After the Scummy Alpha Marked the Crazy Beautiful Heroine - Chapter 45.2

“Miss Chi is an Omega, isn’t she?” Ross raised her brows in deliberate ambiguity and shot her a meaningful look.

“I think you’re mistaken. She’s an Alpha.” Pei Jiuyao pulled her sleeve free, ready to leave, but Ross once again blocked her way.

“That day, Miss Chi may have only scratched her hand, but unfortunately for you, I have a very sharp sense of smell,” Ross said doggedly. “I caught the scent of Omega pheromones on her.”

Pei Jiuyao lifted her head, her eyes cold. “So what? Are you trying to blackmail us with this?”

“Of course not.” Ross smirked, folding her arms. “To be honest, I quite like Miss Chi’s type. My girlfriend, Molly—she’s probably your type too, isn’t she?”

“What do you mean by that?” The words sounded off, and Pei Jiuyao completely lost the will to entertain her further. She only wanted to brush her off and leave quickly.

“Why don’t we swap for a bit?” Ross licked the corner of her lips. “Or we could all play together.”

Pei Jiuyao’s gaze instantly darkened. She held back the urge to punch her only because she didn’t want to make a scene in the news. Grinding her teeth, she said coldly, “I don’t know what kind of customs you’re used to, but where I’m from, love is one-to-one. Omegas are not some commodity to be traded. Don’t let me hear you say something like that again—otherwise don’t blame me for being rude.”

With anger written across her face, she turned on her heel and left Ross behind. Even after she rode the elevator up and opened the room door, her fury hadn’t abated.

“That bastard. To even say something like that—no wonder she insisted on the hotel and invited us to the hot springs.”

She pushed open the bedroom door. “Chi Yang?”

No one.

“Chi Yang, are you in the bathroom?” Pei Jiuyao searched each room one by one. Still, no trace of her.

Her body went rigid, alarm bells ringing. She rushed to pound on Ross and Molly’s door—no answer. She hurried back, dialing Chi Yang’s phone again and again, but no one picked up.

Ross.

The name alone made her clench her phone so hard it nearly cracked. Heart racing, she dashed downstairs and pleaded anxiously at the front desk:

“Hello, my friend was in the room just now. I stepped out for a moment, and suddenly she disappeared. I can’t reach her at all—could you pull the security footage?”

“And the guests who came with us—one’s brown-haired, blue-eyed, about 1.8 meters. The other’s blonde, about 1.7. I suspect they took her.”

Hot springs?

The words replayed in her mind, and Pei Jiuyao’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Please start looking immediately. Here’s her photo.” She pulled up a picture of Chi Yang on the computer, her voice shaking. “I’ll go check the hot spring area again.”

With that, she rushed off.

The hot spring grounds were highly private, divided into sections by artificial rock formations.

Pei Jiuyao no longer cared for propriety. She barreled through, dialing frantically and shouting Chi Yang’s name. When she finally returned to the section they had used earlier, in her frantic steps she suddenly stumbled against something hard underfoot.

Lowering her head, she noticed a necklace at her feet.

Pei Jiuyao bent down, picked it up, and clenched it tightly in her palm, anger flaring even hotter in her eyes.

Just then, several hotel security staff rushed over. She grabbed one by the sleeve, forcing down her fury as she demanded, “How many exits are there here?”
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Soaking in the hot spring had made Chi Yang drowsy. The sky grew dark early, and once back in her room, she dozed off for a while.

When she stirred awake, still half-asleep, she instinctively called Pei Jiuyao’s name—but no one responded.

She went out to take a look around, only to find the room empty. Picking up her phone, she saw a note Jiuyao had left: Hannah’s fever hadn’t broken, so she had taken Zhu Qiao and Hannah to the hospital. She told Chi Yang to wait obediently in the room until she returned—and not to open the door for anyone.

Wait obediently. Don’t open the door for anyone.

Was she coaxing a child?

Still, Chi Yang couldn’t help feeling warm inside, even a little happy.

Humming softly, she went to wash up. When she finished and looked into the mirror, she pushed back her damp hair with her fingertips.

Suddenly, her eyelids twitched.

The necklace—where was it? She’d still been wearing it in the hot spring.

Chi Yang hurried back into the room and searched for a long while, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

It must have slipped off by the hot spring. She swiped her room card, threw on a coat, and quickly ran downstairs. Thankfully, the pool she had gone to earlier was still empty. She searched along the edge for ages, even reached into the water, but there was no trace of it.

Her anxiety mounted.

A voice came from behind her: “Looking for this?”

“Molly?” Chi Yang took the pendant from her, let out a long breath of relief, and said, “Tha—”

But as she lifted her head, the brightness in her eyes quickly dimmed. Within seconds, her pupils rolled back, and she collapsed limply into Molly’s arms.

Supporting her with one arm, Molly slipped the injector into her pocket and dialed a number. “It’s done.”

A low voice answered, “Hurry. Pei Jiuyao is already on her way up.”

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In a pitch-black alley, a blonde woman shoved the limp figure into a car, clapped her hands, and slammed the door shut.

“Shouldn’t we cover her with something? If she freezes, that won’t end well.”

Chi Yang had come out of the hotel in just a thin coat, dressed lightly underneath.

Ross handed Molly a padded jacket. “They want her alive. Make sure nothing happens to her.”

“What kind of grudge is this? She’s even out of the country, and they still have to kidnap her.” Molly opened the door again, carefully wrapped Chi Yang in the coat, then closed it.

“Precisely because she’s abroad. Back home, the Omega Protection Act is strict—so much as pulling a strand of hair, and you’d be dragged into court.” Ross spat to the side, clearly annoyed. “Chances are, the one behind this is an Alpha.

Can’t get their own hands dirty.”

Molly glanced at the unconscious girl sprawled across the back seat, then got into the passenger’s side. “Still, the demands are pretty specific—no injuries, no illness, we’re to take good care of her…”

“So fussy.” Ross lit a cigarette and clenched it between her teeth. “If the money wasn’t so generous—and if the final payment didn’t depend on handing her over alive—I’d be tempted to get rid of her myself. A top-grade Omega like this doesn’t come around often.”

Molly’s hand tightened into a fist. “Maybe it’s because they actually like her. Why else pay so much and make us look after her?”

Ross shrugged off her jacket, wearing only a tank top in the dead of winter. A mercenary’s totem was carved into her shoulder with a knife.

“You think it could be that Pei woman behind this?” Ross smirked at the rearview mirror.

Molly kept her eyes on the road ahead. “No. I’ve seen them together. Looks like real love.”

“What do you know about real love?” Ross sneered. “From what I’ve heard, that Chi girl is loaded. And that Pei one? Just some D-list actress. Everything she has now is from clinging to Chi Yang’s coattails. Wouldn’t be surprising if she staged this whole thing—kidnap her, play hero, and trap her for good. Why else forbid us from touching her?”

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By the time Pei Jiuyao reached the back alley, only a single dim light remained, flickering over empty ground. Drag marks were faintly visible, and sure enough, Ross’s SUV was gone.

The hotel sat on an island. The downhill roads were treacherous—but only for ordinary people.

Ross had driven up with uncanny ease, steady and practiced. Thinking back now, it was as if she’d done this countless times before.

Pei Jiuyao slid into the driver’s seat of a nearby car. Logic screamed at her: chasing blindly would only waste time.

Her nails dug deep into her palm, blood dripping steadily onto the wheel.

It’s my fault. I should’ve woken her. I should’ve kept her with me.

I just told her to rely on me—yet I left her behind. Alone. In danger.

Those bastards—!

Slamming the accelerator, she sped down the mountain road, desperate, unwilling to give up even the faintest sliver of hope.

Blood smeared across the steering wheel, her Alpha pheromones flooding the car in a suffocating storm of rage.

The night was too dark, the mountains looming like crouched beasts ready to devour her. Twice she nearly veered off the cliff, wrenching the wheel back at the last second.

At last, she spotted headlights in the distance. Her heart surged—until she realized the cars were heading up, blocking her path.

She flicked on her high beams, facing them down. Several people quickly got out, guns drawn, aimed squarely at her.

Only then did she recognize the consulate’s insignia.

Pei Jiuyao raised her hands and stepped out, laser dots flooding her chest.

Overhead, the thrum of helicopter blades swept across the mountain.

“She’s with me!” Zhu Qiao rushed over, shouting above the roar. “Pei Jiuyao, what are you doing here?!”

Her ears rang violently.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Jiuyao whispered, “I was going after her.”

Blood trickled from between her clenched fingers.

A tall woman strode forward, flashing her credentials. The name read: Chang Meng. Her voice was cold. “You are Pei Jiuyao?”

Something warm slid down Jiuyao’s temple—blood, perhaps.

Maybe it had splattered on her when she lifted her hand, she thought vaguely.

Her body shook as she grabbed Zhu Qiao’s hand, fear clawing at her chest, though she forced her tone steady: “She was taken by Ross. Molly’s missing too. They’re in the SUV they drove here—the license plate is…”

Chang Meng pressed a firm hand on her shoulder. “We’ve already gathered intel and alerted the local authorities. We’re tracking Ross and Molly’s phones. We’ll do everything we can to rescue Miss Chi. Please, calm down.”

Calm down? Jiuyao didn’t understand. She was trying—forcing herself—to explain everything clearly.

“We didn’t see any suspicious cars coming up from below. They must have already gone down the mountain. All roads are under blockade; we’ll check every vehicle one by one.” Chang Meng stepped closer. “For now, come back with us to the hotel and review the surveillance footage.”

Jiuyao dug her nails into her palm again before finally nodding.

Once in the car, Zhu Qiao used a tissue to gently wipe the blood from the corner of her eye.