After the Scumbag Alpha Accidentally Marked the Blackened Villain - Chapter 28

The cold, piercing voice of Leng Jinxi suddenly burst through the phone, sending a chill down Lin Bie’s spine. Her shocked expression shattered instantly. That voice was enough to freeze her heart.

Did the villain really think Lin Bie’s words were meant for her?

Panic surged. Lin Bie fumbled with her phone. “No, that’s not what I meant. You misunderstood! I wasn’t talking to you.”

She hurried to explain, terrified her hard-earned reputation was about to take another hit.

Silence lingered on the other end. After her explanation, there was no response. Confused, Lin Bie called out again. Then came a pause in the breathing on the other end, followed by a voice, low and clearly suppressing anger.

“So there was someone else in Miss Lin’s room. No wonder…” Her voice dropped off. Lin Bie couldn’t quite catch the rest, but dread immediately took root in her chest.

She tried to clarify again, but the call had already been cut off.

Lin Bie: “…”

“This is all your fault, System! Of all the times to speak up, you had to do it while I was on the phone with Leng Jinxi. Now look what you’ve done! She totally misunderstood!” Lin Bie fumed, waving her phone in frustration at the air in front of her.

The System replied flatly: [Host, the system’s detection runs continuously. It doesn’t choose specific times to operate. If you find the notifications disruptive, I can enable silent mode.]

[Ding! Friendly Value Detection Silent Mode is now enabled. Reply ‘TD’ to unsubscribe.]

Lin Bie: … This artificial idiot is surprisingly efficient.

“Forget it. Not going to argue with you. But why did Lin Qingsi’s friendliness rating suddenly drop five points? What happened?”

[That, I’m not sure. Each target has their own internal threshold. Perhaps something you did today crossed Lin Qingsi’s red line. I suggest you review your actions.]

Worried about being implicated, the system quickly vanished after offering a parting reminder:

[Interactions with the villain do not benefit your mission progress. Please focus on relevant tasks.]

It was essentially telling her not to stress about angering Leng Jinxi.

Left alone, Lin Bie furrowed her brows, mulling over the system’s words.

What had she done today that could’ve crossed Lin Qingsi’s red line?

As she retraced her actions, her face darkened.

Everything she’d done today seemed like a series of mood-killers for Lin Qingsi: getting caught hiding in Leng Jinxi’s closet, being covered in marks of passion, and then warning the Shan family. Every incident looked bad.

With a forced laugh, she flopped onto her bed.

But upon thinking more deeply, if the system’s friendliness detection was constant, then Lin Qingsi’s dip in rating likely stemmed from the most recent incident.

Which meant… it had to be the phone call.

Lin Bie picked up her phone again. The trending topic about Shan Yi was still climbing.

She scrolled through the main thread and, unsurprisingly, found a highly upvoted video compilation of her confrontation with Shan Yi on set.

Her expression darkened.

Then a new push notification popped up: [Shan Yi responds].

She tapped it. It was a post from Shan Yi on Weibo:

“I didn’t intend to take up public resources. To those who love me and those I love, I’m truly sorry. I’ll be withdrawing from the industry.”

A few dozen words to wrap up a scandal that had brewed all day. The netizens weren’t having it.

Lin Bie skimmed the comment section—mostly backlash and insults—then sighed and exited the app.

Shan Yi’s downfall was entirely self-inflicted. Lin Bie was beginning to understand why the novel had a #NoMoralCompass tag.

Apparently, no one in this story was normal.

Vengeful enemies, forbidden love between sisters, and a volatile villain labeled “mentally unstable” by the original Lin Bie.

She thought back to her last message exchange with Leng Jinxi—discussing the prenuptial agreement. Recalling Leng Jinxi’s cold and angry tone before she hung up, Lin Bie felt a tremor in her chest.

Was Leng Jinxi angry? Did she think Lin Bie didn’t want to marry her because of the system’s mistaken message?

Why did Leng Jinxi get so upset?

Their relationship was supposed to be a political alliance. According to the original Lin Bie’s notes, things between them had been turbulent. There was no way Leng Jinxi had fallen for her.

So why was she so affected by that comment?

Then it struck her—something she had overlooked: Leng Jinxi’s family background.

Leng Jinxi lost her mother young. Her scumbag father brought a bastard child into the house and groomed him as heir, reducing Leng Jinxi and her sister to pawns for marriage alliances. The rightful heirs of the Leng family had been cast aside.

In the latter part of the novel, Leng Jinxi’s first act after gaining power was to crush both the Leng family and the original Lin Bie. That proved she cared about the inheritance. In her current, not-yet-blackened state, this was still ambition.

Right now, Leng Jinxi wasn’t just after a peaceful marriage. She wanted the Lin family’s support.

It all clicked in Lin Bie’s mind.

An engagement wasn’t enough. Only a wedding and a marriage certificate would reassure Leng Jinxi that the Lin family would truly back her. That’s why she was so sensitive about Lin Bie’s words.

Lin Bie collapsed back onto the bed.

Leng Jinxi had suffered so much already. Her family’s legacy was being stolen. She, the rightful heir, was cast out. Who wouldn’t break under that?

The memory of Leng Jinxi’s eventual descent into darkness made Lin Bie’s chest ache.

She could feel a hint of possessiveness in Leng Jinxi’s tone—but it wasn’t about love. It was about trust.

She was the only one Leng Jinxi could rely on.

That’s why she cared so much.

Lin Bie’s heart sank, flooded with guilt. She suddenly wanted to say something to Leng Jinxi.

She opened their chat. Her fingers hovered over the screen, typing and deleting again and again. Finally, she sent a single heartfelt message:

“I’m sorry. I really wasn’t talking to you. I do want to marry you. Please don’t be mad.”

After sending it, she stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

Soon, she saw: [The other party is typing…]

Her eyes lit up. Her heart raced with anticipation.

She didn’t even realize she looked like an eager puppy waiting for her owner to acknowledge her.

It was the first time she’d ever said something so vulnerable to anyone. Especially the part about wanting to marry Leng Jinxi—she couldn’t even bring herself to reread it.

Then, ten seconds later, the “typing” indicator vanished. Lin Bie waited five more minutes. Still nothing.

Half an hour passed. No reply.

Finally, a single anonymous text came through:

“Lin Bie, I’m sorry. Please apologize to your fiancée for me too.”

Just one short sentence, echoing Shan Yi’s earlier Weibo post.

Lin Bie barely glanced at it before blocking and deleting the number.

Whether that apology was out of fear or genuine remorse, neither she nor Leng Jinxi needed it.

Once done, she returned to her chat with Leng Jinxi.

Still no reply. Only her own message hung there, awkward and unanswered.

She knew Leng Jinxi had seen it.

And yet, she was being left hanging.

A wave of irritation surged through Lin Bie.

She turned off her phone and tossed it aside, pulling the blanket over herself.

Ten minutes later, a hand crept out from under the covers, retrieving the phone.

“Hi, are you my sister’s assistant? I’d like to ask about the partnership between our company and the Leng family.”________________________________________

With no job and no immediate threat from the original Lin Bie’s enemies, Lin Bie lazed around the house for three days. Lin Qingsi came home as usual and treated her no differently, making Lin Bie doubt whether her earlier suspicions had been mistaken.

If the doting sister ever discovered her beloved sibling was no longer the same person, Lin Bie suspected Lin Qingsi’s friendliness rating might plummet straight to failure.

Thankfully, after that brief drop, Lin Qingsi’s rating stabilized and even began to rise.

Lin Bie guessed that while Lin Qingsi had noticed something off, she hadn’t confirmed anything yet. So Lin Bie reminded herself to avoid any slip-ups in future interactions.

On the fourth day, she had a filming scene and headed to the set early. She also couldn’t stand the system’s relentless nagging about increasing Su Nian’s friendliness rating.

She had been so focused on observing Lin Qingsi that she had neglected Su Nian, whose rating had stalled for days. She didn’t expect the system to lose patience before she did.

To escape the system’s endless lectures, she made a beeline for Su Nian—only to run into Leng Jinxi instead.

Since their last phone call, they hadn’t spoken at all. Lin Bie had planned to follow the system’s advice and avoid Leng Jinxi.

But the moment she saw her, her resolve melted.

She wanted to scold herself for being so softhearted. But then she thought, the villain had already suffered so much, and she was the only one Leng Jinxi could count on. Holding a grudge now would just be cruel.

So she decided: if Leng Jinxi greeted her, even just with a nod, she wouldn’t hold it against her.

Putting on a stern face, she feigned indifference, but her eyes secretly watched Leng Jinxi approaching.

Twenty meters. Ten.

Her hands clenched nervously inside her sleeves, heart racing with thoughts about how to respond without sounding too stiff.

Then—five meters. Three. One.

Leng Jinxi walked straight toward her.

The gentle scent of camellias drifted closer. It wrapped around Lin Bie, making her heart flutter. She instinctively looked away, though her eyes still followed her in her periphery.

But the scent passed.

Startled, Lin Bie looked up.

Leng Jinxi had walked right past her without stopping—not even a glance.

As if… she were just a stranger.