After the Scumbag Alpha Accidentally Marked the Blackened Villain - Chapter 25.2

“The correction mechanism targets the host and must be borne by the host alone. For your own safety, I sincerely advise you to follow the mission guidelines and not cross the system’s red lines.”

This was the first time the system had ever sounded… human.

After listening to this long string of explanations, Lin Bie fell silent.

So there were this many layers of protocols behind each mission. Each step so precise, so rigid. The AI truly was intelligent. Lin Bie couldn’t help but feel curious about how such a system was built.

Still, the system’s warning didn’t feel immediately useful. She had already decided to stay away from Leng Jinxi—for her own sake, and for Leng Jinxi’s safety. Distance was the best option for both of them now.

After ending her conversation with the system, Lin Bie reached the main gate of Hengdian. In the distance, she spotted Lin Qingsi’s car—and the woman herself, standing beside it, smoking.

She had only met this older sister of hers a few times. But nearly every time, Lin Qingsi had a cigarette in hand, her features always shadowed by a persistent melancholy.

As Lin Bie approached, Lin Qingsi stubbed out her half-smoked cigarette and let the wind carry the scent away from her.

“Let’s go.”

She opened the driver’s side door without a single question.

That silence, more than any outburst, unnerved Lin Bie.

Had Lin Qingsi scolded her outright—been angry, disappointed, even furious—she could have handled it. But this quiet, this pretending-nothing-happened… that was far more terrifying.

She was suddenly reminded of when, as a child, she’d written homework for a classmate just to get a candy. Her grandmother had found out—but hadn’t scolded or hit her. That quiet tension had left her sleepless.

And the next morning, she’d found that exact candy waiting on her nightstand.

But this time, there would be no such sweet ending.

The hickeys and bite marks on her neck were concealed with powder, but she wasn’t sure if Lin Qingsi had seen them. The excuse of “borrowing the shower because she got dirty” might fly… unless someone noticed the marks. There was no explaining those away.

She sighed inwardly. Everything was tangled, chaotic, utterly hopeless.

The car left Hengdian, and the silence inside grew heavy. Lin Bie tried to speak several times but swallowed her words each time, too awkward to break the tension.

When they finally hit a red light entering the city, Lin Qingsi turned and looked at her. Her expression was… complicated.

Lin Bie lowered her head, bracing for scolding or disappointment.

“Xiao Bie, I trust you’re not like before anymore,” Lin Qingsi said, her voice oddly calm. “I get it, you two are a couple. You’ve got your kinks. But next time, could you give me a heads-up? I nearly screamed when I walked in.”

Lin Bie: “???”

Her pupils trembled. She snapped her head up and stared at the woman in shock, too stunned to speak.

“No, no, no. It’s not like that. Jie, what are you even thinking?”

Seeing Lin Qingsi’s helpless, awkward expression, Lin Bie felt her brain short-circuit.

So Lin Qingsi thought she and Leng Jinxi had been doing some kind of extreme play?

That was worse than being accused of being a pervert.

“I swear it’s not like that,” Lin Bie stammered. “It wasn’t a kink thing—it was Shan Yi.”

Lin Qingsi’s eyes widened in disbelief. Her voice trembled. “Shan Yi was involved too? You three—?!”

Lin Bie: “……”

Jie, what kind of nightmare are you imagining?

She quickly cut her off. “No! Look, it’s a long story. During my lunch break today…”

She gave a rough summary of what had happened.

As the story unfolded, Lin Qingsi’s expression darkened, eventually turning stormy enough to drip water.

“I can’t believe the Shan family’s second daughter would pull something like that.” Her brows knit together. “And during active business cooperation between the Shan and Lin families? Unbelievable! Shan Nianwu, this is the daughter you raised?”

She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. “Shan Nianwu spoils his youngest daughter like crazy. I didn’t think she’d go this far.”

Then she remembered Lin Bie had just greeted Shan Yi warmly at the banquet the day before. Her face turned icy. “You just met her at the banquet yesterday, and today she’s pulling this? If Shan Nianwu won’t discipline his daughter, don’t blame me for doing it for him.”

She pulled the car into a parking lot and whipped out her phone to make a call.

But Lin Bie quickly stopped her.

“Jie, don’t be mad yet. I already have a way to fight back. I just need a little help from you.”

________________________________________

Meanwhile, back in Hengdian—

The lounge had fallen silent. Only Leng Jinxi remained, curled on the sofa, stroking the kitten in her lap.

But her thoughts were full of Lin Bie.

Lin Bie sitting there. Lin Bie in the shower. Lin Bie placing the suppression patch on her. Lin Bie hiding in the closet.

So many traces of her remained, yet her pheromone scent had faded—lost amid the chaos of others. The room suddenly felt empty.

She set the kitten aside and walked to the wardrobe, eyes dark with emotion.

She crouched and pulled out a jacket—one faintly scented with Lin Bie’s unique mix of tequila and lime. She brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply. Her lips curved slightly, her eyes filled with longing.

Lying on the sofa, she draped the jacket over herself, burying her face in the fabric, curling up around it. Only then did the aching emptiness in her chest feel slightly soothed.

But it wasn’t enough. The scent was too faint. She wanted more. She wanted to be surrounded by Lin Bie’s pheromones like she was in that storage room—comforted, claimed, consumed.

“…Mm…”

Her brows furrowed.

She didn’t just want the scent—she wanted all of Lin Bie.

Trembling beneath the jacket, her shallow breaths grew heavier. Her ink-dark eyes swirled with possessiveness and obsession.

Three months ago, when Leng Xiuming had told her she was to be engaged to Gu Ban, she’d found a stray kitten while wandering outside. The pitiful thing reminded her of herself—lost, fragile, unable to choose its own fate. So she took it home, wanting to give the little cat the freedom she herself didn’t have.

That night, she had gotten soaked in the rain and spent hours comforting the scared kitten in wet clothes. Eventually, she collapsed with a high fever.

And dreamed—chaotic, fragmented dreams that left her entire being aching. She remembered nothing except the final image: a woman holding her, smiling gently.

Later, when investigating Gu Ban’s background, she’d run into Lin Bie—still a reckless party girl. She saw her lounging in a bar, arms draped over two strangers, and felt a cold, uncontrollable rage surge inside her.

For what? For a woman she didn’t even know, who had only appeared once in a dream?

It was the first time she realized she could feel. That her rage could burn away reason. That she wanted to take that woman away. Lock her up. Keep her forever.

Why?

Now, spent and weak after a sudden heat, she clutched Lin Bie’s jacket tighter, drawing comfort from the lingering scent.

Her phone lit up on the table.

A message from Lin Bie: [I’m home.]

She remembered she had asked Lin Bie to let her know once she got home safely.

So obedient.

Leng Jinxi’s lips curved into a soft smile, warmed by that small act of loyalty.

So much better than the Lin Bie she first met—so much better that she now wondered if she had become an entirely different person.

And that doubt only grew with time. The more she learned about the “old” Lin Bie—the one who drank, partied, hooked up—the more she found it impossible to reconcile with the current version.

Even someone trying to change would retain some traces of their core self.

She’d investigated everything: Lin Bie’s allergies, her hobbies, her friends—and nothing matched the person she was now.

That dissonance consumed her nightly thoughts.

Which one was the real Lin Bie?

Leng Jinxi lowered her eyes. Weak and weary, she didn’t reply. She was about to shut her phone when—

A Weibo alert popped up.

#Shan Yi’s Morality Scandal—Leave the Industry Already!# (Exploding)