After the Scummy Alpha Marked the Crazy Beautiful Heroine (GL) - Chapter 21.2

What caught Chi Yang’s attention most was a trending tag tucked in the corner:

#OnlyAnArmLengthAway#

【Did anyone else catch that one look, a lifetime eye contact between Chi and Yao?

Crying, I saw it too! They were practically glued to each other!

This livestream is feeding us so well! I ship it—OnlyAnArmLengthAway IS REAL!】

Chi Yang couldn’t help but laugh. She locked her phone and set it aside.

Producer Chen stubbed out her cigarette on the table and said,

“Didn’t expect you to like someone like Pei Jiuyao.”

“‘Like’ might be too strong,” Chi Yang waved away the lingering smoke. “And I don’t think you really know what kind of person she is.”

“Judging someone based on gossip and backroom hearsay isn’t really your style, is it?”

Producer Chen’s smile reached her eyes as she crossed her arms. “I just didn’t think you would actually use your own resources to help her. When you first debuted, you wouldn’t even let people know you were Chi Qing’s sister.”

“Never thought I would see the day Chi Yang kept someone hidden away in her golden house.”

“Careful with your words, Producer,” Chi Yang said calmly as she leaned back.

“I just can’t stand this kind of thing.”

“Signed contracts tossed aside just because she’s the daughter of some entertainment company CEO? That’s not how this should work.” Chi Yang said.

Producer Chen wouldn’t let up. “And how is Pei Jiuyao any different from any other resource-climber now?”

“She signed the contract first. She has the skills to carry your show. And after tonight, who knows how much traffic she’s going to bring in. At the end of the day, it’s your profits.” Chi Yang said.

Chi Yang wasn’t in the mood to keep arguing. She had only agreed to appear on this variety show to do Meng Yu a favor.

Otherwise, not even ten Producer Chens could have gotten her to come.

She stood up and asked coldly, “Is there anything else?”

“Don’t be in such a rush.” Producer Chen wasn’t upset at all. Instead, she smiled lightly.

“I just want to propose a little… mutual benefit.”

“Mutual benefit?” Chi Yang asked.

“I don’t spill the beans about you and Pei Jiuyao, and in exchange, you join one of my future shows as a regular.”

Chi Yang frowned slightly, then said after a pause, “We never intended to hide it.”

“Just didn’t plan to tell the whole industry.” Producer Chen said.

Chi Yang’s tone turned icy. “Are you threatening me?”

“You’re not afraid,” Producer Chen said mildly. “But Pei Jiuyao—her newfound fame could easily drown again if you’re not careful.”

She tapped her fingers lightly on the tabletop. “She doesn’t exactly strike me as the kind to live content being someone’s kept woman.”

Chi Yang suddenly remembered that line Pei Jiuyao had sung:

Drown in your warmth.

And afterward, Jiuyao had said—

Good thing you didn’t let me drown.

Her fingers trembled ever so slightly.

“Fine,” Chi Yang said.

Producer Chen pulled out a folder and smiled brightly.

“Then let’s get the contract signed right away—just in case you change your mind.”

—

By the time Chi Yang returned, the crowd had dispersed. Staff were packing up equipment.

On the way back to the dressing room, her heavy mood gradually began to lift—until she suddenly heard Pei Jiuyao’s voice.

Frowning, she followed the sound—and immediately saw Chu Si.

“She probably knows what you’re like—never says no as long as they’re pretty.”

“You were the one who said you will drug Song Mo. The one who wanted to disgust Chi Yang. And now you’re playing the good guy. Chi Yang is way too forgiving.”

“She’s not afraid you’re playing her? Couldn’t get Song Mo, so now you’re pulling the same manipulative crap with Chi Yang? I didn’t even know your acting was that good.”

—

Playing her… Song Mo… Chi Yang… drugs… never says no to a pretty face…

Chi Yang’s heart seemed to stop. Her legs turned to lead. Her fists trembled violently.

Bang!

Her eardrum was pierced clean through by a single blow.

She staggered a step back, unsure what she had stepped on—her ankle twisted, and her whole body trembled from the shock.

Hidden in the shadows, Pei Jiuyao whipped her head around abruptly. As she approached, Chi Yang practically fled the scene, running straight to the dressing room.

She ignored the pain in her foot completely.

Pushing through the crowd, she slammed the door shut behind her with a loud bang and locked it from the inside.

Ye Ci and Jiang Tian, who had been chatting outside, jumped in surprise when they saw Chi Yang rush past, left bewildered outside the door.

Then they saw Pei Jiuyao rushing over in pursuit.

Ye Ci quickly asked, “What happened? Wasn’t everything fine just a moment ago?”

Chi Yang had clearly been enjoying herself all evening—maybe even too much.

Pei Jiuyao brushed right past Ye Ci and Jiang Tian, pounding on the door like a storm. Her voice was low but urgent:

“Chi Yang, let me explain! It’s not what you think—just let me in!”

After a long pause, Chi Yang’s icy voice came from the other side of the door.

“If you want to explain, do it from there.”

“I can’t explain like this,” Pei Jiuyao said, clearly agitated.

Suddenly, her entire body felt off—her temperature was spiking, her vision blurring. Her fingertips, resting against the door, were trembling uncontrollably.

From inside, Chi Yang said coldly, “Ye Ci, tell her to leave.”

“I can’t leave!” Pei Jiuyao suddenly had the urge to force the door open.

But the impulse only lasted a second before she froze, forcibly suppressing the strange sensation flooding her body.

Chi Yang’s voice turned sharp:

“Then tell me—can you swear that what happened has nothing to do with you?”

“I said I can explain!”

“Then that means it does have something to do with you.”

Her voice remained calm and emotionless.

But behind the door, her body temperature had plummeted to freezing, and she was only just holding herself together.

The thought that Pei Jiuyao might have been toying with her made Chi Yang feel sick.

How much of that earlier affection had been real?

The song supposedly written for her—who was it really for?

Who could say?

Someone like her—

The way she said “I like you” with a certain look, then claimed “I don’t know” with another.

Always hot and cold. Always playing with people’s hearts.

How many times had she laughed behind Chi Yang’s back when Chi Yang had shown her genuine affection?

How many times had she laughed about it with her so-called “friends”?

It was supposed to be a deal—how had she let it get this far?

Just because she’d been happy? Because she’d defended her? Because she’d even signed a contract on her behalf… just moments ago?

Was it all because of a mark?

A temporary Omega mark? Just that—temporary—and yet it had already pushed Chi Yang to the brink?

It felt like she was the only one losing her mind in this world.

Why only her?

Where was her usual rationality?

Was she just a heat-driven animal now?

Chi Yang…

A crash sounded from inside—the noise of something being thrown.

Pei Jiuyao knew Chi Yang hated talking about this.

She’d been too naïve, thinking that denial alone could fix everything—never once considering what would happen if Chi Yang found out.

And after being thrust into this world so suddenly, overwhelmed by pheromones, there hadn’t been room for deeper thought.

But even if she had the chance to go back, Pei Jiuyao knew—there was never a better way to handle it.

Admitting or denying it was a gamble either way.

A gamble that risked everything about “Pei Jiuyao”—a person who didn’t even truly exist in this world, and whose credibility was nonexistent.

She was bound to lose. Bound to push Chi Yang further and further away.

There was never a “right” path.

“Fate” had never been a condition for true love.

It was just a shackle.

Pei Jiuyao’s vision blurred. Her head was spinning. Her body shook violently.

She clawed at the collar of her shirt, accidentally tearing off a button.

Fighting back the urge to break down the door, she placed her palm gently against it and murmured, voice hoarse:

“Then rest for now. We’ll talk later.”

She didn’t even know what was happening to her.

The agony and restlessness creeping through her skin and into her bones—this wasn’t an illness.

It felt more like the overwhelming reaction she’d had when first exposed to Chi Yang’s pheromones.

Only magnified ten thousand times.

Her thoughts were muddled, her eyes unfocused.

She had no idea how she even made it back to the hotel.

The door slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud.

Jiang Tian’s voice faded in and out:

“Pei-jie, are you… in your susceptibility period?”

“Su… susceptibility?” Pei Jiuyao echoed weakly.

“I’ll get you an inhibitor.”

Jiang Tian’s voice drifted in and out like the wind.

Suddenly, the world felt hollow, leaving only a dull ringing in her ears.

Pei Jiuyao stared at the spinning ceiling above her.

She flipped over violently on the bed, thrusting her fingers under her shirt, panting heavily.

It didn’t help. She needed to push harder—

She wanted to bite someone. She needed to bite someone.

Suddenly, the door opened. Pei Jiuyao yanked her hand out and wiped it clean on the sheets.

Some time later, she felt someone fiddle with the inhibitor bracelet on her wrist.

Then something cold pierced the back of her neck.

Pei Jiuyao sank into the mattress, face buried in the pillow, fingers gripping the sheets so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Soon, she fell into a chaotic nightmare.

When she woke up again, barely half an hour had passed.

There seemed to be gauze stuck to the back of her neck—she didn’t know what it was.

Her body burned like it was submerged in boiling water.

She kicked off the blanket and ripped off her shirt. Sweat rolled down her flushed skin.

Propping herself up with her arms, she whispered, “Chi Yang…” then collapsed.

Her eyes were clouded with tears, her skin unnaturally red.

The pain in her organs and the deep sense of panic and emptiness in her mind nearly tore her apart.

That’s when Pei Jiuyao realized—she had always acted on impulse, never planning ahead.

Of course. Someone who had always lived a smooth life—how could she have any sense of crisis?

She didn’t even know where she was anymore.

Clinging to the last shred of clarity, she called Jiang Tian.

When Jiang Tian arrived, she found Pei Jiuyao curled up on the floor, clutching her shirt.

Kneeling beside her, she patted her shoulder anxiously.

“Pei-jie, are you still not feeling well?”

“I feel terrible…” Pei Jiuyao rasped.

“Should I go get Senior Chi?”

“No!” Pei Jiuyao yanked on her sleeve. “I… I…”

She didn’t know what she wanted either. After a long pause, she murmured:

“I want to go back to Haishi.”

“Right now.”

Jiang Tian paused, then helped her up and called the driver.

Once Pei Jiuyao was in the car, Jiang Tian stood by the door.

“Jie, I’m an Omega. I can’t stay near you for long, so I…”

Pei Jiuyao nodded blankly, watching as Jiang Tian closed the door, told the driver, “Please take good care of her,” and waved goodbye.

Everything around her felt like it was retreating in waves.

Her awareness drifted in and out. Her fingers clutched her shirt so tightly, they started to bleed.

At some point, someone asked her, “Where to?”

She vaguely mumbled an address.