asked, though she already knew the answer.

Lin Yulan leaned against the door, annoyed by Jiang Xue’s feigned ignorance. Back in university, this woman had always been like this playing dumb about things that were glaringly obvious. Like why she had gone to the sports field that day, why she had bought flowers, or why she had skipped class. Jiang Xue had known full well it was all to see Qu Mengxin. She had even asked Jiang Xue to make up an excuse for her absence, but when the professor caught her, Jiang Xue had stubbornly refused to back her up.

And if pressed further, Jiang Xue would just act clueless, insisting she truly hadn’t known. If she had, of course she would’ve helped.

But Lin Yulan knew better. Jiang Xue had pretended not to know on purpose. Back then, Lin Yulan hadn’t yet realized Jiang Xue had feelings for her, but she had vaguely sensed something off about the way Jiang Xue looked at her.

“Is Teacher Jiang really asking something this obvious?” Lin Yulan sneered. “What’s wrong, are your eyes failing you at such a young age? You should go see a doctor soon, before other parts start failing too.”

The last part came out a bit odd, and Jiang Xue’s expression turned slightly strange. But Lin Yulan, her mind clouded by alcohol, didn’t notice.

“I really should see a doctor,” Jiang Xue said. “Especially about my eyes. Not only are they blind, but they’re also quite poor.”

Even through her drunken haze, Lin Yulan caught the sarcasm in Jiang Xue’s words. She frowned and snapped, “Jiang Xue, what the hell do you mean?! Are you saying I’m ugly?”

In all her life, she could tolerate being mocked about anything except her looks. There was simply no grounds for criticism there. Jiang Xue was clearly doing this on purpose, unable to find any real flaws to attack, so she resorted to blatant lies.

If someone like her was considered ugly, then no one in the world could be called good-looking!

“I never said that.”

“Yes, you did!”

Lin Yulan grinned, picking up her phone and swaying unsteadily toward Jiang Xue. She hit the record button and held it up in front of her.

“I really should see a doctor.”

“Especially about my eyes. Not only are they blind, but they’re also quite poor.”

To make sure Jiang Xue heard it clearly, Lin Yulan turned up the volume and replayed it. “What, nothing to say now? Didn’t you say those words yourself?”

Jiang Xue sighed helplessly. “But wasn’t it you who brought it up first, Little President Lin? I was just following your lead. Is there a problem with that?”

“Bullshit! That’s not ‘following my lead’!”

“Isn’t it?”

Jiang Xue explained patiently, “You were the one who told me to go see a doctor for my eyes. I agreed that I needed to. Where exactly did I go wrong?”

“You !”

Lin Yulan couldn’t argue back. She raised a hand to shove Jiang Xue away but quickly pulled back, afraid the woman might take the chance to fake an injury.

She glanced at the time, it was almost 11 p.m., time to rest.

But when Lin Yulan scanned the room, it suddenly dawned on her: there was only one bed. That meant tonight, she would have to sleep in the same bed as Jiang Xue!

How could she possibly tolerate such a thing?!

Jiang Xue followed her gaze and instantly understood what she was thinking. However, she pretended to be completely oblivious, feigning innocence as she asked, “Is Little President Lin ready to sleep? It’s 11 o’clock, normal people should be in bed by now.”

Lin Yulan’s frown deepened, especially when she caught the faintly amused glint in Jiang Xue’s eyes. The whole “normal bedtime at 11” was clearly a lie that woman just wanted to sleep with her!

“Does Professor Jiang usually go to bed at 11?” Lin Yulan stared at her. “I doubt it. Shouldn’t you be whispering sweet nothings to your beloved sister on the phone at this hour? How could you possibly fall asleep so early?”

If she were at school, Jiang Xue definitely wouldn’t be sleeping at this time. Every night, she had to prepare for the next day’s lectures, sometimes working on PowerPoint presentations until 3 or 4 a.m. Early bedtime? Impossible.

So forget about phone calls with a lover unless the other person was willing to listen to her ramble about slide content, but no one loved her that much.

“What exactly are you trying to imply, Little President Lin?” Jiang Xue countered. “Or… do you have a problem with someone calling me at night?”

“Why would I care who calls you?!”

She’d love it if Jiang Xue kept this up, it would give her the perfect opportunity to catch her in an affair. Then, surely Lin Zhelan would finally agree to let her divorce this woman!

“…Is that so?”

For some reason, even though Lin Yulan was drunk, she could clearly detect the emotion laced in Jiang Xue’s words when she said that.

It had to be the alcohol playing tricks on her.

Besides, this had nothing to do with her. Jiang Xue knew she was in love with Qu Mengxin, if she still insisted on marrying her, then any misery she felt was entirely deserved!

“Are you saying it’s not?”

Jiang Xue couldn’t be bothered to explain further. She slowly walked toward the bed. Today, with Lin Zhelan and Lin He both present, her nerves had been stretched taut. Now that she could finally relax, exhaustion was creeping in.

The moment Lin Yulan saw her approaching the bed, she bristled like a lioness, shouting without thinking, “Stop right there! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Jiang Xue blinked at her in confusion. “I’m tired and want to sleep. What’s wrong with getting into bed? Unless… Little President Lin isn’t sleepy? If that’s the case, you’re welcome to sit on the couch.”

“That’s not!” Lin Yulan watched helplessly as Jiang Xue inched closer to her soft, luxurious bed, nearly stomping her foot in frustration. “If you take the bed, where am I supposed to sleep?!”

Finally, Jiang Xue understood. She sighed. “Little President Lin, this is a double bed. You take one side, I take the other. There’s only one bed in this room, if we don’t sleep here, where else? The couch?”

Moreover, that sofa looked downright uncomfortable. Sleeping on it all night would surely leave her sore and aching the next day, no way was she going to sleep there.

“Why can’t you sleep on the sofa?” Lin Yulan’s gaze swept over the large sofa nearby. “It’s big and soft plenty of space for two of you! What’s the problem?”

Jiang Xue immediately called her bluff. “Then why don’t you sleep on it, Miss Lin? If the sofa’s so great, I’ll take the bed, and I won’t fight you for the sofa.”

With that, Jiang Xue unhesitatingly lay down on the bed.

Lin Yulan eyed her warily, wondering if she was really about to lose her virtue tonight. This scheming woman, Jiang Xue, clearly wouldn’t rest until she got what she wanted. If Lin Yulan slept on the bed too, she’d undoubtedly be devoured whole by Jiang Xue before dawn.

Though, as an Alpha, the phrase “devoured whole” felt a bit odd.

But that wasn’t the point. The real issue was that if Jiang Xue took the bed, Lin Yulan would be forced onto the sofa. And she absolutely refused!

“I don’t care, you can’t sleep on the bed!” Lin Yulan declared unreasonably. “Get up and go to the sofa!”

Jiang Xue sat up with a sigh. “Lin Yulan, can you be a little more reasonable? If you don’t want the sofa, then just sleep on the bed. I’m not stopping you! Besides, it’s not like I asked to stay. Your mom insisted I spend the night. If you don’t want me here or think I’m taking up your space, call Aunt Ming right now and tell her to let me go. I’ll leave without a word and take a cab back to campus!”

At that, Lin Yulan deflated instantly.

It was true, Jiang Xue hadn’t asked to stay. Ming Zelan was the one determined to push them into intimacy, refusing to let Jiang Xue leave no matter what. Even Lin Yulan couldn’t do anything about it.

“You’re just afraid I’ll take advantage of you, right? Then if you sleep on the sofa, that won’t be a problem!”

Jiang Xue did have some less-than-innocent intentions, but she couldn’t exactly force herself on Lin Yulan that would be way too forward. Besides, if she tried luring her in with pheromones, Lin Yulan would probably hate her forever.

Even if they never became true partners, she at least wanted to leave room for friendship.

“Oh, so that’s really what you think!” Lin Yulan hugged herself protectively and scooted back. “I knew you were eyeing my bed because you have ulterior motives! But listen here, Jiang Xue even if we’re legally married, you’ll never have my heart or my soul! And don’t even dream about my body!”

Jiang Xue studied her carefully and confirmed once again, this woman was all looks and no brains.

“Are you going to sleep or not?”

“What?”

“I said, are you sleeping? If not, I am. Turn off the light, please.”

“You can’t sleep! If you do, where am I supposed to sleep?!”

Seeing that this wasn’t working if Lin Yulan refused to sleep, Jiang Xue would have to stay awake too, Jiang Xue thought for a moment. She folded one of the blankets into a thick, long strip, measured the length of the bed, and placed it vertically in the middle, dividing the space in two.

Lin Yulan frowned. “What are you doing?”

Jiang Xue said, “I’ve divided the bed, we’ll each sleep on one side. That should be fine, right?”

Lin Yulan was contemplating, her gaze shifting between the sofa and the bed. If given the choice, she’d undoubtedly prefer the comfort of the bed.

“If even this isn’t acceptable, then I’m afraid Miss Lin will have to make do with the sofa tonight.” With that, Jiang Xue pulled up the other blanket and settled in.

In those brief ten seconds, Lin Yulan made her decision. She slowly moved to the other side of the bed and carefully lay down. “Alright… alright then!”

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