Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 63

“Yao Yao, Yao Yao, don’t panic.”

Yu Xiaoxiao blocked the open office door, preventing Yao Yao’s gaze from falling on Xiang Shuhui. She used both her hands and feet to pull Yao Yao toward the break room.

“Really, just come with me, we’ll talk slowly—”

Yao Yao struggled, “Yu Xiaoxiao, wait—”

Yu Xiaoxiao threw herself onto Yao Yao like an overly enthusiastic dog. Yao Yao was no match for her strength and, after struggling a bit, was pushed into the break room.

Yu Xiaoxiao closed the door behind them and, hearing the soft click of the lock, finally let out a small sigh of relief.

Turning around, she saw Yao Yao crossing her arms, looking at her with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

Because of the earlier scuffle, Yu Xiaoxiao’s suit and short hair were slightly messy, making her seem all the more convincing with her accusatory expression. Yu Xiaoxiao felt a little guilty and stood frozen in place, not daring to move.

She rubbed her hair and smiled awkwardly, “Yao Yao—”

“Yu Xiaoxiao,” Yao Yao scoffed, “You’re something else.”

Yu Xiaoxiao was about to nod, but seeing the look on her face, she shuddered instinctively and couldn’t bring herself to agree.

“No, no,” she immediately shook her head. “Not at all, Yao Yao. I’m not that impressive, really…”

Yao Yao gave a sarcastic laugh, then looked at her flustered face, and then at the fresh and ambiguously red bite mark on her collarbone. She raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t lie,” she said. “You’re impressive, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

Yu Xiaoxiao, the usually carefree alpha girl, dropped her head quietly, saying nothing. It seemed like she knew she was in the wrong. She didn’t even use her usual defense of “But I’m the older sister!”

Yao Yao frowned and continued scolding, “Every time I see you, there’s a new surprise. First, you stopped hanging out with your troublemaking friends, and now you’ve gotten yourself into another big mess.”

But this time, she suddenly heard a quiet voice:

“…She’s not a trouble.”

Yao Yao didn’t quite catch it, “Huh?”

“She’s not a trouble.” Yu Xiaoxiao lifted her head and said seriously, “Yao Yao, don’t say that about her.”

Seeing this, Yao Yao furrowed her brows even more tightly.

“Right,” she said, “Xiang Shuhui, the little president of Xiang Corporation, of course, she’s not a trouble. But as for Fu Xiao—about you—it’s a complete mess.”

Ignoring Yu Xiaoxiao’s disapproving look, she asked, “When did you two get together?”

This harsh wording made Yu Xiaoxiao’s disapproval even clearer.

“We’re not ‘together’ like that.” She said, her tone heavier, “Yao Yao, don’t say that about her.”

Yao Yao recognized the look in her eyes.

It was a serious, almost heavy expression, as if she were defending her most precious possession. The amber-colored, always carefree eyes now looked unusually serious, making her face look almost unrecognizable compared to her usual self.

The last time she saw this expression on her cousin’s face was when her aunt fell ill, and Yu Xiaoxiao, who had no experience with business at the time, swore to take over Fu Xiao safely. Or when, in college, she went against everyone’s advice and chose art…

This made Yao Yao’s heart sink.

…Does that little president, Xiang Shuhui, mean this much to her?

It felt like—like she was the one Yu Xiaoxiao had decided to be with for life.

It should be comforting that her naive cousin had found someone to rely on, but Yao Yao couldn’t help but feel more anxious.

—And it was Xiang Shuhui.

That Xiang Shuhui.

“…Okay, okay, sorry, sis, I shouldn’t have said that,” Yao Yao said, relenting for the moment. She changed her tone and asked, “So, when did you two start dating?”

Yu Xiaoxiao just shook her head firmly.

“I can’t say, Yao Yao,” she said seriously. “About us, I’m not sure how much I can share yet. Please don’t tell Mom for now. I’ll talk to them about it when I’m ready, okay?”

“Why?” Yao Yao asked, “Is it because she doesn’t want you to tell?”

“…Yao Yao,” Yu Xiaoxiao smiled helplessly, “Why do you always think the worst of her? She’s not some evil villain. It’s just that we’re not ready to tell yet, we need more time. When we’re ready, I’ll handle it with Mom myself.”

From the tone of her voice, it seemed like she couldn’t understand why Yao Yao was so hostile.

“…I think the worst of her?” Yao Yao’s voice trembled as she almost started shaking, “Sis, Yu Xiaoxiao, do you even know who she is?”

…She’s Xiang Shuhui.

The little president of Xiang Corporation, a major shareholder in the new star board. The one holding the financial power and the pulse of the internet.

Once upon a time, before she really grew into the person she was today, Yao Yao had lost to her countless times.

—Yao Yao was terrified of that person, from the bottom of her heart.

She had never met anyone so terrifyingly intelligent, almost inhuman. She was perfect in her calculations, as if she could predict the future, tireless and unshakable. Anyone who had crossed paths with her in business likely believed at some point that Xiang Shuhui was a machine powered by energy cores.

…She also knew that when Aunt was recovering from her illness, Xiang Shuhui had been the one to sign what seemed like an equal, mutually beneficial agreement with Fu Xiao.

—It was a completely equal, reciprocal partnership. Even though at that time, Xiang Shuhui could have swallowed up Fu Xiao with a single thought.

Still, Aunt had never felt reassured. They all knew that Xiang Shuhui was a greedy, cold-blooded, and ambitious snake. That only meant she was aiming for much more than just Fu Xiao. If she wanted everything, there was nothing they could do to stop her.

So, Yu Yao couldn’t help but think—why was she even trying to teach Yu Xiaoxiao? Was she really acting like a competent teacher? And why was she getting close to Yu Xiaoxiao?

Getting close to this girl, who seemed so unaware of everything around her, so innocent like a child?

Noticing that Yu Yao’s mood seemed off, her sister walked over to comfort her, her voice full of concern. “Yao Yao…”

Yu Yao gently raised her hand, stopping her from speaking.

“…Anyway, sis,” she finally said, “I won’t say anything to Aunt and Uncle, you just take care of it… But I won’t agree to this.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at her in confusion, instinctively wanting to stop her. “Yao Yao, I—”

Yu Yao shook her head, not planning to say more.

“Alright, sis. I was actually going to find Director Xu, but since I was passing by, I thought I’d check in on you. Since you’re busy, I won’t bother you,” she said. “I’ll come by this weekend to talk about the company matters with you and Aunt.”

Yu Xiaoxiao froze in place, watching as Yu Yao walked out of the rest room, encountering Xu Shuhui, who was waiting in the hallway.

She thought the two might confront each other and hurried over, but all she saw was Xu Shuhui’s lips moving, uttering a few words.

And Yu Yao’s back stiffened for a moment, but she didn’t stop, quickly disappearing down the hallway.

Yu Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment, then took out her phone and sent Yu Yao a few messages.

She could tell that Yu Yao didn’t want to talk, but she couldn’t ignore her strange attitude.

…What was Yu Yao really thinking?

After sending the messages and waiting for a while with no reply, Yu Xiaoxiao looked up and saw Xu Shuhui still standing there, quietly watching her as if waiting.

Then, meeting Yu Xiaoxiao’s gaze, Xu Shuhui lowered her brows, pressed her lips together, and softly apologized.

“I’m sorry, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

Xu Shuhui’s voice was quiet, almost emotionless. Her lips were dry and pale, and only the pale knuckles of her clasped hands betrayed any hint of unease.

She said, “I shouldn’t have come today.”

With that, she lowered her head, standing still as though bracing for some kind of punishment, like a child. This made Yu Xiaoxiao think back to when she had picked Xu Shuhui up near the old Xu family home. Xu Shuhui had looked the same then, with a calm yet empty expression, her dark eyes quietly staring ahead, covered in bl00d.

…That damn pervert, Xu Hongshan.

Thinking about it, Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but clench her teeth.

She had thought she’d helped Xu Shuhui heal enough, enough to erase some of the scars from her past.

But now, Yu Xiaoxiao realized it hadn’t been nearly enough.

…Even now, this Xu Shuhui, who had just been laughing and fooling around with her under the desk, disheveled and covered in dust, still had the same response. She would apologize for something that wasn’t even her fault, as if preparing herself to accept violence and punishment.

That made Yu Xiaoxiao feel a pang of sadness deep in her heart.

So, she walked over and gently cupped Xu Shuhui’s pale face.

“Xu Shuhui,” the alpha girl whispered, “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was almost like a whisper, the two of them so close that their shallow breaths intertwined, creating a sense of calm.

Xu Shuhui simply said, “…Sorry.”

Her voice was soft, slightly hoarse, as if trapped in some memory of the past, unable to escape. Despite the warmth radiating from their closeness, it seemed impossible to pull her out of the shadows.

Her skin was icy to the touch. Even though Xu Shuhui wasn’t crying, perhaps because her body temperature was so low, her cool, soft face felt damp, almost like tears.

The alpha girl moved even closer.

They rested their foreheads against each other, and then Yu Xiaoxiao quietly asked, “Do you really have to apologize, Xu Shuhui?”

There was no answer.

“Then,” Yu Xiaoxiao said softly, “—Xu Shuhui, I’m going to punish you.”

Xu Shuhui’s dark eyes froze for a moment, seemingly realizing what Yu Xiaoxiao had said, and a faint ripple passed through her, her emotions shaken, as though her world was on the verge of shattering.

It felt as if the present was merging with her memories of the past.

Then, Xu Shuhui simply stood there, not refusing, closing her eyes as she silently awaited the punishment that Yu Xiaoxiao would give her.

…But then, only warmth.

Yu Xiaoxiao gently kissed her lips.

She pulled away slightly, and when Xu Shuhui opened her eyes in surprise, Yu Xiaoxiao moved closer again, kissing her harder this time, as if trying to consume her, leaving a mark on her pale, soft lips.

“Alright.”

The alpha girl licked her wet lips, her expression light, and she reached out to comfortingly pat Xu Shuhui’s hair.

“—I’ve punished you, little snowflake.”

“So, don’t feel guilty anymore, okay?”

Since Xu Shuhui’s mood seemed off and the office felt like some sort of crime scene, the two decided to head home together.

On the way, Yu Xiaoxiao drove, chatting idly with the Big Ice Block in the backseat, while also checking her phone for messages.

…But still, there was no response from Yu Yao.

Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t understand why Yu Yao was so opposed to their relationship.

But, this was her family’s issue, and it was something she had to resolve on her own. She wasn’t going to leave it for the Big Ice Block to deal with later. That’s what Yu Xiaoxiao thought.

Once their relationship was more stable, after they had spent some time together, she would explain everything to her mom and dad and wait for them to accept it. Then, she would bring Xu Shuhui home.

But for now…

Just that brief conversation with Yu Yao earlier, which wasn’t even really an argument, had made Xu Shuhui so uneasy.

Yu Xiaoxiao glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Xu Shuhui, wrapped in her coat, curled up in the backseat, her eyes half-lowered, lost in thought. Her lips looked like they’d been bitten again, a few drops of bl00d seeping out.

“Big Ice Block,” Yu Xiaoxiao whispered, “Don’t bite yourself. Doesn’t it hurt?”

At her words, Xu Shuhui froze for a moment, as if finally realizing what she was doing. She released her lips and softly said, “…Mm.”

—It was probably better to keep her away from family members who held opposing views for now.

Yu Xiaoxiao decided this.

“Alright, Big Ice Block.” She said softly, with a hint of a smile, “Xu Shuhui, do you want to take a nap? I’m going to the supermarket to buy some things. What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll buy some ingredients.”

The Big Ice Block, who Yu Yao was so wary of, lifted her eyes and quickly replied like a child, “…I want to go too.”

Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but agree.

However, since the supermarket was a public place, even though there were few people, Xu Shuhui, despite not being in the best mood, didn’t lean on her shoulder like she had at the office that morning. Yu Xiaoxiao refused to admit that she felt a little regretful.

So, the two of them just quietly held hands, completing their spontaneous grocery shopping, accompanied by each other’s warmth.

After buying all the necessary ingredients and a bunch of snacks, Yu Xiaoxiao held a large bag, and they awkwardly held hands, walking toward the underground parking lot.
The parking lot was eerily empty, with only a few scattered cars, and no one else was around besides the two of them. After a brief hesitation, seeing that the girl holding her hand seemed to be in a better mood and her steps had grown lighter, Yu Xiaoxiao finally asked:

“Big Ice Block, what did you talk about with Yu Yaoyao?”

The omega girl, who was holding her hand, looked up at her.

“Me?” Xiang Shuhuai seemed to pause for a moment, then answered softly, “I didn’t say anything special. I just told her what she wanted to hear.”

Yu Xiaoxiao was puzzled, so she asked, “What did Yaoyao want to hear?”

“She wanted to hear…” Xiang Shuhuai thought for a moment, then, almost instinctively, leaned in closer, resting her free hand gently on Yu Xiaoxiao’s shoulder.

Perhaps because she had taken a brief nap in the car, her dark eyes were a bit hazy, and her voice still carried a trace of sleepiness, making her seem even more affectionate. Her long, black hair cascaded over her pale neck, its contrast so striking that it seemed almost tempting.

Xiang Shuhuai moved closer and closer, until Yu Xiaoxiao thought she might kiss her.

—Even though they had kissed many times before, in this cool, minty breath between them, Yu Xiaoxiao’s face flushed red, and she quickly loosened her grip on the bag she was holding, the heat rising to her ears.

“She thinks I’m deliberately tempting you, using my body, to get Dawn… or some greater scheme…” Xiang Shuhuai spoke in a softer voice, gazing into her eyes as she described it.

Her voice was like the delicate, fluttering seeds of a dandelion, swaying in the wind, so light that it seemed as if it would vanish with the next breeze, grazing her heart gently.

“…We… became intimate, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

Yu Xiaoxiao’s face turned bright red, almost as if it were about to ripen. She seemed to be sinking into her dark eyes.

“And I keep you by my side, making sure you can’t leave me… You’ll always be mine.”

There was one question Xiang Shuhuai never asked, though.

If, truly, if they really did become like that, if they marked each other permanently… Would Yu Xiaoxiao really never leave her?

That night, Xiang Shuhuai once again dreamed.

She dreamt of punishments—not from Xiang Hongshan or other members of the Xiang family, though, as she saw Yu Xiaoxiao’s expression, she knew the other had misunderstood.

No, these were punishments from when she was much younger, probably still in kindergarten.

At that time, her birth mother, Liu Xiu, would punish her whenever something went wrong and she could be blamed for it. For example, if she had an unpleasant phone call with her younger brother or fought with her husband, Wang Xing.

Most of the time, Liu Xiu restrained herself, and her weapon of choice was a very thin, metal clothes hanger wrapped in a thin layer of paint. She made sure to avoid hurting the exposed skin.

Even if it occasionally scratched her wrist or cheek, others would think it was caused by her stepfather, and pity them both.

—After all, Liu Xiu had cut ties with her family early on, unmarried and impoverished, with a second husband who was a gambling, abusive man. Living in such an environment bent her spine low under the weight of her suffering and resentment, with no place to vent it.

And her little daughter, the youngest, was even weaker.

So she would cry, holding up the hanger, repeatedly striking her daughter. “I’m doing this because I love you, I love you so much,” she would say, “I don’t want to punish you, so don’t make mistakes again, don’t disappoint me.”

… Because of this, little Xiang Shuhuai grew to fear “love.”

In kindergarten, there was a time when a confused little girl, mimicking a scene from an animated show, tried to confess to her, offering her clenched fist. “Wang Sihong, you’re so beautiful, I love you so much.”

At that time, little Xiang Shuhuai only closed her eyes obediently, thinking love was just violence, like what Liu Xiu had done—love was a clothes hanger, tears, and incomprehensible malice drowning her.

But that little girl didn’t understand, she stood there confused—because in her clenched fist, there was only a piece of fruit candy.

Later, by the time she was four or five years old, her exceptional intelligence began to show, and apart from her occasional emotional outbursts, Liu Xiu stopped hitting her. She probably thought that now that she could remember things, hitting was no longer appropriate.

So, she found a new way to vent—just like she did with her husband. She relied heavily on her daughter, asking her to take care of her, to love her. Sometimes, she would sob and cry, lamenting her miserable fate.

She cried, saying, “Sihong, you’re all I have left, I really love you, you must love me. Sihong, you have to love me.”

Little Xiang Shuhuai stood there, rigid, in the embrace of her sobbing birth mother, closing her eyes, vaguely seeing the deep blue hanger coming down with pain.

… But that had happened when she was very little. Xiang Shuhuai truly thought she had forgotten.

Until today—Yu Xiaoxiao had probably stood up to her cousin for her.

At that moment, Xiang Shuhuai stood in the hallway, watching the surprise on the alpha girl’s face, and she briefly thought she might be punished again.

…But Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t hit her.

She just kissed her, and kissed her again.

The dream about the past ended with that fiery kiss. Xiang Shuhuai opened her eyes in a daze, seeing only the suffocating blackness around her.

Before going to sleep, Yu Xiaoxiao had come to lie with her for a while, hugging her pillow, but left when she was about to fall asleep. She probably felt they hadn’t reached the stage where they could sleep together just yet.

Thinking about it, Xiang Shuhuai curled up and snuggled into the spot where Yu Xiaoxiao had sat earlier.

…It was already cold, and there was no trace of Yu Xiaoxiao’s warm body left, just a faint scent of her pheromones.

It was warm and sweet, like a little cake, rich with creamy frosting.

So sweet…

Xiang Shuhuai leaned into that last lingering scent, touched her lips, still warm with the sensation, then clutched the blanket, unwilling to let go.

…She knew about Yu Yaoyao. The two weren’t particularly close, and because Yu Yaoyao had taken the project from her, she didn’t think highly of her, one of the people who feared her.

Yu Yaoyao didn’t seem to approve of their relationship. But just looking at her, Xiang Shuhuai knew exactly what she was thinking, and what conclusions she had drawn about her.

And it was then that Xiang Shuhuai realized.

It wasn’t just Yu Yaoyao—Chairman Yu, and even Yu Xiaoxiao’s father, they probably wouldn’t approve either.

And Yu Xiaoxiao was so close to her family, so harmonious, her family was like something out of a fairy tale, so happy—she wouldn’t just ignore their opposition.

…Someday, Yu Xiaoxiao would leave her.

However, today, Yu Yaoyao had indeed given her a great idea.

If—if they became intimate, and their bodies connected, just like Yu Yaoyao guessed…

Would their physical attraction keep them together longer?

So Xiang Shuhuai decided that tomorrow, she would contact a doctor to check if her glands could support a permanent mark.

…If it was possible, she would mark early.

Or even undergo the surgery soon.

At least, when the time came for Yu Xiaoxiao to leave, maybe she could use this to keep her…

She curled up in the bed, where Yu Xiaoxiao’s warmth still lingered, and fell into a deep, torturous dream about her childhood.