Your Wife? Mine! - Chapter 6

Early May in Xiacheng still held the lingering chill of spring. The night wind swept through the estate, slipping through a cracked window to bring a bone-deep cold.

Shen Xi tossed and turned on the oversized bed for a long time until a familiar heat, one originating from deep within her body, surged without warning, scorching its way through her limbs.

It was happening again.

Two years ago on the front lines, a grenade had detonated near her. It hadn’t just nearly taken her life; it had completely shattered the balance of her glands. Pheromone Disorder had become her shadow, a persistent, gnawing rot.

The condition was erratic and exhausting. When her pheromones peaked, the tide of desire was like a tsunami, eroding her sanity. Her body would burn, every cell screaming for comfort, accompanied by uncontrollable tremors and heart palpitations. But when they dipped, she was left with a hollow, soul-crushing fatigue, where even lifting a finger felt like an impossible feat.

Theoretically, the cure was simple: find a highly compatible Omega, bond, mark them, and use their pheromones for dual-channel soothing.

Unfortunately, Shen Xi was allergic to almost all Omega pheromones. For her, bonding was less like a cure and more like drinking poison to quench a thirst.

Right now, the tide inside her was at its peak. Her skin flushed an unnatural crimson, her temperature soared, and beads of sweat broke across her forehead. Her body spasmed in small, helpless increments.

She was like a fish flopping on dry land, gasping for air amidst the friction of biological instinct and physical rejection.

“Ugh…”

With a low groan, she struggled off the bed and stumbled toward the bathroom.

The blast of freezing water hit her head-on, its icy bite temporarily suppressing her boiling blood. She collapsed onto the wet floor, her spine taut as she tilted her head back to take the full force of the spray. Droplets rolled down the sharp line of her jaw; it was impossible to tell what was cold water and what was sweat.

Her consciousness began to blur as she tried to soothe her body’s agitation. In the tug-of-war between biological instinct and cold reality, Meng Xiyao’s facewearing that gentle smile from her memories floated vividly before her eyes.

“Xi… Xi…”

In the hallucination, the woman was beneath her, arms hooked around her neck, body swaying like a siren’s. The Omega’s eyes were hazy, her red lips parted, her breath like lilies—a voice with a hook that easily stripped away Shen Xi’s final defenses.

She was lost in the haze, on the verge of surrender.

But at the very moment her desire reached its zenith.

The phantom Meng Xiyao suddenly pulled back. The passion vanished, replaced by eyes that turned into an icy wasteland. She shoved Shen Xi off the bed and stood over her. Barefoot, she pressed a cold sole lightly against Shen Xi’s heaving chest, looking down at her with utter contempt. Her red lips moved, spitting out a single, freezing word:

“Leave!”

Shen Xi’s entire body went rigid. It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head, jolting her awake from the deluded fantasy.

A crushing sense of shame and self-loathing seized her. She practically scrambled out of the bathroom as if being chased by a demon.

Once out, she wrapped her trembling frame in a large towel and stood before the mirror. The woman in the glass was pale, her eyes still clouded with lingering terror and lust, the corners of her lids flushed a pathetic red.

Tears spilled over without warning, heavy droplets splashing onto the cold porcelain sink.

Meng Xiyao…

Meng Xiyao…

Was it even possible? To make a woman who perhaps never belonged to her, fall in love with her?

As this unanswerable question circled her mind, her phone vibrated sharply on the counter. The screen lit up: Alice.

Shen Xi took a deep breath, wiping the water and tear tracks from her face. She put on her bone-conduction hearing aid and answered.

“Hey, Shen! By my count, you should’ve arrived ages ago. How does it feel to be home?” Alice’s vibrant voice came through, filled with obvious concern.

Shen Xi’s voice was still raspy. “Yeah, I’m here. I was going to message you later…”

“That’s not important!” Alice interrupted, her tone turning excited. “The point is, did you see her? That ‘Meng Xiyao’!”

Shen Xi went silent for a moment, her throat working before she whispered, “Yeah… I saw her.”

“Wow! I’m so happy for you!” Alice chirped.

But Shen Xi’s response was like a block of ice. “I’m coming back in a couple of days.”

“What?! Why?” Alice was stunned.

“She’s married,” Shen Xi stated flatly. She sounded like she was trying to convince the person on the other end of the line or perhaps herself. “And… she seems to be living quite happily.”

A lie.

Gu Hai’s venomous words in the garden pavilion were still ringing in her ears. How could a person like that ever give Meng Xiyao true happiness?

But… what did that have to do with Shen Xi?

Twelve years ago, she was the one who let go. She was the coward who ran away. She had lost her right to be in the game long ago; what right did she have now to disturb the woman’s seemingly peaceful life?

“Stop right there!” Alice shouted through the phone. “Listen, Shen! Whether she’s married or not has nothing to do with whether you still love her! Those are two different things!”

“Don’t forget how many times you called out her name when you were unconscious from your injuries. Three hundred and fifty-three times!” Alice’s voice turned solemn. “What does that tell you? It tells me she is the only lifeline in your subconscious. She is a knot in your heart you can’t untie.”

Shen Xi gripped the phone, her knuckles white, saying nothing.

Alice continued her heartfelt plea. “Shen, you have to face this properly. Otherwise, no matter where you run, you’ll just end up coming back for her again. Remember why you decided to go back? You said you didn’t want to live with regrets.”

Regrets.

She had embarked on this journey because she wanted to see Meng Xiyao one last time. Wasn’t the current situation exactly one of the “worst-case scenarios” she had anticipated? Since she had already decided to face it, why was she trying to retreat now that the moment had arrived?

Shen Xi closed her eyes. When she opened them, the swirling emotions were forced back down. “Yeah. I hear you.”

After hanging up, her gaze pierced the heavy darkness, landing precisely on the other side of the estate, the shell-shaped villa glowing softly in the moonlight.

She knew Meng Xiyao was sleeping there. Perhaps… tucked into Gu Hai’s arms.

Gu Hai…

That piece of trash. That two-faced bitch. Why did she get to have her? Why was she the one who became her Alpha?

She was supposed to be mine! MINE!

The thought was like a needle pricking the softest part of her heart, bringing a sharp, throbbing ache. Fortunately, over the past twelve years, she had grown accustomed to this self-inflicted pain. She was even, in a morbid way, addicted to it.

Because the more it hurt, the more clearly she could feel Meng Xiyao’s existence. And in the realization of that existence, a strange, twisted sliver of happiness would bloom amidst the boundless agony.

Shen Xi gazed at the villa with almost greedy intensity, as if her stare could turn solid and brush against the window frame where the other woman slept.

Goodnight, Meng Xiyao. I hope you have a beautiful dream tonight.

Despite having almost no sleep, Shen Xi appeared remarkably energetic when she was invited to the main house for breakfast the next morning. At least on the surface.

In the Shen family’s generation, aside from Shen Xi and Shen Zhao, most of the other cousins were married with children. Usually, they ate breakfast within their own small family units. Consequently, the only people at the massive dining table in the main house were the grandmother, Shen Qiongfang, the sixth aunt, Shen Shaohua, and the two sisters.

The old lady was in high spirits, constantly piling food onto Shen Xi’s plate and nagging her about being too thin.

Shen Shaohua, however, sat tall with a displeased expression. Clinging to her status as an elder, she began listing Shen Xi’s faults ranging from how she was “useless” despite her age to her “barbaric violence” at the banquet the night before.

“It’s not that the family hasn’t arranged a path for you,” Shen Shaohua’s voice was cold and hard. “You’re to report to the children’s hospital under our name next Monday.”

“And find a time to give Gu Hai a formal apology. Look at yourself, have you no shame?”

Shen Xi kept her eyes lowered, slowly sipping her porridge. With a practiced, subtle motion, she reached up and plucked the hearing aid from beneath her hair.

The world went silent instantly. Shen Shaohua’s lips continued to move, but not a single sound reached her. Only the words ‘apologize to Gu Hai’ had made it through before the silence took hold.

She thought about it for a moment and decided the suggestion was actually… quite good.

After breakfast, Shen Xi took an elegantly wrapped gift box and boarded one of the estate’s white shuttle carts, heading straight for the shell-shaped villa. Standing at the entrance, she took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell.

A housekeeper answered the door. After Shen Xi explained her visit, the woman led her to the third floor and stopped before a door that stood slightly ajar.

“The Madam is in the studio,” the housekeeper whispered, gently pushing the door open.

The May breeze rushed in, carrying the crisp, sweet scent of blooming pear blossoms from the window. The studio was spacious and bright, with sunlight streaming through massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled shadows across the floor.

Shen Xi looked up, and her gaze was instantly, irrevocably captured by the figure by the window.

Meng Xiyao was dressed in a simple, cream-colored maxi dress, sitting by the pear blossoms. She wore a cotton apron flecked with stray paint and was turned sideways to the door, focused on her easel. Her head was slightly tilted, revealing the elegant, slender line of her neck as she held a palette and brush, meticulously detailing the landscape on the canvas.

The sunlight gilded her silhouette with a soft, golden glow. A few pear petals, carried by the wind, had come to rest quietly in her dark hair.

In that heartbeat, time seemed to collapse and roar backward.

Shen Xi felt as though an invisible hand had gripped her heart tight, only to release it suddenly, leaving it to thrum with a violent, uncontrollable rhythm. For a second, she was back more than a decade ago. In the old studio of the ancestral house, covered in climbing vines, the teenage Meng Xiyao used to sit just like this, quietly by the window, painting her world.

And a younger, foolish Shen Xi would always be nearby, pretending to do homework while watching her out of the corner of her eye.

Just then, Meng Xiyao’s brush faltered. She looked up from the canvas and turned her head toward the door.

Their eyes met. The woman’s face was calm, her expression detached. As the wind flowed between them, Shen Xi’s grip tightened on the gift bag. The silence was deafening, a predatory thing ready to swallow her whole.

Finally, Meng Xiyao spoke. “Ah, it’s Miss Shen.”

Her tone was light, flavored with a polite yet unmistakable air of indifference. It was like a silver needle quenched in ice, piercing straight into Shen Xi’s chest. At that moment, Shen Xi could almost hear her heart cracking, the blood starting to seep out. Her throat felt constricted, unable to force out a single syllable.

Meng Xiyao had already looked back at her canvas. Her long lashes cast a quiet shadow over her eyes, her voice neutral. “Come in.”

Only two words, but to Shen Xi, they felt like a reprieve from a death sentence.

Shen Xi nodded, her voice soft. “Sorry to disturb you, Sister Xiyao.”

She naturally slipped back into the old honorific, and then, step by step, she walked boldly into the territory marked by another Alpha.

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