Wake Up, I’m A Beta - Chapter 2

“Sorry!”

Mu Suiyun immediately lightened her touch even more and hurriedly explained, flustered, “I—I’ve never done this before. I was just trying to make sure I had the right spot.”

She hadn’t actually touched Ning Zhifan’s gland. Her fingertip had merely rested lightly beside it so she could make sure the suppressant injection would go in quickly and accurately.

She just hadn’t expected even that to make Ning Zhifan uncomfortable.

Ning Zhifan wrapped her arms around Mu Suiyun’s neck.

Her breathing was rapid, the tip of her nose brushing Mu Suiyun’s neck as she inhaled softly.

…Nothing.

Still no trace of pheromones.

There was only the mild woody fragrance that belonged to her fiancée, much like Mu Suiyun herself.

Gentle.

Nonthreatening.

Unable to obtain the pheromones she wanted, the omega in heat instinctively felt unsatisfied.

She was deeply unhappy.

Why was it that something so trivial, just a little pheromone, could soothe all the torment she was suffering right now, yet her fiancée couldn’t provide it?4

Because she was nothing more than an ordinary beta.

“Zhifan.” Mu Suiyun’s voice was worried and anxious. “I just need to inject it, right?”

She even felt guilty that she had never specifically learned about any of this beforehand.

Even if Mu Suiyun had never encountered one of Ning Zhifan’s heats before, she still shouldn’t have completely neglected something like this.

As her fiancée, she should at least be capable of helping Ning Zhifan when she needed it.

After spending so much time together, Ning Zhifan easily read Mu Suiyun’s emotions.

Even though the heat had left her consciousness somewhat muddled, she still did what she had done every time before—seized upon the guilt born from her fiancée’s sense of responsibility.

“Mm…” Ning Zhifan clung to her neck, her voice low and hoarse. “Aim carefully. Be gentle, Suiyun. Sorry to trouble you.”

She said it deliberately.2

Because she knew that whenever she said she was troubling her, her fiancée would only feel guiltier.

Mu Suiyun was the sort of person so easy to deceive that she ought to be grateful she had been born into a wealthy family.

Otherwise, someone would have devoured her so thoroughly that not even her bones would have been left.

The instant the cold needle pierced her gland, Ning Zhifan was forced to tighten her arms around Mu Suiyun.

It hurt.

And she felt that it was all because Mu Suiyun was a beta.

If she were an alpha, if she had the ability to mark her, Ning Zhifan wouldn’t have to endure every heat like this.

These uncontrollable physiological reactions interfered with her work.

Normally, a stable mark would prevent an omega from suffering through irregular heats.

Yet despite having a fiancée, she still had to endure them just like omegas without stable partners.

The grievance and dissatisfaction buried deep inside her made Ning Zhifan part her lips and bite down on the skin of Mu Suiyun’s neck.

She heard Mu Suiyun let out a muffled grunt at the sudden pain.

A flicker of satisfaction rose inside her, and she bit down harder.

Mu Suiyun ran a hand soothingly along her back, her voice even gentler than usual.

“It’s okay. You’ll feel better soon.”

Just this once.

Only after grinding her teeth lightly against the soft flesh of Mu Suiyun’s neck did Ning Zhifan finally let go.

The suppressant had already begun to calm her body, but the effect wasn’t instantaneous.

Ning Zhifan still had very little strength.

She didn’t want to move around anymore, so she remained in Mu Suiyun’s arms.

However, her mind had cleared considerably.

A woman as normally cold and distant as Ning Zhifan could no longer justify clinging tightly around her fiancée’s neck.

She loosened her arms slightly and rested her hands on Mu Suiyun’s shoulders instead.

Mu Suiyun wanted to check on her condition and had just begun to lower her head when Ning Zhifan stopped her.

She could not allow herself to be seen looking like this.

“Suiyun.”

Ning Zhifan was adept at seizing every opportunity that appeared.

Now, while Mu Suiyun’s heart had softened to a new extreme, she intended to make another request.

“I’ve been inspecting manufacturers these past two days.”

Ning Zhifan occasionally talked to her about work.

Although Mu Suiyun had little interest in business, she always listened attentively, so she immediately brightened on Ning Zhifan’s behalf.

“The drug you mentioned last time passed approval? You can start producing it?”

Her fiancée was genuinely happy for her.

Ning Zhifan gave a quiet hum.

She concealed her request within her explanation.

“There were a few complications, but it still passed smoothly. It’s just that, as you know, I don’t have enough capital right now to build my own production line, nor is there any need for one yet, so I’m looking for a partner.”

“Mm-hm.” Mu Suiyun agreed. “Working with a pharmaceutical company that already has mature production lines would be less risky.”

She was unquestionably an excellent person to talk to.

Even when the subject didn’t interest her, she listened carefully, remembered the details, and even tried to help come up with solutions.

“I’ve looked through information on more than a dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers,” Ning Zhifan said. “Most of them are asking for too much, so I can’t accept their terms. Of the few with reasonable prices, their production schedules don’t work for me. I want to start production as soon as possible and get the drug on the market early. This new drug has enormous potential. Several companies have even offered to buy the patent outright from me. If I truly can’t find a suitable manufacturer, I may have no choice but to consider that option.”

Toward the end, her voice softened slightly, carrying a hint of weariness.

Mu Suiyun instinctively wanted to comfort her and tightened her embrace.

Then she immediately realized how inappropriate that was and hurriedly released her.

“Sorry.”

Ning Zhifan shook her head.

After talking for a while, she confirmed that the heat in her face had subsided, then simply pulled away from Mu Suiyun’s arms.

Ning Zhifan looked at her.

Her fiancée’s appearance suited her personality almost perfectly.

Her eyes had a gentle shape, her nose bridge was straight, though the tip of her nose had a soft roundness to it. Her upper lip was thinner than the lower one, and when she smiled, she looked especially warm and beautiful.

She wasn’t smiling now.

Instead, she looked slightly flustered.

She was clearly innocent, yet because she believed herself at fault, guilt showed plainly in her eyes.

After knowing her for so long, Ning Zhifan’s impression of Mu Suiyun had evolved from easy to manipulate when they first met to—

even easier to manipulate.

Sometimes, Ning Zhifan even thought Mu Suiyun’s grandmother had underestimated her far too much.

She had simply handed this soft lump of white dough straight into Ning Zhifan’s hands.1

“Suiyun.”

She knew Mu Suiyun would try to help solve her problem, so a faint smile appeared on her face.

Her normally aloof air softened slightly, and even her voice carried a rare gentleness, almost as though tempting someone to sink into it.

“I’m the one troubling you. Why are you always apologizing?”

Ning Zhifan glanced down at what she was wearing.

It was still the blouse and suit skirt she had worn to work.

She knew Mu Suiyun was mildly obsessed with cleanliness.

“I’m the one who should apologize. I suddenly felt unwell after coming home, and I wasn’t very conscious. I wandered into your room and dirtied your bed by sleeping in it.”

Her cool eyes returned to Mu Suiyun.

Imitating her, she showed a hint of apology.

“I’ll change the sheets for you later, all right?”

After they moved in together, both of them had firmly refused to let household staff come over, afraid their families might notice something was off.

So only the two of them lived in this enormous apartment, and they handled their everyday chores themselves.

There was no way Mu Suiyun would let the still-weak Ning Zhifan do such a thing.

“I can change them myself. I’m the one at fault. If I’d come home earlier, you wouldn’t have had to suffer for so long.”

“It wasn’t long,” Ning Zhifan said. “Only a little while. Then you came and helped me. Thank you, Suiyun.”

“I didn’t expect my heat to come early, so I wasn’t prepared. That’s why this happened.” She asked, “Did I scare you?”

Ning Zhifan’s gaze drifted lightly toward Mu Suiyun’s neck.

Her bite mark was there.

She really had used some force.

The skin was red now.

Mu Suiyun noticed where she was looking. “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Is that so?

Ning Zhifan thought.

She wondered who it was, then, who had let out that quiet cry of pain earlier.

The corner of her lips curved slightly.

“You helped inject my suppressant. Let me treat your injury, all right?”

Ning Zhifan knew exactly how to make this person care about her more.

Mu Suiyun was always so easy to move.

Do one tiny, insignificant thing for her, and it was enough to make her happy.

Just like now.

Mu Suiyun’s eyes curved into crescents.

“This hardly counts as an injury. Are you feeling better? Do you want to go rest first?”

Ning Zhifan seemed to disagree.

“Suiyun, you can’t allow yourself to care about me but forbid me from caring about you.”

She looked at Mu Suiyun, softness entering those cool eyes.

“We’re… fiancées. You said it yourself—even if this is an arranged marriage, you’ll still respect and cherish me as though I were your real wife. I want to be like you too. I want to care about you more.”

They had only met the night before their engagement.

Even then, Mu Suiyun had earnestly promised that she would respect and cherish Ning Zhifan in the future.

At first, Ning Zhifan had dismissed it as meaningless politeness that didn’t require any attention.

But more than a year had passed, and Mu Suiyun had fulfilled that promise every moment of every day.

It made Ning Zhifan realize that apparently…

someone really could be this foolish.3

This was obviously an arranged marriage in which Mu Suiyun held the dominant position.

If Ning Zhifan had been in Mu Suiyun’s place, she guaranteed she could have thought of countless ways to make her fiancée obedient and compliant at minimal cost, forcing her to understand her place and properly serve as the sacrifice demanded by the marriage alliance.

She would never behave like Mu Suiyun.

Ning Zhifan looked at the woman in front of her.

Mu Suiyun actually couldn’t hide her happiness just because of something Ning Zhifan had said.

Moved again.

So easily.

Inside, Ning Zhifan mocked Mu Suiyun’s soft heart.

On the outside, she continued smiling and led Mu Suiyun into the living room.3

The first-aid kit was there.

She took out iodine solution and a cotton swab, then disinfected the bite mark on Mu Suiyun’s neck.

Her movements were gentle.

When she finished, she even blew softly over the injured skin.

“Get better soon.”

Mu Suiyun laughed. “Are you giving instructions to the wound?”

She found it a little adorable.

“Have you eaten dinner yet?” Mu Suiyun suddenly remembered and stood up. “There are pastries I bought on the coffee table. Have some to tide you over. I’ll go cook.”

Ning Zhifan glanced at the coffee table.

She recognized the packaging.

They were pastries she had casually mentioned to Mu Suiyun before.

She had said she liked them, and Mu Suiyun had remembered.

In truth, she didn’t like them at all.

She disliked anything overly sweet or rich.

She had only said it at the time to brush Mu Suiyun off.

“Thank you, Suiyun.”

Ning Zhifan walked over, opened the pastry box, picked one up, and held it to Mu Suiyun’s lips.

“I think this will be enough for me. I want to rest early tonight.”

Mu Suiyun froze for a moment before opening her mouth and biting into the pastry she offered.

Her cheeks reddened slightly.

“…Thank you. I can do it myself.”

As she spoke, she took the rest of the pastry from Ning Zhifan’s hand.

“Are you free this weekend?”

Ning Zhifan knew Mu Suiyun had gone back to the old residence today, so she easily guessed why she was asking.

“I am. I can go back with you.”

Mu Suiyun smiled, then looked slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry you have to listen to an elderly person nag again. You don’t need to take it seriously. I’ll handle everything.”

“Mm.”

Ning Zhifan understood exactly what she meant.

Mu Suiyun’s grandmother desperately wanted Ning Zhifan to bear a child for her.

The thought irritated her.

Whenever this subject came up, she was reminded with perfect clarity that she was nothing more than a reproductive tool that had been purchased.

Hatred stirred inside Ning Zhifan.

Not hatred toward Mu Suiyun.

She hated her own circumstances.

“We…” Ning Zhifan hinted, “aren’t really at the age where we need to have children yet. I… I’m not mentally prepared to become a mother.”

She would never have a child with Mu Suiyun.2

Ning Zhifan had planned long ago to break off their engagement when the proper opportunity arose.

How could she possibly fall in love with a beta and bear that beta’s child?4

Mu Suiyun nodded.

“I know. Don’t worry. I won’t let my family bother you.”

Ning Zhifan looked at Mu Suiyun as she made the promise earnestly.

She knew Mu Suiyun’s promises could be trusted.

But how could a fledgling bird that had never once left its nest truly escape its grandmother’s commands?1

Ning Zhifan would not gamble on it.

She had to keep the initiative in her own hands.1

“Suiyun, I’m going to rest now,” she said. “I’ll be visiting other pharmaceutical factories all day tomorrow, so it’ll be exhausting. I want to sleep early and save my strength.”

Mu Suiyun nodded. “All right. Go ahead.”

—

The next day.

Before leaving home, Ning Zhifan noticed a contract on the coffee table.

It was a cooperation agreement from a pharmaceutical factory under the Mu Group.

The terms were so generous they practically looked like charity.

The cold, aloof woman curled her lips into a smile.

Once again, she had taken advantage of her fiancée.

Only after finishing the contract did Ning Zhifan notice a small note lying beside it.

Mu Suiyun’s handwriting was on it.

[The wedding dresses are finished. When you’re free, let’s go try them on together.]

Something like this could easily have been sent through WeChat.

Ning Zhifan could guess why Mu Suiyun had left a note instead.

She wasn’t sure whether Ning Zhifan kept notification sounds turned on and had been afraid of disturbing her, so she had simply left a note.

She was always so considerate.

Ning Zhifan stared at the words wedding dresses.

…Three months.

As her thoughts wandered, the gland at the back of her neck began swelling again, clamoring for pheromones.

In three months, she was going to marry a beta—

a beta who could not give her pheromones.