You Are My Omega - Chapter 40

No matter how many times Lin Xinyi tried to talk with Xu Shijiu, every attempt was dismissed or avoided. Even the time they used to spend going over homework together slowly disappeared. Xu Shijiu’s room became off-limits again, a place Lin Xinyi could no longer enter without permission.

But Lin Xinyi was not someone who would sit around doing nothing. Just because her sister said the investigation turned up nothing didn’t mean she would accept it at face value. Sometimes, even so-called solid evidence could be misleading. That restroom surveillance footage, for example, was far from convincing.

The video showed only Xu Shijiu entering and leaving the restroom. That couldn’t be right. It was impossible.

With that belief, Lin Xinyi sought help from Lin Zhiling. She invited her to the grove near school, hoping to use her social network to look into things more deeply. It might have been a clumsy method, and the results could lead nowhere, but it was still better than doing nothing.

“You’ve got your own connections too. Why not investigate it yourself?” Lin Zhiling asked with genuine curiosity.

Lin Xinyi’s expression darkened. She shook her head. “I can’t. If it really is her, she’ll notice right away if I’m the one asking.”

“So you already have someone in mind,” Lin Zhiling said, lowering her voice. She didn’t dare get too close to Lin Xinyi like she used to. There was something heavy and unsettling in her presence now.

“Yes.” Lin Xinyi nodded, her eyes filled with restrained fury. If her suspicion was right, then that person deserved the harshest punishment possible.

And she knew that staying silent from the beginning had been a terrible mistake.

Lin Zhiling quietly began messaging people, reaching out through her network to help as much as she could. Watching Lin Xinyi and Xu Shijiu remain in this painful stalemate made her feel uncomfortable. Something needed to change.

Mo Jinlan never imagined that Lin Xinyi would ask to meet her one day. She was so delighted by the invitation that she completely ignored the coldness in Lin Xinyi’s eyes.

They got into a Xu family car together, heading toward an unknown destination.

“Lin Xinyi, where are we going?” Mo Jinlan asked with a bright smile. She thought she looked genuinely friendly.

Lin Xinyi didn’t answer. She stared at Mo Jinlan’s smile and felt both disgusted and disappointed. Mo Jinlan had hurt Xu Shijiu, and what had she done? She had made everything worse. She had known full well that Xu Shijiu didn’t want her near Mo Jinlan, and yet, she had ignored that. She had made mistake after mistake.

Now Mo Jinlan was starting to sense something wasn’t right. But it was too late. The car had already stopped in front of Xu Entertainment, the headquarters of the Xu family.

“Why are we here?” Mo Jinlan tried her best to stay calm. She kept telling herself that this couldn’t be as bad as it seemed.

She told herself over and over that Xu Shijiu was just a disabled Alpha, nothing more than a burden to the Xu family. The Xu and Mo families were evenly matched. There was no way the Xu family head would risk a confrontation just for Xu Shijiu.

“What are we doing here?” Lin Xinyi’s usually gentle face was now cold and emotionless. Her voice was firm. Her eyes burned with regret and anger. “You’re here to answer for what you did.”

If she had been firm from the beginning and stayed away from Mo Jinlan, none of this would have happened. If she hadn’t gotten involved, maybe Xu Shijiu wouldn’t have been hurt. If she had just been honest, the distance between them would never have grown.

It was all her fault.

The look on Lin Xinyi’s face told Mo Jinlan everything. Her worst fears were true. All the joy she had felt earlier was foolish. When she saw Xu Manyue standing nearby with a faint smile on her face, she realized the truth. All her schemes, all her tricks, everything she thought she had covered up, had already been exposed.

“Lin Xinyi, my knee still isn’t fully healed. Could I sit down?” Mo Jinlan still refused to give up. She tried to use guilt, hoping Lin Xinyi would feel sorry for her. After all, her injury had happened because of Lin Xinyi.

But mentioning the injury only made things worse.

Lin Xinyi clenched her fists tightly. If anything, it made her angrier. She wanted to slap herself awake. She had known from the beginning how insecure Xu Shijiu was. They had made promises to each other, and she had broken every single one. She had even kept secrets. Why? Why had she done that?

“If your injury really was because of me, I’ve never tried to deny responsibility. But what you should never have done was lay a hand on Xu Shijiu.” Lin Xinyi’s voice trembled. She looked at Mo Jinlan and felt nothing but disgust. She couldn’t believe she had ever thought Mo Jinlan was a good Alpha. She must have been completely blind.

“Xinyi, go take a break and cool off,” Xu Manyue said softly. She knew Lin Xinyi’s emotions were all over the place. She felt the same way. She also wanted to punch Mo Jinlan, but if Lin Xinyi lost control of her pheromones, things could quickly get out of hand.

Lin Xinyi wasn’t in heat yet, but many Alphas in the company were in their sensitivity periods. For them, the pheromones of a top-tier Omega like Lin Xinyi were irresistible.

“There’s no need, Sister. I want to stay and hear everything.” Lin Xinyi didn’t hesitate. She already knew what Xu Manyue was worried about. She pulled out a rose-scented pheromone blocker and pressed it over the one she was already wearing. She didn’t know if it would work, but it was better than nothing.

Whether it worked or not, the act itself was enough to provoke Mo Jinlan.

“Why?” Mo Jinlan finally dropped the mask. Her expression turned bitter and frustrated. “I’m a top-tier Alpha. I’m healthy. I can walk. I can protect an Omega. I would never drag anyone down. Why didn’t you choose me?”

Every word was an indirect attack. She didn’t name Xu Shijiu, but it was clear that every comparison was aimed at her.

Lin Xinyi believed that if Xu Manyue weren’t in the room, Mo Jinlan would have said the name out loud.

“Why?” Lin Xinyi almost laughed. “What made you think you were special to me?”

Mo Jinlan was stunned. She couldn’t find a single word to say.

It was true. Other than helping her hand in her English homework from time to time, Lin Xinyi had never shown her any other form of special attention. There had never been an extra smile just for her. Even during the times when Lin Xinyi had to care for her because of her injury, that ever-gentle expression had cracks in it.

But Mo Jinlan had always chosen to ignore these signs. She had dismissed all those subtle changes in Lin Xinyi’s mood. Only now, after Lin Xinyi had sharply pointed it out, did Mo Jinlan begin to face what she had sensed all along.

“What exactly did you say to Xu Shijiu?” Lin Xinyi took a step closer, her hands clenched behind her back, trembling slightly. Her patience was wearing thin.

Her father used to say that gentle and well-mannered people are always liked, that no one hates someone who is kind. So she had always followed that advice. She tried her best to be warm, polite, and composed. Her father had told her that tolerance leads to peace, so she tolerated Mo Jinlan’s so-called care and help. Her father had said to repay kindness with gratitude, so she repaid it.

But Mo Jinlan should never have crossed the line.

Xu Shijiu was her bottom line.

It had taken her so much effort to get closer to Xu Shijiu, to open a small crack in that guarded heart, to see more and more of her smiles. And now, all of it had been ruined.

Ruined by Mo Jinlan. But more painfully, ruined by her own hands.

“If you won’t speak, then perhaps it’s time for Chairman Mo to pay the Xu family a visit. We can have a proper conversation,” Xu Manyue said coldly. Every word carried a subtle threat. She truly couldn’t understand it.

So many people feared the power behind the Xu family that never made it to the surface. So many people were afraid of her, unwilling to provoke the Xu family, unwilling to stand against them. But still, some people continued to believe that Xu Shijiu had been abandoned by her own family. Some continued to believe that she didn’t matter.

What gave them that impression? What made them believe such nonsense?

With things having gone this far, there was no room for Mo Jinlan to brush it off or argue anymore. She had no choice but to explain. Even so, she deliberately left out the part about pushing aside Xu Shijiu’s bangs and exposing her scar.

Xu Shijiu had no idea that back in the president’s office of Xu Entertainment, Mo Jinlan—the one who had cornered her in the restroom and said those cruel words—was now confessing everything under the cold, unforgiving gazes of Lin Xinyi and Xu Manyue.

After leaving the rehabilitation center, Xu Shijiu had gone straight to the hospital. Liu Lingyan was due to give birth any day now, so she had been admitted early for observation. Xu Shijiu went to see her whenever she had free time.

“Shijiu, is something bothering you?” Liu Lingyan asked gently, noticing how distracted she seemed.

“No,” Xu Shijiu shook her head, not telling the truth. She wasn’t sure whether it counted as good news or not, but earlier, when the doctor tried a new treatment plan on her legs, she had felt a sudden tingling sensation.

This time, Xu Shijiu had told the doctor honestly, but asked them not to say anything to Xu Manyue or the others. She didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, only for it to end in disappointment again.

“If something’s bothering you, you have to let us know, alright?” Liu Lingyan said with concern.

“You should focus on yourself for now. The doctor said the baby will arrive in the next few days.” Xu Shijiu looked at her sister-in-law’s round belly with anticipation. She wondered what the baby would look like. Would they resemble her sister more, or Liu Lingyan?

“Maybe the baby will look like their little aunt,” Liu Lingyan said with a smile.

Xu Shijiu blinked, slightly surprised, before realizing that “little aunt” meant her.

Well…

If the baby looked like their aunt, that would be nice too.

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