Seduced Me into a Deep Fall (GL , ABO) - Chapter 8
“Just one bowl?” Song Yi eyed the soup before her.
“There’s more in the pot.” Ling Xi stood beside her like a dutiful little maid, obedient and considerate.
“What about yours?” Song Yi stirred the soup and scooped up a spoonful.
“I don’t need any. I didn’t drink. This was made especially for you,” Ling Xi said, taking a small step back.
Song Yi’s gaze followed her movement, catching the eager anticipation in Ling Xi’s eyes.
Ling Xi rarely cooked for outsiders.
But what cook wouldn’t want praise from those who tasted their food?
Even if it was Song Yi, whom she had been terrified of just moments ago.
Ling Xi thought she shouldn’t have let rumors shape her fear of Song Yi beforehand.
How could someone who helped her like this be a cold-hearted villain?
Song Yi brought the spoonful of hot soup to her lips.
It wasn’t overpowering.
The aroma was light and refreshing, much like Ling Xi herself.
Song Yi took a sip, suppressing a smile at the corners of her mouth.
It tasted slightly sweet, with a hint of ginger’s spice.
Beyond that, Song Yi couldn’t discern much else.
All she knew was that Ling Xi’s cooking was excellent, and her heart was warm.
Seeing her headache, Ling Xi had offered to make sobering soup but that didn’t necessarily mean anything, right?
Yet Song Yi chose to believe wishfully that everything would go smoothly.
Just like the polite blessing Yun Fengzhi had offered.
“Very good.” Song Yi lifted her lashes, meeting Ling Xi’s gaze with eyes warmed by the soup.
Ling Xi froze for a moment, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, slightly embarrassed.
“Sit down.” Song Yi continued stirring.
The soup was still a bit too hot, but no matter what, she would finish every bite of the food Ling Xi had made for her.
“You don’t have to be so formal. You’re the one who saved me,” Song Yi added, noticing Ling Xi’s rigid posture.
See? Song Yi was considerate.
Ling Xi relaxed slightly, watching as Song Yi savored spoonful after spoonful, as if sipping tea. Questions bubbled up uncontrollably.
“Is it too spicy?” She had added a bit more ginger, thinking of how drunk Song Yi had been.
“No.”
“How’s the sweetness? Should it be sweeter or milder?”
“This is perfect.” Song Yi wasn’t about to nitpick Ling Xi’s efforts.
Besides, she genuinely believed Ling Xi’s cooking was superb comforting, nourishing, and good for the body. What was there to criticize?
“Should I add anything else? Is plain water too bland?”
Song Yi lowered her gaze, scooping another spoonful and holding it to Ling Xi’s lips.
“Ling Xi, instead of asking so many questions, why don’t you taste it yourself?”
The porcelain spoon touched Ling Xi’s lips, the heat startling her into jerking back.
But Song Yi pressed forward, leaning so close that her phoenix eyes curved like a fox’s, brimming with amusement yet somehow sly.
As if she was about to trick Ling Xi.
Ling Xi tilted her head slightly, trying to refuse.
Song Yi even slid her chair forward.
They were so close that Ling Xi could feel the steam from the bowl drifting against her chest.
The warmth seeped into her body on this cool night, heating her up just enough for Song Yi to succeed.
As Ling Xi opened her mouth and swallowed that spoonful of soup, only one thought filled her mind.
Was she… indirectly kissing Song Yi right now?!
The idea struck Ling Xi like lightning, leaving her dazed and dizzy.
She didn’t even register the taste of the soup.
She could only detect a hint of sweetness in the soup that didn’t belong to the ingredients, a citrus-like fragrance…
It was the distinct scent of this omega before her.
How could she be tasting someone else’s pheromones?
After finishing that spoonful, Ling Xi was still pondering this question.
Normally, she had very dull sensitivity to pheromones, practically no different from a beta in most situations.
Or rather, no different from those called “heaven’s defectives.”
Compared to that stigmatized group, the only difference was her ability to produce pheromones at all.
And even then, her pheromone levels weren’t particularly high, almost negligible.
“How is it?” Song Yi asked contentedly after feeding her, retracting her hand and crossing her legs as she moved back to her seat, then focusing on finishing the remaining soup herself.
Ling Xi’s face flushed crimson, rendering her incapable of further speech.
She hadn’t really been tasting the soup at all.
It was more like… using the spoon as a medium to taste Song Yi herself.
This thought made the somewhat innocent alpha even more embarrassed.
She must be approaching her rut cycle, having such improper thoughts all day.
Or perhaps Song Yi was simply too alluring.
An S-class omega, nature’s perfect alpha trap.
No alpha could resist her not even a single glance from her.
Ling Xi considered it a testament to her extraordinary self-control that she could share a room with Song Yi without losing her composure.
Watching Song Yi’s lips touch the exact spot on the spoon she had just used with what might have been the slightest hesitation Ling Xi felt something was wrong with her.
“S-Song Yi, if you’re feeling better now, I should probably go… I’ll find Butler Zhao…” She wanted to flee.
But Song Yi wasn’t ready to let her off so easily.
They hadn’t even done anything yet.
An indirect kiss was hardly satisfying.
If it weren’t so abrupt, she might have held the soup in her mouth and made Ling Xi kiss her, transferring the heat and spicy sweetness directly into her.
But Ling Xi seemed far too tense.
There would be time. They’d be living together for quite a while.
“Get some rest,” came the instruction as Ling Xi practically bolted from the room.
The words landed on her heart, tickling uncomfortably.
Hot, like the steam from the soup when they’d leaned close.
Outside the door, she found Butler Zhao waiting.
The butler’s expression was peculiar.
At least the hostility was gone as he led her to her new room in just a few steps.
Ling Xi stared blankly at the room mere meters from Song Yi’s.
“Butler Zhao, won’t this disturb her?” she asked, brows furrowed with concern.
The butler gave her a look. “No. This was the young miss’s arrangement. The soundproofing is excellent, you could play rock music in here without issue.”
Having heard from the bodyguard about Song Yi’s attitude toward Ling Xi, and receiving explicit instructions to treat Ling Xi as a master of the house, Butler Zhao understood the implications.
Effectively, this was to be the future second mistress of the estate. Any neglect would incur Song Yi’s wrath.
No one wanted to face that.
The butler sighed inwardly.
Without the hostility, her impression of Ling Xi had improved somewhat.
But she still thought this utterly ordinary alpha unworthy of their young miss.
Especially since this very alpha had just gotten engaged to another omega today, one from their own Song family, no less.
If it weren’t for the fact that Song Yi would absolutely refuse such suggestions, Butler Zhao would have had a serious talk with her about it.
But an apology was still necessary. “My apologies, Miss Ling. I didn’t realize you had saved our young lady earlier, we owe you our deepest gratitude.”
“No need, no need. You were just looking out for her, I completely understand. It was the least I could do.”
Ling Xi hastily waved her hands as Butler Zhao bowed deeply to her.
As for clearing up the misunderstanding that would have to be left to Song Yi.
Song Yi really was wonderful.
After Butler Zhao finished showing Ling Xi around the room, he handed her the key and left.
Ling Xi stared at her new living quarters for the foreseeable future and let out a long sigh of relief.
This room wasn’t as extravagant as Song Yi’s, but it had everything she needed.
A private bathroom, a small study, a kitchenette… Were all the rooms in wealthy households this luxurious?
With Song Yi around, surely Mu Xie wouldn’t be able to cause her any more trouble, right?
Finally, she could relax…
For the first time since her rebirth, Ling Xi felt a profound sense of ease both physically and mentally.
She didn’t even bother changing her clothes or turning off the lights before collapsing onto the bed and closing her eyes.
In her dream, there was a patch of shade beneath a tree and a smooth stone slab. She sat on it, gazing at the overcast sky, as if waiting for someone.
4:30 AM.
Mu Xie hadn’t slept all night.
Her heart pounded erratically, her eyelids twitched, she had been restless the entire time.
She couldn’t pinpoint the source of this unease.
In her past life, she had felt the same way before attending that banquet.
And when she returned home, she found Ling Xi lying in a pool of bl00d.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t bring her back.
But in this life…
Things shouldn’t have diverged so much. Even if Ling Xi hadn’t been able to stay for the entire engagement banquet due to discomfort.
Even if she had suddenly suffered from low bl00d sugar something that hadn’t happened in the previous life.
Even if she had briefly interacted with Song Yi.
The more Mu Xie listed these discrepancies, the more something felt off.
The dread from her sixth sense loomed over her like a dark cloud, threatening to engulf her completely.
“We’re leaving now.” At exactly 5:00 AM, Mu Xie got into the car.
She remembered every single detail of her time with Ling Xi.
After losing Ling Xi in her past life, she had revisited those memories relentlessly, day after day.
The sequence of events should have been identical.
They held the engagement banquet, stayed out late, Ling Xi got drunk and leaned against her…
She could still recall the faint scent of alcohol on Ling Xi’s lips.
And how she had wanted to kiss her but couldn’t bring herself to ruin the moment.
So why was this life so different?
She had followed the exact same path as before.
But Ling Xi had changed in so many ways.
Not in personality, but…
Mu Xie arrived at Ling Xi’s doorstep and took out the spare key she had made.
She opened the door, only to find the place empty.
The furnishings were untouched, shopping bags still on the floor.
Even the takeout containers were in the trash, and Ling Xi’s bag remained on the table.
But where was she?
Mu Xie stood frozen inside Ling Xi’s home.
A long time passed before the wind blew the door shut behind her.
Only then did she feel the biting chill unique to autumn.
The house was empty.
Ling Xi was gone.
Ling Xi had run away.
No wonder everything had felt so wrong.
Ling Xi’s behavior yesterday had been off, she just hadn’t noticed, too caught up in the joy of their reunion.
She wasn’t the only one who had been reborn.
…
“Search! Tear the place apart check the surveillance, the security guards… everything!” By the time Mu Xie returned to her car, it was already 7:00 AM.
She frantically searched Ling Xi’s room for two hours, but couldn’t find even a single strand of her hair.
Ling Xi hadn’t taken much with her, but she had taken all the important documents and equipment. She was determined to run away.
The dim autumn sun had risen, yet not a trace of warmth reached the ground.
The world outside was as cold as Mu Xie’s heart at this moment.
If it was that Ling Xi…
If it was that Ling Xi who would rather die than stay with her.
How could she ever chase after her again, protect her, make her hers?
After giving orders to her subordinates, Mu Xie collapsed to the floor, the impact momentarily numbing her tailbone.
Her phone rang at that moment.
Mu Xie’s heart skipped a beat.
What if…?
What if Ling Xi had just gone out to buy something, or for a morning jog like before.
She had no idea what Ling Xi’s normal routine even looked like.
Hands trembling, Mu Xie picked up the phone and saw the Song family’s name on the caller ID.