Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 1

“Are you Yi Qian, the one who seduced my woman?”

In the dimly lit alley, where silence reigned and only the faint glow of a streetlamp flickered, the sudden question shattered the quiet.

The girl being questioned raised a hand to lower the brim of her cap but didn’t stop walking, replying indifferently, “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Before she could take more than a few steps, a cold baseball bat blocked her path.

Forced to halt, she took two steps back, the soles of her combat boots clicking sharply against the pavement, as if echoing her impatience.

With both hands tucked into the pockets of her baseball jacket, she lazily lifted her gaze to the man in front of her. A black mask covered most of her face, leaving only a pair of sharp, icy eyes exposed. The buzz-cut man holding the bat gulped and instinctively retreated a step.

Her eyes swept over the semi-circle of people surrounding her. The mint candy in her mouth crunched loudly as she bit down. She pulled out her phone, pressed the voice message button, and said, “I’ll be late today.”

As she slipped the phone back into her pocket, the buzz-cut man snarled, “If you don’t speak up, I’ll take that as an admission.”

Before Yi Qian could respond, one of his lackeys shouted, “Boss, don’t waste time talking to her! Judging by her attitude, she’s probably meeting up with your girl tonight just to piss you off. Let’s just teach her a lesson!”

Clearly swayed by his underling’s words, the man waved his hand, and the group closed in. Yi Qian adjusted her cap and swiftly shifted into a fighting stance.

Five minutes later, bodies lay sprawled across the ground, clutching various injuries and howling in pain, their cries reverberating through the once-silent alley.

Yi Qian picked up the fallen baseball bat and walked over to the buzz-cut man. Propping the bat against the ground, she crouched in front of him and said casually, “So, what’s your woman’s name?”

When he muttered a name, Yi Qian nodded thoughtfully. “If I’d known accepting a drink out of politeness would lead to this much trouble, I should’ve had a few more with her that night. What a waste.”

“You—”

The moment he spat out the syllable, Yi Qian slammed the bat down inches from his face. He immediately clamped his mouth shut.

Her eyes, devoid of warmth, bore into him as she said coldly, “I have zero interest in your woman. And I never want to see you again. Understood?”

The man, curled into a ball, nodded frantically.

Yi Qian stood, letting the bat clatter to the ground. She dusted off her hands, tugged her cap lower, and shoved her hands back into her pockets before walking out of the alley.

The video ended on Yi Qian’s retreating figure.

After watching it, she smirked and murmured to herself, “Not bad footage.”

[OMG, Yi Qian, my wife, is so freaking cool!!! How do I make this woman mine?!]

[Hey, wanting everything will only lead to trouble.]

[What’s wrong with the comments? Is picking fights something to glorify? Is this the kind of behavior we expect from a celebrity? Promoting this kind of toxic attitude.]

[So according to you, celebrities should just stand there and take a beating, no self-defense allowed? If you’re so morally superior, why can’t you look at this objectively?]

…

[“By the way, am I the only one curious about what the girl who got Yi Qian to accept a drink looks like? Yi Qian never takes drinks from anyone!!”]

Seeing this comment, Yi Qian’s finger paused mid-swipe on the screen, her thoughts drifting back to that night as she murmured, “It was just that her eyebrows looked somewhat similar…”

Bang!

A file was slammed onto the desk with such force that it bounced open and shut a few times.

While Yi Qian had been watching videos and reading comments, Manager Zhang had been analyzing the current situation beside her, occasionally slipping in some persuasion. He had talked himself hoarse, only to look up and find her completely absorbed in her tablet, utterly indifferent to his words. His temper flared, and he threw down the file in frustration.

“Yi Qian, are you even listening to me?” Manager Zhang raised his voice. “Do you realize how serious this situation is?”

Yi Qian, with her long legs casually crossed over a chair and her body lazily reclined against the backrest, glanced up. “Oh? How serious? Did those cowards I beat up come knocking?”

Manager Zhang was momentarily speechless, so infuriated by her attitude that he clutched his forehead and paced in circles. With a stern expression, he said, “They didn’t come knocking, but the number of people calling for you to be canceled for ‘corrupting social morals’ has increased by a fifth, a fifth! Do you understand what that means?”

Yi Qian pinched her chin as if genuinely considering it, but before Manager Zhang could exhale in relief, she beamed and said, “It means I’m popular enough to have that kind of influence.”

Manager Zhang smacked his own forehead. What sin had he committed in his past life to be saddled with such a troublemaker? He couldn’t even argue because Yi Qian wasn’t wrong.

In her three years since debut, Yi Qian had achieved remarkable success in film, television, and music, winning awards big and small, amassing a massive fanbase. Her professional accomplishments were undeniable. The only thing that raised eyebrows was her reputation two minor scandals a week, five major ones a month.

Even more notorious than her achievements was her reputation as a heartless alpha.

Today, the omega in Yi Qian’s arms was the sweet type; tomorrow, it’d be a domineering older sister. In short, she never went a day without a different omega by her side, changing partners as easily as changing clothes.

Manager Zhang and the higher-ups at the company were constantly exasperated, yet the woman herself seemed to revel in it, thoroughly pleased with the tabloid headlines she generated.

Leaning heavily on the desk, Manager Zhang sighed. “Little ancestor, last night, Sister Li handed in her resignation overnight.” That makes twenty-eight managers you’ve driven away twenty-eight! At this point, any experienced manager in the industry refuses outright the moment they hear your name. If this keeps up, are you planning to handle all your work alone and brave the entertainment industry single-handedly?”

“If they quit that easily, it just means they weren’t cut out for the job. Old Zhang, this reflects poorly on your judgment too, you know?” Yi Qian curved her lips into a smile, feigning earnestness. “As for a new manager even though your past picks haven’t been great, I still have faith in your connections. Keep at it, yeah?”

She even gave him an encouraging gesture.

Manager Zhang looked at her with a complicated gaze for a moment before sighing helplessly. “The new agent is already on her way. I’ve sent her profile to your email take a look first, then we’ll meet her shortly.”

Yi Qian snapped her fingers in front of him. “As expected of you.”

She casually opened the email on her tablet. When she saw the ID photo in the profile, her breath caught unconsciously, and her eyes widened slightly.

At the same time, a knock sounded at the conference room door.

Manager Zhang called out, “Come in.”

Yi Qian slowly raised her head as the door creaked open.

When the door swung wide, it was as if a floodgate of time had been unleashed. For an instant, everything around them seemed to freeze the air itself splitting open a rift in time. The face that appeared behind the door merged seamlessly with the one in her memories. Just like their first meeting years ago, the woman wore a white scarf, white top, and white pants. The only difference was that the white sneakers had been replaced with white high heels.

“You must be Ms. Ye,” Manager Zhang’s voice shattered the silence. As he walked toward Ye Shuyi, he kicked the leg of Yi Qian’s swivel chair where she sat with her legs crossed.

Yi Qian snapped back to reality. She pinched her thigh hard, the sharp pain confirmed this wasn’t a dream.

Manager Zhang guided Ye Shuyi over and abruptly pulled away the swivel chair Yi Qian had been leaning on, simultaneously making frantic gestures for her to stand up, which Yi Qian pointedly ignored.

After seating Ye Shuyi across from Yi Qian, Manager Zhang introduced them: “Ms. Ye, this is Yi Qian. If you have any questions about her, you can ask directly.”

Yi Qian raised an eyebrow at this. She spun her chair to face Ye Shuyi squarely but kept her eyes fixed on the tablet, as if the person opposite wasn’t worth looking at. Adopting the stern tone of an interviewer, she said, “From your profile, Ms. Ye, it seems you’ve never worked as an agent before. Quite the parachute appointment, isn’t it?”

Ye Shuyi didn’t deny it. The corners of her lips curved slightly, her cool voice betraying no emotion. “That’s correct. Ms. Yi will be my first artist.”

Without looking up, Yi Qian kept her gaze on the tablet, fingertips tapping the table intermittently as she feigned nonchalance. “And what makes you think I’d accept a complete novice as my agent?”

Ye Shuyi met her gaze directly, interlacing her hands on the table as she responded deliberately: “Ms. Yi seems to have misunderstood the situation. I’m not here for an interview.”

Manager Zhang quickly interjected, “Ah yes, Yi Qian while Ms. Ye is new to this role, her credentials are impeccable. She holds an agent certification, and our HR department already signed the contract with her yesterday. Today is her first official workday.”

At this, Yi Qian finally lifted her head to lock eyes with Ye Shuyi. The usually warm, flirtatious peach-blossom eyes now held no trace of warmth. Ye Shuyi returned the stare unflinchingly. The air between them grew thick with tension, their gazes creating an inexplicable standoff that seemed to stretch time itself.

Manager Zhang clapped his hands together, breaking the suffocating tension in the room. Before he could say anything to ease the atmosphere, Yi Qian abruptly stood up. The sudden movement sent her chair crashing backward into the wall. Her tone brooked no argument as she declared, “I won’t accept this manager no matter what. You figure it out.” With that, she stormed out of the meeting room.

Her face dark with anger, Yi Qian marched through the office. A colleague who tried to greet her recoiled in fear, hastily withdrawing their outstretched hand. When she reached the company entrance, a gust of icy wind carrying snowflakes hit her face, instantly raising goosebumps on her skin. Only then did she realize she’d left her coat draped over the chair.

Waiting at the elevator, she heard the familiar ding as the doors opened. Lifting her gaze, Yi Qian found herself locking eyes with Ye Shuyi inside the elevator.

Stepping out, Ye Shuyi extended the coat from her wrist with a faint smile. “Miss Yi, was there really such need for such a hasty retreat?”

Yi Qian looked at her and scoffed disdainfully. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

As she reached for the coat, her fingers accidentally brushed against Ye Shuyi’s icy ones. Glancing at the other woman’s thin clothing, Yi Qian withdrew her hand with visible disgust. “Just throw that away.”

Watching the retreating figure disappear into the snowy curtain, Ye Shuyi looked down at the coat in her hand, her lips curling unconsciously.