They've Already Slept Together

When Lin Meng heard that sound, the uneasy thumping in her chest gradually turned to terror.

Huo Yi seemed startled by the knocking too; she lifted herself slightly and glanced toward the door. Lin Meng seized the moment to push her away, then ran to the door. She rose carefully on her tiptoes and peered out through the peephole.

Su Yutang stood before the door, smoothing the hem of her clothes, as if worried she might look anything less than perfect when she saw Lin Meng.

Lin Meng didn't open the door. Panic written all over her face, she grabbed Huo Yi and scanned the room frantically, until her gaze landed on the wardrobe.

Huo Yi was puzzled. "Mengmeng, what are you doing?"

Lin Meng looked like a thief caught in the act, raising a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. "Shh... Yiyi, I'm begging you—just hide for a moment, okay? For me?"

The more Huo Yi saw her looking like she was afraid Su Yutang had come to catch them in the act, the worse she felt.

Yun Huaizhu showing up at Lin Meng's place like a wife catching the mistress was one thing. But Su Yutang had already been explicitly kicked out of the running; why did Huo Yi have to hide now that the fourth in line had arrived?

Besides, even if Su Yutang did walk in right now and saw the two of them together, Huo Yi had plenty of excuses to smooth things over.

But when she saw the panic and unease in Lin Meng's expression, she understood: Lin Meng was genuinely afraid of Su Yutang finding out about whatever was going on between them.

Just then, the knocking outside grew more insistent.

Su Yutang had booked out the entire floor for today. Having waited so long with no response from inside, she punched the code into the video doorbell and called toward the small screen: "Darling, did you oversleep? If you don't answer me right now, I'll have someone bring the spare key card."

Lin Meng's heart leapt into her throat. She was actually pushing Huo Yi toward the wardrobe now. "You and Eldest Miss Su grew up together as best friends; I don't want the two of you to misunderstand each other. So please, Yiyi, just bear with it for a moment—I'm begging you!"

By the time she finished speaking, she had already pushed Huo Yi up to the wardrobe. If Huo Yi agreed, today's storm would blow over.

But Huo Yi was deeply unwilling. She turned around and stroked the hair behind Lin Meng's ear. "Mengmeng, if you're afraid Su Yutang will misunderstand that something's going on between us, you don't need to be. Because I want to be with you anyway; even if I laid all my cards on the table with her, she has no grounds to fight me. She's busy trying to seize power from her mother right now."

Lin Meng's expression grew more and more terrified. She shook her head desperately.

Whether or not Su Yutang had the power to fight Huo Yi, she didn't want to see these two turn on each other.

After all, from the very beginning, she had been an outsider to both of them.

Seeing Lin Meng on the verge of tears, Huo Yi's expression turned helpless and bitter. "Mengmeng, remember this... I'm not backing down because I'm afraid of falling out with Su Yutang. I'm backing down because I don't want to put you in a difficult position. One day, I'll stand openly at your side."

For some reason, the sight of Huo Yi's sorrowful profile made Lin Meng's heart clench tight.

She suddenly lowered her head, reproaching herself, guilt flooding her: she didn't want Huo Yi to be sad, but...

Huo Yi walked into the wardrobe herself and closed the door behind her.

...

Just then, the hotel manager Su Yutang had summoned arrived with the spare key card.

As she was about to swipe the card, the door slowly opened. Lin Meng poked her head out, trembling, looking thoroughly shaken. "S-sorry. I was asleep just now, so I didn't hear you."

Su Yutang had knocked for so long with no answer; she'd been ready to get angry. But when she saw Lin Meng's pale little face, frightened on her account, the anger that hadn't even had a chance to flare died in its cradle.

Su Yutang shook her head with fond exasperation. "You're like a little piglet; all you do is eat and sleep. But I like it. Eating more means you'll fill out, and you'll feel even better in my hands."

Lin Meng's face flushed scarlet. She'd been scared half to death by Su Yutang's sudden appearance, but now she wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear.

And the worst part was, Su Yutang had said all that in front of other people!

Lin Meng wanted nothing more than to slam the door shut, but Su Yutang had a key card, too; nothing she did would make any difference.

Seeing how embarrassed she was, Su Yutang turned to the hotel manager standing nearby. "Alright, all of you can leave now."

"Yes, Ms. Su."

As soon as he spoke, Su Yutang squeezed through the gap in the door, then slowly and elegantly closed it behind her.

In front of others, Su Yutang carried herself with the composure of a proper young miss. But the instant the door clicked shut, she shed it entirely. She gripped the back of Lin Meng's neck, forced her head up, and kissed her without warning.

Lin Meng hadn't even recovered from the earlier embarrassment. So when Su Yutang pinched her nape, she felt only a flicker of fear; she never imagined Su Yutang would actually kiss her.

Her eyes flew wide. Only when that wet, slippery tongue darted in like a venomous snake did she snap to her senses and shove Su Yutang away with both hands.

Lin Meng wiped her mouth in disbelief. She'd just kissed Huo Yi not long ago!

Seeing her resistant and indignant expression, Su Yutang raised an eyebrow. "Darling, you know what they say: short separations make the heart grow fonder. It's been half a year since we last saw each other. I know you didn't mean to, but you did leave me waiting out there for quite a while. I just couldn't resist wanting to be close to you. Surely you wouldn't have the heart to make me this sad?"

Lin Meng wanted to flee from Su Yutang as if from a demon, but she couldn't make any drastic moves, because right now Huo Yi was in the wardrobe next to the bed. If she resisted too hard, Huo Yi would assume Su Yutang was forcing her and come bursting out.

That scene would be utter chaos.

Lin Meng backed away slowly, forcing a stiff smile. "Young Miss—no, Tangtang... didn't you say you invited me here just to see me?"

Su Yutang couldn't help laughing. "If you already know what I'm like, then you should know seeing you isn't just about chatting and giving you a hug, is it?"

Lin Meng remembered how Su Yutang's hands always wandered whenever they met. Helplessness welled up in her heart. "But... I never agreed to..."

Before she could finish, Su Yutang smiled and stepped forward, pulling her onto the bed in one motion. Lin Meng struggled in panic, and seeing her like that, Su Yutang said gently, "Darling, if you keep squirming, I'm going to start stripping your clothes off. You won't be walking out of this room for two days and nights."

Lin Meng didn't know whether Su Yutang was bluffing, but she was genuinely intimidated.

Seeing that Lin Meng had indeed stopped struggling, Su Yutang leaned in and kissed along her jaw. Her soft, warm lips traveled downward and then upward, leaving soft, wet sounds in their wake. Though Lin Meng was terrified of what Su Yutang might do to her, while Su Yutang kissed her, her attention was fixed on the wardrobe in the bedroom.

She could only pray that Huo Yi wouldn't do anything rash.

Su Yutang noticed she wasn't even paying attention while being kissed. She pinched Lin Meng's chin hard, forcing Lin Meng to meet her eyes. "Darling, why do you keep looking at the wardrobe? Is there something in there?"

Lin Meng's heart lurched. She forced herself to stay calm and laughed stiffly. "O-of course not. I just... I just think it's a bit strange. The two of us, like this... isn't it a little inappropriate?"

A flicker of pleasure crossed Su Yutang's face. "What's inappropriate about it? We've already slept together; I don't care whether you admit it or not. After all, anyone I, Su Yutang, set my eyes on can never escape. Whether you like me or not, from now on I won't let you out of my sight."

Sure enough, Su Yutang was still Su Yutang. Even after disappearing for half a year, that domineering, unyielding personality hadn't changed one bit.

Lin Meng hadn't expected Su Yutang to come right out and say they'd slept together, plain as day. Her heart pounded with anxiety. When Su Yutang wasn't looking, she darted a glance at the wardrobe.

Thankfully, it was still perfectly quiet over there.

Wait, that wasn't right. She hadn't officially confirmed a relationship with anyone... so why did she always feel like a thief with a guilty conscience?

Seeing her spacing out, Su Yutang pressed her down onto the bed. Lin Meng's heart sank.

Just as she tried to struggle up, Su Yutang reached out and covered her mouth. "Darling, I've been in meetings for so long. I had to play nice with all those people, offer them tempting terms to win them over."

Hearing the grievance in her voice, seeing the deep forlorn expression on her face, Lin Meng gradually quieted down.

Su Yutang looked like she'd just been through torture. "You might think I'm always flippant, but the truth is, I never wanted to be the heir. My dream is to do whatever I want. But ever since I was little, my mother told me the Su family has only me, and since I enjoy the Su family's wealth and privilege, I should shoulder the responsibility. But I don't want to... so I became rebellious. Whatever my mother forbade, I did. Until the day I met you."

When she said this, her eyes took on a hazy gleam. Normally, Su Yutang could look devoted with just a smile; now, gazing at Lin Meng with such tender, brimming eyes, she made Lin Meng's heart pound uncontrollably against her will.

Su Yutang nuzzled Lin Meng's cheek affectionately with the tip of her nose, and this time Lin Meng didn't dodge. She continued: "In all my twenty-odd years of living, I've never met anyone like you. You're timid, but sometimes incredibly stubborn. You have your own principles and never cross the line. I know you didn't get close to me for my money. Maybe you're lost in that novel world you believe in, thinking I should be with someone of equal standing. I know that every time you see me beside Yun Huaizhu, you imagine something. I let you indulge that fantasy, but in reality, I only like you. You need to see it clearly—the world where I like you is the real one."

Lin Meng's pupils trembled at these words.

So Su Yutang had figured it out long ago... but she hadn't taken it seriously.

Su Yutang had always treated all of it as Lin Meng's fantasy.

But Lin Meng knew the novel she'd read wasn't fake. The story in her mind had truly existed once. Yet in this world, that story seemed illusory...

Because according to the novel's plot, Su Yutang couldn't possibly say she liked her. Neither would Yun Huaizhu. Even Huo Yi, who loved watching drama most of all, wouldn't say she wanted to marry her.

The novel's plot and reality had diverged long ago.

Lin Meng didn't want to face this fact, and she was in no way prepared to accept it.

She had never imagined she'd one day become entangled with these people—pitying them, sympathizing with them, crying over their experiences, even feeling a spark of desire to save them.

But Su Yutang and Huo Yi were both heirs to powerful families. What did they need saving from?

She earned a salary of fourteen or fifteen thousand a month, rented a three-thousand-yuan apartment, owned no house and no car in this bustling Jing City, only hoping to save enough one day to retire and live out her days in peace. Meanwhile, Su Yutang and the others could have everything she couldn't earn in eight lifetimes with a mere wave of their hands.

So why did she pity them? Why was she entangled with them? Was it really just because of those plot points in the novel that stirred her emotions?

But now Su Yutang had made it perfectly clear: the novel's plot was fake. This world was real.

Lin Meng's state of mind wasn't just collapsing anymore; it was the shattering of an entire worldview. The world she'd always believed in was, in truth, something she'd conjured from her own imagination.

Like a lunatic.

She really couldn't go back to her original world now, couldn't see the mother she both loved and resented; she had no connection to that world anymore.

Just as Huo Yi said, she seemed to have some kind of emotional deficiency disorder. All she knew was that when someone was good to her, she had to repay it a hundredfold. Beyond that, no one had ever taught her how to respond to someone's love.

She only knew how to string people along—never pulling away, never accepting. Just like those so-called scumbags.

That was why she'd made up her mind to leave this time... She wanted to get to know this world anew, to start over.

But every time she saw Su Yutang's or Yun Huaizhu's falsely aggrieved, tear-filled eyes, her heart felt like it was being squeezed, and her mind went completely blank.

So she stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

She'd already invested too much emotion in these characters. It was like she'd grown so used to it that if she suddenly stopped, the withdrawal would be unbearable.

After Su Yutang finished speaking, she noticed that Lin Meng, who had been spacing out, suddenly had tears spilling from her reddened eyes. She stared wide-eyed at a fixed point, blinking as if deep in thought. She was so absorbed that tears slid down her cheeks without her even noticing.

She was moved by my heartfelt confession—

Su Yutang really wanted to believe that. But the dazed, almost resolute tears on Lin Meng's face told her otherwise.

Lin Meng was constantly afraid of her, always wanting to keep her distance. Was it really because she didn't like her?

If she didn't like her, then what about those days they spent together in that rental apartment?

When she hadn't eaten all day and refused to touch the food Yun Huaizhu brought for Lin Meng, why did Lin Meng go out of her way to heat up a sandwich for her?

Lin Meng did care about her. However faint and fragile that fondness was, she occupied a place in Lin Meng's heart. She truly didn't care whether Lin Meng would say yes to her. The education she'd received since childhood was one of plunder; whatever she wanted, she would seize by force if necessary.

At the thought, a strange smile crossed Su Yutang's face. She leaned in and gently licked away the bitter, salt-tinged tears on Lin Meng's cheek.

Lin Meng felt something soft and moist slide across her face and finally came back to herself. Su Yutang's eyes met hers, then she pulled her down onto the bed. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you tonight. Just lie here and keep me company while I sleep, alright? I'm really a bit tired..."

Her current state was just like Yun Huaizhu's three months ago. Lin Meng had clearly resolved to distance herself, to draw boundaries with all of them, but when she saw the always commanding Su Yutang show such a fragile expression, her mind went blank again.

Just like that, she was pulled onto the bed and into Su Yutang's embrace. Su Yutang buried her head against Lin Meng's chest.

During her months on Xia Island, Su Yutang hadn't had a single good night's sleep. But to deceive Su Yurong, she always pretended to sleep soundly. Sometimes, with her eyes closed, all she thought about was Lin Meng—how she'd seize power once she got out, how she'd drive off everyone around Lin Meng.

She wanted to eliminate all of Lin Meng's "friends" without making Lin Meng hate her.

But when she actually tried, she realized she simply couldn't do it.

Lin Meng's heart was both generous and cold.

Generous because she turned into a saint whenever anyone seemed pitiful, doling out lavish sympathy; cold because she was like that with everyone.

Love was supposed to have degrees of closeness, distinctions of near and far.

Sometimes she hated how indifferent Lin Meng was, as if she'd cultivated the heartless path of immortality.

But so what? She'd already dragged Lin Meng into a sea of desire. She would dye Lin Meng inside and out with an indelible hue of lust, so she could never become an immortal again.

...

No one knew how much time had passed. The wardrobe slowly creaked open a crack. By the time Huo Yi stood by the bedside, all the lights in the room had been turned off. The hazy moonlight outside filtered through the gauze curtains, casting a faint glow across her face.

She didn't know how long she'd stood there watching Lin Meng sleep in Su Yutang's arms. Then, suddenly, she let out a mocking laugh.

She'd thought she was Lin Meng's first. In truth, Lin Meng and Su Yutang had already slept together.

Probably that night of the charity gala. If she hadn't been so infatuated with Lin Meng, if she'd kept her composure, maybe she would have realized it sooner.

And perhaps... Lin Meng had done it with Yun Huaizhu too.

All those two had to do was use the same tricks she'd used that night to seduce Lin Meng—saying "just help me out" or "if you don't help, I'll die"—and Lin Meng would definitely, innocently, help them.

Because that was just the kind of person she was: she couldn't stand to see others weep or suffer.

Lin Meng's own life wasn't necessarily any better than the people she helped, yet she did everything in her power to help them.

Just like that day she brought her mother home from the roadside.

At the thought, Huo Yi's eyes suddenly blurred. It wasn't from feeling wronged—it was disappointment... She knew that things being what they were, she could no longer have Lin Meng's heart completely.

Su Yutang probably ranked even higher in Lin Meng's heart than she did.

Silent tears slid down her face. In that moment, she seemed to understand everything.

...

Lin Meng felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, the water about to rise past her neck. If she slipped down any further, it would close over her head.

A drowning suffocation pulled at her nerves. Lin Meng slowly opened her eyes, and when she realized her whole body was submerged, she panicked and tried to thrash her way up.

But the bathtub was too slippery. Instead of rising, she slipped and fell back down. Just as she thought she was about to swallow a mouthful of bathwater—

A strong hand caught her. "Darling, you're so energetic this early in the morning!"

Lin Meng was hauled up, her upper body completely exposed. Seeing Su Yutang smiling at her, staring at her intently, Lin Meng's face flushed crimson. She scanned the area around the tub, but there wasn't a single piece of clothing in sight.

Lin Meng hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest. "You... what did you do to me?"

Su Yutang chuckled at her flustered, indignant look. "Guess."

Lin Meng heard a splash in the tub and sensed something approaching. She opened her eyes and looked across at Su Yutang. That one glance made her face burn even hotter. She'd thought being naked in the tub by herself was bad enough; she hadn't expected Su Yutang to be naked in there with her, too...

Lin Meng felt nothing unusual in her body, no kiss marks or bite marks anywhere. Su Yutang had probably just given her a bath and nothing more.

Seeing Lin Meng gradually relax, Su Yutang approached with a bath sponge. "I just wanted to give you a bath."

Just as Su Yutang reached for her arm to lather on the foam, Lin Meng frowned. "It's so early in the morning; why take a bath? I can just rinse off... Tangtang, it's getting late. You must have things to do, so I'll just head out now."

As Lin Meng tried to get up, Su Yutang caught her. Lin Meng's foot slipped again and she tumbled into Su Yutang's arms. Now neither of them had a stitch on, skin pressed against skin. Lin Meng was so embarrassed her face felt like it might start dripping blood.

She'd never been this close to Su Yutang. Even that time in bed, she'd lain there the whole time without daring to look. Now Su Yutang was so close. She could see her long, straight, fair legs, like a supermodel's, and...

Lin Meng didn't dare look. She turned her head away.

Seeing how shy she was, Su Yutang pinched her soft cheek and made Lin Meng meet her eyes. "You asked why I'm giving you a bath. It's because your pheromone scent is too muddled—there's alpha and omega, and this omega might even be S-rank like me. Lin Meng, you've made quite a few friends in the half year I've been gone. Tell me, who are these people? Yun Huaizhu? Or that coworker of yours at the company, the one surnamed Tang? It's not that new director who just joined, or some other young miss from the Jing circle, is it?"

Hearing Su Yutang list everyone around her like suspects, Lin Meng hastily cried out, "No! None of them! You're the only young miss I know!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Su Yutang's lips curved up. Lin Meng's words had pleased her immensely. Yes—she was the only young miss in Lin Meng's heart.

At the thought, Su Yutang wrapped an arm around Lin Meng's waist. "Darling, I know those bad people out there take advantage of the fact that you can't smell pheromones, so they dare to put all sorts of dirty things on you. But don't worry; when you leave, I'll give you a bottle of my pheromone spray. Mine doesn't just drive omegas crazy; it can suppress, too. And if an alpha isn't as high-ranked as me, it'll hurt them. From now on, wherever you go, just spray a little on yourself, and those bad people won't dare mess with you anymore."

Lin Meng's eyes widened in shock.

Wait... who exactly are the bad people here?