Returning to the water villa, the two went about their own washing and grooming.
When Bai Yue came out after her shower, Jiang Manru was sitting on a recliner on the terrace, wrapped in a thin blanket, watching the moonlight dance on the sea.
“Not sleeping yet?” Bai Yue walked over.
“I cannot sleep.” Jiang Manru looked up at her. “Are you going to sleep?”
“No rush. I will sit with you for a while.”
Bai Yue sat down on the recliner next to her.
The two watched the sea in silence. The moonlight shattered into countless silver points of light, rising and falling with the waves.
“Bai Yue,” Jiang Manru said suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“You,” she paused, seemingly weighing her words. “Why did you agree to this marriage?”
Bai Yue turned her head to look at her.
Under the moonlight, Jiang Manru’s eyes were clear, her expression innocent. She looked like a truly curious newlywed wife.
“What about you?” Bai Yue countered. “Why did you agree?”
Jiang Manru thought for a moment and said softly, “My family hoped for me to marry. You look like a good person.”
A good person.
Bai Yue almost laughed out loud.
The words “good person,” coming from her mouth, sounded somewhat ironic no matter how one listened.
“Same for me,” Bai Yue said. “My family hoped for me to marry. You look very suitable.”
“Suitable?” Jiang Manru tilted her head. “In what way is it suitable?”
“In every way.” Bai Yue looked into her eyes. “Appearance, personality, family background, it is all very suitable.”
Jiang Manru smiled. The smile was faint, barely visible in the moonlight.
The two were silent for a while longer. The sea breeze blew gently, carrying a salty, damp scent.
“I am a bit sleepy.” Jiang Manru stood up.
“You go to sleep first. I will come in a while.”
After Jiang Manru left, Bai Yue sat on the terrace alone and lit a cigarette.
The moonlight was beautiful, the sea breeze was pleasant, and the honeymoon was perfect.
But she kept feeling that something was not quite right.
That feeling was like looking into a mirror. The person in the mirror moved perfectly, showed perfect expressions, and was perfect in every way. But you always felt that there was something hidden behind the mirror.
What could it be?
Bai Yue exhaled a puff of smoke and watched it be scattered by the sea breeze.
Forget it. It does not matter.
It was a family marriage after all; how could everything go according to her wishes? All she had to do was perform the role of a serious Alpha well and handle Jiang Manru. As long as the act on stage did not go wrong, who cares what happens off-stage?
She stubbed out her cigarette and stood up to return to the room.
Only a bedside lamp was lit in the bedroom.
Jiang Manru was lying on her side, breathing steadily, seemingly already asleep. The quilt covered her shoulders, revealing half of her fair nape.
Bai Yue’s gaze lingered on that nape for a second.
The area where the gland was located would flush, heat up, and emit rich pheromones during the heat period; it was the most fragile and sensitive part of an Omega.
Under normal circumstances, an Alpha would feel an instinctive desire to possess that area.
But Bai Yue only took a glance before looking away.
She lay on the other side of the bed, keeping a well-measured distance from Jiang Manru. She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the waves, and slowly fell into a deep sleep.
She did not know how much time had passed when she felt movement beside her, fuzzy and dreamlike.
The Omega’s body pressed against her from behind, soft and warm. The scent of jasmine became rich, even more so than the night before.
Bai Yue woke up instantly.
Is the heat period back again?
Bai Yue was just about to get up to get the inhibitor, but she suddenly paused.
Because she smelled something strange in the pheromones.
Sweet jasmine, but underneath, something was wrong.
It was a very faint, faint woody note.
Like white peach wood.
Bai Yue’s breathing hitched for a beat.
She remembered that night. The Omega whose face she did not even see clearly; the pheromones were white peach, sweet with a hint of astringency, cold beneath the sharpness.
No.
Impossible.
She turned over, wanting to see Jiang Manru’s face clearly.
But in the darkness, she could only see a blurry outline. Jiang Manru’s brows were slightly furrowed, her breathing rapid, her body subconsciously nuzzling into her embrace. It was the typical precursor to a heat period, without any flaws.
Bai Yue reached out to touch her forehead; it was a bit hot, and the gland area was indeed flushed.
She smelled the pheromones again.
Jasmine.
Pure jasmine.
Sweet, clean, harmless.
That hint of woodiness just now must have been an illusion.
Bai Yue let go and got up to get the inhibitor.
Jiang Manru’s eyelashes did not move, as if she were in a deep sleep. But her consciousness was shockingly clear.
Just a moment ago, she almost gave herself away.
The discomfort of the heat period was real, but the woody note in the pheromones was a test she had leaked on purpose.
She wanted to see how Bai Yue would react.
As it turned out, Bai Yue just stared blankly.
She said nothing.
She asked nothing.
As if she had not noticed anything at all.
Jiang Manru curved her lips in the darkness.
Interesting.
This Alpha is duller than she imagined.
It was only the second day of the honeymoon, and Bai Yue felt like she was being pickled in jasmine.
It was not that the scent was bad. Jiang Manru’s pheromones were indeed the “pure type” written in the profile: sweet, elegant, and non-aggressive, fitting all societal expectations of an Omega. The problem was that it was too pleasant, so pleasant that it was everywhere.
Waking up in the morning, jasmine scent was on the pillow. Pushing open the terrace door, the sea breeze carried the scent of jasmine mixed with saltiness. Going to the restaurant for breakfast, Jiang Manru sat opposite her, and even drinking orange juice allowed the scent to drift over. Returning to the room at night, the scent was even more overwhelming, not intense, but that kind of gentle, penetrative occupation that left you with nowhere to hide.
Bai Yue was going crazy.
Not because she was being teased.
It was because she felt absolutely nothing.
Her body, her Alpha instincts, and her intuition, which she had taken pride in after years of navigating the love scene, were as dead and silent as stone when faced with this jasmine flower.
At night, she lay on the recliner on the terrace, smoking and staring blankly at the moonlight on the sea.
Light footsteps approached from behind.
The jasmine scent drew near.
“Not sleeping yet?” Jiang Manru’s voice was gentle, carrying the laziness of someone who had just finished a shower.
Bai Yue did not turn back. “Finishing this cigarette.”
Jiang Manru sat down on the adjacent recliner. She was wearing a nightgown, draped in a thin blanket, and her long hair was still slightly damp. The moonlight fell on her, outlining her profile like a painting.
A painting.
Yes, that was exactly it. Beautiful, but without temperature.
“Bai Yue,” Jiang Manru said softly.
“Hmm?”
“You do not seem very happy.” Under the moonlight, those amber eyes were clear as crystal, filled with concern.
“No.” She denied it. “Just a bit tired.”
“Is it because of me?” Jiang Manru’s voice was even softer. “The last two days, the heat period issues; I have caused you trouble.”
Bai Yue was silent, then said, “It is not your problem.”
Then whose problem is it?
She did not know either.
She was an Alpha, a top-tier Alpha. Her pheromones were oud wood, and she was invincible at the Mitu bar. Over the last decade, the number of Omegas she had slept with could wrap around that bar counter three times. As long as they came to her, were interesting, and could spark her interest, she never refused.
But now, the Omega she had legally married, the one lying on the same bed, the one emitting a pleasant scent every night, she actually had no thoughts about her at all.
It was not that she lacked opportunity. It was that she lacked the spark.
That night at the bar, when she met that white peach Omega, she was hooked at the first glance. From the bar to the dance floor to the hotel, the whole process was fluid, driven by instinct, without any obstacles.
But now, facing Jiang Manru:
The jasmine was pleasant, her face was beautiful, her figure was great, and the way she wore her nightgown could even be described as alluring.
But she just felt nothing.
Bai Yue stubbed out her cigarette and rubbed her temples.
She could not figure it out. She felt like a “virtuous woman” guarding a “libertine plaque,” stubbornly refusing to “come ashore.”
It should have been the easiest thing in the world. A legal Omega wife, the heat period right before her; whether it was marking or consummating the marriage, it was all perfectly justifiable. Once done, the task would be completed, and everyone would be happy.
But she just:
“Bai Yue?” Jiang Manru’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
Bai Yue came back to her senses, finding Jiang Manru looking at her with just the right amount of worry in her eyes.
“Nothing.” She stood up. “Let us sleep.”
She walked into the bedroom, lay on the bed, and maintained that standard distance from Jiang Manru.
The scent of jasmine surrounded her.
She closed her eyes and started counting sheep.
When she reached the three hundred and seventy-second sheep, she was still thinking about the white peach from that night.
That scent of sweetness mixed with astringency, astringency mixed with coldness, and the fire hidden within the cold.
She shivered.
It is over. It is really over.
Six o’clock in the morning, the Maldives at dawn. A layer of pale gold mist floated on the surface of the sea, and the waves gently lapped against the stilts of the wooden house, making a rhythmic sound.
Jiang Manru was the first to wake up.
The aftereffects of the heat period left her body somewhat fatigued, but years of habit kept her alert to any movement, including the subtle changes in the breathing rhythm of the person beside her.
Bai Yue was still asleep, lying on her side facing away, the lines of her shoulders appearing softer in the morning light.
Jiang Manru sat up gently, without disturbing her.
The phone on the bedside table was vibrating.
She picked it up and saw the name “Bai Yue’s Mom” flickering on the screen.
Jiang Manru glanced at Bai Yue, who was still sound asleep, hesitated for a second, then got up and walked out of the room to answer.
“Mom.” Her voice was very soft, with the huskiness of someone who had just woken up.
“Manru!” Bai Yue’s mother’s voice was full of enthusiasm; one could feel the heat even from thousands of miles away. “Did I wake you two up? I just remembered there is a time difference.”
“No, not at all,” Jiang Manru said quickly, subconsciously glancing at Bai Yue inside the room; the other person still had not woken up. “Is there something you need to call so early?”
Bai Yue’s mother laughed until her face lit up, asking with concern, “Are you and Yueyue having a good time over there? Is the Maldives beautiful?”
“It is very beautiful,” Jiang Manru said softly, her voice carrying a hint of fatigue. “The water is very blue, and the air is very good.”
Bai Yue’s mother keenly captured that hint of strangeness.
“Manru, are you not resting well?” she asked with concern. “I hear your voice… you seem very tired.”
Jiang Manru paused for a moment.
An interesting idea popped up.
The thought circled in her head, and she began to execute it.
“I…” Her voice became softer, carrying a bit of guilt. “It is my fault. My heat period came these last two days, and it has been tossing me around until midnight. Bai Yue has not slept well all night because she has been taking care of me.”
Bai Yue’s mother on the other end of the phone froze.
Heat period? Taking care?
Wait a minute.
“Manru,” Bai Yue’s mother’s voice became cautious. “You mean, your heat period came, and Yueyue took care of you?”
“Yes,” Jiang Manru nodded, her tone innocent. “She helped me apply the inhibitor, and she stayed with me all night. I asked her to sleep in the next room, but she refused, saying she was afraid I would be uncomfortable in the middle of the night without anyone to look after me.” She sighed. “She must be exhausted; it is all my fault.”
Bai Yue’s mother was silent.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
“Mom?” Jiang Manru probed tentatively.
“Oh, oh, I am listening.” Bai Yue’s mother’s voice returned to normal, but if one listened carefully, one could detect a hint of strange stiffness. “That… Manru, you mean, Yueyue just helped you with the inhibitor? Nothing else?”
Jiang Manru tilted her head, her tone filled with worldly confusion. “Else? What else?”
“…Nothing, nothing.” Bai Yue’s mother gave a dry laugh. “I was just asking. Well, you get some good rest, Mom will not disturb you anymore.”
“Okay, Mom. Take care of yourself too.”
“Yes, okay, okay.”
The call ended.
Jiang Manru held the phone, looking at the words “Call Ended” on the screen, her lips curving into a very faint arc.
She could imagine that Bai Yue’s mother’s expression right now must be very spectacular.
That sentence “nothing else” just now was enough to make that old lady, who was anxious to hold a grandchild, ponder for the entire day.
She walked back into the room on tiptoes and glanced at the sleeping Bai Yue. The morning light fell on that stern profile, breathing steadily, fast asleep.
“Sleep well,” Jiang Manru whispered, a softness in her tone that she had not even noticed herself. “There will be a good show later.”
She got up and headed toward the bathroom.
The sound of water began.
Twenty minutes later, Bai Yue was woken up by her cell phone ringtone.
She reached for the phone with her eyes closed and put it to her ear. “Hello?”
“BAI YUE!!!”
Her mother’s voice rushed out of the receiver like a thunderbolt, and Bai Yue reflexively held the phone a few centimeters away.
“What did you do last night!!!”
Bai Yue frowned, her consciousness still not fully awake. “Do what?”
“You have the nerve to ask!” Bai Yue’s mother’s voice was both anxious and angry. “I called Manru, and her voice was hoarse! She said it was because of the heat period! Did you just give her the inhibitor all night? Huh?”
Bai Yue’s sleepiness vanished instantly.
She sat up and scratched her head. “Mom, what are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about? I am saying you, you—” Bai Yue’s mother was so angry she could not speak coherently. “Wedding night! Honeymoon! Your wife is in her heat period! And you just gave her an inhibitor???”
Bai Yue was silent.
She understood.
“Mom,” she said, trying to make her voice sound calm. “She is in her heat period. If I do not apply the inhibitor, then should I…”
She did not finish the sentence, but she knew her mother could understand.
“Bai Yue.” Her mother’s voice suddenly became very dangerous. “Tell me the truth, are you ineffective?”
Bai Yue almost choked on her own saliva.
“Mom!”
“Otherwise?” Bai Yue’s mother’s logic was impeccable. “Wedding night, heat period, the two of you lying in the same bed, and you only know how to give her an inhibitor? Do you think I am a three-year-old child?”
Bai Yue opened her mouth, finding herself speechless.
“Tell me, do you not like Omegas?” Bai Yue’s mother’s thought process had already run toward another direction. “Or is it that you like Alphas? Betas? Before, I only knew you were fooling around outside, but I never doubted your sexual orientation. Tell me the truth, Mom can accept it—”
“Mom!” Bai Yue interrupted her, her temples throbbing. “It is not what you are thinking!”
“Then what is it? Tell me!”
“We—” Bai Yue took a deep breath. “We have just gotten married, and I want to give her time to adapt. She is so innocent, I am afraid of scaring her.”
This reason, she thought, was impeccable.
But her mother only waited for a second.
“Bai Yue.” Her voice suddenly became very calm, so calm that it was hair-raising. “Do you think your mother is old and confused?”
“Manru is innocent, I know that. But innocent does not mean she does not want to be close to her own spouse.” Bai Yue’s mother spoke word by word. “Do you know the tone she was using when she spoke to me just now? Guilt, self-blame, feeling like she was holding you back; that is the tone an Omega only has when she feels she is not needed by her Alpha!”
Bai Yue froze.
“What do you think she is thinking?” her mother continued to output. “Wedding night, heat period, her own Alpha won’t even touch her. She will think that you despise her! That you have no interest in her!”
“I…”
“Bai Yue, I am warning you.” Her mother’s voice turned cold. “Manru is a good child. If you dare to hurt her for some messy reason, I will be the first one not to spare you. You think about it yourself!”
The phone hung up.
Bai Yue held the phone, sitting on the bed, feeling like she had been struck by lightning.
She slowly turned her head and looked in the direction of the bathroom.
The sound of water was still ringing.
Jiang Manru had not come out yet.
She got out of bed and walked to the terrace. The sea breeze blew over, carrying a salty, damp scent. She lit a cigarette and took a hard puff.
The sound of a door opening came from behind.
Jiang Manru walked out, already changed into her clothes, a simple white long dress, her hair draped wetly. Seeing Bai Yue standing on the terrace, she paused.
“Awake?” she asked softly, walking over. “Mom called me just now.”
Bai Yue turned to look at her.
Jiang Manru’s face carried just the right amount of concern; she seemed completely unaware of what had happened just now.
Bai Yue withdrew her gaze and took another puff of her cigarette.
“Yes,” she said, her voice calm. “She called me too.”
“What did Mom say?” Jiang Manru sat down on the recliner next to her, asking as if she were chatting about daily life.
Bai Yue looked at the sea and said lightly, “She scolded me for being ineffective.”
Jiang Manru paused.
She quickly covered her mouth, but a laugh still leaked out.
“I am sorry,” she said quickly, her eyes curving. “I did not mean it; it is just…”
“Is it very funny?” Bai Yue said irritably. “Do even you think I am ridiculous?”
Jiang Manru looked at her, the laughter in her eyes not yet faded, and immediately switched to her “good wife” persona.
“Bai Yue.” She said softly. “I am sorry. I said the wrong thing when I answered the phone this morning. I told Mom that you took care of me all night and did not sleep well, and she may have misunderstood.”
Her expression was sincere, guilty, and a little bit at a loss.
Just as if she were truly blaming herself for this matter.
“Forget it.” Bai Yue withdrew her gaze. “I was going to get scolded sooner or later anyway.”
The sea breeze blew gently, carrying the sound of the waves.
“Bai Yue,” Jiang Manru said suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“Why…” She paused. “Do you not want to touch me?” In Jiang Manru’s eyes, there was no testing or calculation, only a kind of pure confusion. “Is it because I am not good?”
Bai Yue did not know how to answer for a moment.
Why?
Because it is a family marriage? Because I have no interest in you? Because the one I like is the flaming red lips in the bar, not you, the greenhouse jasmine?
But can these things be said?
“No.” Bai Yue lied. “It is because I respect you.”
“Respect me?”
Bai Yue’s voice was flat. “You have been protected very well since you were a child; you have never experienced these things. I want to give you time to adapt.”
Jiang Manru looked at her and was silent for a few seconds. Then she smiled, the smile as gentle as the sea breeze. “I know. Thank you, Bai Yue.”
Bai Yue did not speak, just looked at the sea.
Jiang Manru hugged her from behind, her soft body temperature pressing against her, and the scent of jasmine instantly surrounded her.
“Bai Yue.”
Jiang Manru’s voice was very soft, with a hint of trembling. Her arms were wrapped around Bai Yue’s waist, her cheek pressed against Bai Yue’s back. Through her thin shirt, the temperature was shockingly hot.
“I am ready.”
Bai Yue’s breathing hitched for a beat.
“Ready to be your wife,” Jiang Manru’s voice came from behind, muffled. “Your Omega.”
The sea breeze stopped, the sound of the waves faded away, and in the whole world, only the warm body behind her and that sentence echoing in her mind remained.
Bai Yue closed her eyes.
She knew she could not hide from this anymore.