After the Sickly Child Differentiates into A - Chapter 55

Wen Jingzhi closed her eyes, suppressing the unease in her heart, and flipped to the second photo, her fingertips pressing so hard they turned white.

The image was dim overall, resembling a cramped basement. Two thick iron chains hung from the wall, dangling down, with the other end shackled to wrists so thin the bones protruded.

In the center of the frame, shackled, was a woman emaciated to skin and bones, her long hair disheveled, her face bearing the lifelessness of torment.

Wen Jingzhi’s gaze darkened as she recognized the person in the photo Chen Qing.

She took a deep breath and turned the photo over. There was no text. She flipped to the last photo, and her stomach suddenly cramped.

It was a close-up of Chen Qing’s face, but her eyes were hollow, her face covered in blood her eyeballs had been gouged out.

Wen Jingzhi pressed her lips into a tight line, suppressing the nausea, and turned the photo over.

Again, it was a string of M-country text Hope you like this gift, my darling.

My darling?

Anger overpowered the nausea, causing Wen Jingzhi’s gaze to turn completely cold. She tossed the photos aside, her chest heaving. After a moment, she picked up her phone and dialed Su Yue’s number.

Half an hour later, Su Yue arrived with two specialists. They placed the photos and the USB drive into sealed evidence bags. Su Yue glanced at the time and reminded Wen Jingzhi, “Don’t tell Lin Li, and don’t disclose this to anyone else.” There was no need for an agreement; the three photos didn’t provide much information.

After Wen Jingzhi agreed, Su Yue left in a hurry with the others.

The door closed, and Wen Jingzhi sat on the sofa, lost in thought until the alarm to pick up Lin Li rang. She blinked, snapped back to reality, grabbed her phone, and headed out.

The car ride home was eerily silent. Even after arriving home, Wen Jingzhi remained quiet, lost in thought with her eyes half-lowered. Lin Li couldn’t hold back and asked, “Why aren’t you talking, sis?”

Wen Jingzhi soothingly ruffled her hair. “Just thinking about something.”

“Okay.”

Lin Li pursed her lips and walked over to the sofa. Noticing the unopened document on the coffee table, she paused. “You didn’t open it, sis?”

Wen Jingzhi’s eyelashes trembled. “I grabbed the wrong one. That wasn’t your package. I sent it back.”

Lin Li was slightly taken aback. “Oh! I see. So, is this one yours?”

“Mm.” Wen Jingzhi walked over, picked up the document, and took it into the bedroom.

Since her sister didn’t elaborate, Lin Li didn’t press further. She sat on the sofa, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the sweat from her neck.

Wen Jingzhi, who had just stepped out of the bedroom, happened to see this and asked, “Hot?”

The room had underfloor heating, and Lin Li hadn’t taken off her down jacket since returning.

“A little. I’ll go take a shower first.” Lin Li snapped out of it, gave her sister a light hug, and went back to her room to bathe.

After changing into pajamas, Lin Li sat on the sofa for a while but still felt hot, though it was better than before and she wasn’t sweating much.

She frowned uncomfortably. Was she coming down with a fever?

While her sister was cooking, Lin Li slipped back to her room, took a thermometer gun from the first aid kit, and checked her forehead. Her temperature was normal.

Strange, then why did she feel stifled and feverish inside?

She’d been feeling a bit off for the past couple of days, but today she was so hot she’d broken a sweat.

Oh well, her body never felt quite right year-round anyway.

After dinner, Lin Li still felt stifled and hot, and she grew tired unusually early. She bid her sister good night ahead of time. Wen Jingzhi, who happened to have matters to attend to, didn’t ask further. After exchanging good nights with the kid, she also returned to her room.

She sat expressionless at the desk, lost in thought for a long while before finally making a decision. She took out her phone and sent a message to Wen Xihe.

【Send me the business card of the private investigator you’re familiar with.】

She hadn’t wanted to investigate before, but now, she had to know.

Because somewhere in the world, a dangerous person she knew nothing about was coveting her little one.

The next day, the day of Lin Li’s coming-of-age banquet.

Wen Jingzhi had stayed up too late the previous night and hadn’t had time to arrange the photos, planning to do it after returning the next day. After having breakfast with Lin Li in the morning, she drove her and Xiao Xi back to the old mansion.

The banquet hall had long been prepared, and the styling team arrived shortly after 2 p.m.

At 6 p.m., Sun Xiaoxiao and Zhou Cheng arrived first and went upstairs to hang out with Lin Li.

After 7 p.m., guests began trickling into the venue.

By 8 p.m., Wen Xize and Wen Xihe flanked the old master as they descended the stairs, while Wen Jingzhi held Lin Li’s hand.

After some speeches and greetings, the banquet officially began.

Wen Jingzhi was pulled aside by Wen Xihe, while Lin Li remained alone in the center of the room, surrounded by young Omegas of various families both male and female with Qiao Xian among them.

Wen Jingzhi stared intently at the scene, downing glass after glass of wine, until Qiao Xian, in a protective gesture, lightly placed a hand on Lin Li’s waist. Unable to hold back any longer, Wen Jingzhi slammed her glass down heavily and stood up, only to have her wrist seized by Wen Xihe.

“Jingzhi!” Wen Xihe rarely adopted the tone of an authoritative older sister, but this matter couldn’t be left to her whims. “Xiao Li handled it perfectly. Besides Qiao Xian, no one else knows that Xiao Li is. Didn’t you notice how the other Omegas kept a polite distance?”

Was that hand on her waist a “polite distance”?

Wen Jingzhi lowered her gaze to glare at her sister, bloodshot veins appearing in her eyes.

“Xiao Li is our sister,” Wen Xihe said firmly, pulling her back into her seat. “Not your daughter.”

“Don’t act like an angry father giving away his daughter at a wedding.”

“Even if she were your daughter, she would eventually marry an Omega someday.”

Wen Jingzhi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shaking off Wen Xihe’s hand before picking up her glass and draining it in one go.

“Drink less,” Wen Xihe frowned, sensing that Wen Jingzhi’s emotions weren’t just those of a “father reluctantly giving away his daughter.” They seemed more like jealousy and possessiveness.

Wen Jingzhi pushed the empty glass aside and didn’t drink anymore. Leaning back in her chair, she lowered her gaze, her thoughts in turmoil.

Every time it came to Lin Li, she lost control.

This shouldn’t be happening.

After sitting for a while, the two got up to mingle. Lin Li was no longer in the main hall, having been dragged away by Sun Xiaoxiao to the balcony for some fresh air.

After finishing a conversation with one guest, Wen Jingzhi turned around and noticed Qiao Xian was also missing.

Her brow furrowed deeply, but she suppressed the urge to go looking for them.

After 10 p.m., Qiao Xian returned to the banquet hall with Lin Li, but Sun Xiaoxiao was no longer with them.

Wen Jingzhi stood among the crowd with a glass of wine, casting a deep glance at the smiling young girl before lowering her gaze again.

After sitting down, Lin Li let out a soft sigh. Qiao Xian handed her a tissue. “You’re sweating.”

“Thank you,” Lin Li replied, wiping the sweat from her chin. “It’s a bit stuffy.”

Other Omegas noticed the two and gathered around again, trying to strike up conversations to get closer to Lin Li. Qiao Xian occasionally chimed in, rescuing the young Alpha who was busy “handling” the attention.

At midnight, the banquet came to an end. Lin Li stood beside Old Master Wen, personally seeing off each Omega guest. By the time the last one left, it was almost half past twelve.

Returning to the banquet hall, Lin Li found that none of her older brothers or sisters were around they had already given her their gifts before the banquet began.

She made her way up to the third floor, passing by her sister’s room. Just as she was about to open the door to her own bedroom, the door next to hers suddenly swung open.

“Did you have a good time chatting?” Wen Jingzhi had drunk a bit too much that night, and a dull ache throbbed at her temples. Opening the door had been somewhat impulsive, but she didn’t mind. Leaning against the doorframe, she pressed her fingers to her temples and asked again, “Do you like Qiao Xian?”

A sweet, alcoholic scent lingered in the air.

Lin Li tilted her head slightly. “It was alright.” She smiled. “I don’t dislike Sister Qiao.”

Don’t dislike?

So that meant… she liked her?

Wen Jingzhi lifted her eyelids to glance at her, then turned and went back into her room, closing the door behind her.

Lin Li frowned in confusion, standing in the hallway for a while. When it seemed her sister had no intention of coming back out, she finally retreated into her own room.

Wen Jingzhi remained standing behind the door. Hearing the sound of the neighboring door closing, she sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples.

Was it possessiveness? Or that controlling urge of hers resurfacing again?

Was it because Lin Li making friends or getting married wasn’t part of her plan, nor under her control, that she felt so angry?

Back in her room, Lin Li immediately went to take a shower. The lingering smell of alcohol and perfume on her body made her uncomfortable. On top of that, she had been feeling feverish all evening and was drenched in sweat.

After her shower and drying her hair, she had intended to unwrap her gifts, but exhaustion overwhelmed her. Deciding to leave it for the next morning, she lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

A little past four in the morning, Lin Li woke up drenched in sweat.

Hot as if fire were burning inside her body.

Her vision blurred as she pushed herself up from the bed, intending to take another shower. But a sharp, intense pain made her stumble, and she collapsed to the floor.

Her consciousness wavered.

So hot, so thirsty…

It hurt, like the pain she had felt during her differentiation.

Differentiation?

Lin Li’s eyes snapped open as a sliver of clarity returned. She finally understood the reason for the stifling heat she had been feeling these past few days, it was her sensitive period.

Her first sensitive period had arrived.

But Dr. Su had given her the soothing agents at her other home, and she couldn’t use Alpha suppressants either.

What should she do?

A sudden, sharp pain shot through her glands, like a needle piercing directly into her brain nerves. Clutching the back of her neck, she let out a muffled groan, panting as she coughed up a froth of blood.

What should she do?

The scorching heat and pain hammered at her sanity. Staggering to her feet, she instinctively moved toward the door, her hand gripping the doorknob tightly.

No!

She couldn’t bother her sister again.

She withdrew her hand and leaned back against the door, her breathing growing rapid and strained from the pain. Gradually, she found it hard to catch her breath. Sliding down to the floor, she curled her legs, hugging her knees as she gritted her teeth and endured.

Her vision blurred once more. Suppressing her voice, she let out groan after groan of pain.

She didn’t know how much time had passed. Her entire body felt as if it had been fished out of water, soaked through with sweat. Thin trails of blood seeped from her glands, and the pain was so intense she bit through the corner of her lip.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside her door. A faint, chilly aura seeped through the crack under the door. Gritting her teeth, she reacted violently, scrambling to her feet and stumbling toward the bed, using the door for support.

It was her sister.

She had to stay away. She couldn’t, couldn’t be discovered.

But she had no control over her body. The sound of her hand slamming against the door was startlingly loud in the dead of night. The person holding a glass of water, about to return to her room, instantly turned to look.

Wen Jingzhi had just reached her neighbor’s door when she faintly heard strange, muffled groans and coughs from behind it. Frowning, she immediately pressed down on the handle, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

A slender figure swiftly approached in the darkness, accompanied by suppressed gasps and pained groans. Wen Jingzhi frowned and took a step back, but the figure crashed straight into her arms. A flailing hand knocked the water glass from her grasp.

Water splashed out, and the glass fell onto the corridor carpet, rolling away.

A familiar softness made Wen Jingzhi pause her attempt to push the person away. She lowered her head and asked hesitantly, “Lin Li?”

A faint, alcohol-tinged breath brushed against Lin Li’s face. She lifted her head, her left eye burning crimson, filled with pain and longing. Her hands flailed wildly, wrapping around the slender, firm waist of the person before her. But just as quickly, she released her grip, found the other’s arm, and, suppressing her ragged breaths, pinned the wrist overhead against the door. With a forceful shove—

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

A scorching palm pressed against the veins of her inner wrist, sending a shiver through Wen Jingzhi’s entire body. Beside her ear, the girl’s tormented, stifled gasps and damp breaths echoed.

The girl’s soft body pressed tightly against her, and the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat transmitted through their skin, making Wen Jingzhi’s own pulse quicken involuntarily.

Though there was no trace of pheromones, the moment she was embraced, the Alpha’s frenzied aura wild as a beast, deep as an abyssal swamp enveloped her completely.

A scorching breath fanned across her face, and a burning gaze fixed on her lips, drawing closer.

Wen Jingzhi closed her eyes, pressed her lips together, and held her breath. The lingering effects of alcohol clouded her mind, leaving only one thought clear.

The frail child she had raised with her own hands had truly grown into an adult Alpha.

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