Willing to Be for Her - Chapter 3

The snow-blue Buddhist prayer beads clattered against Luo Xuan’s collarbone, the jade beads cold as shattered glass amidst frost.

On the screen, Ning Yiqing, dressed in a sleek black suit, his waist cinched to a razor-thin line, his tear mole hidden behind his glasses, exuded an aura of austere, noble, and ascetic dignity.

Luo Xuan’s fingers curled tightly around the damp sheets, her fingertips still slick with the lingering wetness of her body, the clinging, contracting sensation of her aroused flesh.

Outside the window, the torrential rain mirrored the relentless downpour in her heart.

Even as the woman before her, her eyes glistening with tears from their intimate encounter, her pristine body now marked with mottled traces of passion, retained an icy clarity in her gaze.

The woman donned her silver-rimmed glasses, transforming back into an ascetic, aloof deity—noble, cold, and utterly devoid of the earlier image of her biting her swollen, reddened lips, her voice breaking with suppressed sobs.

“The gag is in the drawer. Put it on,” Ning Yiqing’s ink-black hair framed her face, her soft voice carrying an undeniable undercurrent of authority. “Your S-Class pheromones will make it difficult for you to suppress your marking instincts.”

Even for a temporary mark, she refused to take the risk. She couldn’t allow herself to be marked by Luo Xuan, a mere C-Class Alpha.

It was something she simply wouldn’t permit.

Like a sudden snowfall, Luo Xuan watched Ning Yiqing’s face, etched with suppressed pain and surging desire. Yet the tenderness in his eyes and the gentle tone of his request made it seem less humiliating.

It should be self-evident that an S-Class Omega would never allow a C-Class Alpha to mark her.

Moreover, her pheromone level might decline further. A doctor had once diagnosed her with a short lifespan, so the fact that she had lived this long with only a decrease in pheromone level seemed like a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Who would willingly be marked by someone who might soon die, even if they were married?

Luo Xuan hoped Ning Yiqing could find happiness, even if it meant she herself wasn’t as important.

“Xiao Xuan, you know I come from a prominent family. Giving birth to an S-Class heir would significantly reduce the resistance I face.”

After all, the probability of an S-Class Omega and a C-Class Alpha producing an S-Class child was exceedingly low.

For Ning Yiqing, the choice between love and succession required almost no hesitation.

Luo Xuan lowered her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes, revealing only the translucent white tip of her nose and bl00d-red lips, like a trembling droplet on a leaf.

Being rejected for marking by one’s own wife was a humiliating ordeal. Though cruel, it was the truth.

“Alright, I understand.”

Sensing Luo Xuan’s dejection and hurt, Ning Yiqing sat up, her disheveled hair and tear-streaked cheeks radiating a captivating allure that couldn’t conceal the woman’s inherent radiant grace.

“I need an S-Class heir. We’ll talk about it after you recover. Be good.”

Luo Xuan took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm the boiling sensation in her bl00d. She coughed lightly, suppressing the metallic sweetness rising in her throat, and nodded.

The woman’s casual, dismissive words rekindled a flicker of hope within her. Perhaps one day she might actually recover from her illness.

*If only I could regain my health…*

*If only I had never gotten sick in the first place…*

“Xiao Xuan, calm yourself down,” Ning Yiqing said, casually draping a jade-green silk robe over his shoulders as he strode out of the bedroom.

In truth, he had spent the entire day in endless meetings—speaking, listening, attending banquets—overwhelmed and exhausted. In his fatigue, he hadn’t anticipated the early onset of her feverish period, nor its violent intensity.

It had nearly led to an unforeseen incident beyond acceptable limits.

Watching Ning Yiqing leave, Luo Xuan rose wearily and retrieved several brand-new bite guards from the cabinet.

*Ning Yiqing must have had these prepared,* she thought, still dizzy from the fever. When he returned, he carried a beautiful flat-bottomed glass cup. Three vibrant green mint leaves floated languidly in the crystal-clear water.

“Three mint leaves, one lemon slice, and forty-five-degree warm water,” Ning Yiqing said, his dark hair cascading down his back, making him seem unexpectedly approachable. He handed the mint-lemon water to Luo Xuan.

Taking the glass, Luo Xuan frowned. Due to her feverish condition, her mother used to prepare a cup of mint water for her every night. She wondered how Ning Yiqing knew about this habit…

“Ning Yiqing, how did you…” Luo Xuan felt a warmth bloom in her chest, like moonlight piercing through the rain-soaked night, as if she and Ning Yiqing had shared a moment.

“Go back to your room and sleep,” the woman interrupted coldly, turning toward the study. Her expression was gentle, but her eyes remained cool. “I still have work to finish.”

In the dim late-night light, the study felt far more spacious than the bedroom. The antique furnishings exuded a dignified, understated elegance, their warm, matte white surfaces radiating an aura of purity and wisdom.

Ning Yiqing lowered her head to open her laptop. The cold glow of the screen illuminated her refined, aloof profile, dignified and ethereal, like a goddess descended to earth.

A passionate, chaotic encounter had ended abruptly in cold silence. Luo Xuan clutched the glass, still faintly scented with White Sandalwood, and quietly left Ning Yiqing’s room.

The woman had never been comfortable sharing a bed with anyone, a rule established since their marriage.

Back in her room, Luo Xuan swallowed five or six pills with the cold water from the glass, the bitter taste flooding her mouth.

She didn’t know if the medication would actually help her condition, but she followed the doctor’s instructions anyway, hoping for a miracle.

During her episodes, the feverish heat in her bl00d made it impossible to sleep. She would wander the streets like a madwoman, her mind teeming with wild inspiration, as if electric sparks were searing her in a muddy swamp.

Battery acid spilled across the floor, yet she remained trapped in the mire.

She fought to suppress the urge to descend and roam like a monster. Ning Yiqing had finally returned, and she didn’t want to disturb or frighten her.

*A monster must pretend to be normal and beautiful to avoid scaring away the person they love.*

She shifted her attention to the carving knife and the half-finished sculpture on the table: a miniature wooden sea, its layered shavings and grain mimicking the ocean’s waves.

Connected to it was an intricately carved crescent moon and stars, their hollowed-out forms emitting a soft blue glow that made the “sea” appear as if covered in crushed ice.

Gold dust lined the edges of the stars, moon, and sea, as if a real wind were blowing through them, carrying the promise of dazzling freedom.

The sculpture was inspired by her encounter with Ning Yiqing.

This person would always be like the distant moon in the sky, unattainable as a deity. Luo Xuan simply wanted to shine a little brighter, a little brighter, when she was by her side.

*Ideally, I could shine as brightly as the stars.*

Luo Xuan gazed at her blurred, pale reflection in the window. Sometimes, she felt her six-year secret crush was a laughable one-woman show, only to suddenly realize that the person she admired had been watching all along.

At least the warmth of their skin touching earlier hadn’t been a figment of her imagination.

That night, the rain poured down so heavily that the entire city experienced an emergency power outage for an hour.

Ning Yiqing instinctively panicked when the lights went out, until a faint, warm phosphorescent glow appeared on the wall beside her bed, shaped like stars.

Seeing the light gradually calmed her racing heart. Due to her fear of the dark, she always kept a small nightlight on.

After the power outage, she never expected such unique starlight to dispel her fear.

The next morning, she discovered numerous stars affixed to the wall near the floor, clustered on delicate branches. The soft, phosphorescent glow was barely noticeable during the day.

“Did you install these star lights in my room?” Ning Yiqing asked the butler quietly as she came downstairs for breakfast, already dressed.

“No,” the butler replied with a smile. “Miss Luo Xuan came by a few days ago to set them up. The star lights are quite unique; we thought you might appreciate them.”

“And where is she?”

“She left very early this morning, looking as if she hadn’t slept all night.”

Ning Yiqing lowered her head thoughtfully, a few strands of her neatly coiled black hair falling loose. The beauty mark beneath her eye disappeared behind her glasses, like morning mist shrouding a mountain peak.

“Remove the lights.”

The butler was visibly surprised but remained silent. They never presumed to understand the president’s intentions.

“Very well.”

Ning Yiqing frowned, repeatedly wiping her fingers with a pristine white napkin. At that moment, her sense of order and compulsion clashed, creating an oddly ascetic coldness.

“Luo Xuan, Luo Xuan! It’s been ages since we last saw each other! I’ve missed you so much!” Chi Li exclaimed as she stepped out of the taxi and rushed toward Luo Xuan, arms outstretched for a hug.

Luo Xuan, dressed in the cafe’s student-uniform-inspired outfit, immediately regretted her choice of attire. Her high ponytail swayed twice as she cautioned, “Slow down! I’m still carrying the coffee and bread. Besides, Alphas and Omegas shouldn’t be so familiar. You need to be more careful.”

Glancing at the nearby city hospital, Chi Li narrowed her almond-shaped eyes and studied her friend’s delicate features. She whispered, “You’re still working at the cafe and delivering orders? You’ve gotten so thin from exhaustion. Is the Luo Family really so stingy they won’t give you a single penny?”

As they walked toward the hospital together, Luo Xuan shook her head. “My stepmother is obsessed with her daughter inheriting the family fortune. I can’t be bothered fighting over the Luo Family’s meager wealth.”

Inside the elevator, they pressed the button for the seventeenth floor. After a moment’s thought, Chi Li asked, “Your sister, Luo Wei? I remember she went to our school too. Didn’t she become a huge star later?”

“You know more about the Luo Family than I do,” Luo Xuan scoffed. “Anyway, I avoid them whenever possible.”

Suddenly, a cheer erupted from the hospital corridor. Someone had just proposed successfully. The couple, still in their hospital gowns, had no flowers or rings, but their smiles were radiant.

Luo Xuan stood in the bustling corridor, holding a takeout bag, the corners of her lips curving upward.

Noticing the sparkle in Luo Xuan’s eyes, Chi Li teased, “What’s this? Getting marriage fever?”

Luo Xuan chuckled, her reply oddly earnest and unrelated to the question. “For me, marriage feels as miraculous and unbelievable as a miracle.”

Chi Li stared in disbelief. “How could that be?”

Luo Xuan’s smile was clear and bright, like rain teeming with life. “No one could bear to be with a patient forever.”

*If only I weren’t sick,* she thought silently to herself.

After delivering the coffee and bread to the patient’s room according to the takeout address, Luo Xuan emerged to find Chi Li staring at her intently.

“Hey, since you haven’t been back to the Luo family in ages, who was that ‘young miss’ from yesterday?”

At the mention of this, a suspicious flush crept across Luo Xuan’s usually pale face.

She couldn’t help but recall the woman’s dark hair cascading down her shoulders, her tear-filled eyes, and her refusal to be marked. Her heart stirred with complex emotions.

Just as she was about to tell her friend about her marriage, she saw a woman in a long black coat over a matching suit, carrying a large bouquet of pink roses, passing nearby.

Luo Xuan froze. Chi Li tugged frantically at Luo Xuan’s sleeve, whispering excitedly, “We actually ran into President Ning! Her aura is so strong, I can’t even look her in the eye. My heart’s pounding like crazy!”

“That intense?”

“Words like ‘bewitching mortals,’ ‘captivating all,’ and ‘peerless beauty’ don’t even begin to describe her,” Chi Li said solemnly, shaking her head. “With her background and capabilities, her beauty is the least remarkable of her qualities. I’ve heard countless aristocratic families want to marry President Ning, but no one can ever guess what she’s thinking.”

Luo Xuan lowered her gaze, puzzled. “How do you know so much about her?”

Chi Li gave Luo Xuan a speechless look before sweetly linking arms with her.

“Luo Xuanxuan, President Ning is the most popular figure in the financial gossip circles. So many people are eyeing her, hoping to win her favor, but she’s never had a single scandal. Everyone calls her the ‘Heartless Goddess.’ You’d know if you paid more attention to our field.”

Chi Li sighed after speaking. Though Luo Xuan was also an economics major, she had never shown any interest in the field, dedicating herself entirely to wood carving.

“Do you know if the flower language of the pink rose means ‘only’?” Luo Xuan suddenly interrupted Chi Li’s musings, her gaze deep and unfathomable.

“I think so. Could President Ning be visiting someone important?” Chi Li smiled softly, noticing Luo Xuan’s somber mood. She quickly tried to cheer up her friend, suggesting they grab ice cream together after work.

In a luxurious private room on the seventeenth floor, Ning Yiqing, wearing black gloves, placed fresh flowers by the patient’s bedside. Her eyes were half-closed, yet she still exuded an aura of untouchable aloofness.

Qin Shiyi strode in, her voluminous wavy hair cascading down her back, her slender waist and long legs accentuated by her fiery red lipstick. “Is Luo Wei’s condition improving?”

“Yes, the Luo family says she’s showing signs of waking from her coma,” Ning Yiqing replied gently, her gaze softening with a hint of tenderness.

“Your OCD is acting up again. Wearing gloves to avoid washing your hands? Didn’t the doctor tell you to stay relaxed?”

“I’ve been preoccupied lately,” Ning Yiqing answered matter-of-factly.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Are you troubled by romance or career?” Qin Shiyi’s smile was dazzling as she sized up Ning Yiqing, her gaze lingering on the snow-blue Buddhist prayer beads for a few seconds. “How could so many people be so infatuated with you, a heartless man bound by rigid rules? It’s obvious how boring you’d be in bed—who would want to sleep with a block of ice?”

Ning Yiqing turned slightly, glancing at his old classmate.

“How’s married life treating you? Luo Xuan may act like a rebellious, cool, and bad girl, but anyone with eyes can see how much she adores you.”

“It’s fine. I was away on a business trip for six months, and she was very well-behaved—not a bad girl at all.”

“I heard from the Luo family that her health is terrible. Coughing up bl00d and fainting are commonplace. She’s sickly and probably doesn’t have many years left.”

“I’m more aware of that than you are,” Ning Yiqing’s expression flickered momentarily before returning to his usual mountain-like composure. He lowered his head and sent a text message to Luo Xuan.

Tonight at 7:30 PM, there’s a dinner with both our families.

“You’re quite protective of her,” Qin Shiyi shook her head, rolling her eyes with uncharacteristic disdain. “It seems you’re quite fond of Luo Xuan too. When Luo Wei wakes up, what do you plan to do with Luo Xuan?”

Removing his glasses, Ning Yiqing rubbed the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist and said calmly, “Then I’ll end it.”