Chapter 24 Part 2

Lin Song cut her off. “I know the gist of what Lexing said—that you think Yan Mian’s premature differentiation was all Little Yang’s doing. But she was at Centrifugal Force Bar the whole night. She only went to see you because she likes you. Fine if you don’t want her, but threatening her with a knife in public? What was that?”

“Yan Mian came out okay, but if something had happened to her because of you, what would that make you?” Lin Song went on. “A murderer?”

He launched into a monologue, giving Zhu Lexing no room to respond, slapping her with an “attempted murder” label right out of the gate.

It was so practiced, it was as if he’d done it a thousand times before.

But who couldn’t play the first-strike hat-trick?

Zhu Lexing ignored his question entirely and fired back. “Lin Yang said before that you were going to introduce me to Shi Ruofeng, an Omega on the verge of differentiating. So you’re the one who could reach her. Why was she at the hotel yesterday? Why did she differentiate early too?”

“Besides Shi Ruofeng, how many other Omegas have you pulled this on?” Zhu Lexing said coldly. “Do you even know they could die from it? A butcher calling me a murderer.”

“Have you no shame?”

Her words hit like daggers, leaving Lin Song momentarily speechless.

Someone else asked, “Mr. Lin, what’s your relationship with Shi Ruofeng?”

Lin Song recovered in seconds, shrugging it off casually. “I’m just looking after Ruofeng for Uncle Shi. She’s been staying at my suburban villa, which has cameras and servants. Over the past few months, I’ve only checked on her a handful of times during the day, and I never stayed long.”

“As for why she went out? No idea,” Lin Song said. “Wouldn’t dream of prying.”

“But you…”

Lin Song turned to her abruptly, his gaze dark and probing, though his tone softened. “Lexing. Why is it that everywhere you go, Yan Mian and Ruofeng both differentiate early? By your own account, there were Alpha pheromones in that room at first. But when the police arrived? Only Omega pheromones.”

“Everyone here except you is a Beta—they can’t smell pheromones, so of course whatever you say is the truth,” Lin Song said. “You should know that some Alphas always use their pheromones to force Omegas into differentiation. The process can be long or short, and more than a few deny it afterward.”

Zhu Lexing suddenly realized what Lin Song was driving at.

Shi Ruofeng herself was just a pawn, a tool the Lin Family used to win people over. But she hadn’t come of age or differentiated yet, which made her far too dangerous to mention lightly to outsiders.

Lin Yang had brought it up with Zhu Lexing only because Lin Song wanted to build bridges with the Zhu Family.

Yet no one could have foreseen that Zhu Lexing’s body would suddenly have its core swapped out.

She didn’t “want” Shi Ruofeng at all. On the contrary, she wanted Shi Ruofeng to go back to living a normal life. As early as when she’d had Zhu Lin inquire about Shi Ruofeng’s whereabouts, Lin Song had already realized the scheme was exposed and started looking for a chance to relocate her.

The Yan Mian incident was the perfect opportunity.

If Zhu Lexing really barged into Shi Ruofeng’s room on Lin Yang’s say-so… how could a pheromone-blind Beta possibly grasp the truth?

They could blame it all on Zhu Lexing herself—that she’d targeted the two Omegas on purpose, deliberately using her pheromones to trigger their differentiation, then injecting an inhibitor to wash her hands of it.

That would let them dump the Shi Ruofeng liability for good.

The whole conspiracy theory sent a chill through Zhu Lexing herself.

Standing there before Lin Song, she felt impossibly naive by comparison. In her anger, she even wanted to curse the System: 【The promised elite Mary Sue story? This is how you torment the protagonist? Can’t you do something useful?】

The System’s reply didn’t let her down this time: 【The System can generate a video based on the Host’s memories within three days, including any dialogues with NPCs.】

Zhu Lexing froze.

Which meant that even without proof right now, once the System’s video was ready, Lin Yang wouldn’t get away with it.

Right then, someone knocked on the door.

Lin Song glanced at Zhu Lexing’s silent, clenched fists and assumed she was stumped for a comeback. He sneered to himself—no matter how tough she acted, she was still just a yellow-haired delinquent kid.

At last, Lin Song turned around, only to see Yan Mian clutching her phone.

She’d changed back into casual clothes, her hair pulled into a neat ponytail that made her look crisp and no-nonsense.

A beat later, she stepped aside. Li Nian stood behind her. Meeting the stares from everyone in the room, Li Nian stayed quiet for several seconds before speaking. “I recorded it.”

Someone blurted out in confusion, “Recorded what?”

Li Nian steadied her voice with effort. “I’m saying, Lin Yang’s threats to Zhu Lexing at the bar last night—I recorded them.”

Silence blanketed the room. Lin Song turned straight to Lin Yang, who could no longer stay seated. She blurted in shock, “What did you say? Last night I just said hello to Zhu Lexing. Threats? You—”

“I…”

The recording cut her off as it started playing.

At Yan Mian’s earlier request, it had been edited into neat segments.

When the final note faded, the clip was over.

Lin Song kept his cool. “I suspect this so-called recording is fabricated. I—”

“You want to call a lawyer?”

Even as he spoke, another voice interrupted him.

A woman in sunglasses stood behind Yan Mian. She wore a trench coat and a scarf draped around her neck, wrapped up like a movie star.

“Isn’t that exactly what you were about to say? Well, here’s the same line right back at you. Anything else, take it up with my lawyer.”

The woman slipped off her sunglasses, revealing refined, striking features. When her gaze landed on Zhu Lexing, her voice softened. “Let’s go.”

Zhu Lexing had seen that face online countless times.

Liu Su.

The biological mother of “Zhu Lexing.”

During their last contact, Liu Su had mentioned that filming wouldn’t wrap for a while yet. Clearly, after the incident blew up, Zhu Lin hadn’t dared keep it from her. She’d rushed back overnight, exhaustion plain on her face.

Zhu Lexing couldn’t find words for the rush of emotions as she started toward her. Halfway there, though, she glanced back at Lin Song.

For the first time, the man’s face turned ashen, like he’d slammed into an immovable wall. He took several steps forward. “Miss Liu, I believe there’s still room to talk this over. I—”

“I already said.” Liu Su gave Zhu Lexing’s shoulder a light pat, then slid her sunglasses back on with icy precision. “Your bully tactics don’t work on me. Got an issue? Talk to my lawyer. Isn’t it just shameless strong-arming?”

“Who can’t play that game?”

Li Nian hesitated, clearly weighing whether to pile on the mockery—only to worry about retaliation.

Zhu Lexing mulled it over for a few seconds, then decided to spare her the embarrassment and step up for the mortifying, social-suicide move—

She hooked her fingers under her lower eyelids, rolled her eyes hard, and snapped coldly, “Who can’t!”

Once they were out of the police station, Liu Su was still surprised by Zhu Lexing’s stunt back there.

Without a second’s pause, she dropped into a half-squat and pulled Zhu Lexing into a hug.

A faint cedar perfume clung to her, and her embrace felt so warm it nearly melted Zhu Lexing on the spot—

“Lexing.” Liu Su’s voice came muffled against her. One hand cradled Zhu Lexing’s head, stroking it tenderly. “Mom’s late. Don’t be scared. Mom’s here now—no one’s going to bully you.”

She hugged tighter with every word, until Zhu Lexing’s breath hitched in her arms.

Not wanting to literally dissolve, Zhu Lexing wriggled to escape. Liu Su mistook it for playfulness and squeezed even harder. “Xingxing—”

Zhu Lexing drew in a deep breath. “Mom—”

Liu Su: “Mom’s right here! Mom loves you!”

Zhu Lexing: “…”

Film Empress, boundaries, please!

Cuddles are great, but ease up!

In her flailing, Zhu Lexing’s eyes drifted over to Yan Mian.

The girl’s gaze had stayed fixed on them the whole time. When she caught Zhu Lexing looking, she paused.

After a long moment, Yan Mian gave a soft chuckle.

Zhu Lexing: “…”

Zhu Lexing suddenly gave up resisting.

She decided this wasn’t so bad.

If only Liu Su would hold her a little looser.

“You’re Little Mian, right?” Liu Su hadn’t forgotten Yan Mian. After finally releasing Zhu Lexing, she greeted her again. “Come on, it’s still early. I’ll take you two around—”

Yan Mian paused. She hadn’t expected Liu Su to address her directly and was just about to refuse when Zhu Lexing spoke up. “She was still in the hospital this morning. She’s a bit tired, so she should rest for now.”

Liu Su nodded. “Then her health comes first.”

As they spoke, Zhu Lin finally arrived, fashionably late. He’d received the message too, but it had taken him too long to get there. Spotting the group, he froze. “Su—Liu Su.”

Liu Su gave Yan Mian’s shoulder a light pat, ushering her and Zhu Lexing into the back seat. She stood tall and turned to face Zhu Lin.

In the end, Liu Su didn’t return to the Zhu Family with them.

Zhu Lexing had no idea what she and Zhu Lin talked about. It was only later that she learned Yan Mian had gone to the hotel because she’d received a text from her phone number.

In Yan Mian and Zhu Lexing’s message history, there had often been one-sided streams of abusive texts. But lately, those had tapered off. So when one suddenly appeared, Yan Mian had turned back to check.

She wanted to confirm.

She was trying to trust Zhu Lexing.

Zhu Lexing recalled her actions that day. “………………”

How had that happened?

Even more shocking was that the number truly belonged to the original host.

But after Lin Yang started getting jealous of Yan Mian, she’d asked for the original host’s phone number.

It was just a number. As long as it soothed Lin Yang, the original host couldn’t be bothered to care.

Who could have guessed Lin Yang would use it to contact Yan Mian directly?

…No wonder Liu Su had ignored all those calls from her before.

Zhu Lexing was utterly stunned, increasingly convinced that those two from the Lin Family were deranged.