After My Contract Marriage with the Aloof Omega (GL , ABO) - Chapter 8
Lu Qingzhuo never expected that the first thing Fu Yumian noticed was her bare feet. Her eyes were half-lowered, long, curled lashes trembling slightly, tiny teardrops clinging to them like morning dew.
Her lashes fluttered, the tip of her nose and lips tinged a soft pink. Fu Yumian had only ever seen her on the big screen, adorned with flawless makeup. But before her, Lu Qingzhuo was always bare-faced.
The way she cried was beautiful fragile yet striking, her delicate features like a meticulously carved piece of art. Her lips looked as soft as rose petals glistening with dew.
Lu Qingzhuo’s pheromones carried a faint, pleasant tea fragrance. At this moment, a subtle hint of jasmine seemed to drift through the air, so soothing that Fu Yumian didn’t mind it at all.
Since childhood, Fu Yumian had despised alphas. In her mind, they were an inferior breed jealous, temperamental, and especially terrifying when their rut cycles hit, turning an omega’s life into a nightmare.
The pheromone-blocking patch on Lu Qingzhuo’s neck had peeled at the edges. Unaware of the faint tea scent wafting from her, she twisted her fingers together, lost and uncertain.
Seeing her like this, Fu Yumian softened. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this matter.”
At her words, Lu Qingzhuo’s trembling shoulders stilled. She slowly lifted her gaze to meet Fu Yumian’s eyes only to realize the woman wasn’t wearing her glasses.
Without the sharp frames, Fu Yumian’s features appeared gentler, her usually piercing phoenix eyes now carrying a hint of warmth.
Lu Qingzhuo’s heart skipped a beat for no reason. Pressing her lips together, she murmured, “Thank you, President Fu. You’re my savior…”
Fu Yumian’s fingers twitched at her side, the urge to tuck the loose strands of hair behind Lu Qingzhuo’s ear almost overwhelming.
She resisted. Something told her that getting any closer would lead to unpredictable consequences.
“Is there anything else?” Fu Yumian’s gaze remained steady as she tapped the smooth surface of the desk. “You don’t have to be afraid. Just tell me.”
“N-no, President Fu… You’re so kind…”
Lu Qingzhuo’s eyes were still red whether from prolonged crying or being stifled, it was hard to tell. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her lips glistened with moisture, looking… indecently tempting.
“…”
Fu Yumian’s breath hitched. Instinctively, she gripped the pillow beside her. The moment the tea scent grew stronger, she abruptly stood up.
Lu Qingzhuo, who had been inching closer, startled at the sudden movement. Noticing Fu Yumian’s disheveled collar and distant stare, she softly called out, “President Fu?”, but received no response.
She reached out, only to freeze when Fu Yumian reacted sharply, her arm hovering awkwardly mid-air.
“President Fu, your collar… it’s messy…”
Fu Yumian’s gaze darkened, her voice stiff and cold. “Do what you’re supposed to do.”
“…Oh,” she awkwardly lowered her right hand. Noticing a half-opened bottle of red wine on the table, she suggested: “President Fu, I just opened this 1963 vintage. Would you like to try some?”
Fu Yumian’s pheromones carried a faint red wine fragrance, though only she herself had ever smelled them. She wore scent-blocking patches twenty-four hours a day, ensuring her pheromones never leaked out.
Seeing Fu Yumian remain silent with that intimidating gaze, Lu Qingzhuo gathered her courage: “This wine has such a rich, mellow aroma. Even someone like me who rarely drinks has fallen in love with its scent.”
A subtle red wine fragrance began permeating the space between them. Lu Qingzhuo lightly sniffed the air before pouring a glass and offering it to Fu Yumian with an ingratiating smile. “President Fu, just one taste?”
Fu Yumian turned and walked away without even glancing at the wine glass, leaving Lu Qingzhuo alone on the couch with her smile frozen at the corners of her lips.
“What the hell…”
After Fu Yumian completely disappeared from view, Lu Qingzhuo grumbled under her breath before downing the half-glass in one gulp. That faint, pleasant red wine aroma gradually faded, lingering teasingly at the tip of her nose before vanishing completely.
Not being much of a drinker, Lu Qingzhuo soon felt warmth spreading through her body after two glasses, her head swimming pleasantly. She pushed herself upright, intending to shower and sleep, when an intense burst of red wine fragrance assaulted her nostrils as she passed Fu Yumian’s bedroom door.
Lu Qingzhuo gritted her teeth, fuming internally.
How typical, refusing the wine I offered, only to drink secretly behind my back.
The scent was so strong it penetrated the closed door. She probably broke the bottle in there.
Knocking gently, she called out sweetly, “President Fu, is everything alright? Do you need help?”
Separated by the thick wooden door, Lu Qingzhuo couldn’t possibly know what was happening inside. As the rich, intoxicating wine aroma filled her senses, heat pooled low in her abdomen. Weak-kneed, she leaned against the doorframe, her upper body slightly hunched.
Inside, Fu Yumian lay curled on the soft bed, her clothes disheveled beneath a thin blanket. Her usually sharp phoenix eyes now glistened with moisture, delicate sweat beading across her forehead and tracing down her elegant jawline to dampen the sheets.
With flushed cheeks and bitten lips suppressing sweet moans, she was startled by Lu Qingzhuo’s voice outside.
“Go away!”
Fu Yumian tried to sound normal, but the breathy lilt betrayed her condition. The already lightheaded Lu Qingzhuo, however, missed the suggestive undertones. Heart wounded, she retreated from the door, silently lamenting how this ice sculpture of a woman had frozen her affections.
The dim room hung heavy with the palpable essence of red wine, permeating every pore of Fu Yumian’s trembling body as she collapsed face-down on the bed, her shuddering shoulders revealing what her pride would never admit.
Her fingertips were damp with a faint sheen of sweat sticky, moist, carrying a hint of metallic sweetness. Fu Yumian coughed twice, biting down hard on the bedsheet as she ground her teeth, her eyes heavy with desire.
Her heat had come early.
The culprit behind all this was that damned green tea-scented alpha.
Just a whiff of the other’s faint pheromones had reduced her to this state. The higher the compatibility between an alpha and omega, the more an invisible thread seemed to bind them together, entangling them inextricably, entwined until death.
“Ah…”
Fu Yumian gasped softly, her entire body drenched in sweat as if freshly pulled from water, the perspiration saturated with the scent of red wine pheromones.
Her waist was slender yet toned unlike the delicate fragility of typical omegas, Fu Yumian resembled an incompletely differentiated alpha, her tall, elegant frame radiating a powerful grace in every movement.
Now, her back arched, the delicate contours of her shoulder blades protruding slightly as her trembling waist lost strength, her upper body supported only by her long legs.
“Mmm…”
A long time later, Fu Yumian lay motionless on the bed, her phoenix eyes half-lidded and vacant as she stared at the canopy, thinking that indulging Lu Qingzhuo had been nothing but trouble.
Her pale legs dangled limply over the edge, delicate toes brushing the floor, her entire body soaked through with sweat and sticky fluids.
The light brown sheets were drenched, darkened to a deep umber, the thin blanket equally sodden. Fu Yumian cast a fleeting glance before heading to the bath, leaving the cleanup to the beta servants.
By the time she emerged, fresh linens had replaced the soiled ones. She lay back down, her body light as a feather.
Lu Qingzhuo hadn’t slept well all night. The moment she closed her eyes, vivid dreams consumed her, even one where she became a snow-white serpent coiled around a slender, beautiful wrist, flicking her tongue to lick that hand.
Those hands were soft and smooth, stroking the serpent’s scales from below, fingertips scraping and teasing until the snake hissed pleasurably.
In her sleep, Lu Qingzhuo clenched her thighs, savoring the phantom touch. But when she looked up, Fu Yumian’s face loomed over her, jolting her awake in a cold sweat.
“Ugh…”
A nightmare…
Her body tingled, legs weak as she buried herself under the covers. Birds chirped outside morning had come. Lu Qingzhuo resolved never to overindulge in red wine before bed again. What bizarre dreams, and of all people, to dream of Fu Yumian’s face…
After washing up, Lu Qingzhuo passed Fu Yumian’s bedroom on her way to breakfast, only to see servants carrying out a large bed while Han Tian observed from the doorway.
“Assistant Han, that bed looks fine. Why replace it?”
Recognizing it as Fu Yumian’s, Lu Qingzhuo inwardly sighed. See? Such wasteful habits had even infected those around her.
Han Tian replied politely, “It was Ms. Fu’s decision.”
“But this bed must be worth a fortune. Are you planning to carry it out and sell it?”
Lu Qingzhuo could tell at a glance that this bed was extremely valuable. The natural wood grain, the gilded bedposts, the exquisitely carved headboard, you couldn’t get such a fine bed for less than several million.
Though given CEO Fu’s wealth, even sleeping on a bed worth tens of millions would be perfectly reasonable.
“CEO Fu’s orders are to burn this bed.”
Lu Qingzhuo: “…”
“Burn it?” she asked incredulously. “Did this bed grow a spirit and bite CEO Fu or something? It doesn’t deserve such a fate!”