The Five Heartless Scumbag Alphas Turned Against Each Other Because Of Me - Chapter 17
Tan Hua smiled. “She touched me. What’s the point of telling you now?”
The Omega’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “What, are you planning to run back and start a fight with her?”
“That’s enough, President Zheng. Stop putting on this act of deep affection in front of me.”
Tan Hua pulled back her wrist, which Zheng Jinyu had gripped too tightly. Her brows furrowed, but her voice was indifferent. “It’s fine if you want to fool yourself. But me?”
Her smile deepened, eyes bright. “I’m afraid it’s useless.”
Zheng Jinyu couldn’t even describe what she was feeling—anger? Or perhaps disappointment?
Looking at Tan Hua’s light and careless demeanor, she was overwhelmed with rage. She couldn’t help but chase after her again and grab her arm. “You’re lying to me.”
In truth, Zheng Jinyu wasn’t sure. She was clinging to a sliver of hope, desperately wanting to hear the answer she desired from Tan Hua’s mouth.
Tan Hua stared at her for a moment, then suddenly broke into a brilliant smile. “Congratulations, you guessed right.”
“But there’s no reward.”
Tan Hua wrapped her arms around herself, her face innocent. “Is that the answer you were hoping for?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Zheng Jinyu said, flustered by the sharp defenses Tan Hua had raised.
The Tan Hua she used to know had always been obedient and gentle before her, never like this—never so eager to plunge a knife into the softest part of her heart.
Zheng Jinyu opened her mouth, her voice weak. “I just thought you could find a proper job and live freely and happily.”
“Didn’t expect President Zheng to be so fond of preaching.”
Tan Hua’s smile deepened, though it never reached her eyes. Beneath her pale eyelids, her dark pupils were cold and indifferent. “But there’s one thing you seem to have misunderstood—I quite like my current job.”
“Just a casual dance, a bit of piano playing, and I can earn 2.5 million a night. Isn’t that better than any other job I could do?”
“Even if it were just 500,000, if Lu Huaixu tells me to go east, I absolutely won’t go west.”
Tan Hua brushed a hand through her hair, every movement full of sultry charm. “President Zheng, you’ve grown up in comfort, always above the rest. You’ll never understand people like me.”
“And besides,” Tan Hua continued with a polite but tired smile, “we don’t have anything to do with each other anymore. So what I want to do, or am doing, really isn’t your concern.”
“All right?”
Every word Tan Hua spoke made sense, yet Zheng Jinyu couldn’t help but feel deeply unsettled.
The Omega’s coldness and indifference crashed over her without mercy. Everything Zheng Jinyu feared most about her was now vividly on display.
Her chest tightened painfully, leaving her breathless.
Tan Hua’s smile gradually faded. She turned to leave. Realizing this, Zheng Jinyu reflexively reached out and grabbed her. “Huahua.”
Her voice lacked strength.
“Is there something else, President Zheng?” Tan Hua looked back, her tone icy enough to freeze Zheng Jinyu to the bone.
Zheng Jinyu’s heart trembled. Under the weight of that cold, questioning gaze, her red lips parted slightly. “Don’t get involved with Lu Huaixu anymore.”
Tan Hua was just about to ask if she was trying to cut off her income, when Zheng Jinyu added, “Come to me instead.”
“You know, I’d never treat you the way she does. I’d never hurt or make things difficult for you.”
Tan Hua blinked, digesting her words, then suddenly lit up with excitement. “You’re trying to steal Lu Huaixu’s woman?!”
Well, this was something else—a real eye-opener.
Wasn’t her relationship with Lu Huaixu quite deep? And now here she was, secretly trying to poach her woman? How despicable.
Tan Hua couldn’t help but look at her expectantly, hoping Zheng Jinyu wasn’t lying, wasn’t playing with her feelings.
Zheng Jinyu froze, caught off guard by the phrasing. Then the Alpha frowned slightly. “If that’s how you want to see it… then yes.”
“What about the price?”
Tan Hua immediately shifted into negotiation mode. “What are you offering?”
“There’s the Lu Huaixu model—performance only, no intimacy.”
She paused. “High-end custom art like dance and piano… and, of course, exclusive services where you can do whatever you want.”
“But those services come at a different price.”
“Lu Huaixu hasn’t even tried that last one yet.”
Tan Hua leaned in slowly, her fragrance wrapping around Zheng Jinyu’s breath like a spell. Zheng Jinyu stood frozen.
“So, President Zheng…”
Tan Hua’s voice was teasing, sensual. “Want to give it a try?”
Zheng Jinyu’s brows furrowed the moment she heard the first sentence. With every word Tan Hua uttered, her frown deepened, until by the time Tan Hua finished speaking, Zheng Jinyu’s brows were so tightly knitted they could crush a fly.
After a long pause, Zheng Jinyu asked, her gaze dark and unreadable, “Is that all you do for her?”
Tan Hua raised an eyebrow, her smile laced with amusement. “What else? What did you think I was doing? Selling my body?”
Zheng Jinyu was silent for a moment. “That’s not what I meant…”
Her words were cut off by the chime of an incoming message. Tan Hua took out her phone, glanced at the message, and then casually held the screen up for Zheng Jinyu to see. She said nothing—but in that silence, she said everything.
Zheng Jinyu’s lips pressed into a thin line. She wanted to speak but suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Tan Hua chuckled, looking like a seductive siren, her charm deliberates and dangerous. She leaned in closer. “If you can offer a better price than her, I’ll work for you.”
She reached out, her soft fingers sliding over Zheng Jinyu’s skin like a serpent. “You get what you pay for. The more you offer, the more obediently I’ll follow your every command.”
Each word from the Omega was dripping with honeyed allure. Zheng Jinyu couldn’t deny it—her heart skipped a beat.
But in the end, reason prevailed. She didn’t fall so easily into temptation. Her gaze locked onto Tan Hua’s dark, ink-like eyes with rare seriousness. “Huahua, I know you’re only doing this out of spite.”
“I wronged you. I know it hurts. But you don’t have to degrade yourself like this.”
Zheng Jinyu tried to talk her back from the edge with logic. “Lu Huaixu…” she hesitated, then frowned. “She’s not as harmless as you think.”
“She’s dangerous. You shouldn’t get involved with her so lightly.”
“Dangerous?”
Tan Hua perked up, clearly intrigued. She tilted her head, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “How dangerous, exactly? She can’t possibly be as cold and heartless as you, can she?”
The words struck Zheng Jinyu off guard, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Seeing this, Tan Hua lost interest in continuing the conversation. “Whether she’s dangerous or not, I’ll find out for myself. My business, President Zheng, is none of your concern.”
With that, she gave a breezy wave. “Good night, President Zheng. Until we meet again~”
Her figure swayed gracefully as she walked away. The jacket on her shoulders hung loosely—it was Zheng Jinyu’s, but on Tan Hua, the oversized fit gave off a languid, sensual allure. Especially those long, slender legs paired with black high heels—they teased the eye, a temptation just barely out of reach.
For a moment, Zheng Jinyu found herself dazed.
Was Tan Hua always like this?
No… she wasn’t.
Back then, she had gone out of her way to appear gentle and harmless, carefully dressing herself up in a facade of purity and innocence. But her naturally seductive features—those slightly upturned eyes that seemed to ensnare with a glance—always betrayed the image she tried so hard to maintain.
Had Tan Hua stayed true to herself from the beginning instead of bending to others’ expectations, Zheng Jinyu thought, she would have been dazzling—unforgettably so.
But she hadn’t. Back then, she wore those bland, plain dresses. Though still beautiful, there had always been something off—something that left an odd taste, something that irked people just by existing.
Like a clumsy imitation of a refined beauty—destined to be disliked.
Now, Tan Hua had shed that false innocence completely. There wasn’t a trace of who she used to be, and yet, Zheng Jinyu’s heart suddenly fluttered.
The Alpha felt a pang of something she couldn’t name.
A strange feeling crept in—like everything was slowly slipping out of her control, heading in the direction she least wanted.
It had been Zheng Jinyu who brought up divorce in the first place. But now… she wasn’t so sure it had been the right decision.
If she hadn’t divorced Tan Hua back then, would she now have the right to oppose her getting involved with Lu Huaixu? Would she be able to use a firmer hand, to keep Tan Hua under her control?
No—
Zheng Jinyu’s thoughts scattered.
Even now, despite the divorce… it felt like she could still make Tan Hua listen.
As long as she was willing to pay the right price.
Zheng Jinyu quietly pressed her lips together, wavering.
If Lu Huaixu could do it—why couldn’t she?