Meng Chuwu spoke gently.
“Come on, lift the blanket. You’ve been under there too long. You’ll suffocate.”
“Only if Sister Chuwu promises not to be mad, I’ll come out,” came Xi Xiaoyan’s muffled voice from under the blanket.
From the sound of her tone, it seemed she had already forgotten about the twins by the swimming pool.
Then again, after going through such a terrifying event earlier that afternoon, the issue with the twins felt trivial in comparison.
To Meng Chuwu, she was being childish again.
“Why would I be mad?”
“Before we got married, I promised I would always tell you when I go out. But today, I was too angry…”
Xi Xiaoyan suddenly stopped speaking, realizing she had said too much.
From the moment she returned home from the seaside hotel, even though she was angry, she had stubbornly insisted that everything was fine.
“Didn’t you tell Aunt Chao? That counts as telling me.”
“So… you’re really not mad?” Xi Xiaoyan finally lifted the blanket, revealing her face from beneath the thin white cover.
She looked a little pale, but the exhaustion only added a delicate beauty to her features.
Unlike her usual lively charm, this fragile version of her stirred a powerful urge to protect her.
“No, I’m not mad today,” Meng Chuwu said as she sat gently on the edge of the bed.
Xi Xiaoyan pushed the blanket down to her chest and gave her a weak smile.
Meng Chuwu added softly,
“But this can’t happen again. If you run off like that next time, I will get mad. And I mean…”
“How mad?” Xi Xiaoyan asked in a small voice, pretending to be scared.
“Very mad,” Meng Chuwu said, then noticed her hair had gotten messy from lying down. Without thinking, she reached out and gently smoothed it back.
“You must have been so scared.”
“It wasn’t that bad. The moment I felt something was wrong, I asked Luo Pi to call you. I didn’t expect her to also call the police, but thank goodness she did…”
Meng Chuwu looked into her sparkling eyes and couldn’t help but lightly brush her finger along the bridge of her nose.
“You did the right thing. Always call me first when something happens.”
She didn’t mention that she had told Luo Pi to call the police.
And without realizing it, she had already started fulfilling the terms of the contract. Loving her wife, starting early.
She didn’t think Xi Xiaoyan was sharp enough to notice that she was currently treating her more like a cherished younger sister than a romantic partner.
“By the way, I heard you went to the police station just now,” Xi Xiaoyan said as she reached out and naturally held onto Meng Chuwu’s hand.
“I did. The police said someone put synthetic pheromones into your coffee. It was Tengyun.”
Meng Chuwu gently curled her fingers around Xi Xiaoyan’s hand. Her hand was still a little cold from the fever.
“That’s so evil…”
“They haven’t caught the culprit yet.”
“When they do, I want to smash their head in,” Xi Xiaoyan said. Her tone was deadly serious.
Meng Chuwu remembered what the original novel said about her. She always loved fiercely and hated just as intensely. She would give her all to the people she loved and show no mercy to those she disliked.
“Even if you don’t do it, I will do it for you.”
“You’re so good to me, Sister Chuwu.”
“Were you scared when I wasn’t there?”
“Yes, I was scared.” Her long hair was still damp from the sweat.
“Sister Chuwu, hold me.”
Meng Chuwu looked down and smiled softly.
“Why not ask me to kiss you too?”
As she spoke, she leaned in as if to kiss her.
But to her surprise, Xi Xiaoyan turned her face away.
The reaction caught Meng Chuwu completely off guard. Wasn’t this the same Xi Xiaoyan who used to always ask for kisses?
The mood turned slightly awkward. Meng Chuwu straightened up and rubbed her hair behind her ear with her left hand, trying to act casual.
Xi Xiaoyan tightened her grip on their joined hands, as if she was trying to apologize or explain something without saying it directly.
“Not today,” Xi Xiaoyan said, shaking her head gently.
“Actually, not anytime soon.”
“You don’t want me to kiss you anymore?” Meng Chuwu teased her.
“Or is it that you don’t like kissing me anymore?”
“Of course I still like it,” Xi Xiaoyan replied with a tired smile. Her eyes sparkled faintly.
“But let’s save it for another time.”
“Can you tell me why?” Meng Chuwu asked.
“You know a kiss doesn’t take much effort.”
She could tell this wasn’t about being tired. There was something else hidden behind Xi Xiaoyan’s hesitant expression.
She didn’t want her to keep things bottled up. She didn’t want her to carry the emotional weight of what had happened today.
Meng Chuwu herself wasn’t sure why she cared so much, why her affection came so naturally.
The contract alone could not explain this level of tenderness. She always gave her best in everything she did, but the way she was treating Xi Xiaoyan was different from how she approached work.
Her concern came from a deeper place. Her care was real and full of feeling.
Maybe in this world where it was normal to love another woman openly, the emotions she had repressed for years were finally showing. Xi Xiaoyan was truly the kind of girl she had always been drawn to from the start.
Still, because Xi Xiaoyan loved the scumbag Alpha, because she had only just arrived here, and because she had no choice but to care for her, her pride had been wounded. That was why Meng Chuwu refused to admit that from the night she was kissed until she almost lost her breath, she had already been deeply attracted to her.
“Sister Chuwu, my body still has traces of someone else’s pheromones.”
Xi Xiaoyan’s voice was tinged with sadness. She lowered her eyes, avoiding Meng Chuwu’s gaze.
Meng Chuwu felt a dull ache in her chest.
She was all too familiar with this kind of self-disgust.
It was the same feeling she had whenever she thought about the past memories and experiences of the scumbag Alpha.
Xi Xiaoyan’s emotional sensitivity shocked her.
When she said someone else’s pheromones, she wasn’t talking about the synthetic ones that had triggered her heat.
It wasn’t the synthetic pheromones she meant.
She was referring to that moment when she was overwhelmed and lost in confusion, and passively accepted the pheromones released by Jiang Tianyang to soothe her.
Strictly speaking, it didn’t even count as a temporary mark. It was more like inhaling a faint trace of someone’s scent.
Yet because of that, she was willing to reject the kisses she loved so much. She even said she wouldn’t be able to do it again anytime soon.
So how deeply did she have to love the scumbag Alpha to accept all those past mistakes?
Meng Chuwu felt a sudden wave of emotion. This was not the time to carelessly comfort her with simple words like “It’s nothing.”
After thinking for a moment, she said,
“If this alone means we can’t kiss, then maybe you’ll never be able to kiss me again for the rest of your life.”
“Pfft…” Xi Xiaoyan let out a soft laugh, clearly amused by Meng Chuwu’s pitiful expression.
“That’s different.”
For some reason, that laugh made Meng Chuwu’s heart ache.
Xi Xiaoyan was so strict with herself, yet so forgiving toward the scumbag Alpha. No, not just forgiving. She was indulgent.
Because she had indulged her so much, the scumbag Alpha had kept pushing boundaries in the original story until she finally broke Xi Xiaoyan’s heart completely.
“How is it different?”
“If I can never kiss you again, then what’s the point of living?” Xi Xiaoyan pouted slightly. The way she looked—angry but still adorably soft—made her seem especially lovable.
“I’m only holding myself to your standards,” Meng Chuwu said.
“Sister Chuwu, hug me,” Xi Xiaoyan repeated.
Just as Meng Chuwu leaned in to hug her, Xi Xiaoyan began to sit up on her own.
So, Meng Chuwu bent forward and easily scooped her into her arms.
“Your hugs are so warm,” Xi Xiaoyan whispered.
“Little one, clinging to my arms like this… were you really that love-starved as a kid?”
Xi Xiaoyan stayed quiet for a moment, then rested her chin on Meng Chuwu’s shoulder. She spoke softly into her ear.
“Strictly speaking, yes. I was missing something. Missing the love of my sister.”
Her tone was light, as if what she said was completely natural.
“From now on, I’ll give you all my love,” Meng Chuwu replied.
As soon as she said it, she realized she might have gone a little overboard with the whole “pampering the wife” routine.
But the girl in her arms responded so well to it. She laughed, light and sweet. Even without looking, Meng Chuwu could imagine the way her smile bloomed like a flower.
“What’s making you so happy?” Meng Chuwu asked.
“Everything. I’m really happy.” Xi Xiaoyan’s arms tightened around her waist.
“What I love most is knowing that you love me.”
“How many times have I told you already?”
“Sister Chuwu, take me home.”
Meng Chuwu had planned to talk to her about Jiang Tianyang, but looking at how tired she was now, she decided it could wait.
After all, they had plenty of time.