Marking My Arch-Rival [Rebirth] - Chapter 6

When Ji Shihuan woke up, she turned her head and met a pair of deep, unreadable eyes.

Spring was at its loveliest. Birds chirped outside the window, and sunlight squeezed through a gap in the blackout curtains, painting a streak of bright yellow across the foot of the bed.

Evidence of the two bodies tangled together the night before still lingered in the air, and the dense scent of intertwined pheromones refused to dissipate.

Yet a chill ran down Ji Shihuan’s spine.

She struck first.

“Planning to kill me and silence the witness?”

Jiang Boyan looked away.

Ji Shihuan propped herself up and sat upright. Without warning, she rolled over and pinned Jiang Boyan beneath her again.

Jiang Boyan’s eyes widened sharply, and she pressed both palms against Ji Shihuan’s shoulders.

The bite mark on the gland at the back of her neck remained vivid and throbbed faintly. Her waist was unbearably sore, her legs trembled whenever she moved, and she had no strength anywhere in her body.

If Ji Shihuan tried anything beastly again, her voice—already hoarse from screaming all night—might not even be capable of protesting.

Ji Shihuan lowered herself, her chin brushing across Jiang Boyan’s collarbone.

Seizing her only opportunity, Jiang Boyan moved one hand to Ji Shihuan’s neck and closed her fingers around her vulnerable throat.

“Don’t move…” she warned.

Ji Shihuan paused, then calmly moved aside as though nothing had happened.

As the warm body withdrew, Jiang Boyan relaxed her guard slightly.

But the Alpha pheromones at the tip of her nose were far too distinct. Beneath the blankets, her legs pressed together lightly, and a certain physical reaction came without warning.

Ji Shihuan raised one arm and showed her the underwear strap hooked around her fingertip, her expression hovering between amusement and mockery.

“What did you think I was trying to do?”

Heat rushed straight to Jiang Boyan’s head, turning her face as red as a cooked shrimp.

Ji Shihuan did not look at her for long.

She climbed out of bed and picked up the evening gown. The silk was terribly wrinkled, but after shaking it out a few times, it recovered enough to be wearable.

She walked naked toward the bathroom. Her waist-length hair covered her back, while her long, straight legs moved gracefully beneath it.

Jiang Boyan caught an accidental glimpse and silently cursed her for having no shame.

Yet the image of the woman’s narrow waist and long legs replayed endlessly in her mind. Another voice even rose to defend Ji Shihuan, arguing that she had every right to be so uninhibited.

Only when the sound of running water came from the bathroom did Jiang Boyan finally return to her senses.

She had only awakened shortly before Ji Shihuan and had not yet had the chance to do anything.

Now that Ji Shihuan was gone, she forced herself to move to the other side of the bed. Enduring the warmth Ji Shihuan’s body had left in the bedding beneath her, she used the hotel’s communication device to call the front desk.

Twenty minutes later, her assistant arrived at the door carrying the handbag she had lost.

Jiang Boyan put on the hotel bathrobe and opened the door.

She had no intention of letting the assistant inside. After taking the bag, she remained in the doorway to give a few instructions.

Unexpectedly, that brief delay caused trouble.

Before she could finish speaking, three relatives emerged from the elevator.

“Jiang Boyan!”

Her second aunt, who normally disliked her more than anyone else, stormed toward her aggressively.

But she suddenly stopped about a meter away from the doorway.

Her expression shifted repeatedly, and all the words she had yet to speak lodged in her throat.

Jiang Boyan was puzzled.

Based on what she knew of the woman, her second aunt should already have begun hurling insults by now.

The next second, however, her second aunt covered her nose and retreated two steps.

“What disreputable Omega did you let crawl into your bed? Do you have any idea how much Hongxin’s stock price will fall if this gets out?”

Jiang Boyan was speechless.

Ji Shihuan happened to emerge from the bathroom at that moment. Drying her hair, she watched the commotion with leisurely interest.

Her second aunt stamped her foot. Unable to withstand the oppressive Alpha pheromones seeping through the crack in the door, she left behind the words, “Deal with this immediately,” and turned away.

Jiang Boyan fell into thought.

When she glanced back, she happened to meet Ji Shihuan’s eyes.

She dismissed her assistant and returned to the room with the handbag.

“A disreputable Omega?” Ji Shihuan repeated.

Objectively speaking, Jiang Boyan believed Ji Shihuan had suffered that undeserved accusation because of her, so she quietly said, “Sorry.”

But she had not expected Ji Shihuan to be so shameless.

The Alpha, already dressed once again in the evening gown from the previous night, stood before the mirror and casually swept her long hair aside.

“Surely she wasn’t referring to a beauty like me?”

Jiang Boyan was silent.

“Would President Jiang care to give an objective assessment?”

Ji Shihuan looked at her through the mirror.

Jiang Boyan took a deep breath.

“I don’t have time.”

She avoided Ji Shihuan’s gaze.

“I first need to deal with the consequences of my unnecessary sympathy.”

Ji Shihuan’s eyes curved, and she laughed without attempting to hide it.

Jiang Boyan looked at her.

“Is that funny?”

“Ahem.”

Ji Shihuan coughed lightly.

With pointed meaning, she said, “I always assumed President Jiang’s righteous-gentlewoman image was only an act.”

She continued examining her.

“It seems I misunderstood you.”

Jiang Boyan looked puzzled.

“Always?”

She asked, “Have we interacted before?”

Ji Shihuan realized she had let something slip, but her expression remained flawless.

“I’ve admired President Jiang for a very long time.”

Jiang Boyan froze.

She restrained herself from thinking too deeply about those words.

“Then how do you know I’m not pretending now?”

“Perhaps because I’ve already seen President Jiang at her most authentic.”

When it came to matters like this, Ji Shihuan seemed naturally lacking in shame and simply said whatever came to mind.

“When President Jiang is wearing a mask, you aren’t as…”

Jiang Boyan instinctively sensed that the next adjective would not be flattering.

She was about to stop her, but Ji Shihuan had already found the appropriate word.

“Cute.”

Someone as dignified as Jiang Boyan was caught completely unprepared by those two syllables.

Unable to swallow her irritation, she replied, “This was also my first time witnessing Miss Ji behave like a beast. It’s certainly the exact opposite of your reputation outside.”

Ji Shihuan did not mind that Jiang Boyan’s evaluation carried a personal grudge.

After all, even she secretly blushed whenever she recalled what had happened the night before.

What interested her more was something else.

“What do people outside say about me?”

Could it be that Jiang Boyan had previously heard she was gentle and approachable?

Jiang Boyan’s lips curved into a cold smile.

“You’re no good.”

Ji Shihuan froze.

“What?”

Jiang Boyan parted her lips and repeated it generously, syllable by syllable.

“No. Good.”

Ji Shihuan finally understood and burst out laughing instead of becoming angry.

“That proves rumors can’t be trusted.”

She found a suppressant patch and applied it to the reddened gland at the back of her neck while looking in the mirror.

“Please help clear things up for me the next time you hear that.”

Jiang Boyan narrowed her eyes.

“Clear up what?”

“As the only person who has tried me, shouldn’t President Jiang know better than anyone?”

Jiang Boyan crossed her legs.

“Then I can’t guarantee Miss Ji’s reputation won’t become even worse than it is now.”

“Still better than being called incapable.”

Ji Shihuan shrugged and walked toward her.

She leaned down, bringing herself as close as possible to eye level with Jiang Boyan, who was sitting on the bed.

“But from the sound of it, President Jiang seems dissatisfied with last night’s service?”

Jiang Boyan gritted her teeth.

“Would you be satisfied with a service that leaves you bedridden for two days?”

“Sorry.”

Ji Shihuan raised both hands in surrender.

A rare blush spread across her face.

“It was my first time… I didn’t know how to control myself.”

Jiang Boyan took a deep breath.

Ji Shihuan’s evening gown had thin shoulder straps. Jiang Boyan grabbed one of them and pulled her closer.

“By ‘not knowing how to control yourself,’ do you mean you couldn’t even understand human speech?”

She could no longer remember how many times she had cried “stop” and “be gentler” during the latter half of the night after her desire had already been satisfied.

But her swaying body had been like a small boat tossed in a storm, each wave rising higher than the last without showing any sign of calming.

Ji Shihuan had been like a cruel deity who particularly enjoyed watching her drown beneath the tide.

Jiang Boyan had been drenched from head to toe—possibly not only with sweat—looking as miserable as if she had been hauled from the water.

Even then, she had been forced to obey some of Ji Shihuan’s wicked demands and assume all manner of humiliating positions.

Ji Shihuan clearly remembered as well.

The blush spread to the tips of her ears as she stubbornly muttered, “Isn’t President Jiang being too strict with a beginner?”

Jiang Boyan shoved her away in anger.

Suppressing her embarrassment, Ji Shihuan gathered her belongings and prepared to leave.

She had only just turned around when Jiang Boyan called out to her.

Ji Shihuan looked back.

“What is it?”

Now that her emotions had settled and her reason had returned, Jiang Boyan began considering what came next.

“Do you have any spare suppressant patches?”

“Mhm.”

Ji Shihuan nodded.

She removed a fresh one from her bag and offered it to her.

“But this one is designed for Alphas… Can you use it too?”

Jiang Boyan did not take it.

Instead, she crooked a finger and motioned for Ji Shihuan to lower her head.

Ji Shihuan leaned down again.

Only when she was close did she realize that she behaved like an obedient dog before Jiang Boyan—one command, one action.

Before any rebellious feelings could arise, Jiang Boyan suddenly tore the suppressant patch from her gland.

Ji Shihuan recoiled in shock, covering her neck as she stared at Jiang Boyan.

The other woman’s expression did not change at all.

She simply pressed the suppressant patch she had just removed directly over her own gland.

“You… I… That…”

Ji Shihuan’s mind became completely muddled, and she could not form a coherent sentence.

Jiang Boyan glanced at her indifferently, displaying the cold ruthlessness of someone who refused to acknowledge a person once she had gotten what she wanted.

“You may leave now.”

Jiang Boyan concealed her secondary gender by applying artificial Alpha pheromones around her gland.

Artificial pheromones had limited effectiveness, but prolonged use still caused side effects. As a result, Jiang Boyan’s heat cycles were more frequent and intense than those of an ordinary Omega.

Ji Shihuan had temporarily marked her the night before. Ji Shihuan’s pheromones only soothed her and caused no adverse effects.

Combined with her second aunt’s reaction outside the door earlier, the shrewd President Jiang knew very clearly which option offered the best value.

The incident had already happened. Not taking advantage of it would simply be a waste.

But as an Omega, she had no idea what this action meant to an Alpha.

Even during the most passionate stage of a relationship, most Omegas would never willingly cover themselves in an Alpha’s pheromones.

It was practically an announcement to the entire world:

I have been marked by someone. I belong completely, body and heart, to the Alpha who marked me.

Ji Shihuan’s eyes went completely blank.

Covering her mouth, she stared at Jiang Boyan without moving.

At a moment even she herself did not notice, her heartbeat pounded so violently that it seemed ready to burst from her chest.

Meanwhile, Jiang Boyan, now enveloped in Ji Shihuan’s pheromones, took out a specially formulated perfume and sprayed it twice over the suppressant patch to conceal Ji Shihuan’s original scent.

She looked doubtfully at Ji Shihuan, who remained frozen in place.

“Is there something else?”

“N-no.”

Ji Shihuan came back to herself.

She even forgot to apply a new suppressant patch. Grabbing the strap of her handbag, she rushed out the door as though fleeing.

That afternoon, she found an excuse not to go to the airport to see Shu Ni off.

Instead, she hid at home and painted, completely unaware of how Jiang Boyan was using her pheromones to intimidate everyone at the company.

Suppressed by the pheromones of a top-tier Alpha, the relatives who had initially refused to accept her authority did not dare utter a single word.

Jiang Boyan seized the opportunity to dismiss several corporate parasites who had entered the company through nepotism.

The satisfaction she felt repeatedly outweighed the soreness in her waist and weakness in her legs.

Once business had been handled, Jiang Boyan leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to rest.

“Whew—”

Her younger cousin, Jiang Chengchuan, released a breath of relief and flattered her from the side.

“Sister Yan, you were so decisive just now. I thought they were going to fool their way through it again.”

Hearing this, Jiang Boyan opened her eyes.

Remembering something, she asked, “Where did you go after I left last night?”

“Huh?”

Jiang Chengchuan had a baby face and appeared innocent and harmless.

“I stayed at the banquet to help you entertain people. Second Aunt wanted to transfer Cousin back to headquarters and refused to listen no matter how I explained it.”

“Mhm.”

Jiang Boyan appeared to believe him and did not continue questioning him.

She picked up her phone and messaged a close friend, asking her to arrange a full physical examination as quickly as possible.

Her friend was one of the few people who knew Jiang Boyan’s true secondary gender.

Friend: [What happened?]

Jiang Boyan rarely spoke with emotion, but sparks practically flew from her fingers as she typed.

Jiang Boyan: [I got bitten by a dog.]