Chapter 66

All she could sense with every breath was the sweet scent of white peach.

Li Jia’s voice sounded right by her ear. The emotions woven into the Omega’s words left Ye Chengxing, whose mind was already growing muddled, feeling even more disoriented.

Before their official goodbye, she had imagined countless scenarios and rehearsed her responses to each one. But she had never once anticipated something like this—

A situation utterly beyond all her predictions.

The faint glimpses she’d had before of this unfamiliar side of Li Jia had felt strange enough. Yet none of them compared to the sheer overwhelm of this moment. Her state was far too abnormal.

Ye Chengxing recalled what 001 had told her: the villain’s redemption value had reached one hundred percent.

This didn’t look like a redeemed villain at all. It resembled the blackened state from the original plot far more.

She had gone to such lengths to avoid anything that might push Li Jia toward blackening, unwilling to watch her follow the path laid out in the original book. She had believed that plotline was behind them. Yet after all the twists and turns, it had still emerged—and the true cause, unbelievably, was herself.

No wonder Li Jia hadn’t reacted when she said she would only stay a few days. No wonder every corner of the place felt perfectly tailored to her tastes. This space, this location—it had been prepared for her from the start.

Li Jia saw through her thoughts and suddenly laughed. “Sorry for making Sis think there’s still some saving me.”

She hooked the butterfly necklace from around Ye Chengxing’s neck with a fingertip.

“You know, the necklace I gave you has a microphone and tracker in it. I’ve been watching you every moment… Sis, I really like you—like to the brink of madness. Why leave just because the mission’s complete? Do I have to lock you up to keep you from going?”

Their bodies pressed intimately together, Ye Chengxing listened to Li Jia’s murmurs, shock slamming into her like a wave.

She liked her too.

But more crucially, Li Jia knew…

There was no time to ponder how Li Jia had learned of the mission. Ye Chengxing parted her lips. She wanted to insist there had been no deception, but she realized that if Li Jia truly knew about the mission, any explanation would ring hollow.

The worst outcome would be for Li Jia to view it all as a grand deceit spun from the mission itself—words would mean nothing then.

“The mission is real,” she said after a long pause, her voice dropping low. “But I never treated it as just a mission. My feelings for you are genuine. I never planned to leave before this, and I like you…”

The pain of the susceptible period sharpened without the Omega’s pheromones to soothe it, leaving Ye Chengxing’s words halting and fragmented.

“Really? You like me?” Li Jia’s smile deepened, her tone light and seemingly puzzled. “But Sis still plans to leave.”

She pinched Ye Chengxing’s chin, her fingers lingering to tease and press against her lips.

The rough stroke of her lips brought a sting of pain, but the contact dulled some of the susceptible period’s ache.

Ye Chengxing’s thoughts began to scatter.

Realizing her mind was drifting toward unwanted ideas from the touch, she fought to pull her wits together and began, “Because…”

“Shh.”

That fragile spark of hope had shattered completely the moment she’d heard the farewell with her own ears. The dark impulses she’d long suppressed could no longer be held back.

For a fleeting moment, she’d wondered if she was overthinking it—if Ye Chengxing had no real intention of leaving.

But then she’d seen the secret preparations, watched everything under her own name transferred over. She knew it was real.

The hand gripping the Alpha’s chin slid slowly to her throat.

“Before I met you, I never needed emotions at all.”

“You’re the one who promised to stay by my side.”

She wasn’t using much force, but the control was unmistakable.

The physical pain faded with her nearness. Far from sensing danger, Ye Chengxing’s body instinctively craved more closeness to the Omega—to entwine with her fully.

Her desperate bid for clarity clashed violently with her body’s urges.

Listening to Li Jia’s words, Ye Chengxing dimly realized this was worse than even her darkest fears.

Li Jia no longer trusted her.

The Omega’s gaze darkened as it locked onto Ye Chengxing’s.

“So many times.”

“I’ve given you chance after chance…”

“But this works out perfectly. Now I have my reason.”

In the instant suffocation gripped her, their lips met in a kiss.

Cold droplets fell with the kiss, tears tracing onto her lips one after another.

Ye Chengxing wrapped her arms around Li Jia, her own heart twisting with pain.

In the brief gaps between kisses, she wiped at the tears with her fingertips. “I won’t leave. I like you. It was my mistake—I misunderstood and didn’t ask you properly…”

But throughout, there was no reply from Li Jia.

The Omega kissed her fiercely, without finesse, tears streaming even as she did. Ye Chengxing tasted the metallic tang of blood between their lips.

Uncertain if her words could even reach Li Jia in this state, she repeated them again and again: that she liked her, that she wouldn’t go.

When the kiss finally broke, they were both breathless. In that moment, Ye Chengxing heard a faint click. Something cold snapped onto her left wrist.

She turned her gaze toward the sound, freezing at the sight.

Once the pale golden handchain was secured around Ye Chengxing’s wrist, Li Jia admired it for a few seconds before speaking. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Whether your feelings are real or just a trick—none of it matters.”

Her lips, reddened from the kiss, were vividly alluring, breathtaking in their beauty.

Ye Chengxing suddenly realized 001 had fallen utterly silent since that initial announcement. Before, she had at least sensed the faint link even if she couldn’t hear it. But now, after the handchain clicked into place, that connection had been severed entirely.

She hadn’t voiced the realization aloud, but Li Jia caught the subtle shift in her expression.

“Don’t bother trying to reach your system. You won’t be able to for a while. And don’t try to unlock it, Sis—you can’t.”

Her fingers caressed the handchain, her tone softening back into honeyed affection. “I made it myself. Pretty, isn’t it? It suits your skin perfectly.”

The pale golden chain gleamed with exquisite, intricate beauty.

At that, Li Jia looked to Ye Chengxing with the same expectant gaze she always used when awaiting praise.

Meeting those eyes, Ye Chengxing opened her mouth to respond. But with the handchain now in place, her consciousness unraveled uncontrollably.

The Omega’s figure blurred and doubled before her, a strange dizziness sweeping through her body.

She parted her lips, but in the end, could only close her eyes in vain.

Li Jia caught Ye Chengxing’s slumping form.

Truthfully, she owed her nothing.

If anything, Ye Chengxing had been kinder to her than anyone else she’d ever known.

She was aware of the family and friends Ye Chengxing cared for back in that other world. Logically, if she truly wanted to stay, she should let her go.

But… how could she?

She couldn’t.

Only by binding her completely, keeping her focus solely on herself, could she feel even a shred of security.

Just watching her like this, all her emotions orbiting around her—pain or pleasure, it all stemmed from Ye Chengxing.

The Alpha cradled in her arms still trembled faintly, even unconscious, wracked by lingering agony.

Li Jia was fully aware of what she was doing. She knew it was despicable, yet an irrepressible satisfaction bloomed within her.

She had always been a despicable person.

Now, without her, Ye Chengxing would suffer too much to go on living.

Whether she willed it or not, she would need intimate embraces—or deeper contact—to ease the pain.

She would depend on her alone.

That realization dilated Li Jia’s pupils with thrill.

Her hand brushed Ye Chengxing’s cheek with exquisite gentleness, though it sent an inexplicable chill through anyone watching.

True feelings or false—it no longer mattered.

There was no need to ascertain it anymore.

She kissed her lips once more, her eyes swirling with gorgeous obsession, her voice sweeter than ever. “See? Just like now, you’re staying right by my side.”