Chapter 49
The moment she realized it was Gu Ximian on the other end of the line, Lily’s first reaction was that if Zhuang Chi made a sound, she would be heard. She reflexively pressed the hang-up button.
Feeling that something was off about the reason and timing of Gu Ximian’s sudden visit, Lily looked toward Zhuang Chi. Zhuang Chi, however, didn’t seem to know what had happened. At a glance, she only looked puzzled that Lily had hung up so abruptly. Although she didn’t ask, the expression on her face was natural, not like an act.
Forget it, it’s possible it’s just a coincidence. I can’t let myself get flustered with paranoia just yet, Lily thought. In any case, since she had hung up so rudely, she now had to go out and explain herself. Even if she didn’t want to, with Gu Ximian already downstairs, there was nothing she could do. In every sense of the word, she couldn’t afford to have a public falling out with this person.
“…I have something to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.” Having made up her mind, Lily stood up and, keeping her expression neutral, gave Zhuang Chi a brief instruction, “You should… get some rest. Good night.”
As she spoke, she walked out of the room and gave a low-voiced order to the guards at Zhuang Chi’s door to be extra vigilant and to notify her immediately if there was any movement inside. Only then did she slowly walk downstairs. Sure enough, when she reached the main hall, she saw Gu Ximian and the butler, who was barely managing to block her. The person stood quietly before the half-open main door of her villa, her gaze fixed straight on Lily from the moment she appeared, her eyes serene and deep.
“Good evening,” Gu Ximian said, watching Lily approach her, a smile like floating ice on her lips. “You hung up just now without saying anything, and your butler is blocking me from entering. I was starting to think you were giving me an eviction notice.”
“…I’m sorry, I accidentally hit the hang-up button,” Lily apologized with a slight bow, then gestured for the butler to step aside. “I rarely have guests here, and the butler couldn’t confirm the identity of someone I hadn’t mentioned in advance, which is why he was blocking you. Please forgive me.”
Her words carried a subtle jab at Gu Ximian’s unannounced arrival, but Gu Ximian nodded as if she hadn’t noticed. “I forgive you. So, can I come in now?”
“…” What a strange attitude. The sense of unease in Lily’s heart grew stronger. If nothing else, the impression Gu Ximian had left on her before the whole Zhuang Chi affair was one of extreme politeness, completely different from how she was now. She considered how she would react if she hadn’t kidnapped Zhuang Chi, then frowned and said, “Is there something you need from me? And… how did you get my address and phone number? I don’t think I ever gave them to you, did I?”
“I asked Olivia.”
Gu Ximian’s reply was smooth, her gaze completely frank. “I was a bit rude to you when we met during the day. Thinking back on it later, I felt bad, so I wanted to come and apologize, and maybe chat a little. Is this a bad time? Am I interrupting you?”
Realizing this meant Olivia was aware of and had tacitly approved this visit, Lily’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she couldn’t think of a polite reason to refuse. In the end, she could only take a step back. “…No, not at all. Please, come in.”
She walked inside, and Gu Ximian followed silently behind her. Lily quietly instructed the butler to prepare some drinks and snacks, then walked to the sofa and gestured for Gu Ximian to sit. Gu Ximian sat down as told, sinking into the soft cushions with a relaxed posture. Her opening line was, “This place is so big. Does it have three floors from the outside?”
It felt like common small talk. Lily simply hummed in agreement. Gu Ximian nodded thoughtfully and continued, “Do you live here all by yourself? Isn’t Olivia with you?”
“…” Frowning slightly, Lily tried her best to respond in a calm tone, “…We bought a property near St. Blaisedon. My sister lives there for the convenience of attending school.”
She used to live there with Olivia as well, but she had made an excuse to move out because of the Zhuang Chi situation—a detail she had no intention of sharing with Gu Ximian. Gu Ximian, however, seemed to have gotten the answer she wanted and said no more. A silence fell between them.
In truth, she still hadn’t figured out Gu Ximian’s purpose for coming. Having Gu Ximian in her home now only made Lily feel uneasy. Just then, the butler arrived with snacks and milk. Gu Ximian said her thanks, but her hand only loosely cupped the glass of milk without drinking.
Her silence gave Lily a chance to observe her. She noticed that even a simple, everyday action like holding a glass looked particularly noble and beautiful when Gu Ximian did it, as if with some soft lighting it could be a magazine cover. Her fingers were slender and fair, resting on the edge of the glass. Lily watched for a few more moments before discreetly looking away.
In terms of looks, she’s indeed not bad, Lily thought. No wonder Zhuang Chi likes her. But she won’t be seeing her anymore soon, so that’s—
“Do you like Olivia?”
Her thoughts were cut short by the unexpected question. Lily snapped her head toward Gu Ximian, who had just asked such a thing out of the blue. She saw the other girl casually drop a sugar cube into the milk, making a soft plop. “What’s wrong? Am I wrong?”
Seeing Gu Ximian’s calm and composed demeanor, a nameless fire seemed to rise in Lily’s heart, making her response stiff. “…As a younger sister, of course I like my older sister.”
“What about you, then?” After saying this, she felt a sense of blockage and couldn’t help but ask Gu Ximian in return, her tone thorny. “Do you like my sister? Is that why you came to ask me?”
“What strange logic.” Gu Ximian gave her a lazy glance before lowering her eyes again, slowly stirring the milk with a small spoon. “You’ve wanted to ask this question for a while, haven’t you? It would have been better if you’d asked me sooner. I would have told you directly—I have no such feelings for Olivia.”
“Not everything you value holds the same attraction for everyone, nor does everyone consider winning Her Highness the Princess’s favor a good thing. I thought this was something that should be understood without needing to be said.”
Gu Ximian spoke faintly, the light in her eyes fragmented, and she let out a soft laugh. “But it’s too late to say this now. You must… already hate me very much, right?”
Lily’s breath caught. For a moment, she could only push aside her criticism of Gu Ximian’s incomprehensible words and respond to her last sentence, feigning surprise. “…How could that be? Why would you suddenly say such a thing—”
“Am I wrong?”
But Gu Ximian didn’t let her continue, suddenly looking at her, her eyes pitch black.
“When we first met at the banquet, Olivia was chatting with me, and you were watching from the side. What were you thinking then?” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable, pressing force. “Later, you rejected your dance partner to take Olivia away. What were you thinking then?”
“Haven’t you held a grudge against me since that time?”
“With such preconceived notions, everything you see and hear afterward will be interpreted in that direction, right? And now…” Gu Ximian stopped stirring her milk and smiled gently at Lily, but her eyes were dark and heavy. “Why am I suddenly bringing this up—that’s the look on your face. So why is that? And why have I come here alone at this hour…”
Her voice grew softer and softer, making it difficult for Lily to hear her last words. She couldn’t help but lean a little closer in her direction, and then she suddenly felt a cold, hard object pressed against her chest.
“…It’s so you don’t have time to do anything to Zhuang Chi right now.” Gu Ximian’s eyes were ice-cold. She pushed the gun she was holding forward a few fractions of an inch, her smile not reaching her eyes. “You can’t even figure that out, and you’re trying to pull off a kidnapping?”
Gu Ximian was perfectly calm. Even as the butler let out a cry of alarm, drawing numerous bodyguards to surround her, she remained unfazed, looking only at the silent Lily.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Gu Ximian said, slowly moving the muzzle of the gun up to her neck. “Being surrounded by so many people, I’m afraid I’ll get nervous. It wouldn’t be good if it accidentally went off, right?”
Lily’s expression was awful. She swallowed, and finally gave the order in a low voice, “…Everyone, back off.”
The bodyguards retreated as she said. Lily continued through gritted teeth, “…I don’t know what you were just talking about, but what you’re doing now is illegal, you—”
“I know. Do you need to tell me?” Gu Ximian seemed to find it amusing and chuckled. “The police will be here in a little while anyway. It’ll be perfect to arrest both of us together. Saves trouble.”
Lily felt this person was simply unreasonable, speaking so lightly. It was the first time in her life someone had pointed a gun at her, and her mind was in turmoil, not knowing what to ask first. But Gu Ximian paid her no mind, continuing on her own. “It’s because I called the police that if I don’t hurry before they arrive… it’ll be hard for me to be alone with you like this again.”
“Then the things I want to ask, the things I want to do, wouldn’t be possible, right?” she said, as if to herself. Her lashes fluttered, and she looked straight at Lily, asking bluntly, “What did you do to Zhuang Chi?”
“…”
“At this point, you’re not still thinking of staying silent, are you? Do you really think I’m just bluffing?” Seeing Lily’s silence, Gu Ximian’s eyes curved into a slight smile. “Or do you think this gun is fake? Should we test it? A hole in the shoulder… probably won’t kill you, right?”
As she spoke, she began to move, deftly pressing the muzzle against Lily’s right shoulder. Sweat beaded on Lily’s forehead. In the end, she couldn’t withstand the pressure and confessed, “…I’ll, I’ll talk.”
Once her resolve broke, it was a total collapse. Lily stumblingly recounted the events of the past few days. She had intended to omit the part about punishing Zhuang Chi, but Gu Ximian seemed to read her mind and pressed her relentlessly, forcing her to spit out the truth. Knowing Gu Ximian had come prepared, Lily gave up completely and confessed, “…I had a doctor look at her. Her gland… has a problem.”
“…”
Almost instantly, Lily felt the hand holding the gun tighten. For a moment, she thought Gu Ximian would pull the trigger, but Gu Ximian controlled herself and slowly exhaled.
“…‘Punishing’ her with pheromones…” she said softly. “The drugs you used to harm me that day were also related, weren’t they? You really… like using drugs, don’t you?”
Lily didn’t dare to speak. Gu Ximian suddenly reached for the glass of milk and placed it in front of Lily.
“Drink it.”
She spoke simply, her tone faint, yet it sent a chill down Lily’s spine. She stared at the seemingly ordinary milk, but she sensed a hidden danger and didn’t move. Gu Ximian’s voice was soft, like an intimate whisper in her ear. “What are you afraid of? Isn’t it the milk your butler poured? The sugar cube was also provided by you, right? Didn’t you see me add it?”
Was… was that right? Lily thought vaguely. Had she really seen Gu Ximian add the sugar cube the butler brought, or was it… something else?
“Is the milk drugged or not? Is this gun in my hand real or not? Why don’t you take a guess?” As if genuinely delighted, Gu Ximian’s lips curled into a smile. She said warmly, “Drink it.”
“Don’t make me say it a third time. Why can’t you remember?”
Under Gu Ximian’s emotionless gaze, Lily picked up the cup, her hands trembling violently. She slowly took a sip of the milk, which tasted only of bitterness. Her hand suddenly trembled and she lost her grip. The cup fell onto her lap and then rolled onto the carpet, spilling milk everywhere in a mess. Gu Ximian glanced at it coldly, saying with disgust, “So dirty.”
“You don’t hesitate when drugging others, but when it’s your turn, you can’t even hold a cup steady.”
As Gu Ximian spoke, she moved the muzzle of the gun down to Lily’s chest. Her other, empty hand rose as if to wipe the milk stain from Lily’s lips, but ultimately landed on Lily’s neck, tightening gently.
“Luckily I’m an Omega, so I can’t affect you with pheromones in the same way—is that what you were thinking?”
Lily didn’t dare to speak, only feeling the hand on her neck tighten, fingertips pressing mercilessly on her gland, making her let out a pained whimper. She thought Gu Ximian was going to deal with her physically. But Gu Ximian quickly released her hand, instead touching her own neck and lightly hooking a finger on the corner of her collar.
“When I first presented, I learned something,” Gu Ximian said softly. “‘Grade suppression’ among the same kind.”
“Just like how high-grade Alpha pheromones can suppress lower-grade ones, Omegas have this mechanism too. And similarly, being suppressed by high-grade pheromones… is said to be very painful.”
“So just how painful is it,” Gu Ximian stared unblinkingly into Lily’s eyes, taking in all her terror, then yanked off the inhibitor collar from her own neck. “Let’s ‘experiment’ a little, shall we?”
Lily’s memory of the next several tens of minutes was blurry. She only remembered continuous pain and fear, as if her entire being was dominated, instinctively wanting to curl up and cry out. Meanwhile, Gu Ximian sat properly on the sofa, like a condescending god, coldly watching her pathetic state, the muzzle of the gun pressed to her forehead.
“Now you know pain too?”
In the final moments of her fading consciousness, Lily heard Gu Ximian’s voice, seeming to drift from far away, so soft she could barely hear it.
“…Then how much pain must she have been in. Why didn’t she tell me through the camera.”
The police burst into the villa while Lily was unconscious. Ling Jing rushed in with her people, only to be stopped in her tracks by Gu Ximian’s pheromones. For a moment, she thought Gu Ximian had been set up, but a closer look revealed Gu Ximian pointing a gun at Lily, leaving her utterly dumbfounded.
The police quickly subdued Lily’s bodyguards and warily surrounded Gu Ximian. Gu Ximian decisively let go, dropping the gun in her hand onto the carpet. “It’s fake. It’s a lighter.”
She watched the police take her toy gun, but her patience had already run out. She couldn’t wait for them to finish their inspection and suddenly stood up.
“Go to the third floor.”
Gu Ximian said, lifting her head, her voice soft.
“Zhuang Chi is there.”
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