The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 40

“Sique? Cai Cai?”

There was a knock at the bedroom door.

Aunt Guo stood outside carrying two glasses of milk.

“Are you asleep?”

The room remained completely silent.

Aunt Guo paused, barely able to conceal the smile at the corners of her mouth. She bent down and placed the milk on the floor.

“Then I’ll leave it outside. Remember to drink it before going to sleep.”

Jin Sique’s tightly stretched nerves relaxed.

Her damp hand slid from the edge of the bed and hung in midair.

Suddenly, the space behind her became empty.

The footsteps that followed immediately made her heart rise into her throat again.

They moved away from the bed, left the bedroom, crossed the sitting room, and reached the entrance.

Then the door opened.

Jin Sique froze.

She reached behind herself, trying to pull the blanket over her body, but her wrist was abruptly seized again.

“Hmm?”

The sound was lazy.

Jin Sique immediately stopped moving.

She stretched her neck upward, her voice filled with confusion and unease.

“Zhongcai…”

Lü Zhongcai stood beside the bed, looking down at the scene from above.

Her light-gray tie was wrapped around Jin Sique’s eyes, concealing her exquisite brows and shifting all attention toward her flawless jaw and full—but not overly lush—lips.

Those lips were slightly parted, revealing white teeth and a pink tongue. They opened and closed with every breath and swallow.

“Zhongcai?”

Lü Zhongcai released Jin Sique’s wrist and picked up one of the glasses of milk.

“Thirsty?”

The burning heat had made Jin Sique’s entire body scorching hot.

“Thirsty.”

Lü Zhongcai drank most of the milk.

Her throat moved as the sound of swallowing liquid filled the room.

Jin Sique’s face turned scarlet. Her lips parted farther as she repeatedly licked their dry surface.

“Zhongcai…”

Lü Zhongcai swallowed the final mouthful of milk.

Then she bent down, grasped Jin Sique’s chin, and sealed her lips.

Milky-white liquid overflowed from the corners of their mouths.

Jin Sique could not swallow quickly enough, and the excess seeped between their joined lips and teeth, leaving her chin sticky and damp.

“Do you want more?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

“No…”

Lü Zhongcai smiled.

She licked the milk from the corner of Jin Sique’s mouth, then moved lower.

And lower.

And lower still.

The pheromones had become a prairie fire.

Jin Sique breathed heavily like a dying fish struggling with the last of its strength.

“I…”

Lü Zhongcai poured a glass of champagne, lifted Jin Sique, and fed it to her.

Then she kissed her forehead, climbed out of bed, and opened the window for ventilation.

Cool air poured into the room.

Jin Sique watched Lü Zhongcai with wet eyes, her gaze fixed on her like an obedient puppy.

After intimacy, an Omega would always develop feelings of dependence toward her Alpha.

Lü Zhongcai returned and consciously kissed Jin Sique again. As aftercare, she even held her for a while.

Eventually, Jin Sique could no longer endure it and pushed against her several times.

“You should wash first.”

Lü Zhongcai acknowledged her and stood to enter the bathroom.

Jin Sique’s gaze followed until she disappeared.

The bedroom became empty.

Jin Sique could not lift even one finger.

The back of her neck felt sore and swollen, while her entire body seemed to have been crushed beneath something heavy.

She tried to sit up, but remained weak and unable to move.

I’m home.

Chen Xiaoyue sent her a message.

Jin Sique reached for her phone and replied briefly.

She was about to leave the chat when her gaze settled again upon the photograph and the string of numbers.

She enlarged the picture and stared thoughtfully at the person in it.

It was a group photograph, probably taken with fellow travelers.

Learning that Du Mengzhen appeared to be doing well had eased Jin Sique’s heart considerably.

She smiled, though she still felt strangely empty.

Perhaps the intimacy that had just ended made her dependent upon her Alpha.

Whatever the reason, she could not distinguish her own emotions at that moment.

Where was Du Mengzhen now?

What was she doing?

After so many years without contact, would calling her suddenly be an intrusion?

Jin Sique exhaled deeply.

She was about to put away her phone when her gaze abruptly stopped.

She stared in astonishment and enlarged the photograph again.

At the edge of the image, she found a familiar face.

Fang Zhiming…

Why was he in this photograph?

Did he know Du Mengzhen?

Jin Sique’s expression became dazed.

A shadow approached from behind.

“Sique?” Lü Zhongcai called.

“Hmm?”

Jin Sique abruptly turned around, her expression blank.

“I called you several times.”

Lü Zhongcai had finished showering, and moisture still clung to her body.

She looked suspiciously at Jin Sique.

The excellent eyesight of an Alpha caught the enlarged face displayed on Jin Sique’s phone.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

Jin Sique switched off the screen and struggled upright from the bed.

Her steps were unsteady, but she tried to remain calm.

“I-I’m going to wash.”

“Mm.”

Lü Zhongcai turned on the vinyl record player.

Soothing music flowed through the room, concealing the expression in her eyes as she turned away.

The sound of water continued inside the bathroom, washing away every trace.

Jin Sique lay in the bathtub and submerged herself beneath the water, using it to block out all sound.

Water spilled over the rim and splashed across the floor.

One of Jin Sique’s arms hung outside the tub, her hand gripping the phone tightly.

“You saw it,” 052 said.

Lü Zhongcai finished the champagne remaining in the glass, stripped away the crumpled sheets, and replaced them with clean ones.

“Mm.”

Only after a long time did she answer.

“Fang Zhiming.”

052 made a thoughtful sound, then laughed inexplicably.

“There was far more than Fang Zhiming in that photograph.”

Lü Zhongcai froze and frowned in thought.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything.”

052 made a cheerful noise.

“Yahoo.”

Lü Zhongcai: “…”

—

By the time Jin Sique finished bathing, Lü Zhongcai had already fallen asleep.

Faint shadows lay beneath her eyes. She was probably exhausted from recent work, along with the fatigue of spending an entire month without an Omega’s soothing presence.

Jin Sique tilted her head and dried the ends of her hair with a towel.

She carefully studied Lü Zhongcai, remembering what she looked like in bed.

Cold and abstinent.

Going to bed seemed no different to her from going to work, as though physical pleasure were merely another document she had no choice but to approve.

Otherwise, Jin Sique would never have lost her composure over one barely perceptible smile from Lü Zhongcai.

Jin Sique laughed mockingly.

She casually placed the towel on the cabinet and tossed aside her phone.

Then she pulled over the blanket and switched off the record player.

Her gaze settled upon the dim night-light in the corner.

Its faint glow dragged her into a whirlpool of memory.

—

“If you’re frightened, close your eyes,” Lü Zhongcai said quietly.

She hovered above Jin Sique.

But Jin Sique could not enter the proper state at all. She remained tightly closed like a clam.

During the early stages of treatment for Lü Zhongcai’s pheromone dysfunction, her scent had been extremely faint—so faint that it could barely arouse Jin Sique’s desire.

Direct seduction was even more unfamiliar to both of them.

“Forget it.”

Lü Zhongcai sat up and fastened the buttons of her shirt.

She picked up the sleeve garters she had removed, put them back on, and quickly regained her cold, abstinent appearance.

Jin Sique sat up with a flushed face.

“I’m sorry…”

Lü Zhongcai shook her head and checked the time on her watch.

“I’ll go to the study. We can try again when your heat arrives.”

Jin Sique: “…”

Their conversation resembled a stiff and emotionless negotiation.

Jin Sique had never been in love, but she had watched Xie Ying receive clients.

Even in a purely physical relationship involving money, Alphas were usually happy to play at being temporary lovers with Omegas.

Sweet words.

Tender whispers.

Teasing and flirtation.

For Lü Zhongcai, those things were practically impossible.

Jin Sique had waited like a flower bud preparing to bloom…

Yet before Lü Zhongcai had even touched her, she had already lost interest.

Several days later, Jin Sique sought out Xie Ying.

“She can’t do it?”

Xie Ying stared at Jin Sique in astonishment.

Then she slapped the table and burst into wild laughter.

“Hahahahaha!”

Jin Sique’s face turned scarlet.

With an awkward smile, she dragged Xie Ying back into her chair.

“I—Do you have any ideas…?”

“Cough, cough.”

Xie Ying struggled to suppress her laughter and beckoned Jin Sique closer.

“Touch yourself in front of her. No Alpha could remain seated after seeing that. Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

Jin Sique: “…”

“No!”

Jin Sique abruptly shook her head and sat upright in bed.

She looked around in confusion.

Only after a moment did she realize she had been dreaming.

Lü Zhongcai had already gotten up and gone downstairs.

There was no one else in the room, only a glass of still-warm water beside the bed.

Jin Sique massaged her brow, picked up the glass, and took several small sips.

After a moment, she raised her eyes and glanced toward the wall at the foot of the bed.

She smiled.

She truly could not understand it.

She had still been an ignorant young woman back then.

How had she managed to go so far for Lü Zhongcai?

Without shame.

Without dignity.

Without even love or affection.

Someone knocked on the door.

Jin Sique put down the glass and heard Aunt Guo’s voice.

“There’s no need. I’ll clean everything myself,” Jin Sique called clearly.

Aunt Guo appeared to hesitate.

“Then… all right. Breakfast is ready. Come downstairs when you’re up.”

“All right.”

—

After breakfast, Lü Zhongcai returned to the company.

By the time the regular meeting ended, it was already ten in the morning.

She signed several documents and remained busy until the tea break, when she finally had time to check her private email.

“Didn’t you promise the black lotus you would stop investigating her past?” 052 asked.

Lü Zhongcai did not answer.

She resent the email she had withdrawn nearly two months earlier to a friend overseas who specialized in information retrieval.

She asked him to continue investigating a Chinese female Alpha who had once used the name Du Mengzhen.

Meanwhile, Jin Sique’s ankle had not yet recovered, but she did not want to withdraw from rehearsals before the end-of-term performance.

She went to the rehearsal room and trained alongside Xiaobai and Zhu Wanqing.

During the lunch break, Xiaobai and Zhu Wanqing lay on the mats and napped.

Jin Sique was not sleepy at all.

She stood before the floor-to-ceiling window and entered a string of numbers into her phone.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally placed the call.

“President Fang.”