Moonlight Allure - Chapter 23

Lin Shan remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: “Come in.”

Jiang Xueyin opened the door. The booth was dimly lit, with only a warm lamp glowing on the counter of a small kitchenette to the side. The low light illuminated half of Lin Shan’s face from below, lending her beautiful features a sinister, almost ghostly quality.

“Why not turn on the lights? Are you hiding something shameful?” Jiang Xueyin felt along the wall by the door until she found the switch. With a sharp click, the entire room was flooded with light.

Lin Shan stood by the kitchenette, holding a cup of coffee and slowly blowing on the rising steam. “You’re overthinking it. Keeping the lights off was simply to set the mood for tonight’s auction.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Xueyin took a step forward, eyeing the kitchenette behind Lin Shan. Could there be someone in those cabinets? But the cabinets were small; Lin Xi was an Alpha and would likely be taller than the average Omega. Even if she were bound, she could easily bang her head against the cabinet door to make a sound.

So, she wasn’t in the cabinets.

“What are you doing at this auction?” Lin Shan’s brow furrowed. She instinctively reached for her suit tie, but her hand grasped air. She let it drop back to her side as if nothing had happened, her fingers pressing against the seam of her trousers.

“Just here to see the show.” Jiang Xueyin swept her gaze across the room, landing on the sofa where Lin Shan had been sitting. There was plenty of space behind it to hide a person.

“Then why come to see me?” Lin Shan rubbed her fingertips together, her lashes casting shadows over her eyes that obscured her expression.

Jiang Xueyin walked straight toward the back of the sofa. Lin Shan’s face shifted as she raised an arm to block her path. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I heard President Lin was hiding someone here.” Jiang Xueyin locked eyes with her. “I want to see if it’s the person I’m looking for.”

Lin Shan narrowed her eyes and let out a cold laugh. “Then I guarantee she isn’t who you’re looking for. You’ve never even met her.”

“All the more reason to take a look, then.” Jiang Xueyin lunged forward, shoving Lin Shan aside. Behind the sofa, she found a girl whose hands were bound with a silk tie and whose ankles were marked with red welts from a thin cord. If Jiang Xueyin remembered correctly, it was the same type of string used for the balloons on the ship.

“Mmph.” A black cloth was stuffed into the girl’s mouth.

Lin Xi’s brown curls were scattered messily across the floor, and her face was stained with tears. Though she looked confused the moment she saw Jiang Xueyin, a glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes. She hoped this stranger was here to save her.

Lin Shan was momentarily stunned by Jiang Xueyin’s sudden display of strength. When did she get so strong? Recovering quickly, she snapped harshly, “Jiang Xueyin!”

Jiang Xueyin ignored her, first removing the gag from the girl’s mouth. She asked gently, “Are you alright?”

Lin Xi shook her head slightly to indicate she was okay. Jiang Xueyin bit her lip and began untying the tie around Lin Xi’s wrists, but Lin Shan grabbed her by the arm.

“Jiang Xueyin, what is the meaning of this? You’re trying to snatch her right in front of me?” Lin Shan’s usual composure had vanished. She stared with a distorted expression, looking like a venomous snake about to strike.

“Do you remember your sister? You have a sister.” Jiang Xueyin still didn’t address Lin Shan, speaking only to the girl.

Lin Xi’s eyes lit up. “Sister. I do have a sister. But we haven’t met in years. I don’t remember her name or what she looks like.” Because she hadn’t spoken for a long time, her voice was raspy and hollow.

“I’ll take you to see her, alright?” Jiang Xueyin shook off Lin Shan’s hand and finished unbinding her.

Tears slipped from the corners of Lin Xi’s eyes as she smiled. “Okay.”

Lin Shan froze. It had been so long since she had seen Lin Xi smile. Yet, the girl would rather smile for a stranger like Jiang Xueyin than for her, the person who had been by her side all along.

As Jiang Xueyin helped Lin Xi up, she saw several tall, imposing male Alphas in black suits and sunglasses blocking the doorway.

“Did you really think I’d let you just walk out with her?” Lin Shan laughed loudly and beckoned to Lin Xi. “Come here.”

Jiang Xueyin felt the girl beside her tremble. She gripped Lin Xi’s hand tightly. As she did, she noticed the girl’s nape, it was covered in a mess of scars and bite marks. An Alpha cannot be permanently marked, so Lin Shan had resorted to these brutal bites to assert her possession.

Even without experiencing it herself, the sight made Jiang Xueyin ache. If Xiao Nianru knew her sister was being treated like this, she would be devastated.

Originally, Jiang Xueyin only intended to photograph Lin Xi to confirm the crime of illegal detention; she didn’t plan on an immediate rescue. But now, she desperately wanted to get Lin Xi out and bring her to Xiao Nianru.

“Lin Shan, feelings cannot be forced. She’s clearly unwilling. Why torment her until both of you are destroyed?” Jiang Xueyin’s eyes scanned the thugs at the door, calculating how much longer Ruan Mingyue’s team would take. The surveillance equipment was uploading in real-time; the police already had the evidence. She just needed to stall.

“Why?” Lin Shan’s eyes were rimmed with red. She glared at Lin Xi hiding behind Jiang Xueyin and hissed through gritted teeth, “I spent four years in the trenches, suffering and planning just for our future. I would give her everything I own! And her? She fell in love with someone else, some brat who hasn’t even grown up yet!”

Lin Xi bit her lip, remaining silent. She knew better than to provoke Lin Shan further.

Jiang Xueyin sighed. “That doesn’t justify this. You can imprison her body, but you’ll never own her heart. You’re only pushing her further away.” Lin Shan is the textbook example of how ‘forced love’ goes wrong, she thought. There is no ‘happily ever after’ here, only a criminal record.

“Jiang Xueyin, don’t be a hypocrite,” Lin Shan sneered. “You think you’re any better? You might fool others, but not me! The rumors say you and your Omega are divorcing, and no one has denied it. In reality, you don’t want to let her go at all. You’re stalling, using every trick in the book. Sooner or later, you’ll end up exactly where I am!”

The original Scum Alpha might have, but the current Jiang Xueyin, the one who had loved Xiao Nianru for eight years would never do anything to hurt her.

Jiang Xueyin retorted immediately, “I would never!”

“Is that so?” Lin Shan didn’t believe her. Losing patience, she raised her hand, signaling the Alphas to move in.

Jiang Xueyin stepped back, grabbing a teapot and cup from the table, ready to hurl them at the attackers.

“Stop right there!” Li Jiannan squeezed through the crowd, shielding Jiang Xueyin. He shot her a frantic look. “Don’t fight! Don’t break anything! The stuff in here is expensive!”

He had been suspicious of her motives, but he never expected her to actually try and kidnap someone. This was becoming a massive headache. In any other setting, he would have been cheering for a fight, but this was his ship.

Jiang Xueyin slowly lowered the teacup, a smirk playing on her lips. Perfect timing. Just the distraction I need to stall for the police.