"After Becoming the Protagonist's Scumbag Alpha Ex-Wife" (ABO) - Chapter 20

In an ordinary house in Shangjing, Su Xiaorong lay on a small children’s bed, looking clearly displeased.

“Mommy, I want to go back to the big villa. I don’t like it here,” she pouted.

“We’ll be going back soon, don’t worry,” Su Yuecha said, gently patting her. “Aunt Qin will come get us sooner or later.”

“Really?” Su Xiaorong asked.

“Really. Be good and go to sleep now,” Su Yuecha replied.

Su Xiaorong smiled, closed her big eyes, and drifted off to sleep, feeling at ease.

Su Yuecha picked up the calendar and crossed off another day. There was only one day left until the date she had marked with a star.

Assistant Wang said Qin Ran would be going to work tomorrow—she was curious to see how Qin Ran would handle things.

Now that the divorce was about to happen, if her legal wife refused to mark her, and Qin Ran didn’t want to be blamed as the one at fault, she’d have to use suppressants.

But regular suppressants didn’t work on Qin Ran. Only the high-strength formula Su Yuecha had made could suppress her heat symptoms.

Otherwise, Qin Ran would start to suffer early in the cycle—not just pain in her glands, but full-body discomfort too. If left unchecked, it could spiral into a feral, heat-driven episode.

If she didn’t want to suffer or embarrass herself… she’d have no choice but to get down on her knees and beg.

Su Yuecha curled her lips into a smile. She was very much looking forward to tomorrow.

*****

Meanwhile, in the Wen family villa, Qin Ran had gone upstairs to shower and change into her pajamas. After the warm water ran over her glands, the heat there only intensified.

She sprayed some suppressant mist from the bottle kept in the room. The cooling sensation helped soothe the heat in her glands a little.

As a therapist, Qin Ran had better gland control than most people. Right now, they were only slightly warm, so she didn’t pay it much mind.

She browsed through some documents for a while, then went to bed.

Soon after falling asleep, she began to dream.

The scent of roasted chestnuts filled the dream—just the right texture, soft and sweet, with a milky undertone that made every bite melt in her mouth.

Even sweeter than the chestnuts was the soft, delicate voice that came with a faint sob in its tone. It made her heart ache with tenderness and stoked a hunger deep within her.

She knew it was a dream, but she didn’t want to wake up.

But beautiful things never lasted. Just as she was sinking into it, a giant black hand reached out from the void and yanked everything down into the abyss. It all vanished.

In the middle of the night, Qin Ran jolted awake, sitting up in bed and clutching her burning glands.

She sniffed the air, but there was nothing—only the scent of shampoo and body wash. No roasted chestnuts.

She sighed in disappointment, her eyes staring blankly into the darkness.

It had been five years since she last dreamed of her. That little omega she once marked—her junior who had once come to her for therapy.

That unique, sugary roasted chestnut scent… it was better than any floral or fruity perfume. So unforgettable.

Now that she thought back on it, she could remember the feel of her skin, the softness of her hair, her small frame—and that delicate space she could hold in the palm of her hand…

Qin Ran couldn’t sleep much after that. She sprayed suppressant several more times, got up around five in the morning to work out, then showered and got dressed by six. After reading some files on her computer, she went downstairs when A’Mei called her for breakfast.

Wen Qingyun was already up and eating breakfast with Rou Rou in the dining room.

She was having a sandwich and sipping milk through a straw, without letting Rou Rou feed her.

Maybe the therapy from Qin Ran’s pheromones last night had helped. Even though things were still far from optimistic, the restlessness that had plagued Wen Qingyun these past few days had somehow settled.

She’d fallen asleep as soon as she lay down, and her sleep quality was much better.

She looked refreshed this morning, with a bit of color returning to her pale face. Her already striking features were now even more vivid, even without makeup.

Qin Ran glanced at the mother and daughter, then lowered her head and quietly ate her own breakfast.

Right now, more than anything, she wanted freedom. She wanted to move up to the Administrative Council and find the contact info for the person from her dream.

No matter how pretty Wen Qingyun was, her beauty only gave Qin Ran a fleeting moment of admiration. It stirred nothing in her heart.

“You’re going to the research institute today?” she asked Wen Qingyun after breakfast.

“That’s what we agreed. I’ll need a wheelchair,” Wen Qingyun nodded and showed her something on her tablet.

“Alright, then we’ll go together. I’ll drop Rou Rou off at school on the way,” Qin Ran replied.

There was a wheelchair at home, though Wen Qingyun didn’t like using it. But since she was leaving the house and going to the lab, she finally agreed for the sake of safety.

Qin Ran asked A’Mei to bring the folded wheelchair and put it in the trunk. Once everyone was ready, they got in the car together.

When they arrived at the kindergarten, Qin Ran got out to escort Rou Rou inside.

“Be careful at school today, okay? Until your body is stronger, take everything slow. From now on, you’re part of the Slow-Mo Squad, alright?” she said as she carried Rou Rou out of the car, worried the little girl might fall and cry again.

“But if I go slow, won’t other kids think I’m an alien?” Rou Rou tilted her head and asked seriously.

“Uh… no, of course not. The Slow-Mo Squad is a secret. No one else knows about it. Just be good and take your time. Once you’re stronger, then you can start racing with the others,” Qin Ran said, surprised the child had taken her words so seriously. She couldn’t help but smile helplessly.

Rou Rou nodded, her expression relaxing.

Wen Qingyun sat in the car, watching as Qin Ran walked Rou Rou into the school.

Yesterday, Qin Ran had acted like a perfectly competent wife at the Administrative Center. And from last night to this morning, she’d played the role of a caring mother.

It was all too perfect… far too perfect to be real.

How could it be?

Relying on others to suddenly change was unrealistic—it was better to make herself invincible.

Wen Qingyun’s expression gradually turned cold. By the time Qin Ran turned and got into the car, she had already returned to her usual distant, icy self.

When Qin Ran sat back in the front passenger seat, she immediately felt like the temperature in the car had dropped a few degrees. She glanced at Wen Qingyun’s cold face but didn’t say anything. She simply told the driver, Xiao Zhang, to head toward the company.

What they didn’t notice was that not far behind their car, a red sedan had rolled down its window.

“She used to hate that little chubby kid so much. Now look at her—acting like such a doting mom,” a mocking voice came from inside. The woman speaking was Su Yuecha, who had just finished dropping off her child at school.

“Jingyi, don’t you think so? Do we really need to keep trying to please that woman?” Su Yuecha turned to the driver’s seat and asked the woman sitting there.

“I—I don’t know…” The woman, who had short hair and wore thick glasses, looked flustered, a blush creeping onto her face.

“You don’t know anything besides research. Whatever, let’s just head to the company,” Su Yuecha said with a bored sigh, leaning back into her seat. The woman in front started the car.

Meanwhile, in Qin Ran’s car, she stared blankly at the road ahead.

At a red light, she suddenly caught sight of a roasted chestnut shop in the distance. Almost instantly, her mouth began to water.

“Brother Xiao Zhang, could you turn at the corner up ahead and stop by the road? I want to buy something,” she said to the driver.

The car pulled over, and Qin Ran got out and walked straight toward the chestnut shop.

It was winter, and the smell of roasted chestnuts wafted over from a distance.

The plump little chestnuts sat obediently in bamboo baskets, their caramel color gleaming, looking warm, cute, and incredibly appetizing.

Qin Ran bought a bag and returned to the car.

The moment she stepped in, the sweet aroma of roasted chestnuts filled the cabin.

Wen Qingyun, who had been looking at her tablet, raised her head when she smelled the scent. From the corner of her eye, she saw Qin Ran in the front seat, holding a paper bag labeled “Roasted Chestnuts” and burying her face in it to take a deep whiff.

“Ugh…” Wen Qingyun’s expression darkened. Her brows furrowed, and she looked visibly displeased.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist buying some,” Qin Ran said after catching Wen Qingyun’s expression in the rearview mirror. “You don’t like them? Want to try one?” she asked, closing the top of the bag.

“…No,” Wen Qingyun said coldly, slipping on a face mask without another word.

Qin Ran said nothing more. Seriously? She didn’t like roasted chestnuts?

Qin Ran carefully peeled one, popped it in her mouth, and slowly savored it.

The flavor still fell short of the chestnut-scented pheromone from her dream—this was a little oilier and sweeter, and it lacked the creamy undertone. But it was better than nothing, enough to slightly ease that deep, gnawing hunger inside her.

Maybe it was because of her lingering feelings. As she looked at each round, golden chestnut, all she could think of was her little omega—soft, sweet, and lovable.

Even peeling off the shell and revealing the tender flesh inside made her feel oddly guilty.

Qin Ran ate five or six soft, sweet chestnuts along the way, and the gloom from this morning’s dream began to lift a little.

But perhaps the chestnut aroma also reminded her of the more intimate part of the dream. The heat in her glands—which had been subdued by suppressants—started to flare up again.

According to normal standards, that suppressant mist should last twenty-four hours with just one spray.

For Qin Ran, it barely lasted three.

She had always thought she had better pheromone control than most people. But this body had changed a lot over the past five years. Once her susceptibility phase hit, the symptoms weren’t just pheromonal—her hormones surged across the board.

Her cycle hadn’t even truly started, yet her body was already reacting.

It felt… awful.

Qin Ran folded the paper chestnut bag and stopped eating. She pulled out the suppressant spray and spritzed her neck gland again, then added a patch she’d found in her room to help suppress the surge.

Wen Qingyun, still looking at her tablet, glanced over at the sound and caught sight of the patch on Qin Ran’s neck. Her gaze was icy, but she quickly looked back down at her screen.

“Brother Xiao Zhang, let’s go to the research institute first,” Qin Ran told the driver.

As the car headed toward the institute, she called Assistant Wang and asked him to arrange for the project lead to report on their progress once they arrived.

When they reached the front of Wenshi Group Pharmaceuticals’ biotech research institute, Qin Ran opened the trunk, took out the folded wheelchair, and set it up by the car. Then she opened the door.

“You go check the archive room first,” she told Wen Qingyun. “I’ll handle the lab access and your security badge. Someone will come get you.”

Wen Qingyun nodded and moved into the wheelchair. It was electric—one push of a button and it could move and steer on its own. No need for Qin Ran to help.

Qin Ran swiped her access card to open the research institute’s doors and led Wen Qingyun inside.

Assistant Wang was already waiting. Qin Ran asked him to arrange a temporary visitor badge and take Wen Qingyun to the archive room. Then she headed to her office to prepare for several project briefings.

After hearing a few reports in a row, it was time for the new suppressant development project.

Then suddenly a person walked in… it was Su Yuecha.

“Good morning, President Qin. This is the current report on the new suppressant research project. I’ll walk you through the latest progress and our next steps.”

Su Yuecha’s tone was calm and professional, her voice soft and sweet as she spoke like any ordinary researcher. She placed the paper report on Qin Ran’s desk and took a seat.

But just then, a wave of omega pheromones subtly wafted from her body.

Qin Ran’s glands, which had finally been calmed… were instantly triggered again.