1122 - Chapter 19

Jiang Yi met Yan Nanchen’s stunned gaze, realizing his own lapse in composure. Suppressing the turmoil within, he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, expressionless, as if the one who had just cried wasn’t him.

“I’m going back to the hotel.”

With that, he brushed off Yan Nanchen’s hand and the blanket draped over his shoulders.

The blanket fell to the floor, only to be accidentally stepped on by Yan Nanchen.

For some inexplicable reason, Jiang Yi caught sight of this action, as if recalling something, and silently curled the corner of his lips.

“Yi Yi!” Yan Nanchen swiftly grabbed Jiang Yi’s wrist as he turned to leave. “Tell me how you’ve been these past five years, okay? Did you suffer a lot?”

The image of Jiang Yi crying his heart out weighed heavily on his mind. Five years, why was he crying like this now? Did it mean he still had feelings for him? Otherwise, why would he be so aggrieved?

Jiang Yi frowned. He simply couldn’t resist Yan Nanchen’s strength now, the past five years had completely molded him into an Omega. “Let go.”

“No.” Yan Nanchen thought to himself that now that he had finally found Jiang Yi, he wouldn’t let him leave. He wanted to move closer, but as soon as he took a step forward, he was met with Jiang Yi’s icy glare.

“Try taking one more step closer,” Jiang Yi said coldly, his expression unreadable. “Let go. Don’t make me say it a third time. I don’t have much patience left right now.”

Yan Nanchen: “…” So fierce.

Reluctantly, he released his grip, only to see that Jiang Yi’s wrist had turned red from his hold. His heart sank, and he reached out worriedly. “Yi Yi, your hand, ”

“Reaching out again?” Jiang Yi pointed at Yan Nanchen’s outstretched hand, his tone stern and guarded. “Take it back.”

Yan Nanchen silently withdrew his hand again, his gaze lingering on the reddened wrist, his eyes still filled with concern. How had Jiang Yi become so fragile? These past five years.

How had he lived? Where had he been? Had he been alone all this time?

“Yi Yi, I want to know how you’ve been these five years. Can you tell me?”

Jiang Yi looked at Yan Nanchen, who seemed on the verge of tears again, and inwardly laughed. Heaven knew how he had endured it all and thank goodness he had.

“Yan Nanchen, I’ve been doing just fine without you.”

Yan Nanchen’s expression froze, his sorrow laid bare. But he struggled to restrain himself, not wanting to appear too pitiful. He forced a smile, though it came out bitter. “Yi Yi, back then, you left so suddenly. I had no time to prepare. I searched everywhere for you, but you were gone.”

A surge of anger flared in Jiang Yi’s chest. He took a deep breath, unwilling to revisit the past. He hadn’t returned to dredge up old emotions, but right now, he didn’t want to say anything, he just needed to calm down.

He reached for the conference room door.

Just as his hand touched the handle, a larger hand pressed his palm firmly against the door from behind. In the next moment, Yan Nanchen’s solid frame enveloped him, his strong arms caging Jiang Yi between them and the door closer than before.

When the Alpha’s pheromones, tender and lovesick, enveloped him, Jiang Yi’s lower back tensed instantly.

It was a reaction driven by instinct.

Because he was still Yan Nanchen’s Omega, they had completed all markings both the glandular marking and the complete marking. His skin, his birth cavity, all bore traces of Yan Nanchen’s pheromones.

This was also why, during his years in M country, no Alpha dared to approach him casually. The moment they got close, they would know he belonged to someone like a brand seared into him.

It was this innate dominance of an Alpha that seemed to trample on his sore spot. Losing his Alpha gender couldn’t be entirely blamed on Yan Nanchen. Even without that accident, there was still a chance he would undergo secondary differentiation perhaps it was only a matter of time.

But…

He couldn’t accept it.

He truly couldn’t.

This resentment was why, after his unexpected differentiation into an Omega, he had handed over all his vulnerability, all his shame, all his weakness to puppy. He had shed the defenses of an Alpha, willingly becoming an Omega for puppy.

If not for puppy, he could never have accepted the fact that he had become an Omega, nor could he have accepted being the victim of this incident.

Even less could he accept that after pouring out all his emotions, he was told it had all been a lie.

Behind him, Yan Nanchen stared deeply at the violet tattoo on Jiang Yi’s neck. A look of wild joy surfaced in his eyes five years, and this tattoo hadn’t been removed. The markings were still there. Did that mean there was still a chance for him to make amends?

Maybe if he tried harder?

“Yi—”

“Yan Nanchen, I have a family now.”

Yan Nanchen’s expression froze instantly. His arms, braced against the door and caging Jiang Yi in, tensed violently. The muscles beneath his shirt tightened as if reacting to his fury, radiating a ruthless intensity.

His gaze darkened, like the eerie calm before a storm. Staring at Jiang Yi’s profile with reddened eyes, he spoke as though choking on his words: “What?”

Jiang Yi could hear the shift in the man’s tone but remained expressionless. “Yes, I have a husband. And a child.”

“Impossible!!!!” Yan Nanchen’s voice cracked with near-sobs as he stared at Jiang Yi’s back. His arms dropped heavily to his sides, his emotions spiraling more than anything, he couldn’t believe it. “Jiang Yi, you still bear my markings. How could another Alpha touch you? How could you, have a child?”

Jiang Yi turned to face Yan Nanchen, then calmly took out his phone and opened his chat log with Chu Beiheng. He intended to play a random voice message from last night perhaps one of Qiao Qiao looking for him.

[If you don’t come back soon, Qiao Qiao will.]

But when he tapped one of the messages, he accidentally played one of Chu Beiheng’s voice notes instead. His heart lurched violently, fingers darting to stop it.

Fortunately, Chu Beiheng’s voice in this clip was unusually playful, nothing like his usual serious tone hopefully, it wouldn’t be recognizable.

Yan Nanchen’s expression darkened.

Jiang Yi kept his composure, feigning indifference. “Yes, this is my husband.” Then he played the next message.

[Daddy, Qiao Qiao misses you so much! When are you coming home?]

A sweet, childish voice of a little girl came through the speaker. Perhaps because she had grown up abroad, her Mandarin wasn’t very standard, her words muffled and utterly adorable.

Yan Nanchen’s emotions completely unraveled. He turned aside, pressing a hand to his forehead, taking deep breaths to ease the heart-wrenching pain tearing through him, yet unable to stop his eyes from reddening.

He laughed, but the laughter soon turned to tears the agony, the helplessness, the despair of being unable to turn back time, all of it spread across his face and body like a storm.

Perhaps his strained nerves had finally snapped, or perhaps he simply couldn’t hold back any longer. He strode forward and pulled Jiang Yi into a fierce embrace.

Caught off guard, Jiang Yi was yanked against Yan Nanchen’s solid chest with enough force to knock the breath from his lungs. He let out a pained “Mm,” his chin resting on Yan Nanchen’s shoulder as the arms wrapped around his back tightened with crushing intensity, as if trying to fuse them together.

His eyes flickered slightly, filled with shock.

The hand holding his phone remained suspended midair, forgotten in the chaos. Perhaps in his fluster, he had accidentally dialed someone, because soon, Qiao Qiao’s soft, sweet voice came through the line.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy~ Good morning! Qiao Qiao is already awake! Are you still working, Daddy? Or are you eating? Why can’t I see your face?”

Jiang Yi felt Yan Nanchen’s grip grow even tighter, especially the hand clutching his shoulder, pressing hard enough to bruise. The man was trembling all over whether from anger or some other overwhelming emotion, he couldn’t tell.

His brows furrowed, expression conflicted. Maybe feeling a little guilty, he steadied himself and lifted the phone to reply, “Qiao Qiao, Daddy is about to go eat. You have to eat well too, okay?”

No sooner had he spoken than Yan Nanchen hugged him even tighter, nearly suffocating him. He let out an uncomfortable grunt, then angrily bit Yan Nanchen’s shoulder and hissed, “Let go.”

Perhaps sensing something amiss, a deep voice came through the phone next. “What’s going on?”

Jiang Yi was about to say “Never mind” though the voice, clearly Chu Beiheng’s, was poorly disguised when Yan Nanchen suddenly snatched the phone from him. His expression darkened instantly. Damn it! The contact name “Chu Beiheng” was right there on the screen. He reached out to grab it back.

In his haste, he didn’t notice the edge of the table beside him.

Yan Nanchen’s eyes flashed coldly. Quick as lightning, he seized Jiang Yi’s outstretched wrist, wrapped an arm around his waist, and pinned him against the table.

With his free hand, he slid the phone to the far end of the conference table, well out of Jiang Yi’s reach.

Trapped between the table’s edge and Yan Nanchen’s body, Jiang Yi leaned back slightly, breathing unevenly, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His gaze locked with Yan Nanchen’s those dark, bloodshot eyes held a ferocity he had never seen before, as if he had provoked a slumbering beast now ready to devour him whole.

He swallowed hard.

The next second, Yan Nanchen abruptly gripped his waist and hoisted him onto the table. Jiang Yi’s pupils constricted in shock, his face flushing with embarrassment and anger, ears burning red. “Hey, Yan Nanchen!!!”

The distance between them closed to mere inches, their faces nearly touching, breaths mingling.

“Don’t move.”

Jiang Yi turned his face away, hearing a deep, hoarse voice beside his ear, brimming with an indescribable danger. He recklessly shifted again, only to be seized by a large hand at his waist the next second, forcefully pulled into Yan Nanchen’s embrace.

“……”

Yan Nanchen’s expression was dark as he leaned slightly forward, standing between Jiang Yi’s legs to restrict his movements. His arms braced on either side of Jiang Yi, his gaze locked onto him intently.

Noticing Jiang Yi still had thoughts of escaping, he gripped his waist and pulled him flush against his chest.

Suppressing the tearing pain in his chest, he lowered his head, bringing his lips close to Jiang Yi’s ear. His bloodshot eyes gleamed as he chuckled hoarsely, his voice low and dangerous:

“Yi Yi, don’t make me lose control.”

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