A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 19

When the first ray of morning light shone into the little room, Zhu Yu caught the faint scent of roses. Her nose twitched, but she did not wake right away.

Perhaps this would be the last time the two of them were alone together.

She treasured this stretch of time. She kept wanting to say something, yet did not know where to begin. And so, while Bai Shuzhou was asleep, she quietly treated her for a long, long time.

“I’m sorry. I still couldn’t heal your legs.”

Finally, she withdrew her hands. Warm light faded little by little from her palms, just like the distance between them was constantly growing wider.

Zhu Yu did not know Bai Shuzhou had not slept all along.

She was not the only one who had found it hard to sleep.

Those muddled sighs fell onto Bai Shuzhou’s heart and became very heavy.

Zhu Yu was of mixed Empire and Federation blood. Her identity was special, especially in these years when relations between the two nations remained deadlocked. She had always occupied a very delicate position.

On this backward planet, people were busy making a living, and the boundaries had already blurred. But the little yellow oriole’s experience had quickly shattered the dream of peaceful coexistence.

The star pirates possessed Federation military weapons, and Nangong had taken those people away in exchange for payment…

Bai Shuzhou was used to listing facts and cases one by one. All the clues wrapped around Zhu Yu, and finally, a question mark was drawn at the end.

Who exactly was she? What did she want to do?

Bai Shuzhou knew nothing.

Yet the timing Zhu Yu had chosen to send her away was perfectly placed before the guards arrived.

Was it really only a coincidence?

She loathed this feeling of passivity.

Even more, she loathed being deceived.

When Zhu Yu reluctantly opened her eyes, she looked up and met Bai Shuzhou’s icy gaze.

She had no idea how long Bai Shuzhou had been watching her. There were faint shadows beneath her eyes. Her face was expressionless, and the pressure around her was extremely low.

“What’s wrong? You’re going home. Aren’t you happy?” Zhu Yu nervously rubbed her fingers.

Bai Shuzhou did not speak.

“Are you hungry?” Zhu Yu asked again.

Bai Shuzhou watched her skillfully stretch out both hands like an idiot, offering choices.

“Yes. No.”

Bai Shuzhou had already learned that this was a way humans communicated with small animals. Her gaze grew even colder as she stared straight into Zhu Yu’s eyes, without the slightest shift.

She was a dragon!

Was she refusing to communicate?

But why?

Zhu Yu racked her brain trying to think. Suddenly, she patted her head, quickly climbed up, and took out a dress from the luggage she had already packed.

How could she let a dignified imperial princess go back wearing someone else’s old clothes?

This was the gift she had prepared for her—although calling it a gift made it sound far too solemn. It was not worth several hundred thousand, nor was it unique enough.

Back when Zhu Yu had just saved up a little money, she had waved her hand grandly in the underground city Cat recommended and said, “Bring me the most expensive one!”

Then the shop owner had taken several pieces down from the wall for her to choose from.

A V-neck. Gradient white. The waist had an irregular gathering. Supposedly, it was more suitable for Empire people with tails and would be more comfortable to wear.

“Can I help you change?” Zhu Yu carefully approached, her voice unconsciously softening, carrying a hint of coquettishness even she herself did not notice. “You’ll definitely look beautiful in it… I mean, you look beautiful in anything!”

“Yes. No.”

Before she could fully stretch out both hands, Bai Shuzhou, for the first time, held her hand.

—Yes.

She held it very tightly, as if the slightest loosening would make her lose something.

Zhu Yu gave a soft hum of pain.

Realizing her own loss of composure, the woman quickly let go and fixed her gaze elsewhere. Her expression did not change, as if that tight touch just now had been nothing but a dream.

When Bai Shuzhou was in a bad mood, she disliked speaking. Her lips pressed into a very tight line, and her whole body seemed covered in a layer of mist. Like a glass bottle gleaming cold white, she refused to let anyone see clearly.

For one instant, Zhu Yu wanted very much to hold her hand back and wipe away that distant white fog.

But Bai Shuzhou pulled away too quickly, and Zhu Yu was too slow. Between them was a blank space filled with two breaths. If she reached out now, it would seem very deliberate, very offensive.

And besides, they were about to part.

Zhu Yu no longer dared to think too much.

She somewhat awkwardly withdrew her hand, lowered her face, and helped Bai Shuzhou change without looking sideways. Then she pushed the pastries given by the little yellow oriole’s family in front of her and reported the itinerary again like reciting a spell.

“I’m going out now. I’ll be back very soon. At ten, we’ll go to Port Seven—”

As the door lock clicked shut, the woman who had remained silent all along lowered her gaze to the hand that had just held Zhu Yu’s. Her little finger curled unconsciously. A moment later, she slowly clenched her hand into a fist.

Zhu Yu stuffed a letter into Helan’s shop, with some money wrapped inside. Then she ran to the nutrient-solution factory to find Cat, warning her not to attend that suspicious training class.

All along the way, she had thought about how to persuade Cat more powerfully. But Cat did not ask much. Although she looked a little regretful and downcast, she quickly comforted herself.

“As expected, there’s no such good thing under heaven.”

“Once you get greedy, it’s easy to be tricked.”

Cat mumbled, then patted Zhu Yu. “Don’t worry. I’ll spread the news and tell everyone to be careful!”

Zhu Yu looked around. “Is Xiao Shan not here?”

Xiao Shan was steady and more reassuring. Although she often had a sharp tongue and a soft heart, she took care of her coworkers very well.

Cat lifted her face. “She took leave to attend a band audition.”

“…”

After speaking, the two looked at each other, and both had a bad feeling at the same time.

“Mm, don’t worry too much either. Xiao Shan is so smart. She’s the least likely person to be tricked!”

Zhu Yu nodded very reluctantly.

Tonight was the auction the little yellow oriole had mentioned.

But even if Xiao Shan had been captured, what could Zhu Yu do?

She could barely protect herself.

If only she could be a little braver.

If only she could be a little stronger.

Cat waved from behind her. “Goodbye. You be careful too!”

Zhu Yu waved as well.

This time, she did not look back.

For the first time, she noticed that when she ran through the crooked old streets, the flowers by the roadside connected into a straight line. In this barren, backward place, people had planted blooming clusters of flowers all along the road.

Inside the room.

The woman in the white dress supported herself against the table, trying extremely slowly to stand. She staggered, and the wooden table creaked and swayed. The glass vase fell and shattered into pieces.

After a moment of silence, vines gently rolled it up and placed it back onto the tabletop.

Bai Shuzhou lowered her head.

The hem of her skirt had already been wet by the splashed water. The cleaner a color was, the easier it was to stain.

Bai Shuzhou frowned. Her fingertips pinched until they turned pale. Vines grew wildly, tightly hooking onto the table, forcibly supporting her as she stood.

No matter what, she would never allow herself to lose the initiative.

As long as she left this room, hid herself, and waited for the guards to arrive, she would be safe.

That should not take too long.

At that time, all the confusion, all the suspicion—she would have enough time to interrogate every piece of it.

……

On the small road, Zhu Yu was still running.

She turned left and right through the old streets, forcibly compressing the originally long journey by half.

Her wild thoughts along the way shifted from interstellar pirates to warships. She filled her empty heart with many random things so she would not keep fantasizing about things she should not.

But her thoughts still jumped inexplicably.

If she disappeared and never came forward to sign the divorce confirmation document, would those love rivals she had never met eagerly arrange a death certificate for her?

Widowed sounded a little better than divorced.

Then she would not be Bai Shuzhou’s nominal ex-wife, but her late wife!

Zhu Yu took a deep breath, a little amused by the thought.

So useless, Zhu Yu!

And very despicable.

Of course, she could not let Bai Shuzhou see such a defeated-dog smile. She patted her face and turned toward the sun with a smile, making sure she had been sun-warmed into fluffiness before pushing open the door.

Perhaps this was the most successful version of her signature smile. It carried a little unease, a little joy, a little anticipation. Her clear eyes shone with the afterglow of the sun.

“I’m back!”

The door was pushed open.

Her smile froze on her face.

The woman leaned against the not-so-clean wall, fallen on the ground. Her pale blue eyes were full of wariness.

There was only shock.

No joy.

Zhu Yu had returned far too quickly, far beyond Bai Shuzhou’s expectations.

The wheelchair sat alone at an angle in the corner. Not far away was the shattered glass bottle.

Zhu Yu hurriedly went forward to help her up and carefully checked her. “Are you hurt?”

“Did you want to get something? Why didn’t you wait for me to come back? I could help you.”

Although she had been looking forward to it for a long time, when helping Bai Shuzhou change clothes earlier, Zhu Yu had barely dared look at her directly. One moment, she had secretly looked at the hem of the skirt; the next, at the sleeves.

Now, she finally saw the full appearance of Bai Shuzhou wearing this white dress.

It was even more beautiful than she had imagined.

Although it was already dirty.

And when Zhu Yu approached, the woman instinctively avoided her, as if they had returned to the very beginning, to the relationship where she had hidden in the cabinet covered in wounds.

It was a very tiny evasion, and Bai Shuzhou quickly restrained herself. But that bit of instinctive reaction was like countless dense needles shaking loose in the narrow space. Zhu Yu approached step by step, stepping onto them barefoot.

She paused, then quickly found her smile again. Her tone was light.

“I’m sorry. I came back late.”

Bai Shuzhou frowned.

When Zhu Yu thought, her eyes would flash slightly. She was deliberately suppressing something. Who knew what conclusion she had thought through? She placed the blanket over Bai Shuzhou’s legs again and slowly rested both hands on her knees. Warm light flowed.

Suspicion was a very sharp emotion.

As it happened, Zhu Yu could understand this.

Her mouth opened and closed. In the end, she still asked nothing. She did not want to hear Bai Shuzhou say it herself. She only lowered her head and focused on the treatment.

Perhaps this was the only thing she had that she could take out and offer, the only thing useful to Bai Shuzhou.

She had promised to heal her legs.

There was still a debt between them, but there was no time left to repay it.

Again and again, the look Bai Shuzhou had given her just now replayed before her eyes. That look was like looking at a thief, cold and unfamiliar. Clearly, they had still held hands this morning. Why, why had it suddenly become like this?

Or perhaps, all along, it had only been Zhu Yu’s wishful thinking. Bai Shuzhou had actually been living in fear this whole time.

After all, “she” had once done such terrible things to her.

Bai Shuzhou did not trust her.

Zhu Yu understood completely.

Bai Shuzhou was silent for a moment. Her tail flicked irritably, and she asked coldly, “Zhu Yu, why are you crying?”

The young woman lowered her head and answered with a thick nasal voice, “I’m not crying!”

She had originally wanted to leave behind a slightly cooler memory. Wave her hand with ease, pretend she did not care at all, pretend she was calm and in control, and shout goodbye. The wind would blur her voice.

Then she, too, would become blurry in Bai Shuzhou’s memory.

Slowly replaced, slowly disappearing.

Just like a dream. One would eventually wake up.

Mm. To Bai Shuzhou, it was probably a nightmare!

A dignified imperial princess had been held hostage by her crazy ex-wife and abducted to a garbage planet. She could only swallow her anger and protect herself, forcing herself to endure pain and attempt escape. After accidentally falling, she secretly swore that in the future, she would make Zhu Yu repay every drop of blood with blood.

Something like that.

“…”

Bai Shuzhou watched helplessly as the young woman cried more and more sadly. The grievances accumulated over so long finally erupted. Even her hair drooped along with her, like her tail swaying and then dejectedly lying down.

A vine handed her a handkerchief.

Bai Shuzhou said coldly, “You’re not allowed to cry anymore.”

It was useless.

How could one little fish have so many tears?

She was practically going to cry out a lake of sorrow.

Was this acting, or had Bai Shuzhou wronged her?

The vines pulled Zhu Yu over and forcibly comforted her. Bai Shuzhou suppressed the strange irritation in her heart, pressed the handkerchief against Zhu Yu’s tearful eyes, and softened her tone as if compromising.

“Don’t cry anymore.”

Through the handkerchief, her fingers were quickly dampened by wet tears.

She sensed this little fish blink extremely slowly. That subtle rhythm made Bai Shuzhou’s own heart inexplicably lose balance, beginning to tilt toward one side.

The woman’s wrist carried fragrance as it approached.

Once Zhu Yu’s eyes were covered, her other senses became even more active.

Zhu Yu bit her lip and let that hand gently wipe away her tears. Through the layer of handkerchief, it also seemed to block the tiny rift that had just formed between them. Once again, they were very close.

Was Bai Shuzhou…

Coaxing her?

Zhu Yu did not dare blink, afraid of disturbing this dream.

She wiped her own face, very much wanting to control her appearance. Even if she could not look like pear blossoms in rain, beautiful enough to evoke pity, at least she should not turn into a big snot worm.

But she could not control it.

The gentler Bai Shuzhou was, the more she wanted to cry.

Why did you look at me like that?

Are you that impatient to escape?

Was that “we” not an invitation, but a test?

But I never tried to stop your happiness.

I’ve always been very obedient.

I won’t cling and entangle you.

The trembling breath from her throat had just emerged when a grape was suddenly stuffed into her mouth.

The plump, round grape was pushed into her mouth, pressing against her soft tongue. The woman’s fair, slender fingers brushed vaguely over her lips.

The noise stopped.

Zhu Yu froze, her damp black-and-white eyes wide open. Bai Shuzhou seriously suspected that one of her biological parents might have been a comfort dog.

The kind that was not very smart and loved crying.

A comfort dog, but one that needed comforting.

How could there be an Alpha who loved crying this much?

How could there be such a Zhu Yu?

Her teeth bit into the grape, and with a pop, sweet juice burst open.

Very sweet.

Zhu Yu kept feeling that it seemed to carry the scent of roses too.

The roots of her ears quietly reddened.

Bai Shuzhou watched her silently and suddenly said, “I poisoned it.”

Zhu Yu said, “Ah.”

The soft, warm touch seemed to still linger between her lips and teeth. The sweet fruit juice had just slipped down her throat.

Watching the young woman’s lost and confused appearance, Bai Shuzhou wickedly felt a bit of pleasure. Her tone remained calm.

“If you betray me, your intestines and stomach will rot—”

Her cold fingertips pressed against the young woman’s chest and slid downward as she indifferently described something terrifying. “Your organs will corrode. Your skin will ulcerate. You will die while fully awake.”

Zhu Yu’s expression turned blank.

After a short pause, she bent over, clutched her throat, and coughed frantically, trying to vomit out the sweet poison from just now.

But the fruit flesh had long since been greedily swallowed. Even now, the sweet taste remained in her mouth. And her lips—the lips those hands had gently touched…

Was she destined to be killed by Bai Shuzhou?

Seeing Zhu Yu react so strongly, the slight curve Bai Shuzhou’s lips had just lifted into disappeared completely.

Vines tightly bound the young woman. Bai Shuzhou looked down at her from above and asked in a low voice:

“Now, do you have anything you want to say to me?”

At death’s door, Zhu Yu had far too much she wanted to say. But after winding around and around, turning over and over, only one sentence remained.

“I-I like you…!”

I like you.

I like you!

The echo fell.

Both of them sank into silence.

A dead silence.

This timing was completely unsuitable for a confession. It sounded more like begging for mercy before death. Once Zhu Yu realized that, she wanted so badly to slap herself twice. But her limbs were bound by vines, and right now, she was leaning in the woman’s arms like a baby.

So humiliating.

There was nowhere to hide.

She was forced to look directly into Bai Shuzhou’s eyes.

Her heart burned painfully. She was about to suffocate. But through the haze, Bai Shuzhou looked even more beautiful from this angle. Her long silver hair was like spring wind, swaying lightly. A shadow covered her pale blue eyes.

“I’m sorry!!!”

Zhu Yu did not even know why she was apologizing. But the atmosphere was too oppressive, and she could not control the urge to say something.

“I was joking!”

Zhu Yu timidly tried to fix it again. But Bai Shuzhou spoke first. Her thin lips curved into a shallow arc, as if her mood had improved a little. Her cool voice was light and crisp, bending into a small tail.

“It was only a joke.”

The poisoning was only a joke.

The woman bent down. Silver hair slid between Zhu Yu’s neck and collarbones.

Too close—

Her cool fingertips gripped Zhu Yu’s chin, but her breath was hot, brushing finely past Zhu Yu’s ear. The fragrance surged, rubbing against Zhu Yu’s heart together with her hair, making her chest tremble with a tingling softness.

Zhu Yu forgot everything she had wanted to say.

Truth or falsehood melted at such close range, turning into dense beads of sweat and her words of love. They dripped coldly into the hollow of Zhu Yu’s neck and slid downward.

“If that day truly comes, I will personally kill you.”