The Protagonist Omega Differentiated

Yun Huaizhu looked up, caught her gloomy expression, and instinctively took a step back. Su Yutang was pointing at her earrings. “Who gave you these earrings?”

Yun Huaizhu answered without thinking. “A fan gave them to me today. What, does the eldest Miss Su want to take even the little trinkets my fans give me?”

Just as Su Yutang was about to speak, the security intercom suddenly crackled to life. Her fury had already peaked. She strode over and pressed the button. “What is it?”

The guard’s voice came through, a little anxious. “Miss Su, the police are outside looking for you. They say they received a report suspecting you’re abusing someone inside the villa. They’re on their way over now.”

At that, Su Yutang fought to keep her temper in check. “Fine, let them in. I’d like to see who dares slander me!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Su Yutang turned and seized a fistful of Yun Huaizhu’s long hair. Her face twisted with menace. “Tell me! Was this your doing?”

Yun Huaizhu tilted her head up, panic flickering through her eyes as she looked at Su Yutang. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Su Yutang stared into those beautiful pale pupils trembling faintly for a long moment, then finally let go. She dusted off her palms as if she’d touched something filthy. “Then you should check whether something’s inside your earrings. It takes real skill for a stalker to sneak in here. Who knows how much that person heard, or whether they can still be kept around.”

As if struck by a sudden realization, Yun Huaizhu touched the earrings on her earlobes. She bowed her head as though wounded. “I… I thought the fan was sincere.”

Su Yutang had no time to watch her wallow in sorrow. “Enough. You’ve probably been targeted. That person heard our conversation and called the police. There might even be paparazzi staking out the villa. Change your clothes, put on a disguise, and leave through the back door.”

Yun Huaizhu was biting her lower lip so hard it nearly bled. She forced down her grief and nodded.

Su Yutang looked thoroughly annoyed. “Useless—can’t even handle something this small. A master has a duty to manage her pets, so I’ll deal with that person for you—”

Just as she said this, Yun Huaizhu suddenly lifted her head, her voice slightly agitated. “No need!”

Su Yutang shot her a sidelong glance. “Hm?”

Meeting her suspicious gaze, Yun Huaizhu feigned weakness. “I… I mean, she’s my fan, after all. I can handle this myself. I believe she had her reasons for doing what she did.”

Seeing her rush to defend the stalker fan, Su Yutang let out a cold laugh. “Today’s the first time I’ve discovered you’re quite the bleeding heart.”

Yun Huaizhu kept her head lowered. “Everyone makes mistakes. You can’t ruin someone’s life over one slip, can you?”

Su Yutang’s brows knitted tightly. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Yun Huaizhu was being passive-aggressive about something, but she had no patience left to argue. “Enough. Just get out.”

At that, Yun Huaizhu quickly turned and headed toward the back of the villa. But as she turned and lowered her head, the corner of her mouth curved into a smile so faint it was almost imperceptible—the smile of someone whose scheme had succeeded.

Outside the villa district, it was already two in the morning. Lin Meng had deliberately worn two layers of thermal clothing and a down jacket when she set out today, but the early winter night still cut through her. Her hands and feet were freezing, yet her eyes stayed fixed on the villa district.

She’d just seen a police car drive in, but she hadn’t called the police. And just now, after Su Yutang took a call from someone unknown, the earpiece had gone silent.

She didn’t know if the listening device had failed somehow. She couldn’t be sure what had happened to Yun Huaizhu.

But Lin Meng already knew where Yun Huaizhu was. She could pretend to be a delivery worker and try to get in. It was her first time doing something like this, though, so she spent a long time outside working up her nerve. Just as she mustered the courage to go in, she noticed that Yun Huaizhu’s location on her phone had suddenly changed.

Lin Meng looked closely.

!!

Was Yun Huaizhu leaving the villa? Had Su Yutang not given her a hard time tonight after all?

At the thought, Lin Meng quickly ducked into the greenery at the corner. She watched the red dot on the locator draw closer and closer.

…

Yun Huaizhu wore an understated black coat and a gray baseball cap. In fact, even without the disguise, she wouldn’t run into paparazzi—because she was the one who had anonymously called the police.

She knew Su Yutang wouldn’t let her off easily tonight, so when she realized the earrings she’d received had a listening device planted in them, she came up with this plan.

Vicious as Su Yutang’s temper was, Madam Su wouldn’t allow her to cause a public scene. Yun Huaizhu seized on exactly that and barely managed to escape.

Yun Huaizhu’s fingers brushed the listening device in her pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief folded double. She didn’t know what the fan’s motives had been in giving her the earrings, but they had genuinely helped her today.

She hurried out of the villa district—the place that suffocated her if she stayed even a second longer. She wished she never had to come back. And that nauseating rose scent of Su Yutang’s pheromones…

Just as she neared the greenery by the road, her heart suddenly clenched as if something had crushed it. It missed a beat—then began racing wildly.

Wait. Wasn’t she a beta? Then why could she smell Su Yutang’s pheromones?

In that instant, a terrible premonition struck Yun Huaizhu. She fumbled in her pocket for her phone to call Aunt Fang, but for some reason her strength had been draining away bit by bit since earlier, and she felt feverish all over, burning hot.

Her trembling hand reached for the phone, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t lift it. Even the world before her eyes dissolved into layers of heat waves, spinning endlessly.

So hot… so uncomfortable…

This was a feeling she’d never experienced before. So strange, so unbearable.

Yun Huaizhu’s vision blurred. Right now, she wanted something that could soothe the scorching heat in her body and calm her racing heart.

What would that be?

Even as she was about to lose all reason, she knew she was about to fall into danger. No… she couldn’t collapse here. She had to…

The cold wind of two-thirty a.m. blew against her flushed cheeks. She swayed, hardly able to control her steps—and just then, a pair of ice-cold hands caught her. “Are you all right?”

The voice was faintly familiar.

Yun Huaizhu’s eyes were dazed. She couldn’t tell where she was anymore. She only knew that the hands gripping her waist were so cool, so comfortable.