Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 69

The next morning.

“Big Ice Block, Big Ice Block—”

Yu Xiaoxiao stood at the doorway, one foot almost out the door, but she still couldn’t help leaning inside to call out to her. Xiang Shuhuai, holding a piece of the peach Yu Xiaoxiao had cut for her, walked over in confusion after hearing her voice. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Xiaoxiao, dressed in her office casual clothes and with her hair neatly styled, looked the part of someone ready for work, yet her big round eyes gazed at Xiang Shuhuai pitifully, like a little dog wagging its tail in anxiety.

“Big Ice Block,” she said, “Don’t go out and about, okay?”

“I know,” Xiang Shuhuai replied, “You’ve told me a lot already.”

“It’s not the same…” Yu Xiaoxiao mumbled, taking her hand in both of hers and looking into her eyes with serious concern. “Really, Big Ice Block, really, really don’t run off… I’ll come pick you up from your office tonight!”

Xiang Shuhuai looked at her helplessly, nodding vaguely while still chewing on her peach.

“Alright,” she said softly, “I know, Yu Xiaoxiao.”

Yu Xiaoxiao truly wanted to keep Xiang Shuhuai close.

The reason she was so worried was because she was going to meet Yi Anning today about the matter of “becoming a complete omega.”

In their WeChat messages, Yi Anning had only asked to meet without giving any further details about the time or place. Seeing this, Yu Xiaoxiao had a vague sense that this was a serious matter, one that couldn’t be written down. She had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

Now she had to go meet Yi Anning, but of course, she couldn’t bring Xiang Shuhuai with her. The thought of it made Yu Xiaoxiao uneasy. She was afraid that once Xiang Shuhuai was out of her sight, she might do something dangerous or neglect herself, or even try to “become a complete omega.”

She blinked, her heart full of worry as she looked at the confused black eyes of the omega girl in front of her, unable to think of a good solution.

In the end, Yu Xiaoxiao raised her hand, mimicking the pinky promise they had made before, and shook it in front of her.

Xiang Shuhuai, still confused, raised her hand and hooked her pinky with Yu Xiaoxiao’s. Yu Xiaoxiao firmly pressed her thumb against Xiang Shuhuai’s hand.

“Big Ice Block, do you remember the promise we made yesterday?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked seriously. “To stay healthy. If something makes you sad, just kiss me. Don’t hurt yourself, okay?”

She saw Xiang Shuhuai’s eyes freeze, as if a ripple of surprise had crossed them.

After a moment, Xiang Shuhuai finally nodded. “…Okay.”

Yu Xiaoxiao moved closer, gazing at her with an expression of sincere promise, and then nodded with satisfaction.

“Alright,” she said, “I’ll come pick you up after work… ah.”

Just as she spoke, Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly froze.

…Because they were too close.

She hadn’t noticed when she was worrying earlier, but now she realized how close they were. Those quiet, beautiful black eyes were so near, and she could almost smell the sweetness of the peach Xiang Shuhuai was eating. The peach juice glistened on her thin lips, making them look bright and sweet.

Because of that gaze, Xiang Shuhuai froze too.

…And then she reached out, gently tugging at Yu Xiaoxiao’s sleeve.

Her voice was soft, her black eyes gentle and dependent: “Yu Xiaoxiao…”

So cute.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s heart skipped a beat.

She smiled, took the peach piece from Xiang Shuhuai’s lips, and in the other girl’s confused gaze, leaned in and kissed her gently.

It was the taste of peach, lightly sweet, with a faint minty scent that belonged only to Xiang Shuhuai. The kiss soothed the fiery heat of Yu Xiaoxiao’s heat period—sweet and calming. Xiang Shuhuai just leaned into her embrace, her delicate fingers holding onto the edge of Yu Xiaoxiao’s shirt.

After the light kiss ended, Yu Xiaoxiao pulled back half a step.

She popped the peach piece into her mouth, chewing it slightly before speaking in a muffled voice, smiling: “I’ll see you after work, Big Ice Block—”

Seeing Xiang Shuhuai nod, she smiled, waved, and slipped on the other shoe before turning to leave.

…That light, peach-scented mood stayed with her all the way to the café, where she met Yi Anning sitting at a table.

But Yi Anning’s expression was incredibly serious. Her eyes were dark, and her lips were tightly pressed together as she merely nodded at Yu Xiaoxiao in greeting. On the table were two cups of coffee and a surgical plan, just like the one Yu Xiaoxiao had glimpsed in Xiang Shuhuai’s room.

This time, Yu Xiaoxiao saw clearly that it was a treatment plan for the glands. A thick packet, and she had no idea what it said.

“…Assistant Yi,” she stood there, her fingertips feeling cold, momentarily forgetting to sit down. “…Can I take a look at this?”

“Of course,” Yi Anning nodded, trying to smile, but her expression remained serious and tense. “Please sit, Little Fish.”

Yu Xiaoxiao picked up the surgical plan. Slowly exhaling, she opened the first page.

It was… a report on Xiang Shuhuai’s physical condition.

It said that after she had her gland removed, she had woken up and been discharged hastily. She didn’t receive proper medical care and, for some time after, she had been given excessive gonadotropins to suppress physiological reactions. She had also been taking anti-anxiety and sedative medications, which worsened the condition of her glands. The aftereffects kept accumulating, leading to the uncontrollable heat wave that had recently occurred.

Sitting across from her, Yi Anning gently stroked the side of her coffee cup and spoke, “Actually, Little Fish, I don’t know if this decision is right or wrong.”

…Yu Xiaoxiao never knew she had removed her glands.

With a utility knife.

Back in high school, when she wasn’t even an adult yet. She was just a real little girl.

Just thinking about it made Yu Xiaoxiao almost burst into tears.

…How much pain must that have caused?

“Actually, Shuhui had specifically asked me. She told me over and over not to tell you.” Yi Anning said, her tone serious and filled with some uncertainty. “But I really…”

For her body condition and needs, the doctor had devised two treatment options.

One was to remove the glands and make herself a beta, completely cutting off the effects of pheromones.

The other was to implant artificial glands, restore her fertility, and become an ordinary omega.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at it, her heart pounding heavier and heavier. She barely realized that her teeth were clenched tightly and that her breathing was slowly becoming more uneven.

…This was what Shuhui had meant by “becoming a complete omega”?

“Actually… this treatment has been in preparation for a long time, even before Shuhui moved into your house,” Yi Anning said. “At that time, she was really eager to eliminate all the effects of pheromones and wanted to become a beta like me—just like she had told everyone.”

“It was a bit risky, but the success rate of this option was slightly higher. Even though she would have to undergo long-term medication treatment afterward, it usually wouldn’t have severe side effects,” she continued. “At that time, we all thought this would be the right choice.”

…Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the second option, and the black printed words on the page seemed to pierce her eyes like sharp blades.

“Implant foreign glands,” “lifetime intervention,” “deterioration,” “serious side effects,” and… “requires the presence of a partner.”

Those words seemed to turn into countless thin, sharp scalpels. She saw the omega girl kneeling there with her head down, holding a small, sharp utility knife, pale and covered in bl00d.

And just like that, Yu Xiaoxiao’s heart was suddenly pierced, aching so badly that it almost brought her to tears.

She struggled to speak, her voice hoarse: “But… now…”

“Now that you two are in a relationship—though, Shuhui always told me that you hadn’t officially gotten together. But I can tell, you really are in a relationship.” Yi Anning said, her voice calm but laced with restrained concern. “So, she wants to choose the second option.”

“…To accept the implantation of new glands and become a ‘complete omega.'”

The huge emotional lump in Yu Xiaoxiao’s throat almost made her unable to speak.

She didn’t realize her voice was already full of tears: “I don’t know…”

“Mm.” Yi Anning nodded. “Shuhui asked me so many times not to tell you. She’s been keeping this from you. I’m sure you didn’t know.”

“Shuhui seems like she doesn’t care about anything, but in reality, she really cares about this. She wants to be like everyone else, to restore her fertility, and she thinks that way, she can stay with you forever.”

“She kept asking me. As a friend, I should’ve listened to her,” Yi Anning said, stopping the motion of her fingers rubbing the coffee cup. “But… the second option requires the partner’s accompaniment, and she never once thought about telling you.”

…The images from her memories flashed through Yu Xiaoxiao’s mind.

She stared blankly and spoke, “Those pheromones…”

“…Yeah,” Yi Anning tugged at the corner of her mouth but couldn’t bring herself to smile, her expression helpless. “…She still used them.”

“She… she couldn’t adapt to them,” the alpha girl described the scene she recalled, “It seemed like she tried every bottle, but she felt awful for a long time…”

Yi Anning nodded. “…That was her plan.”

“Using them as a substitute for your companionship,” she said. “If it didn’t work, she probably would’ve gone alone.”

She looked at Yu Xiaoxiao’s red, shaken eyes, seeming to feel some comfort, and gently shook her head.

“Shuhui is my friend, my junior, and also my boss. She brought me to where I am now, and I never doubted her abilities or determination.” Yi Anning said. “I know that even if she’s alone, she’ll definitely be able to make it through—she’s been carrying on like this, struggling through her childhood to become the amazing person she is now.”

“But, that’s still surgery…” she added, her voice pausing as she slowly took off her glasses, hiding her expression. “As a friend, I can’t just watch her do this. It’s too painful.”

“…So, I chose to trust you. Yu Xiaoxiao.”

“I’ve never seen Shuhui care about someone like this.”

Yi Anning said.

“I think, if it’s you, maybe you can change her decision.”

She had already taken off her glasses, and in her usually meticulous and polite eyes, there was now a sincere and helpless plea. The assistant to the general manager of the Xiang Corporation, who had long been accustomed to betrayal and the complexities of human nature, was for the first time fully revealing her vulnerability and putting her trust in someone.

Yu Xiaoxiao blinked hard, trying to blink away her tears.

“…I know.”

She looked at her lover’s friend and nodded seriously, making a promise.

“I will,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “I will.”

After Yi Anning left, Yu Xiaoxiao stood up and carefully put the treatment plan into her bag.

She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes, wiping away the aching tears.

She wanted to cry, but it wasn’t the time yet. She didn’t have that much time.

Yu Xiaoxiao just wanted to—right now, immediately—go to her lover’s side, hold her tight, and pull her into her embrace.

Just an embrace, only an embrace.

In that embrace, she wanted to pour all her feelings into her lover, drowning her with warmth, erasing all her insecurities, making sure she would never, ever doubt again.

Yu Xiaoxiao hurriedly walked out.

【Big Ice Block, what are you doing?】

She typed, word by word, in the chat box.

【I’m coming to find you now.】

Xiang Corporation headquarters.

Xiang Shuhuai looked at the message that popped up, raising her eyebrows in curiosity.

…It was her first time receiving a “check-in” message like this from someone in a relationship.

So she replied: [I’m at the company.]

The other side quickly sent a new message.

Dawn α2: Yu Xiaoxiao 5.6Art: I’m coming to see you now.

Earlier, they had planned to meet after work, so Xiang Shuhuai was a bit confused, but she still replied with a “Okay” emoji. It was the emoji that she had saved from Yu Xiaoxiao—an adorable golden retriever puppy with its tongue out, nodding its head energetically.

Looking at the lively, bright expression of the little dog, Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t help but smile slightly. She put her phone away, thinking that this would probably be resolved quickly.

—She was currently in the break room, the quiet space filled with the scent of bitter tea, sitting across from Yu Yao.

At the moment, this assistant manager from Dawn was sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed, her back straight. Her expression was a mix of indifference and polite restraint. It was obvious she had issues with Xiang Shuhuai, but for some reason, she couldn’t express it, leaving her with this complicated look.

Xiang Shuhuai felt that she hadn’t lied, even though she had kept the visit a secret. She gave herself a little excuse in her mind—after all, she was at the company, so her answer wasn’t technically wrong.

With that thought, she raised her gaze, only to suddenly hear Yu Yao ask: “…Is it Xiaoxiao?”

Xiang Shuhuai froze.

…Was it that obvious?

Her stunned reaction gave Yu Yao the answer. The short-haired, sharp-minded beta girl gave a resigned “Okay” and sighed lightly.

“Yu Manager came to visit today,” Xiang Shuhuai said.

She really didn’t know how to face Yu Yao as part of Yu Xiaoxiao’s family, especially with the identity of being Yu Xiaoxiao’s significant other. So she chose to avoid the topic and hid any softness or casualness from before, returning to her usual cool and polite demeanor, and casually asked, “Is there something you need?”

Yu Yao stared at her for a long while.

—It wasn’t the usual cautious and awestruck look people had when they met her in the business world.

Instead, it was… a kind of strange, familiar expression that Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t quite understand.

If she had to describe it, it probably reminded her of the way Yu Xiaoxiao’s father looked at her when she visited their home. It was like he could see through all the other identities. Although he still couldn’t fully remove his wariness toward the young CEO, there was more of a feeling of looking at his daughter’s friend.

Or, perhaps, her sister’s lover.

“…I won’t say unnecessary things. There’s no point,” Yu Yao said bluntly. “I originally wanted to… I don’t know why you’re with Yu Xiaoxiao. Frankly, I just feel like you have bad intentions.”

…Quite direct. That was typical of this young assistant manager.

Xiang Shuhuai gave a soft nod.

“But thinking about it, if you really wanted to take Dawn, you would’ve done it during Aunt’s illness. Don’t even mention me—Aunt might not even be completely confident in keeping her.”

She continued: “And aside from Dawn, there’s nothing about my sister that’s worth deceiving.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t help but instinctively disagree and defended, “She didn’t…”

Noticing Yu Yao raise an eyebrow, Xiang Shuhuai realized her slip and quickly stopped speaking.

“Mm.” Yu Yao tilted her head, a pose very similar to Yu Xiaoxiao’s, although their expressions were different. With more experience in business, she appeared far more mature than her younger cousin, who was still a bit naïve. “That’s how it is.”

“So, what I think is…”

With eyes like Yu Xiaoxiao’s and Yu Danchun’s, Yu Yao looked at Xiang Shuhuai and said softly.

“—You two are probably really in a relationship.”

Xiang Shuhuai froze under her gaze, unable to say anything for a while.

“Free love, well, my sister is at an age where it’s okay to settle down and stop hanging out with those unreliable friends. It’s not a bad thing,” Yu Yao said. “And as a relative, seeing how much she cares, it’s not something I can control.”

She paused, took a sip of tea, and hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

“Just… Xiang Shuhuai, Xiao Xiang, you see, my sister is really a bit dumb, even though she can actually be quite smart.”

Yu Yao’s eyes, so similar to Yu Xiaoxiao’s, sparkled with serious, earnest concern.

“When she trusts someone, she trusts them completely, without a single doubt. If she loves or trusts someone, she’ll love and trust them wholeheartedly, and give everything she has without hesitation. And she really likes you.”

“If you really want to hurt her, I don’t think I could stop you. But of course, I’d do everything in my power to make you pay the price,” Yu Yao said with a bitter smile. “Just… please don’t. Please don’t disappoint her. Protect her kindness, love her the way she loves you.”

…Her words left Xiang Shuhuai in a daze for a long time. Finally, she nodded, still a bit stunned.

It sounded… like a wedding.

Maybe because Yu Xiaoxiao had mentioned marriage yesterday, she almost immediately thought of that scene.

A white wedding dress, lots and lots of flowers, and a ceremony…

“…Okay,” Xiang Shuhuai heard her own voice, “I will.”

Yu Yao looked at her for a long time, as if searching her expression for a sign of a promise.

In the end, she nodded seriously and clapped her hands. “—Good!”

Yu Yao stood up but then suddenly remembered, “Ah, of course, this is just from me. My sister probably hasn’t found the right time to talk to Aunt and Uncle about it, so we’ll have to wait for them to handle that. It doesn’t mean they’ve agreed yet.”

With that, she saw the concerned expression on Xiang Shuhuai’s face and gave her a reassuring nod. “…But don’t worry too much. My sister should be able to handle part of it with Aunt.”

After finishing these instructions, Yu Yao was ready to leave, and Xiang Shuhuai followed her to see her off.

The two walked side by side down the hallway when suddenly, a phone rang, breaking the silence. It was her work phone number.

Xiang Shuhuai answered, and the voice of the receptionist, a new young girl, came through.

“Xiang… Mr. Xiang,” her voice was lowered, trying to be restrained but still carrying a hint of panic. She sounded nervous to be speaking directly to her superior. “There’s a strange person here who wants to see you. I couldn’t reach Assistant Yi, so I had to dial the internal line…”

“A strange person?”

“He’s an alpha man named Sun Tao. He doesn’t have a pass, but he said if I mentioned his name and ‘diary,’ you’d definitely meet him… I… I wasn’t sure what to do, so…”

…That Sun Tao?

The spoiled rich kid from high school who had tried to mark her, Sun Tao.

Xiang Shuhuai furrowed her brows, a cold, mocking expression already creeping onto her face.

“You did the right thing,” she said into the phone. “Please send him to the reception room and contact security. I’ll be there soon.”

After hanging up, she raised her eyebrows and nodded lightly at Yu Yao, whose face now showed concern.

“Sorry, there’s an urgent matter,” Xiang Shuhuai said. “I won’t see you out.”

Her expression was very serious as she looked at Yu Yao’s face, which resembled Yu Xiaoxiao’s, yet filled with worry. She spoke slowly, as if swearing an oath.

“I will definitely, definitely, protect Yu Xiaoxiao.”