An Inner Life of a Cold Beauty Omega Secretary - Chapter 19

Mu Zheng didn’t even know how she eventually made it back to her room. She only remembered that after hearing Ye Baiwei’s words, she had fled like a panicked, aimless rabbit.

When she took the elevator back to the room, she saw Fang Ran already sitting at the table, eating the dumplings she had bought.

“Zhengzheng, you’re back?” Fang Ran asked, acting as if nothing had happened.

Mu Zheng suddenly felt a wave of relief. If Fang Ran had really gone out to do that, she couldn’t have returned so quickly. Ye Baiwei’s words really couldn’t be trusted.

Wait.

Why was she letting Ye Baiwei’s words get to her and doubting her own girlfriend?

Mu Zheng suddenly realized something was wrong with her own head.

Fang Ran was her girlfriend; she should trust her unconditionally. Since when could anything a “Scum Alpha” like Ye Baiwei said be taken as truth?

Mu Zheng felt ridiculous in that moment, thinking she must be going crazy to take Ye Baiwei’s words to heart.

She composed her jolted emotions, forced a slight smile, and answered Fang Ran’s implied question: “When I came out of the restroom and saw you weren’t in the room, I was planning to go downstairs to find you.”

Fang Ran’s hand paused while picking up food. For a split second, her expression was unnatural, but to keep Mu Zheng from noticing anything, she quickly recovered and continued putting food into her mouth.

“I just suddenly craved a drink, so I ran down to the vending machine and bought two bottles.” Fang Ran pointed to the two drinks nearby. “See, these two. Besides, if I wasn’t buying food, what else would I be doing? Or rather, Zhengzheng, did you suspect me of something, which is why you went down to look for me?”

As Fang Ran spoke, she used her peripheral vision to observe the expression on Mu Zheng’s face. Fearing she might miss a detail, Fang Ran wasn’t even eating seriously; she picked up a fish ball but didn’t put it all in her mouth, nibbling it bit by bit instead.

Mu Zheng didn’t think much of it and could understand why Fang Ran would ask that. This made her existing guilt even stronger, feeling she had wronged Fang Ran.

She shouldn’t have doubted her.

“No.” Mu Zheng closed the door, walked over to sit behind Fang Ran, and embraced her from behind, leaning her weight against Fang Ran’s back.

She intended to say something sweet, but the moment she leaned in, Mu Zheng caught the scent of Vanilla pheromones.

The scent of Alpha pheromones.

The smell wasn’t heavy—faint enough to be almost imperceptible—but Mu Zheng was an Omega. Omegas are naturally sensitive to Alpha pheromones; even a tiny trace was clear to her.

Why was there the scent of Alpha pheromones on Fang Ran’s back?

Didn’t she say she just went to the vending machine downstairs?

How could her back be stained with Alpha pheromones there?

Only guests with rooms could enter the hotel areas; even during busy times, it couldn’t be as crowded as the outside. Furthermore, at a vending machine, people usually wait in line behind one another. Under those circumstances, it was impossible to be stained with someone else’s pheromones.

Did she pick it up at the carousel?

But if it happened there, with so many people around, she wouldn’t have just one specific scent on her—it should be a chaotic mix of various pheromones.

Yet, on Fang Ran’s back, she only smelled this single Vanilla-scented pheromone, with no other scents mixed in.

Mu Zheng’s throat tightened. She had so resolutely denied Ye Baiwei’s words in her mind, yet reality had turned around and slapped her across the face. Even though she kept hypnotizing herself that she must stand by Fang Ran without evidence, she couldn’t ignore this faint scent of Vanilla Alpha pheromones.

But was this enough to justify suspecting Fang Ran?

Mu Zheng was a person who lived by evidence and logic. She knew how painful it was to be slandered—especially by the person closest to you. She had experienced that feeling; it was more agonizing than death.

So, Mu Zheng suppressed the intense sense of unease.

Fang Ran noticed Mu Zheng holding her without moving. She felt so guilty she couldn’t even finish her fish ball. She hadn’t seen Mu Zheng when she came up, but there was only one elevator in the hotel. Unless Mu Zheng took the stairs, they should have run into each other.

Or… had Mu Zheng smelled something on her?

That shouldn’t be possible.

Chen Yue had indeed hugged her, but she had stayed in the restroom for quite a while. Even if she was stained with Chen Yue’s pheromones, the scent should have dissipated long ago.

“Zhengzheng, what… what’s wrong? Why did you stop talking?”

Mu Zheng held her for a while longer before letting go. Masking her emotions, she sat down across from Fang Ran. “It’s nothing. I just haven’t seen you for so long and I missed you. I just wanted to hold you quietly for a bit. What, I’m not allowed to hug you?”

Fang Ran didn’t quite believe it. She scrutinized Mu Zheng’s face for a long time. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s your own fault! Every time I look for you, you say ‘busy, busy, busy.’ No one acts like you, busy all year round. You’re a secretary, not a comp—”

The word “companion” almost slipped out before Fang Ran realized she was being too reckless and bit her tongue. “In short, you’re always like this. Have you ever considered my feelings? I’m your girlfriend. No one else would put up with being your girlfriend like this; anyone else would have broken up with you long ago!”

Mu Zheng always felt she owed Fang Ran. As a partner, she was indeed failing in her duties. She was trying her best to win more time to spend with Fang Ran, but the “Scum” Ye Baiwei was just too difficult to serve. If she left for even a moment, Ye Baiwei could stir up a massive disaster, making it impossible for Mu Zheng to pull away.

So, she tried to compensate Fang Ran in other ways as much as possible.

Giving her allowance, buying her all sorts of gifts—including but not limited to designer bags, luxury jewelry, and some custom items she obtained for free through Ye Baiwei’s connections. To sum it up, other than a car, Mu Zheng had done her absolute best to provide Fang Ran with material abundance to make up for the emotional lack.

Yet, Mu Zheng still felt she fell short.

“I knew you were the best, Ranran!” Mu Zheng took her hand. “Once this busy period is over, I’ll ask President Ye for a long vacation. We can go traveling together. We’ll pick a perfect destination, a place where no one can disturb us, and have a real date. What do you think, Ranran?”

“A long vacation? How long?”

“A month! We can stay together every day and do all the things we love. Are you excited?”

Excited my ass!

If it’s for a month, she wouldn’t be able to see Chen Yue. Wouldn’t she be bored to death!

Fang Ran was ten-thousand percent unwilling. No matter how much an Omega made her physically happy, it could never compare to the physical pleasure an Alpha brought her—especially without pheromone soothing, she was dying of discomfort.

“A month? Isn’t that a bit too long? Your President Ye… would she even agree?”

Mu Zheng explained, “I’ve worked for so long and almost never taken leave. It’s written clearly in black and white in my contract: employees can accumulate holiday days and take them all at once. If she doesn’t approve, she’s violating the contract, and I can take her to court. What’s wrong, Ranran? You look unhappy. Isn’t it good that I’m taking a month off to be with you?”

Fang Ran, afraid Mu Zheng would notice something, shook her head. “No, the fact that you’re willing to take such a long leave to be with me makes me happy. But Zhengzheng, you can go a month without working, but I can’t. You know my company isn’t like yours; asking for leave isn’t easy, let alone for that long.”

That was true.

Mu Zheng almost forgot that Fang Ran had her own job. Their schedules were usually mismatched, making it impossible to spend that much time together.

“Zhengzheng, it’s okay. You’re so busy with work; it’s normal that you don’t have time for me.” Fang Ran wanted to end this topic quickly. “Let’s not talk about this for now. We’ll worry about the future later. We’re out on a date today; let’s not talk about unhappy things.”

Mu Zheng agreed and instinctively followed Fang Ran’s lead. “Then how about we go to the amusement park tonight for barbecue?”

“Sure! I haven’t had barbecue in a long time!”

Seeming to remember something, Fang Ran’s expression suddenly turned sorrowful. “Zhengzheng, do you truly love me?”

Mu Zheng was startled. “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly asking that? Of course I truly love you, otherwise why would I be with you? Ranran, what’s happened? Did something occur? Or… did someone say something to you?”

Fang Ran’s eyes instantly turned moist, looking completely pitiful. “No one said anything to me, it’s just…”

She leaned forward slightly, gripped Mu Zheng’s hands tightly, and said with a sob, “Zhengzheng, if you truly love me, can you do me a favor?”

Mu Zheng had never seen Fang Ran like this before. Heart pained, she reached out with her left hand to wipe her tears. “Don’t cry. I’ll help if I can. Ranran, tell me what happened first.”

Fang Ran shook her head and refused to speak. “Zhengzheng, promise to help me first, then I’ll tell you.”

Mu Zheng couldn’t bear to see her like this and nodded. “Okay, I’ll help you! Ranran, tell me what on earth happened.”

Only then did Fang Ran let go of her hands with satisfaction and continued piteously, “Zhengzheng, can you… lend me 300,000 yuan?”

Mu Zheng: “…”