The sudden commotion at the banquet left everyone stunned.
Many of the attendees had never seen Jiang Yi before. But this person, who could make the usually composed and unflappable Jiang Sixian lose her composure so completely, naturally drew everyone’s attention.
Song Yi, who had just parted ways with Jiang Yi moments ago, heard the disturbance and immediately turned back, only to witness Jiang Sixian tearfully throwing herself into Jiang Yi’s arms. She was utterly dumbfounded.
She had expected Jiang Sixian to react strongly, but never imagined it would be like this.
Seeing the two of them clinging to each other, Song Yi felt an inexplicable irritation. She lifted her skirt and strode over, pulling Jiang Yi away and separating the two. She raised her chin haughtily at Jiang Sixian and declared, “Jiang Sixian! I know it’s your birthday today, but my girlfriend isn’t a gift for you. Don’t just cling to her like that.”
Jiang Yi, abruptly yanked away by Song Yi, instinctively tightened her arms around the woman in her embrace and clenched her thighs together.
Damn it, she was wearing pants today—if she got aroused, it would be painfully obvious.
Jiang Sixian, suddenly pulled away by Jiang Yi, looked up in confusion at Song Yi beside her.
Her eyes were brimming with tears of joy from their reunion, the corners tinged red. Jiang Yi glanced down and saw her tearful, dazed expression, which only made the heat between her legs grow more intense.
This was bad. Jiang Yi realized she was going into rut over this woman.
Song Yi saw Jiang Yi staring down at Jiang Sixian with an awestruck expression and grew even angrier. She tugged Jiang Yi back and snapped at Jiang Sixian, “Look closely—this isn’t your Jiang Yi. This is my Jiang Yi.”
Jiang Sixian blinked at Song Yi in confusion before turning back to bury herself against Jiang Yi’s chest, gazing up at her with tear-filled eyes. Her eyes seemed to speak, silently asking what this meant.
Jiang Yi, intoxicated by the mesmerizing scent emanating from her, finally regained some semblance of rationality and said, “Miss… Jiang, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
She forced a smile and added, “This seems to be our first meeting.”
At those words, the confusion in Jiang Sixian’s eyes gradually cleared. She tilted her head up, taking in the unfamiliarity and admiration in Jiang Yi’s gaze, and a terrible suspicion rose in her heart.
Jiang Sixian bit her lip, her voice hoarse as she said, “This isn’t our first meeting.”
With that, she grabbed Jiang Yi’s hand and dragged her forward.
Jiang Yi reflexively clamped her legs together and stumbled after her. “Wait… wait…”
What kind of bizarre situation was this? Why did this scene feel so familiar?
Song Yi, seeing this, panicked and chased after them. “Hey! Jiang Sixian! Let her go!”
Great. Now the scene felt even more familiar.
Song Yi caught up and yanked Jiang Yi back. “Jiang Sixian, what right do you have to take my girlfriend away?”
Jiang Yi thought to herself, Wasn’t this just a performance for 500,000 yuan? Why was the young lady taking it so seriously?
Jiang Sixian turned at those words, her tear-filled eyes locking onto Jiang Yi. “Girlfriend?”
Jiang Yi instinctively clarified, “No, I’m just Miss Song’s temporary bodyguard. There’s no romantic relationship here.”
Song Yi stamped her foot in frustration. “Jiang Yi, you promised me!”
Jiang Yi quickly replied, “For 500,000 yuan, I know.”
Jiang Sixian immediately understood. She pulled Jiang Yi behind her, shielding her just as Jiang Yi had once done for her, and glared at Song Yi with red-rimmed eyes. “Song Yi, she marked me. She’s mine. I’m taking her with me now. As for your safety, I’ll arrange for someone else to handle it.”
Jiang Yi, standing behind Jiang Sixian, was dumbstruck. Wait, marked her? Since arriving in this world, she had remained celibate—she hadn’t even kissed anyone! How could she have marked someone?
After saying this, Jiang Sixian began dragging Jiang Yi away.
Jiang Yi finally snapped out of it. She still had responsibilities and couldn’t just abandon Song Yi.
She planted her feet firmly and said to Jiang Sixian, “Miss Jiang, I’m sorry, but my duty is to protect Miss Song Yi. I can’t leave with you.”
Song Yi, seeing Jiang Yi stop, smirked triumphantly. “See that, Jiang Sixian? Jiang Yi is my bodyguard. You can’t just take her away.”
Jiang Yi felt the need to clarify. “Temporarily.”
Jiang Sixian immediately countered, “I’ll have my people take over for you.” She turned to the bodyguards nearby and ordered, “A’Quan, escort Miss Song home safely.”
The bodyguard stepped forward and began dragging Song Yi away. “Understood.”
Song Yi was hoisted up by the towering bodyguard like a chick being carried off.
Jiang Sixian then looked up at Jiang Yi, her eyes still wet with tears. “Jiang Yi, your job has been handed over. Will you come with me now?”
Jiang Yi hesitated. “Miss Jiang, this is going to cost me my job.”
Jiang Sixian smiled faintly. “But I think you’ll come with me. Because as an Alpha, you must have sensed that I was once marked by you. Even though the mark has faded, you just reacted to my pheromones.”
“An Alpha like you, with such strong self-control, rarely responds to ordinary Omegas. After adulthood, it’s nearly impossible for an Omega to casually catch your scent unless they’re your destined mate.”
Jiang Sixian smiled, her tearful expression heartbreakingly beautiful. “We need to talk, Jiang Yi.”
Jiang Yi froze. She knew Jiang Sixian was right—her reaction to Jiang Sixian’s pheromones had been anything but normal.
Moreover, her pheromones were unique. Given Jiang Sixian’s certainty, this couldn’t be a case of mistaken identity.
Could it be… she wasn’t actually her grandmother’s granddaughter?
A bolt of lightning seemed to strike Jiang Yi’s mind, but she quickly realized—this might very well be true.
Jiang Yi stared blankly at Jiang Sixian, fragments of memories she had never paid attention to flashing through her mind.
Her grandmother never letting her meet outsiders… the wound on her left shoulder after waking up from nearly drowning… the fresh grave in the backyard… her unusually fair skin from the very beginning, unlike that of a mountain girl…
But Jiang Sixian didn’t give her time to think. She smiled apologetically at the curious onlookers and announced, “Everyone, I must excuse myself for now. Please enjoy the rest of the evening.”
With that, she pulled Jiang Yi away. Jiang Yi, her mind in turmoil, followed numbly as they left the noisy crowd behind.
After their departure, whispers erupted throughout the banquet hall.
Jiang Yi had never felt so powerless before. Trailing behind Jiang Sixian, listening to the sharp clicks of her high heels, she glanced down at Jiang Sixian’s snow-white neck and felt a wave of dizziness.
The “her” from before must have injected pheromones into Jiang Sixian through that spot.
Since Jiang Sixian no longer bore any mark, it must have been a temporary one.
Of course, it was also possible that “she” had done something more intimate with Jiang Sixian, resulting in a deep mark. But “she” had died, and the Omega she had marked had gone to have it removed.
At this moment, Song Yi’s earlier words flashed through Jiang Yi’s mind.
“I heard Jiang Yi drowned, but her body was never found. The police ruled it as a disappearance.”
“She died in the water…”
Jiang Yi’s thoughts were a tangled mess. Had she never doubted it before?
After hearing that story, Jiang Yi had repeatedly examined the scars on her body.
Her comrades had often teased her: “You don’t seem like a mountain girl. More like a pampered young lady from a wealthy family.”
The poverty relief officials had marveled: “Two years apart, and Little Yi has grown so tall and fair. You’re completely different from before.”
But so what? Even if she wasn’t “Grandma’s” beloved granddaughter, did that mean she was this person’s “little sister”?
She was no one. Just a wandering soul from the 21st century who had crossed over. Just herself. Just Jiang Yi.
Gradually, Jiang Yi calmed down. She looked down at Jiang Sixian, who was wiping away her tears, and felt an inexplicable pang in her chest.
Song Yi had said that “she” died protecting her stepsister. Jiang Sixian shared her surname—she must be that stepsister.
If “she” had marked Jiang Sixian, then they must have been in love…
A jumble of thoughts raced through Jiang Yi’s mind, but before she could sort them out, Jiang Sixian pulled her into the elevator, took her down two floors to the presidential suite, and shoved her inside.
Once inside, Jiang Sixian immediately wrapped her arms around Jiang Yi, burying her face in Jiang Yi’s neck and inhaling the increasingly potent scent of snow pine.
Jiang Yi felt like a cat being tightly restrained, unable to move.
Her heart pounded wildly as she tried to push Jiang Sixian away. “Jiang… Miss Jiang… calm down a little, please…”
“Even if you’re convinced I’m the Jiang Yi you know, shouldn’t we at least exchange code words first?”
She understood how much Jiang Sixian missed “her,” but in this situation, how was she, an Alpha, supposed to hold back?
Jiang Sixian lifted her head from Jiang Yi’s chest and looked at her. “It’s Jiang Sixian… not Miss Jiang.”
Jiang Yi caught the dangerous glint in her eyes and quickly corrected herself. “Alright, Jiang Sixian, please step back. I have some questions for you.”
Jiang Sixian didn’t move. She continued holding Jiang Yi, her gaze tender. “What is it? Tell me.”
Jiang Yi felt like she had not only lost her job today but was about to lose her dignity too.
She sighed and looked helplessly at the ceiling. “It’s just… just…”
Jiang Sixian tilted her head up, studying Jiang Yi’s matured features, her lightly tanned skin, and the same exasperated look she had always given her. Her heart trembled.
She tightened her grip on Jiang Yi’s arm, refusing to let go.
She would never let go again. She wouldn’t let Jiang Yi leave her, and she wouldn’t listen to any nonsense about waiting obediently.
In all those years of returning to that intersection, squatting in that spot, Jiang Yi had never come back for her.
She was done with loss.
She clutched Jiang Yi’s arm, looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, and smiled. “Just what? Jiang Yi, say it. Take your time…”
They had a lifetime ahead of them. She would never let Jiang Yi leave again.
Under Jiang Sixian’s gaze, Jiang Yi struggled briefly but, afraid of hurting her, didn’t use much force.
Resigned, she undid a button of her shirt with one hand, pulling the collar aside to reveal the bite mark on her shoulder. She leaned forward, exposing it to Jiang Sixian.
“There used to be a bite mark here. When I woke up, my family told me I had nearly drowned. But I couldn’t understand how drowning would leave a mark like this.”
“So I always suspected my identity might be questionable. But since I didn’t remember anything, I didn’t dwell on it.”
“After meeting Miss Song Yi, she told me about a ‘Jiang Yi,’ and I started wondering if I might be that person. But I’ve built a new life now, so I didn’t see the point in digging up the past.”
Jiang Yi took a deep breath and mustered her courage. “Jiang Sixian, do you know how this bite mark got here?”
Jiang Sixian stared obsessively at the coin-sized scar on Jiang Yi’s left shoulder. Of course she knew. She knew all too well.
How many nights had she dreamed of clinging to Jiang Yi’s back as they fled through endless mazes?
How many times had she lost Jiang Yi in those dreams?
Jiang Sixian reached out and gently traced the scar with her fingertips. “Of course I know.”
Then she pulled Jiang Yi closer and pressed a burning kiss to the mark. “That’s the mark of my love for you.”
Jiang Yi’s entire body went weak at the touch of her lips. Her skin flushed pink, her ears turning so red they seemed about to drip blood. Soon, the entire room was saturated with the rich scent of snow pine.
This was bad. She was really going into rut now.
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