The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 31

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yulan hugged her knees and sat gloomily on the bed for a long time.

She had never imagined that Jiang Xue could genuinely like her.

Lin Yulan still remembered their first meeting Jiang Xue’s gaze had not been friendly at all. In fact, for a long time afterward, the way Jiang Xue looked at her was always tinged with hostility, though not exactly disgust.

She couldn’t understand why an Omega would constantly harbor hostility toward an unfamiliar Alpha. By nature, Omegas and Alphas were supposed to be mutually attracted to each other. Even if two people had never met before, they wouldn’t immediately regard one another with such aggression.

Because of this, Lin Yulan had always believed Jiang Xue could never like her.

The reason Jiang Xue eventually stopped looking at her with such animosity was simply because Lin Yulan had helped her once. No matter how much someone disliked or despised another person, they wouldn’t repay kindness with hostility. After that, Lin Yulan had stopped questioning it.

But now, after what Xia Ran had told her, Lin Yulan revisited that old doubt. Combined with Zhang Rong’s harsh attitude toward Jiang Xue, her biological daughter, Lin Yulan seemed to finally understand why Jiang Xue had looked at her that way back then.

Jiang Xue hadn’t been hostile toward her, she had simply been in a state of defense, like a hedgehog covered in spines, ready to bristle and strike at the slightest touch.

Come to think of it, Jiang Xue had been like that with everyone, especially during their university days. Most of the time, she was alone either studying by herself in the library or walking around the track field. She never seemed to have any close friends.

In short, growing up without parental love, raised in an environment of scolding and emotional manipulation, Jiang Xue had learned to trust no one and never let anyone in easily.

Yet, despite all that, Jiang Xue had accepted her without hesitation because of Lin Yulan’s actions, even if they had been motivated by ulterior motives at the time.

Sometimes, Lin Yulan had to admit that when it came to emotions, she was to put it nicely carefree, and to put it bluntly, oblivious. Many subtle things, if not spelled out for her, might never cross her mind, even if she lived a hundred years.

Like when Xia Ran had just asked her: Back when you were with Qu Mengxin, did you two ever fight? What did you fight about? If pressed for an answer, Lin Yulan wouldn’t have been able to give one.

She and Qu Mengxin would often get into inexplicable little spats over trivial things. For example, if Qu Mengxin said she wanted steak for dinner, Lin Yulan might reply that the steak at a certain campus restaurant was pretty good cheap, generous portions, and most importantly, filling. But the moment those words left her mouth, Qu Mengxin’s expression would darken, and she’d ignore Lin Yulan for the rest of the day.

There had been many incidents like that, most of which Lin Yulan barely remembered. But even now, she still couldn’t figure out why those things had upset Qu Mengxin. She never thought there was anything wrong with her responses. Back then, she hadn’t understood, and even now, she still didn’t.

“Miss, dinner is ready. Please come out and eat.”

Hearing the butler’s voice, Lin Yulan glanced at her phone and realized it was already past six-thirty without her noticing, the sky outside had darkened.

Right now, she had no appetite and didn’t want to eat anything. She just wanted to stay quietly in her room, slowly processing what Xia Ran had said to her.

“Young Mistress,” the butler called again. “No matter how upset you are, you still need to eat on time.”

Lin Yulan had no choice but to get out of bed and open the door.

“Young Mistress.”

“Uncle Zhao, I’m really not hungry. Please stop insisting. I’ll come out when I feel like eating.”

The butler had practically raised Lin Yulan, so he immediately knew what was bothering her. He asked, “Is it because of the young madam?”

Lin Yulan certainly couldn’t admit that she had gotten into a huge fight with Jiang Xue today so much so that she had abandoned her and driven home alone. If Ming Zelan found out, she wouldn’t just be packing her bags to sleep under a bridge—she’d likely be facing the family discipline.

“No, what are you thinking?” Lin Yulan said irritably. “I’m not some lunatic who picks fights for no reason. Can’t you think more positively, Uncle Zhao?!”

The butler thought for a moment and quickly changed his approach. “Then, when will the young madam be joining you for dinner tonight? Madam just called and said that since the young madam is already married to you, she shouldn’t keep living at the university—it’s inconvenient, especially since she hasn’t been marked yet. An unmarked Omega is an easy target for Alphas. So, for safety reasons, Madam hopes you can talk to the young madam and have her move in here.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” the butler added after a pause. “If the young madam doesn’t want to move here, Madam recently bought a villa near her school. She can live there instead. Of course, you’ll have to go with her.”

This was something Lin Yulan hadn’t considered before. Jiang Xue had always lived on campus, which was definitely safer than living alone outside. But now that Ming Zelan had brought it up, Lin Yulan suddenly had some unsettling thoughts.

That’s right.

Jiang Xue still hadn’t been marked by an Alpha. Outside of her heat cycle, she could live normally like anyone else. But once her heat hit, an Omega’s pheromones acted like an aphrodisiac, drawing in every Alpha nearby. What could happen then was unimaginable.

Even though university dormitories separated Omegas and Alphas into different buildings, who could guarantee that someone like Jiang Xue—beautiful and highly sought after by Alphas—wouldn’t attract unwanted attention over time?

Especially Jiang Xue’s ex-girlfriend.

If she ever found out Jiang Xue was married, she might do anything out of spite. And with Jiang Xue still unmarked… Lin Yulan couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences.

“Young Mistress, what’s wrong?”

“I…”

It wasn’t that Lin Yulan didn’t want to call her—it was that the Omega had completely blocked her. If she wanted to bring her back, she’d have to go to the university and find her in person.

But the school was so large, and she had no idea which dormitory building Jiang Xue was in. Alright, the most important thing was that they had already signed a postnuptial agreement, which explicitly stated even though they were married, they absolutely must not mention it to anyone.

If she went to the school to find Jiang Xue directly, she would have to reveal her identity, or else the security guards would surely mistake her for a scammer and call the police.

“Uncle Zhao, you know exactly what my relationship with Jiang Xue is like…” Lin Yulan suddenly thought of something, and her eyes lit up. “Uncle Zhao, call Jiang Xue for me! If I call her, she definitely won’t answer!”

The butler thought that couldn’t be right. In his opinion, that Omega seemed quite fond of his young mistress. Whenever she visited the house, though her words might be sharp, her gaze was always gentle.

Only when someone liked another person would they unconsciously reveal that kind of look in their eyes. So, the butler believed that if Jiang Xue liked his young mistress, there was no way she wouldn’t answer her call.

Besides, he didn’t even have the Omega’s phone number.

“Young Mistress, though that may be the case, the young madam is still your Omega. If I were to call her, it wouldn’t be appropriate in terms of propriety. What if word got out? What would people think of you?”

“What others think is their business. Just make the call, Uncle Zhao!” Lin Yulan couldn’t wait any longer. She turned and rushed back into the house to grab pen and paper, quickly scribbling down a string of numbers before shoving it into the butler’s hands. “Uncle Zhao, look how late it is already. Hurry up and call her! Just… just say I want her to come over!”

The butler stared at the numbers in his hand, then glanced up at Lin Yulan a few times. In an instant, he understood what was going on and sighed. “Since this is the young mistress’s order, I’ll go ahead then.”

Lin Yulan practically pushed him downstairs.

Soon after, Jiang Xue’s phone was answered.

The butler looked at Lin Yulan standing beside him and asked with some resignation, “Hello, is this the young madam’s number?”

Jiang Xue was in her dormitory cooking noodles when she saw the unfamiliar number. She had initially wanted to hang up, but worried it might be someone she knew, so she answered.

The voice was unmistakably that of the Lin family’s butler, Zhao.

“This is Jiang Xue.”

The butler got straight to the point. “Young Madam, Madam had a lot of delicious food prepared and asked me to call and inquire when you might be able to come over for dinner?”

Jiang Xue had just been about to taste the broth with her spoon when she heard the question. Her hand paused mid-air, and it took her a moment to reply. “I won’t be coming over tonight. Please thank Aunt Ming for her kindness, Uncle Zhao. I’ll find time to have a meal with her when I’m free.”

“Young Madam, do you have work tonight?”

Jiang Xue had been about to say “yes,” but Ming Zelan was well aware of her schedule. Such a lie would be easily exposed, so she changed her answer. “No. I’ve already made plans to eat in the dorm with a friend. The food’s already ready.”

“I see. Then I—”

The butler was about to hang up, but seeing his young mistress frantically gesturing at him, he could only reluctantly continue, “Young Madam, if your friend doesn’t mind, you could both come over to eat.”

Jiang Xue was filled with confusion. She had already made herself so clear even if they thought she was lying, what if it was true? Ming Zelan wouldn’t be so impolite. Tentatively, she asked, “Butler Zhao, did Aunt Ming really ask you to call me over for dinner?”

If it wasn’t Ming Zelan who had instructed the butler to invite her, then it couldn’t possibly be Lin Yulan, could it?

After the way things had escalated between them today, there was no way Lin Yulan would have the butler call her.

She must be overthinking it.

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