Stepmom Alpha’s Guide to Raising Kids - Chapter 1

“How much longer are you going to live this solitary life, Luozhu?”

The stunning woman standing by the rose gate was dressed in dazzling attire, her crimson dress particularly eye-catching in the spring sunlight, as if she were about to rush off to another rendezvous.

“If you really cared about me, you’d help chase away those kids picking my flowers outside. The noise is giving me a headache.”

The woman named Lu Luozhu sat on a garden swing, a book resting on her knees. Judging by the title, it seemed to be some lowbrow, melodramatic domestic novel.

She lazily yawned, her gaze sweeping past the laughing children outside the estate, a flicker of disgust flashing in her eyes.

“If you had a partner—male or female—I wouldn’t be so worried about you.”

As both Luozhu’s close friend and her doctor, the woman placed two boxes of heart medication on the small garden table.

“I’m genuinely afraid you’ll die somewhere without me knowing. I’m off to my date now—take care of yourself.”

Luozhu waved with a smile, then yawned again. The vibrant spring scenery only made her pallor appear even more pronounced.

The children’s noise outside gradually faded until it disappeared entirely.

But the newly bloomed trumpet vines had been stripped bare in one spot—flowers that had painstakingly climbed the branches were now clutched in the hands of unruly children, soon to be torn apart and crushed.

“Little brats, raised by no one with any sense.”

Luozhu collected the two boxes of heart medication and slowly made her way to the estate’s entrance. A path that would take an ordinary person three minutes took her a full ten.

Bending down, she picked up the withered flowers from the ground and tossed them back into the soil.

Falling in love?

How could that ever happen? She was already past thirty, her body growing weaker by the day due to her heart condition. Who would bother putting in the effort to care for her?

Luozhu was probably attracted to women, but she lacked both the emotional energy and the physical stamina to sustain a relationship.

Years ago, she had earned enough to buy this estate abroad. The pleasant climate was enough to sustain her failing health.

Now was the most comfortable time of year in this country. Leaning against the flower-covered wall, Luozhu squinted at a distant kite rising into the sky.

Just as she was about to sigh at the tranquility of the moment, a sharp, stabbing pain suddenly pierced her chest.

Ah—

The pain radiated from her chest to her back. Her knees buckled, and she half-collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest.

She gasped for air, but her brain was already spinning from oxygen deprivation.

Her nails dug into the fabric over her heart, wrinkling it. The book tucked under her elbow fell to the ground, its pages splayed open—

A line of dialogue swam into Luozhu’s increasingly blurred vision.

“Be a stepmother? What a joke. If I ever make it big, this’ll be a stain I can never wash off.”

“What’s so impressive about being an actress? Walking around with that icy face all day—who’s she trying to impress? Who knows what shady things she gets up to in private?”

“Ha, I’ve got dirt on her now—an omega with marking dysfunction? I’ll wait for the day that woman begs me like a dog to bite her neck.”

Luozhu: “…”

Before losing consciousness, she slammed the book shut with one hand.

No. She could die, but she couldn’t die like this.

The sounds around her grew distant, leaving only the spring breeze swirling at her side.

The pain in her body gradually faded, her limbs growing light, as if she were floating in the air.

Was this finally it? Was she finally free from the torment of her heart disease?

Lu Luozhu thought so lightly, only to hear the sound of a child crying like a kitten in her arms the next second.

“Mommy 🥺 Mommy hug 🥺 ”

The smile on Lu Luozhu’s face, who was ready to embrace death, froze.

Haha, it turns out the legend was true—you really do see what you fear most before death.

“Does Mommy not like me 🥺? I… I was wrong…”

Lu Luozhu opened her eyes again, the dizziness in her head still lingering, when suddenly, a soft, white little bundle appeared in her arms—!!!

The smile on her lips from facing death hadn’t even faded when she was met with a pair of beautiful, pitch-black eyes.

The three-year-old child in her lap sat quietly, not making a fuss, just staring at her with pleading eyes.

It inexplicably reminded her of a kitten waiting for its mother to groom it.

Lu Luozhu: “.”

She hated children the most.

Children were noisy, disobedient, would pluck her flowers, suddenly scream, and make her heart ache.

Just as Lu Luozhu was about to toss the child aside, a voice suddenly came from behind.

“Madam, the live broadcast crew will arrive in twenty minutes.”

Lu Luozhu looked at the young assistant before her with an expression that said, “Am I crazy, or are you?”

“What live broadcast crew?”

“Have you forgotten? You signed the child up for the parenting show ‘Baby Go Forward.'”

Lu Luozhu: ?

Go forward? Me?

Lu Luozhu stared at the assistant in shock, then observed the well-behaved little bundle beside her.

Only then did she notice that the child was as delicate as porcelain, neither noisy nor fussy. Having failed to get a hug from Mommy, the little one was silently crying, tears welling up in their eyes, occasionally hiccuping.

When Lu Luozhu looked over, the child immediately wiped away their tears, behaving so well it was hard to believe they were an underdeveloped three-year-old.

Lu Luozhu: “…”

Lu Luozhu looked up and asked sincerely, “Is she my biological child?”

Her? With a heart condition, on the verge of death, and she had a child?

The assistant gave her a complicated, slightly disdainful look. “Madam, what kind of joke is that? The young miss is the child of our movie queen, Qi Zi. You’re her stepmother. I advise you not to entertain unrealistic thoughts.”

Contrary to the assistant’s expectation of unreasonable behavior or using the child as leverage, Lu Luozhu simply hugged the child, wiped their tears with her sleeve, and lowered her eyes in thought.

It seemed… she had transmigrated.

Into a novel she had been reading.

Into the role of a brainless, malicious stepmother who had forced her way into marriage.

Using her family’s connections, she had coerced and manipulated the movie queen Qi Zi into marrying her, cutting off Qi Zi’s financial support from her family. After the marriage, Qi Zi treated her with indifference, as if they were strangers.

Just as Lu Luozhu was deep in thought, her phone vibrated with a notification.

[XX Bank] Dear Ms. Lu Luozhu, your credit card ending in 6844 has a bill of RMB 234,004.8 due on June 4…

In her previous life, after making a small fortune in business, Lu Luozhu had never lacked money. A mere 200,000 yuan wasn’t even enough for one round of her heart treatment.

Today was June 1.

With trembling hands, Lu Luozhu checked her bank balance. Perfect—8 mao left, just enough to cover a fraction of the bill.

Lu Luozhu: “.”

Qi Zi’s assistant noticed Lu Luozhu’s prolonged silence and couldn’t help but lower her voice. “Madam, this variety show concerns both your reputation and our Teacher Qi’s. Please treat this matter seriously.”

Lu Luozhu blurted out, “Wait, where’s the money in my card?”

Based on Lu Luozhu’s understanding of the original novel, Qi Zi hadn’t been stingy with the original host financially. After learning the original host’s family had frozen all her cards, Qi Zi had given her one of his supplementary cards.

The assistant’s expression turned colder. “There’s evidence you bullied Miss Ning and tried to use her to threaten Teacher Qi. Naturally, the card was frozen. Have you forgotten already?”

Lu Luozhu opened her mouth but said nothing. She finally remembered—there indeed was such a plot point in the novel.

After speaking, the assistant answered a phone call and quickly walked away, her retreating figure radiating disdain for Lu Luozhu.

Sitting in the empty mansion’s reception hall, Lu Luozhu absentmindedly stroked the child’s head as if petting a cat.

The little girl obediently made a soft, milky sound.

Since transmigrating, the most significant change Lu Luozhu had noticed was her improved health.

Gone was the sluggish feeling of chronic illness. A healthy heart now beat in her chest, pumping fresh bl00d throughout her body.

Fate had played a modest joke on her.

Tilting her head back to look at the crystal chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling, Lu Luozhu suddenly covered her mouth and laughed.

Finally, she could laugh without worrying about her heart.

Finally, she could live like a normal person.

The child in her arms trembled at the sudden laughter. Having just been comforted, the little girl froze in fear, utterly bewildered.

Like a kitten abruptly tossed into the rain.

Clearly, the original host had treated her poorly.

“Ningning, be good.”

Unsure how to comfort a child, Lu Luozhu could only clumsily repeat the girl’s pet name.

“Ningning, be good.”

Sure enough, the little girl named Ningning stopped shaking, though she looked at Lu Luozhu with puzzled, slightly shy eyes before slowly inching closer.

Her delicate, porcelain-like face gradually regained some color.

“Stepmommy, don’t hit me, okay? 🥺 I’ll be good.”

Lu Luozhu chuckled—the child was surprisingly easy to comfort.

Still, she didn’t particularly like children.

Much like the original host, she had no desire to be a stepmother. Having transmigrated into the novel with a healthy body and means to support herself, she saw no need to leech off Qi Zi.

The best outcome would be peacefully reaching the end of their contractual marriage before cleanly parting ways.

Alone in the world, Lu Luozhu had no interest in romance. Beautiful people should remain like the moon in the sky—admired from afar, not necessarily held close.

Placing a hand on her chest, Lu Luozhu felt her heart’s strong beats.

So steady… but gradually, she noticed something amiss.

It was beating… rather fast.

Getting faster—

Her body grew increasingly warm.

Just as Lu Luozhu grew puzzled, the side door creaked open.

A woman in a long dress strode in on high heels. Even before she approached, her displeasure and chill were palpable. Rimless glasses perched on her nose bridge, their gold wire arms reflecting the chandelier’s expensive glow.

This made the blush on her cheeks all the more conspicuous.

Qi Zi looked at Lu Luozhu as one would regard an unwanted household ornament.

Wrapped in heat, Lu Luozhu’s overly healthy heart raced wildly. She seemed to catch a faint fragrance in the air.

Pear blossom?

Wait… Had she forgotten something?!

Lu Luozhu’s mind went completely blank. By the time she regained her senses, Qi Zi had already grabbed her chin and warned, “Hurry up and mark me. Don’t do anything unnecessary.”

The young actress, whose every strand of hair exuded an icy, ascetic aura, tilted her neck and ripped off the gland patch. Her movements were so rough that they left red marks on her originally smooth, fair skin.

The slightly swollen gland came into view, emitting that faint pear blossom fragrance.

Then Lu Luozhu remembered.

This was an ABO universe—???

Her sugar mommy and wife was in heat.