The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 22

The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, landing directly on the large bed in the bedroom. The quilt that had been placed between them the night before had somehow been dragged off the bed at some point. The Alpha had crossed the demarcation line, with most of her body now on the left side, her arms and legs entwined around the Omega like vines, nearly reaching a state of zero distance.

Jiang Xue winced as the sunlight stung her eyelids. She cracked her eyes open slightly, wanting to raise a hand to block the harsh light, but the moment she tried to move, she realized she was being held tightly from behind, her arms completely pinned.

Turning her head to look back, she saw Lin Yulan hugging her like a teddy bear, dead asleep. Not only that, but her grip was incredibly strong no matter how hard Jiang Xue struggled, she couldn’t free her arms from Lin Yulan’s embrace.

In the end, Jiang Xue had no choice but to give up and let Lin Yulan continue holding her like this.

Though she knew that once Lin Yulan woke up, she’d probably accuse her of being the one who had dragged the quilt off the bed last night, leading to this situation.

And sure enough, things unfolded exactly as Jiang Xue had predicted.

By the time the sunlight was fully shining on her backside, the blinding light made Lin Yulan blink uncomfortably in her sleep. She wanted to shift positions to escape the glare and keep sleeping, but the warmth in her arms was too comfortable, carrying a sweet honey-pomelo scent that made her reluctant to let go.

Lin Yulan tightened her embrace slightly, nuzzling closer to that pleasant fragrance.

And the source of that fragrance happened to be the Omega’s scent gland, the most sensitive and vulnerable spot on an Omega’s body. Jiang Xue shuddered instantly, as if an electric current had shot through her, leaving her limbs tingling and weak.

If this continued, her pheromones would spiral out of control.

Yet the person responsible was still sleeping like a log, completely unaware, only nuzzling more insistently. What’s worse, the hands that had been wrapped around her waist slowly slid upward, pressing against her chest and even gave an experimental squeeze.

“???!!!!!!”

Jiang Xue bristled like a startled cat. Without a second thought, she forcefully broke free from Lin Yulan’s hold and kicked her straight off the bed.

Thud!!!

The sharp pain jolted Lin Yulan awake instantly. Groaning, she rubbed her sore backside and sat up, about to curse out whoever had done this only to meet Jiang Xue’s murderous glare.

“Wh-what are you glaring at me for this early in the morning? And why do you look like you’ve just been assaulted?”

Only then did Lin Yulan realize it was Jiang Xue who had kicked her off the bed. Her temper flared immediately. “Oh, so it was you! Jiang Xue, are you out of your damn mind?! I was sleeping just fine, what the hell did I do to you?!”

Jiang Xue hadn’t meant to react so harshly, but Lin Yulan’s actions had startled her. In the heat of the moment, she’d lashed out without thinking, it wasn’t intentional.

Hearing Lin Yulan slander her without any justification, Jiang Xue’s temper flared up as well. “Lin Yulan, don’t go too far! Who was it that yanked the middle blanket off the bed last night? And who swore up and down they didn’t want to sleep with me, only to end up dragging the blanket down and clinging to me all night? And who kept saying how much they hated me, only to flirt with me first thing in the morning?!”

Lin Yulan was stunned by Jiang Xue’s absurd accusations. She absolutely refused to believe she had done any of those things. She was too afraid of getting close to Jiang Xue, how could she possibly have clung to her all night?

This was nothing but blatant slander!

“I clung to you all night?” Lin Yulan retorted. “Listen, Jiang Xue, don’t go making things up in your head. I’d sooner hug a dog than sleep with you! And do you even have any proof that I held you all night? Don’t you dare accuse me falsely!”

Jiang Xue almost laughed or maybe she was just too furious to hold back. Unable to take it anymore, she grabbed a pillow from the bed and hurled it at Lin Yulan. “Fine, I’m falsely accusing you. Are you happy now, Miss Lin?!”

After throwing two pillows in quick succession, Jiang Xue threw off the covers, got out of bed, put on her coat, and prepared to leave the Lin residence.

But before she could open the door, Lin Yulan called out to her.

“Wait!”

Despite her anger, Jiang Xue still stopped to listen when someone had something to say. “What is it, Miss Lin?”

Lin Yulan had no idea what had gotten into Jiang Xue this morning, why she was so angry and why she was pinning things on her that she hadn’t done. It was beyond infuriating!

She got up, pulled a thick stack of documents from a drawer, and walked over to hand them to Jiang Xue. “It was too late to discuss this last night, but since we still have time now, we should clarify things between us. That way, if any issues arise later, we’ll know who’s responsible.”

Jiang Xue’s gut told her these documents were nothing good. A voice in her head screamed at her not to look, but she knew some things couldn’t be avoided. She took the papers from Lin Yulan.

Postnuptial Agreement.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Jiang Xue didn’t even need to read it, she could guess what was inside.

Lin Yulan said, “Jiang Xue, you’ve always known this. The person I love, the one my heart belongs to, has always been Qu Mengxin. Even though she left without a word and went abroad, my heart is still with her. I don’t know why my mother likes you so much or why she forced me to marry you, but even if we’re married, I still love Mengxin.”

“You might not know this, but I’ve liked Qu Mengxin since my first year of high school. I had a crush on her for three years, and in college, I finally got together with her. If it weren’t for her parents, she’d be the one married to me now. I don’t blame you, you weren’t the one who forced me into this. You might be scheming, but you’re not the real cause of this tragedy.”

“Moreover, I have a feeling that Qu Mengxin will definitely come back to me. So before that happens, let’s sign an agreement. But don’t worry until then, you’ll always remain the young madam of the Lin family. I’ll give you everything you want. However, I also hope that if Qu Mengxin ever returns, you’ll be willing to step aside and give her back this position.”

Hearing these words, Jiang Xue’s already fragile heart finally shattered. Despite herself, her eyes instantly welled up with tears. To maintain some semblance of composure, she bit her lip, hoping the pain would help her appear unaffected.

“Lin Yulan, are you pitying me now?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, you are!” Jiang Xue took a deep breath, forcing her voice to remain steady. “You keep saying you don’t blame me, but deep down, you do. Because you think if I hadn’t been Lin Yujin’s tutor, if I hadn’t taken that private teaching job we would never have met again, and your mother wouldn’t have forced you to marry me. Am I right?”

Lin Yulan was rendered speechless by Jiang Xue’s words.

It was true. If Jiang Xue hadn’t become Lin Yujin’s tutor, Ming Zhelan would never have taken notice of her, and she wouldn’t have been pressured into this marriage.

In a way, everything had spiraled into tragedy the moment Jiang Xue accepted that tutoring position.

To say Lin Yulan didn’t blame Jiang Xue at all would be a lie.

“Lin Yulan, do you know why I despise my parents so much? Just because they favor Alphas over Omegas?”

“…”

Jiang Xue exhaled slowly before continuing, “I’ve known since childhood that they preferred Alphas, so it wasn’t surprising they doted on my sister. Honestly, I didn’t care much, I was going to leave that place eventually anyway. But what I couldn’t stand was how they pretended to care for me while secretly despising me. They saw me as a burden, an Omega who would just run off with some Alpha someday, a waste of money to raise. Yet despite that, they used the excuse of ‘doing what’s best for me’ to turn me into their tool, making me cozy up to wealthy families for their own gain.”

“That’s why I’ve always hated one kind of person those who hide behind excuses to justify their actions, all to protect their fragile pride.”

Jiang Xue gave a bitter smile. “It’s fine if you love Qu Mengxin. It’s fine if you’ve never stopped thinking about her. It’s even fine if you resent me for ‘stealing’ her place as the young madam. But you could have just told me outright. You didn’t need to make excuses. The way you’re acting now only makes me realize how disgusting my feelings for you all these years truly were.”

She flipped open the prenuptial agreement, skimming through the contents. It was exactly as she had expected. She really shouldn’t have held onto hope for something beautiful.

Not even when that something was her first love.

“Do you have a pen?”

Jiang Xue’s tone had turned icy, so unlike her usual self that Lin Yulan was suddenly overwhelmed with an unfamiliar sense of guilt. She even regretted bringing out the agreement in the first place.

“I—”

She reached to take it back. “You don’t have to sign if you don’t want to. I just—”

“Do you have a pen?”

Jiang Xue’s resolve was unmistakable.

Lin Yulan had never known or understood Jiang Xue’s family situation. She truly had no idea about these matters. Had she known, she certainly wouldn’t have brought out this agreement. “I told you, if you don’t want to, this agreement can.”

“No need.” Jiang Xue directly took a pen from her bag and signed her name with a flourish on the last page of the agreement. “It’s done. Remember to send me a copy later, President Lin. Don’t worry, if Qu Mengxin ever… Whenever President Lin agrees to divorce, just send the divorce papers over. I won’t hesitate.”

With that, Jiang Xue tossed the marriage agreement onto the bed and walked out without looking back, leaving Lin Yulan sitting alone in the room, her head bowed as if lost in thought.

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