Night fell, and the drizzling rain continued.
Bathed in the warm indoor light, Yu Li sat curled up in an armchair, dressed in light beige loungewear. Her slender, pale fingers tapped the screen before pressing gently against her temples.
While eating cake, Yu Li had spotted the ring box Ye Zhixun had hidden.
The DAWN logo on it was all too familiar to her.
DAWN was a personal studio Yu Li had established under her designer alias her true identity undisclosed, completely separate from Yu’s Jewelry.
It was, in a way, her backup plan.
With limited time, Yu Li took on few commissions, carefully selecting them based on factors like the client’s budget or the rarity of materials.
During her busiest periods, she might only accept one or two orders a year, but each piece she crafted became a coveted masterpiece among the elite.
Scarcity breeds value. Over seven or eight years, DAWN gradually built its reputation. Owning a DAWN-designed piece became a subtle marker of taste and status among the wealthy.
When she opened the ring box, Yu Li recognized it immediately, it was from a commission she had taken earlier this year.
At the time, swamped with work, she hadn’t planned to accept it. But her team had shown her the heartfelt letter from the client, along with their concept sketches and images of the raw stone.
The unheated, glassy pigeon-blood ruby in the photos looked to be of excellent quality.
The letter brimmed with sincerity, expressions of love for a partner, dreams of marriage, and hopes for a family.
Wasn’t the true value of a gemstone, after all, the meaning people imbued it with?
Yu Li agreed to the commission, charging only the base fee for design and craftsmanship.
However, she remained behind the scenes, with her team handling communication and gathering the client’s ideas while she drafted the design in her spare time.
Later, overwhelmed with work and overseas travel, she left most of the production to her team, stepping in only when modifications or additional requests arose.
The original stone was sizable. After crafting the ring, remnants remained, and the client had scheduled a follow-up six months later to design earrings with the leftover material, this time involving their partner in the creative process.
Amid the cutthroat world of business, this commission had given Yu Li a fleeting taste of love’s sweetness.
Even if it wasn’t her own, beauty had a way of lifting the spirit.
Back then, she hadn’t paid attention to the client’s name. But upon seeing the ring, she called her team to ask only to learn it was Ye Zhixun.
The pieces quickly fell into place.
So, the one harboring such tender affection, the one ready to pour their heart out, was Ye Zhixun and the recipient was her own sister.
The outcome was obvious.
And now, that same person had just been with her…
Yu Li hadn’t intended to summon Ye Zhixun so late for questioning. But when she checked the tracking app and saw Ye Zhixun’s location, lingering at a garbage transfer station for over an hour in the rain, she couldn’t ignore it.
What could an alpha possibly be doing at a dump in this weather?
She could picture the young woman, silent in the downpour, her dark eyes scanning the refuse as she searched for something.
In the end, Yu Li sent her a message.
If Ye Zhixun came back reeking of garbage after rooting through a landfill in the rain, how would she ever enjoy the alpha’s scent again without catching a whiff of trash?
“Young Mistress, do you know who it was? The housekeeper couldn’t have put a ring in the cake. Second Young Mistress probably didn’t know either, otherwise why would she have given the cake to you?” Qin Shuangxue’s voice came through.
“Aunt Qin, I know who it was. I’ll handle this matter myself. It’s late, you should go home. I’ll be fine here.” Yu Li looked up at Qin Shuangxue, her expression softening slightly.
“Young Mistress, you haven’t been well these past few days. Remember to rest more. If anything comes up, call me.” Qin Shuangxue said, her gaze lingering on Yu Li with concern. But knowing Yu Li wasn’t accustomed to having others stay over, she didn’t press further.
Yu Li hadn’t let Qin Nanzhen tell Qin Shuangxue about what happened the previous night, afraid that if word got out, her mother would find out and cause a string of complications.
As for the fact that Ye Zhixun’s pheromones were something she could accept and that they could soothe her heat cycle, Yu Li wanted to confirm this further.
After Qin Shuangxue left, Yu Li leaned back on the sofa, eyes closed, lost in thought. Before long, her phone rang, Ye Zhixun had arrived.
Yu Li confirmed with security and had Ye Zhixun let in.
A few minutes later, Yu Li opened the door to see Ye Zhixun.
Dressed in simple athletic wear, her black hair slightly damp, strands dripping at the ends. She carried no scent, clean and fresh, her neck rubbed red, evidence of thorough scrubbing.
The alpha’s dark eyes were clear yet still held a trace of awkwardness, even a flicker of apprehension when she looked at Yu Li.
“Hello, sister!” Ye Zhixun bowed slightly in greeting.
It sounded less like “sister” and more like “superior.”
“Come in. Find slippers in the cabinet.” Yu Li turned and walked back into the room, settling onto the sofa again, her posture relaxed.
Ye Zhixun left her raincoat outside and changed into slippers at the entryway before stepping in.
While showering, Ye Zhixun’s previously frozen brain had finally rebooted.
Yu Qi said she threw the cake away likely giving it to Yu Li. It made sense if they lived in the same building.
Already tangled in such a mess with Yu Li, and now this added layer.
Ye Zhixun spotted the familiar insulated lunchbox on Yu Li’s table, along with the half-eaten cake and the ring box dug out from it, confirming her earlier suspicion.
After breaking up with her, Yu Qi had tossed all the gifts she’d given her straight to Yu Li.
“Sister, Yu Qi probably didn’t know about the ring. We’ve already broken up. Please don’t tell her about this. I’m begging you.”
Ye Zhixun decided to address it first.
“Your affairs have nothing to do with me. I called you here to ask, where did you order this cake from? And who made the food in the lunchbox?”
Yu Li glanced at Ye Zhixun, her voice low and laced with languid indifference.
“I made all of it myself,” Ye Zhixun admitted, her heart uneasy. Yu Li likely wouldn’t say much to Yu Qi, but the whims of someone so influential were unpredictable. It all depended on Yu Li’s mood.
Hearing this, Yu Li looked up at Ye Zhixun again.
She had assumed Ye Zhixun ordered it from somewhere but she made it herself?!
Even in this modern age, most alphas clung to the notion that staying out of the kitchen was their birthright, believing such domestic tasks were better suited for omegas.
“You can make desserts… and cook?” Yu Li pressed.
“Yes,” Ye Zhixun replied, unsure where this was leading.
“Could you check the kitchen for ingredients and make something simple? Nothing too time-consuming,” Yu Li said after a moment’s thought.
She had eaten some leftover cake earlier but hadn’t had much, and now her stomach felt unsettled.
Since Ye Zhixun was a chef herself, this was also a good opportunity to test whether only her cooking suited Yu Li’s taste.
Ye Zhixun was puzzled by Yu Li’s request.
Was this a test of her cooking skills or something else?
“Just anything?” Ye Zhixun confirmed.
Yu Li nodded.
“Anything” was always the trickiest request.
But since Yu Li had spoken, Ye Zhixun had no choice but to improvise.
Fortunately, cooking was something she was quite familiar with.
Compared to the kitchen in Ye Zhixun’s rented apartment, Yu Li’s kitchen was far more high-end, equipped with a dishwasher, oven, French-door refrigerator, and other top-brand appliances, all spotless and clearly seldom used.
Yu Li didn’t cook, and with her recent poor appetite, the fridge was nearly empty, containing only some eggs, noodles, and a bit of ham, no vegetables in sight.
Ye Zhixun didn’t have many options.
Yu Li sat on the sofa, scrolling through her tablet, when the aroma of food soon reached her.
Ye Zhixun had set the prepared noodles on the dining table and walked into the living room.
“Jiejie, it’s ready. The only staple was noodles, so I just made noodles,” Ye Zhixun said nervously, feeling as if she were in a cooking competition awaiting judgment.
Yu Li set down her tablet and went to the dining area.
On the table were three types of noodles.
One was egg sauce mixed noodles, another was poached egg clear broth noodles, and the last was stir-fried noodles with ham and eggs.
Each looked quite appetizing.
Yu Li hadn’t expected such simple ingredients to yield three different dishes.
She sat down and sampled small portions from each.
The taste was good but most importantly, Yu Li didn’t feel like vomiting.
“You can have the rest,” Yu Li said, choosing the egg mixed noodles and transferring some to a smaller bowl. She glanced up at Ye Zhixun, who was still standing stiffly.
Ye Zhixun hadn’t eaten since the afternoon and was naturally hungry, but she hadn’t planned on eating at Yu Li’s place.
At Yu Li’s instruction, she reluctantly sat down to finish the remaining noodles.
Yu Li finished quickly, wiped her mouth, and watched as Ye Zhixun ate heartily, forming a few theories.
Compared to professional chefs, Ye Zhixun’s skills weren’t extraordinary, yet her cooking did suit Yu Li’s palate. Yu Li suspected it might be related to Ye Zhixun’s pheromones.
However, apart from that one time at the hotel, Yu Li hadn’t detected Ye Zhixun’s scent since, including during this visit.
Most alphas, even outside their rut, couldn’t control their pheromones so well, some always leaked out.
Yet despite Ye Zhixun having been in the room for so long, Yu Li still hadn’t caught a whiff.
Did they have to be extremely close for it to be noticeable?!