After Becoming an Alpha, I Marked My Nemesis - Chapter 27

The woman in the long black dress approached Zhou Qian, who quickly bowed in gratitude. “Thank you for your support!”

As Zhou Qian straightened up, she got a clear look at the woman’s face. Her appearance was both pure and alluring, and her attire and demeanor suggested she wasn’t an ordinary fan. The dress she was wearing… Zhou Qian remembered seeing it in Mac Magazine last week—the latest summer release, “Black Rose’s Temptation”!

Only ten of these dresses existed worldwide, each priced at a staggering $250,000. The fact that this woman was wearing it to the premiere meant it had been flown in specially. That’s why Zhou Qian found her so extraordinary.

While Zhou Qian was still lost in thought, the woman had already approached her, cradling the bouquet of roses. “Miss Zhou,” she said, “you’ve been saying ‘Thank you for your support’ to all the fans. Could you say something different just for me?”

Ah… this is a first. A fan making such a request?

Zhou Qian chuckled awkwardly. “Okay… okay! Thank you for the flowers, and thank you for your support!”

A hint of resignation crossed the woman’s face as she smiled gently and placed the flowers in Zhou Qian’s arms. The moment their hands brushed, she leaned in close to Zhou Qian’s ear and whispered, “Did you and Song Luoxue accidentally swap outfits today?”

Zhou Qian blinked in surprise. “Huh?”

The woman continued with a smile, “Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. We’ve probably met in the Big Fan Group. I’m Li Pianpian—you know, the Pianpian from the Big Fan Group.”

Zhou Qian froze for a moment. She’s Pianpian? And she came here herself?

What surprised Zhou Qian most was that Pianpian had always sent her flowers without ever revealing her face. Yet here she was, publicly revealing her identity. And… how did she know Zhou Qian had been in the Big Fan Group?

Zhou Qian’s main account wasn’t in the fan group, and she had only used her alt account when she joined. This meant Pianpian must know which alt account belonged to her.

Li Pianpian confirmed her suspicions with a final remark: “Most Beloved Zhou Qian’s Little Kitten—what a charming name. I adore it too.”

Zhou Qian quickly snapped back to reality. “So you’re Pianpian! You always sent me so many flowers during the promotion of my new drama. Thank you so much!”

With that, Zhou Qian bowed deeply to Li Pianpian, trying to conceal her past use of a fake account to infiltrate the fan group. Regardless of how Li Pianpian had found out, bringing it up so openly was incredibly embarrassing.

Li Pianpian continued smiling. “It’s nothing, Miss Zhou. You must have seen the greeting cards I included with the flowers, right?”

Zhou Qian’s expression shifted as she recalled the cards. Feeling flustered, she replied, “Thank you for your affection. I understand your feelings.”

Li Pianpian shook her head. “No, no, no. It’s not affection—it’s infatuation. Though the words share some similarities, they represent different concepts. I’ve been infatuated with Miss Zhou for a long time. May I ask for a kiss on my cheek?”

Zhou Qian’s eyes widened in shock.

Wait… what is she saying? Doesn’t she know Song Luoxue is right here? And they were just showing off their affection for each other!

Zhou Qian stood there awkwardly, feeling utterly lost. Just then, she felt a warm hand grasp her arm, and the flowers in her arms, thrown off balance by the sudden movement, tumbled to the ground.

The scene felt strangely familiar.

“Excuse me, Miss Zhou’s business for today is concluded. If there’s anything else, let’s discuss it another time.”

Hearing the voice, Zhou Qian glanced beside her. Song Luoxue was glaring at Li Pianpian with undisguised hostility. Zhou Qian quickly stepped between them, trying to defuse the silent battle raging between the two women.

Seeing the flowers Li Pianpian had given her scattered on the ground, Zhou Qian bent down to gather them. But Song Luoxue grabbed her hand. “Since they’ve fallen, they’re just trash now. Don’t bother picking them up.” She stood her ground, her eyes still burning with animosity as she glared at Li Pianpian.

Why are you getting jealous in a situation like this?!

Zhou Qian had been about to apologize to Li Pianpian, but to her surprise, Li Pianpian smiled. “You’re right. Flowers that fall on the ground get dirty. I’ll bring you your favorite champagne roses another day. It’s getting late, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Though Li Pianpian wore a smile, her eyes were sharp enough to pierce through anyone. As she left, she deliberately bumped Song Luoxue’s shoulder.

Song Luoxue curled her lip, as if suppressing a surge of anger.

Seeing her expression darken, Zhou Qian quickly took her hand and said, “Luo Xue, most people have already left. Let’s go too?”

Song Luoxue glared at Zhou Qian, then shook off her hand and strode behind the stage.

The incident had happened so suddenly and ended so quickly that Zhou Qian hadn’t even processed it. She stood frozen on the stage for over three minutes before snapping back to reality.

“Sister Qianqian? Sister Qianqian? What’s wrong?” Zhou Qian saw someone waving a hand in front of her face, finally pulling her wandering thoughts back to the present.

“Ah? Nothing…”

Ning Xiao sighed. “I saw Song Yinghou rush out earlier, and when you didn’t come out, I came to find you. What happened between you two? You seemed fine during the premiere livestream. Why does she look so angry now?”

This wasn’t just Ning Xiao’s question; Zhou Qian herself was desperate to know why Song Luoxue was so angry. She had no idea what had triggered such a reaction.

As a celebrity, Zhou Qian often interacted with her fans, and she had already learned from Mo Zhen that Song Luoxue didn’t mind her close interactions with fans. Of course, this was part of her job, but she couldn’t understand why Song Luoxue had suddenly become so jealous, storming out in such a rage.

Click-clack, click-clack—the sound of high heels echoed through the silent parking lot as Song Luoxue returned to her car. She gently pressed her hand against her heaving chest.

Impossible.

This shouldn’t be happening.

How could she be so furious over someone so insignificant? Song Luoxue remembered the last time she had felt such intense anger was back in college, when she first saw Zhou Qian being intimate with someone else. The memory left her chest feeling heavy and uncomfortable all day.

As Song Luoxue sat in her car, trying to calm down, her phone suddenly buzzed with a notification. She looked up, smoothed her stray hairs, and pulled her phone from her purse.

The message was from Zhou Qian. She sent an apologetic emoji followed by the text: “Luo Xue, I’m sorry. I made you angry earlier. Where are you now?”

Song Luoxue was in no mood to deal with Zhou Qian. She turned off her phone and stepped on the gas, leaving the area.

Even with her phone off, Song Luoxue could still hear the constant notification sounds. She desperately wanted to check them but worried her bl00d pressure would spike if she did. Caught in this dilemma, she hesitated back and forth. Perhaps annoyed by the persistent notifications, she finally decided to power off her phone completely.

Just as she switched it off, a message popped up on the screen: “I’m coming to find you.”

Song Luoxue figured that if Zhou Qian was coming to find her, she would go to her villa.

For some reason, Song Luoxue couldn’t shake the image of Zhou Qian being intimate with that woman earlier. Though they hadn’t touched much, the memory made her chest ache—exactly like the last time she’d been angry.

Song Luoxue parked her car by the roadside. It was already 11:30 PM.

Moths buzzed incessantly around the warm yellow streetlights. A woman in a long red dress lit a cigarette beneath the glow. Song Luoxue leaned her arm out the car window and exhaled a deep plume of smoke.

Her newly launched fashion brand had been a resounding success. The reality proved that even after transmigrating to a new world, as long as she retained her intellect and skills, she could rebuild everything from scratch. Song Luoxue lost track of how many cigarettes she smoked, the butts nearly filling the car’s ashtray. When she reached for another, she discovered the pack was empty.

She paused briefly, then thought, Never mind. Since Zhou Qian came to my house today, I’ll just check into a hotel for the night. I don’t want to see her right now.

As Song Luoxue thought this, she stepped on the accelerator and drove away from the streetlight. It was her first time in this area, so she didn’t know where the nearest six-star hotel was. Just as she was about to turn on her phone and car navigation to find a place to stay, she discovered her phone wouldn’t turn on…

Song Luoxue’s heart sank. Her right eyelid had been twitching incessantly while she was smoking earlier, a sign that something bad was about to happen. She hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.

She pressed the power button repeatedly, but the screen remained blank. She distinctly remembered her phone having 30% battery just before she turned it off. How could it suddenly be completely dead?

Refusing to believe it, Song Luoxue held down the power button for a full two minutes before finally giving up. She slumped back in the driver’s seat, her head resting in her hands.

Her phone’s Wi-Fi and the car’s navigation system were connected. She had turned off her phone earlier out of frustration, never imagining it wouldn’t turn back on. It was almost midnight, and the highway was deserted. Was she really going to have to spend the night on the road?