After the Scumbag Alpha Accidentally Marked the Blackened Villain - Chapter 9

Can someone really change this much in a single day? Leng Jinxi didn’t believe it—unless Lin Bie wanted something from her.

The fever had left Leng Jinxi’s mind cloudy and throbbing with pain. She didn’t want to play games with Lin Bie anymore.

“If my sister asked you to do this, then there’s no need,” she said, her gaze lowered to the glass of water on the table. “This marriage benefits both families. Besides, I’ve already explained everything that happened last night to her. You don’t need to fake anything.”

She picked up the cup and swallowed her medicine in one go. “I’m tired. You should rest.”

She clearly intended to end the conversation, but didn’t go as far as telling Lin Bie to leave.

Lin Bie’s heart was pounding wildly, but she forced herself to maintain the poise she’d mastered from years of acting. “You’re overthinking. I just felt too guilty about last night. And since I answered the call, it’s only right I follow through on what I promised Xiao Li. Get some rest.”

Once she was lying on the companion cot beside the bed, Lin Bie’s heart finally began to slow its frantic pace.

“System, did Leng Jinxi figure something out?!”

She practically screamed it in her head—completely unlike her composed facade.

System: [No abnormal signs detected from the villain. She likely just found your sudden friendliness suspicious. Don’t forget, villains are top-tier when it comes to intuition and observation.]

System: [Also, host, you’ve already spent too much time with the villain today. If you don’t make progress with the other mission targets, you’ll be penalized.]

Lin Bie frowned. “Got it,” she muttered, then paused as another question surfaced.

“If I finish the mission and return, will the original host come back? Will the world reset to its original course, like how it was written in the plot?”

System: [If the host leaves, the original owner returns. The system will no longer regulate the world’s events. The original host won’t have memory of what happened during your stay, so the plot may change.]

It was clear. Only one Lin Bie was allowed to exist in this world. If she stayed, the original couldn’t return. If she left, the original would resume her place.

“I understand.”

System: [Since you understand how important this choice is, you need to hurry and focus on your missions. Su Nian’s favorability has already risen to 5%, but Lin Qingsi is still stuck at negative 20. That’s way too slow. Don’t you want to go home?]

“Of course I do. But I have one more question. What is the favorability score based on?”

System: [You just need to make the two heroines like you. This is a clean-scenario system. None of the messy romantic drama from the original novel will happen. Don’t worry.]

The system’s answer was vague, but it aligned with what Lin Bie had guessed. If it hadn’t taken action despite her repeated denials of being a scumbag, it meant she had considerable leeway.

She turned on her side and smiled.

She didn’t choose Mission Two—turning Leng Jinxi into a villain—not because she wanted to manipulate feelings. The girls’ emotions shouldn’t be toyed with just because of her mission.

As long as she fooled the system, that was enough.

—

In the middle of the night, Leng Jinxi’s fever returned. Lin Bie was a light sleeper to begin with. Her glands at the nape of her neck began to heat up, reacting to the Omega’s overwhelming pheromones.

She woke up with a frown, the scent of camellia flooding the room.

Her expression shifted. She rushed to Leng Jinxi’s side. The closer she got, the stronger the fragrance. Lin Bie bit her lip, suppressing her Alpha instincts, and softly called out Leng Jinxi’s name.

Leng Jinxi’s brows were tightly furrowed. Her fair skin flushed a deep red—not from fever, but from something more dangerous. Her eyes fluttered open, heavy-lidded and dewy with allure.

Lin Bie’s breath hitched. Her glands throbbed wildly. She instantly regretted staying overnight.

“I’ll get a suppressant patch,” she said quickly, turning to leave—but a hot hand suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling her off balance and onto the bed.

The next moment, she found herself tangled in warmth. An Omega’s burning body curled into her arms, rich pheromones overwhelming her senses.

Leng Jinxi’s fingers reached for her collar.

“Leng Jinxi, calm down!” Lin Bie gasped, pinning both her wrists to keep her still.

Even with a suppressant patch on, the scent engulfed her. Her breaths came shorter and faster. Her nape burned, instincts howling to surface.

She twisted away from Leng Jinxi, one hand reaching for the nightstand drawer.

“It’s so hot… It hurts…” Leng Jinxi murmured, her consciousness blurred by her heat. She instinctively sought out the Alpha’s scent—tequila and lime, so close yet out of reach.

“Please… help me…” Her voice was weak, trembling, like she was about to cry. It could shatter anyone’s heart.

She thrashed, yanking one wrist free, trying to climb back into Lin Bie’s arms. Lin Bie gritted her teeth, wrapping her legs around Leng Jinxi to hold her in place.

Finally, she tore open the drawer, pulled out a suppressant patch, ripped the packaging with one hand, lifted Leng Jinxi’s hair, and stuck it firmly to the back of her neck.

Immediately, Leng Jinxi’s strength gave out. She collapsed into Lin Bie’s arms, panting against her collarbone.

The room was still thick with camellia, and Lin Bie’s own patch had long since failed. Her back-of-neck glands pulsed painfully. She bit her lip hard, drawing bl00d, just to stay grounded.

“Feeling any better?” she asked softly, too afraid to turn on the light. Instead, she watched Leng Jinxi under the moonlight, gently easing away from her to create distance.

“Why… why did you help me?” Leng Jinxi’s voice was faint and hoarse. Her watery eyes glimmered with confusion. “You said it was just a marriage of convenience. Why do you keep helping me?”

Wouldn’t it have been easier to just call a doctor?

Lin Bie was silent for a second, then stood up. She opened another patch and said as she applied it, “I’d help anyone in this condition. The past is over. You should rest. I’ll go get the doctor.”

She replaced her own patch and left the room.

Outside, the moon had vanished behind thick clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The room still smelled faintly of tequila-lime and camellia. On the bed, Leng Jinxi looked toward the closed door, her eyes dark as night.

Just like that rainy night… Even under the full weight of Alpha instincts, she still held herself back.

Even cuter than before.

Leng Jinxi remembered those restrained, desperate eyes. She lowered her gaze and gave a quiet, amused laugh.

—

The next morning, Lin Bie arrived at the film set early. Because of the midnight incident, the doctor had taken nearly thirty minutes to finish the examination. When she left, Leng Jinxi was still asleep. Lin Bie only returned to set after her assistant, Xiao Li, showed up.

She had asked for a leave yesterday, so now she had to make up her scenes.

Based on her actions yesterday, everyone’s impression of her had shifted—from a spoiled rich girl to a helpful one. Especially Su Nian: her favorability score had jumped from 2% to 10% after Lin Bie stepped in during the conflict.

She kept asking about yesterday’s events, eyes sparkling with admiration.

The system told her Su Nian had long been sidelined at her agency. Her lack of experience and connections made her an easy target. She’d even fallen into depression from the isolation.

That’s why Lin Bie’s help meant so much.

Hearing that made Lin Bie’s chest tighten. She looked at the young woman before her—barely twenty, already wounded, yet still so full of life—and gently patted her shoulder.

Su Nian’s rising favorability felt less like a mission and more like a kind of redemption—for both of them.

Her shoot went smoothly. The scene was simple, and with real-life experience to draw on, Lin Bie barely needed any retakes. Even the director was surprised by her rapid improvement.

Few actors showed that kind of growth. Leng Jinxi was one. Now, there was another.

Unfortunately, Su Nian’s inexperience made her scenes more awkward. Director Xie had to personally guide her, and even then, her movements stayed stiff and her cheeks flushed from nerves. In the end, Lin Bie helped her ease into the role bit by bit.

After filming wrapped, while the crew packed up, Lin Bie sat on a bench scrolling through her phone, thinking about how to approach the mysterious older sister of the original host.

Last night, Lin Qingsi had texted her to ask why she didn’t come home. That was when Lin Bie realized: the original host had never moved out. Even after fighting with her sister, she still lived at home.

It made their relationship much more complicated.

In the original plot, after Leng Jinxi removed the original owner’s glands, Lin Qingsi rescued her from the fire. Following the rescue, Leng Jinxi shed her cold facade and forcibly imposed mental control over the original owner, effectively preventing Su Nian—who had once held a favorable impression of her—from getting close to her again.

Right now, Lin Bie didn’t know how the original host truly felt about Lin Qingsi. But based on her still living at home, she likely hadn’t realized the truth yet. There was still time to shift things.

She needed to bring Lin Qingsi’s favorability score back into positive territory.

Tapping on her phone, Lin Bie sent a message.

[Sis, are you at the office?]

Lin Qingsi replied quickly, probably just out of a meeting:

[Yes. What is it?]

[Nothing really. Just wanted to say… Keep up the good work, Sis!]

Then she switched apps and ordered a bouquet of fresh roses—delivery address: Lin Corporation.