Transmigrated as the Domineering Scumbag Alpha Forced into Marriage by a Delicate Subordinate (GL) - Chapter 21

Qin Jue watched Tang Yun freeze in place, her eyes gradually turning red. Qin Jue thought she must have something to say, but Tang Yun looked at her and ultimately said nothing.

Tang Yun left, just as ordered by CEO Qin, brushing past her.

Something seemed to scrape across her heart, a dull ache seizing her chest. Qin Jue lowered her eyes. On the table before her lay a solitary, ridiculous pair of plastic-rimmed glasses.

Tang Yun had forgotten to take them.

Qin Jue picked up the glasses, folded the temples, and tucked them into her coat pocket. She looked up at Guan Li and smiled, “Please continue.”

The remaining project teams presented their reports in turn. Qin Jue stood by the door, listening, but after a long time, she retained nothing. Her mind was filled with Tang Yun’s red-rimmed eyes when she looked at her.

System: “Congratulations, Host. I am very impressed. I believe the Female Lead will certainly hold a grudge against you.”

A wave of irritation washed over Qin Jue.

“Shut up,” Qin Jue snapped at the System.

“Why is the Host unhappy? Wasn’t this all part of your design? After this ordeal, you’ve accelerated your progress toward going home,” the System asked, puzzled.

“You conspicuously placed Tang Yun right under Guan Li’s nose, put her in his core project team, and even deliberately let Jian Zhen get close to her. It was all to make Guan Li believe Tang Yun was a mole you planted by his side. And since Tang Yun is your lover, out of respect for you, he couldn’t remove Tang Yun through conventional means. So, he had to use his network to set up a trap and force Tang Yun to leave. But by doing this, you also got a clear look at the influence he has cultivated in the company. Isn’t this hitting two birds with one stone?” the System asked.

It was indeed hitting two birds with one stone. CEO Qin calculated so skillfully that neither Guan Li nor Tang Yun realized they were being led by the nose. Yet, Qin Jue felt no sense of accomplishment.

Instead, she felt shame.

Tang Yun genuinely loved this job. She spent day and night pondering over the computer, completely focused in the noisy bar, her eyes sparkling with starlight when she caught an idea. She loved the work itself and knew nothing of the pursuit of fame, profit, or the darkness of human nature.

Qin Jue often mocked Tang Yun’s naivety and innocence, always watching with a smile as she made mistakes and fell into traps, then taking the opportunity to criticize her and teach her the ways of flattery and pleasing others. But in truth, what right did that so-called maturity, coated in slippery worldliness and sophistication, have to feel superior to a pure heart?

Who was it that collaboratively formed the heavy gravitational pull of reality, determined to pluck the wings of idealists and drag them down from the sky?

Qin Jue had never felt so clearly that she had hurt Tang Yun.

The meeting ended. Qin Jue returned to her office. Passing the open-plan office of the Xun Dao project team, she habitually glanced inside. A cloud of gloom hung over the room. Tang Yun’s workstation was completely clean. She had left.

Qin Jue messaged her driver: “Is Tang Yun in your car?”

“No,” the driver replied.

Qin Jue clenched her phone.

For once, Qin Jue wanted to go home early. She told the driver to prepare to leave, then knocked on Jian Zhen’s door.

“Help me get a new pair of glasses with this prescription. Make them good quality,” Qin Jue said.

“Aren’t these Secretary Tang’s?” Jian Zhen blurted out instinctively, then looked up at Qin Jue’s expression and quickly swallowed her questions.

A colleague had secretly informed her about the events in the downstairs conference room earlier. She had reported to Qin Jue, assuming Qin Jue would rush over to save Secretary Tang. But the gossip relayed by the colleagues downstairs completely surprised her.

So, buying Tang Yun a pair of glasses was CEO Qin’s spiritual compensation for her?

Jian Zhen wanted to advocate for Tang Yun, but didn’t dare to speak openly in front of CEO Qin. Since CEO Qin had instructed to get good quality glasses, could she assume there was no budget limit?

“Yes, I’ll take care of it right away,” Assistant Jian agreed.

In the underground garage, her car was parked in the familiar spot. Qin Jue opened the car door and got in. This time, she didn’t have to wait for a dawdling young employee. She instructed the driver to go straight home.

The streetscape at dusk was entirely different from the night. Roadside food stalls were progressively moving their tables and chairs outside. Stir-fry restaurants became instantly bustling. The road traffic was congested. Qin Jue’s car was forced to slow down, inching forward.

There was a convenience store by the street. Qin Jue suddenly felt an impulse. She asked the driver to pull over and buy her a pack of cigarettes.

Qin Jue used to smoke but had quit. Cigarettes had various harms, but their scent possessed a magical power to calm the mind. Qin Jue’s slender fingers picked out a cigarette from the pack, holding it between her fingers, examining it.

Qin Jue’s driver was indeed meticulous. CEO Qin had only asked for cigarettes, but he bought a lighter along with them. Unfortunately, Qin Jue had quit smoking a long time ago. She narrowed her eyes, lightly sniffing the tobacco scent. The car in front suddenly moved. Qin Jue reminded the driver to follow, then silently tucked the cigarette back into the box, perfectly intact, as if nothing had happened.

Returning to the top-floor apartment in the city center, the first thing Qin Jue did after opening the door was check the shoe cabinet. Seeing the shoes Tang Yun wore during the day neatly placed there, and her own fluffy slippers gone, a piece of her heart finally settled.

Tang Yun’s bedroom door was closed. Qin Jue suddenly had a suspicion. Was Tang Yun hiding inside, crying?

Would she cry?

In Qin Jue’s memory, Tang Yun’s eyes often turned red. She seemed easily bullied, but no matter how Qin Jue teased her before, she always tried hard to hold back her tears, not letting a single drop fall.

She refused to let others see her tears.

Why is she so stubborn?

Qin Jue returned to her room, sighing deeply. She lay down fully clothed on the bed, her gaze naturally falling on the white wall separating her and Tang Yun. Qin Jue’s room had no extra decorations; the white wall didn’t even have a single focal point to rest her eyes on. As her thoughts drifted along with her sight, Qin Jue couldn’t help but recall Tang Yun’s upward smile at the bar entrance.

A blockage in her chest.

Perhaps she should apologize to Tang Yun, or at least say something nice to coax her. Tang Yun was young and couldn’t handle such injustice.

On the other side of the wall, Tang Yun sat on the floor with her knees tucked to her chest, her eyes still red.

She had come back alone, transferring two public buses. It wasn’t yet rush hour, and for a long stretch, there was only her besides the driver on the bus. She opened the window, letting the wind blow in, listening to the driver play slow, old songs, taking a long time to return to this apartment.

The slow walk on the road was enough for her to realize one truth: she shouldn’t have expected Qin Jue at that moment.

Before Qin Jue pushed the conference room door open and walked in, she was locked down by various skeptical gazes. She was shocked and angry, but her mind never stopped thinking about how to prove herself, until Qin Jue entered, stunned her with one sentence, and forced her to flee in panic.

She shouldn’t have fled then. It made it seem like she was guilty. She would never admit to something she hadn’t done.

Tang Yun took a deep breath, raised her hand to wipe away the dampness from the corners of her eyes. Her phone screen glowed softly on the floor. Her chat history with Xin Xin was always sunny and beautiful.

She always told Xin Xin that she could easily afford her own tuition and Xin Xin’s medical expenses, leading Xin Xin to believe her sister was a superhero, even when she was so desperate she nearly sold the house their parents left behind. During her time at Changfeng, Tang Yun could finally show Xin Xin the sunshine around her with confidence, because those things had finally become real. But now she had been kicked out. If Xin Xin asked about her life again, she wouldn’t know how to respond.

So, she had to go back.

Tang Yun felt she should have begged Qin Jue at the time. Since Qin Jue was willing to spend money to keep her by her side, it at least meant there was something about her that Qin Jue liked. Begging Qin Jue might turn things around.

Why was she so unwilling to lower her head? She had sold herself to Qin Jue a long time ago, but she seemed to have forgotten that fact, still attempting to seek equality between herself and Qin Jue.

Was equality worth a penny?

Tang Yun pushed herself up with difficulty, supporting herself on her knees. She walked into the bathroom and forced a pale smile in the mirror. With tear streaks on her face, she looked a little ugly now. Qin Jue definitely wouldn’t like it.

Tang Yun turned on the hot water and washed herself thoroughly. High-end shower gel left a pleasant fragrance on her body. She examined her entire self in the mirror with the calm scrutiny of someone inspecting merchandise, then curved her lips in self-mockery.

She remembered the fleeting glance she caught in the hospital room mirror that day.

In fact, accompanying a beauty like Qin Jue, Tang Yun herself couldn’t say who was at a disadvantage.

Tang Yun wrapped herself in a bath towel, slowly pushed open the bathroom door, and stepped barefoot onto the floor. The cold ground stimulated her round toes, turning them slightly pink. A trail of wet footprints was left on the floor.

She was going to approach Qin Jue actively.

Before knocking on Qin Jue’s bedroom door, Tang Yun hesitated for a moment. She slowly raised her hand, brushed her hair aside, and gently pressed her fingers against the scent gland on the back of her neck.

Her long eyelashes trembled. The naive Omega bit her lower lip. Her tender skin was easily provoked, turning red and flushed. Clean, soapy pheromones began to waft subtly into the air.

Tang Yun raised her hand to knock. At that very moment, the door in front of her was pulled open. Qin Jue looked at the person before her in surprise, her throat inexplicably tightening.