Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 39

Yu Xiaoxiao burst into the room and saw the male alpha standing in the center of the conference room. His face was flushed red with rage, breathing heavily like a wild beast. There wasn’t a trace of the gentle, honest person he’d once appeared to be.

He was gripping Xiang Shuhuai’s wrist tightly, his right fist raised high, just about to hit her.

The room was thick with a sharp, gunpowder-like scent of pheromones. An old woman sat on the couch nearby, crying, while shattered vases littered the carpet.

When the door was suddenly flung open, both of them were startled and looked over at Yu Xiaoxiao.

Xiang Shuhuai’s wrist was already red from being grabbed so hard. But even under the threat of violence, her expression remained calm and indifferent. Her lips curved into a faint, mocking smile—she didn’t show a hint of pain.

Seeing it was Yu Xiaoxiao who had entered, her cold, steady gaze flickered with a bit of surprise. “Yu—”

“…Big Ice Block,” Yu Xiaoxiao said through gritted teeth. “Go wait outside for a bit.”

Xiang Shuhuai froze. “Why wou—”

Her words were cut off by a dull thud.

—A solid punch landing on the man’s temple.

Yu Xiaoxiao hadn’t held back at all. She used her full strength. The man’s vision went black, his body collapsed, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

His body twitched from the impact. He was completely knocked out, limp on the messy carpet—but Yu Xiaoxiao wasn’t finished with him.

She was furious. Uncontrollably furious.

The overwhelming, aggressive alpha pheromones in the room grated on her nerves. Her bl00d boiled with anger, like it was about to explode.

Her instincts clawed at her from inside, telling her to rip off the suppressant patch on the back of her neck, to unleash her own pheromones and drown the room in them. She wanted to make that disgusting, pathetic, beast-like alpha kneel at her feet, weeping and begging for mercy.

But she couldn’t do that—because Xiang Shuhuai was still in the room. She couldn’t risk scaring her.

Still… still—

How dare he threaten her omega? How dare he try to use pheromones against her? How dare he lay a filthy hand on Xiang Shuhuai?

Her omega?

It all happened in a flash. Xiang Shuhuai hadn’t even seen how the punch had landed.

She sat dazed on the couch and could only watch as Yu Xiaoxiao stood over the man, lifted her foot, and stomped down hard on his right forearm.

There was a muffled crack as the bone broke.

“This is the hand, isn’t it?” she said in a low voice. Her expression was hard to see with her head lowered. It sounded like she was talking to the unconscious man—or maybe just to herself. “No, wait. The other hand touched her too…”

“Yu Xiaoxiao—!”

“And you… you.” The furious alpha turned toward the old woman on the couch—who was frozen with fear, teeth chattering. Her voice was slow and ice-cold, each word forced out from clenched teeth. “I don’t hit old people… Grandma. And your precious son, huh?”

Then she leaned down again and slammed her fist into the man’s face.

—Bl00d burst from his crushed nose.

His face twisted, bl00d mixing with broken teeth and bruises into a grotesque blur of color.

The stench of bl00d thickened in the room, mixing with the alpha’s foul pheromones. It was like the air itself had turned red and wet.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s fury and alpha instincts had nearly drowned her sense of reason. Her jaw was clenched so tightly she could taste bl00d. All she could see was that disgusting, swollen, misshapen face.

A second punch. A third.

More and more bl00d spilled, soaking into the carpet. Her knuckles were covered in it. The old woman who claimed to be Xiang Shuhuai’s grandmother was crying but didn’t dare come near to stop her. Yu Xiaoxiao ignored her sobs completely.

Another punch—

Xiang Shuhuai suddenly stood up. “Yu Xiaoxiao…!”

If she kept going, she could actually kill him.

Xiang Shuhuai didn’t care whether that man lived or died. But she did care about Yu Xiaoxiao.

Her voice broke through Yu Xiaoxiao’s rage, and the alpha girl’s shoulders trembled. Her hand stopped mid-air.

Guided by instinct, Yu Xiaoxiao turned her head, a little dazed, looking at the person in front of her. Her wide eyes were misty, unfocused, like it took all her strength to recognize her.

“Xiang…” she murmured softly, “Xiang Shuhuai…?”

At that moment, a team of security guards burst into the room.

They picked up the bloodied, barely-breathing man and dragged him out. The old woman was also surrounded and was about to be escorted out.

“—Wait,” Xiang Shuhuai suddenly said.

The guards paused, making room for her to approach the old woman.

The sight of her son’s brutal injuries had scared the woman into a panicked mess, her tears and trembling unstoppable. She looked at Xiang Shuhuai, her expression flickering wildly, like a spilled palette of paint. Then it froze into one of terrified hatred.

“You…” she growled, voice rough like an animal’s howl, “You—”

Xiang Shuhuai just looked down at her calmly.

“I hear your second son’s restaurant is doing really well,” she said with a faint smile. “And it’s all thanks to some family connection in the tax bureau, right? But a place with rats… how long do you think it’ll stay open?”

The old woman’s eyes widened in disbelief as Xiang Shuhuai gently patted her shoulder.

“Just wait,” she said with a smile. “It won’t be long. I won’t let a single one of you off the hook.”

“You… you monster!!”

The old woman suddenly let out a shrill, hysterical scream. Her voice was full of fear—so much that she completely lost control, screaming and cursing without reason.

“No family loyalty! No gratitude! You’ll get what’s coming to you! You’re not even human—Xiang family trash! You’ll die a horrible death—!”

She struggled wildly and somehow managed to slip an arm free from the guards.

—Smack!

A heavy slap landed across Xiang Shuhuai’s face.

The old woman froze, staring at what she’d just done. She backed away, shaking all over, terrified of what might happen next.

Xiang Shuhuai’s head had turned from the impact, but her expression didn’t change. She raised her hand and dabbed at the corner of her mouth, where it hurt the most—and sure enough, there was fresh bl00d.

And then, to the old woman’s horror, she smiled.

“Thanks.”

After the panic-stricken old woman was taken out, Xiang Shuhuai closed the conference room door. The smell of alpha pheromones still lingered, but thanks to the suppressant she’d taken earlier, it wasn’t overwhelming.

Then, in a much softer voice, she called out to the alpha girl who was still stunned and overwhelmed inside the room.

“—Yu Xiaoxiao.”

Yu Xiaoxiao stood there, her hands covered in bl00d, staring blankly at her.

Xiang Shuhuai walked over carefully, reaching out. “…Yu Xiaoxiao?”

But Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly brushed her hand away.

She stumbled out of the conference room and ran into a nearby empty room. Xiang Shuhuai quickly followed, only to hear the door lock behind her.

“Yu Xiaoxiao…?” Xiang Shuhuai pressed against the door, asking gently, “What’s wrong? Why are you…”

All she could hear was a choked sob from inside.

“I—I… Big Ice Block—”

Everything felt blurry, stained with the bl00d from that alpha’s mouth and nose, and the suffocating stench of pheromones so thick it felt like it had turned solid.

Her rational mind had completely fallen apart.

Yu Xiaoxiao locked herself in the room, but she was still scared.

—She should’ve moved deeper inside, away from the pheromones, to get some distance. But she couldn’t bring herself to walk away from that cold, quiet voice that felt like moonlight.

Her body was still burning with rage, and with nowhere to release it, she felt drained and helpless.

It felt… just like her first heat. Intense, overwhelming, uncontrollable.

So Yu Xiaoxiao slid down the wall, kneeling and curling up right next to the door. Her vision was damp and blurry, and it took her a while to realize she was crying.

“—Yu Xiaoxiao.”

She heard Xiang Shuhuai’s voice again, soft and cold through the door.

“Yu Xiaoxiao, how are you feeling now?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Yu Xiaoxiao replied.

The fire inside her still roared, surging through her bl00d, but what scared her most was that primal, uncontrollable rage.

She—she had just beaten that alpha half to death, and it was so easy. And Xiang Shuhuai was so small, so thin, so fragile—she was much smaller than that man had been.

If she ever really lost control…

She would hurt Xiang Shuhuai.

And Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t want that.

That was why she had pushed her away and locked herself in the room.

In a small voice, Yu Xiaoxiao said, “I… I’m kind of scared.”

Xiang Shuhuai asked softly, “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m scared… scared I might hurt you,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “I still feel so hot… and I can’t control my pheromones. Big Ice Block, I’m really afraid I’ll hurt you…”

“You won’t, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

—That was all Xiang Shuhuai said.

Short, calm, and steady—she was always like this. Unchanging, like the moon hanging in the sky. You couldn’t help but want to believe her.

The tears that had been welling up in Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes finally spilled over.

Two big drops fell—pat, pat—and splashed onto the back of her hand.

Sniffling, she asked, “…Really?”

“Of course,” Xiang Shuhuai replied, her voice calm and gentle. “We were just in the room together, and even though you were so angry, you didn’t hurt me.”

“And besides, I’ve got some pheromone-blocking spray in my office. I’ll get it for you in a bit—you’ll feel better soon.”

Just hearing her voice, Yu Xiaoxiao could imagine the calm look on the Big Ice Block’s face outside the door, those clear, moonlight-like black eyes. They were something she could always trust.

Choked with emotion, she softly replied, “Mm…”

The lock clicked open.

It was a quiet click.

Xiang Shuhuai opened the tightly shut door and came to Yu Xiaoxiao’s side.

After closing the door again, she saw the alpha girl in her suit pitifully curled up by the wall. Her round eyes were full of tears.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes were red, shining with tears as she huddled in the corner. Her expression was childlike—sad and a little cute, despite it all.

So Xiang Shuhuai crouched down next to her.

From the moment she walked in, Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes were locked on the small, bloodied cut at the corner of Xiang Shuhuai’s lips.

She didn’t say anything, just stared intently. Her big round eyes were filled with sorrow—like a small, dim sun.

Xiang Shuhuai didn’t think it was a big deal, but under that gaze, she felt a little uncomfortable. She instinctively tried to turn away and raise her hand to cover it.

“—Big Ice Block.” Yu Xiaoxiao reached out and tugged her sleeve. “Don’t touch it.”

“…Okay,” she said, “I won’t.”

But even after she said that, Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t let go of her sleeve, nor did she look away from her face.

After a while, Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t help but speak. “Yu Xiaoxiao?”

“…Xiang Shuhuai,” the alpha girl said softly, “why won’t you let me protect you?”

“I—” Xiang Shuhuai was stunned. “What do you mean…”

“If I’d been with you from the start, they wouldn’t have been able to hurt you,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, her teary eyes serious and stubborn. “You already knew what kind of people they are… didn’t you? Xiang Shuhuai, you knew what they’d do to you… so why wouldn’t you let me protect you?”

…Because I didn’t want to trouble you.

Xiang Shuhuai knew she couldn’t say that out loud.

If—I bring you too much trouble, maybe you’ll start to hate me.

In the end, she just said in a very small voice, “…I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“I won’t.” Yu Xiaoxiao said it earnestly, “I never will.”

She meant it. She really meant it.

…But how long can a child’s promise last?

Even though she knew this deep down, those pure, innocent eyes were so different from her own that Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t help wanting to look away. But there was nowhere to hide.

“And… here.” Yu Xiaoxiao let go of her sleeve and slowly moved her fingers up until they hovered just above the bleeding cut on Xiang Shuhuai’s lip. She didn’t touch it. “Why did you let her do this to you?”

Xiang Shuhuai had no answer.

Yu Xiaoxiao was innocent and straightforward, but her instincts were sharp.

She stared into Xiang Shuhuai’s eyes, and just from her expression, she quickly figured it out—

“You… let her? You let her hurt you on purpose?”

That’s right. She had done it on purpose.

She needed Xiang Hongshan to see it—something that would speak louder than words. Without that slap, she might’ve had to fake another scene, or wrap a minor wrist injury in a cast to make it seem worse. This way was faster, easier.

…But it wasn’t something she could be proud of.

Xiang Shuhuai hesitated, unable to say anything.

She looked at the alpha girl’s clear, sunlit eyes and finally asked quietly, “…Do you want me to have done it on purpose?”

That question seemed to stump Yu Xiaoxiao.

She frowned and thought really hard for a long moment.

“I don’t know.”

In the end, she said, “—I just want you to trust me.”

…Such simple words.

But Xiang Shuhuai knew she couldn’t do that. Maybe… she never could.

Still, as a friend, there were things she could do. So Xiang Shuhuai decided to be honest—like friends do—by sharing a secret.

But sitting face to face like this, the kid’s eyes were level with hers, and their gazes kept meeting. So Xiang Shuhuai shifted to sit beside her against the wall, their shoulders touching.

Sitting like this, she could feel Yu Xiaoxiao’s warmth beside her, and she didn’t have to meet those overly pure eyes. That made it easier to breathe.

“Those two people,” she said quietly, “do you want to know who they are?”

Yu Xiaoxiao turned to look at her. “Only if you want to tell me…”

“…They were right,” Xiang Shuhuai said. “My… uncle and grandmother. At least biologically.”

Just boring, shameful stuff.

Her birth mother Liu Xiu’s brother and mother. Because Liu Xiu had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and was abandoned by her rich boyfriend, she’d embarrassed the family. While she was alive, they never acknowledged her or her child.

They lived modestly. But recently, the brother had gotten into trouble—debt from gambling and prostitutes. He couldn’t pay it off.

And then, they suddenly learned that Xiang Shuhuai—the powerful CEO of the Xiang Corporation—was actually their sister’s daughter.

With someone pulling strings behind the scenes, of course they came knocking. But when they failed to guilt her into helping and couldn’t use bl00d ties to control her, they lashed out—because she, the younger generation, had completely humiliated them.

It was all trashy and pathetic gossip. So different from the clean and innocent Yu Xiaoxiao. Xiang Shuhuai didn’t want to bring it up—just like she never talked about the nightmares of her mother and stepfather.

Besides, to her, none of that was what truly mattered.

What mattered was—who had found them, and who had led them to her.

“It was the Xiang family,” Xiang Shuhuai said. “Only they would do something like that.”

She said it calmly, with no emotion. But Yu Xiaoxiao’s lips tightened as she listened. She reached out and held Xiang Shuhuai’s hand tightly.

Her big round eyes looked at Xiang Shuhuai, wet and filled with sadness and worry. After a long pause, she whispered, “Big Ice Block…”

…The one thing Xiang Shuhuai never wanted to see in those eyes was pity or sympathy.

It made her feel ugly, pathetic—disgusting.

“—Yu Xiaoxiao.” Xiang Shuhuai quickly changed the subject. “Weren’t you supposed to be at a meeting? What time is it?”

“…Ah!”

Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered and panicked. “It’s in—oh no, let me check—less than thirty minutes! I’ve gotta go—!”

She jumped up, sniffing at herself anxiously.

—But unfortunately, that alpha man’s pheromones had been too strong earlier. They’d triggered hers, and even though she’d held back and didn’t fully release them, it was enough to overwhelm the blocker patch. The scent still lingered around her.

If another alpha caught a whiff, it could cause trouble again.

And while staying close to Xiang Shuhuai had calmed her emotionally, the physical effects were still there. The hormones were still surging, her body still hot and restless, angry and sensitive. And there was still that raw alpha instinct—pent-up and unspent—

“It’s okay, Yu Xiaoxiao,” Xiang Shuhuai tugged her sleeve gently. “Go to my lounge, take a quick shower, and change clothes. Once you put on a suppressant patch and use the spray, the scent will be gone.”

Yu Xiaoxiao nodded, but hesitated. “But… I…”

Xiang Shuhuai asked gently, “…You’re still uncomfortable?”

“…Yeah,” Yu Xiaoxiao admitted. “What if—Big Ice Block, could I use one of your… those injection meds?”

Xiang Shuhuai knew exactly what she meant.

She’d been using those injections for a while and knew their side effects. They were harsh on the body.

…She didn’t want Yu Xiaoxiao using them.

So she thought—there had been one time already. One more probably wouldn’t hurt, right?

After all, they were friends.

And this was the perfect chance. She could be useful to Yu Xiaoxiao.

With that thought, Xiang Shuhuai curled her fingers behind her back, trying to suppress the instinctive tremble in her chest. She kept her face calm and steady.

“Then… give me a temporary mark, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

That’s what Xiang Shuhuai said.

“With that mark, everything will be fine.”

The alpha girl stared at her, stunned, then nodded slowly. “Okay…”

—Then, she reached out her hand to Xiang Shuhuai.