The "Honest" Beta Deceived Day and Night by a Twisted Obsessive - Chapter 36

From this moment forth, he was free.

Fang Qing realized something was wrong with Duan Huaijing three days ago.

He had harboured suspicions for a while, but whenever his doubt reached a peak, Duan Huaijing would send him a live video showing he was safe. Recently, however, the memory of their last meeting of Huaijing grabbing his hand in a panic to buy a ticket, felt too abnormal. It planted a seed of doubt that grew into nightmares of Huaijing in peril.

He messaged the phone’s owner as usual, but the replies were always suspiciously slow. Whenever he subtly suggested a meeting, he was brushed off with various excuses.

Alarm bells rang in Fang Qing’s head. Duan Huaijing was definitely in danger.

Given how Huaijing had tried to flee before, he was clearly escaping from someone. The fact that he hadn’t gone to the police suggested he had deep reservations. Fang Qing didn’t dare alert the predator; his own strength was too small, so he sought help from the outside.

He didn’t know many of Huaijing’s acquaintances, and the only figure with any real influence was Xie Ming. He knew the engagement had been annulled, but it was his only lead. He had to try.

Through several connections, he managed to secure an invitation to a banquet hosted by the Xie family. With so many people there, he hoped he might even run into the head of the family, Xie Yun. If Xie Ming refused to help, he would go straight to the top.

Predictably, when he found Xie Ming and explained his purpose, the man let out a derisive sneer. “You want me to use my connections to save him? Are you mental? He’s just a Beta; what kind of danger could he possibly be in? He’d disappear in a crowd.”

Fang Qing knew time was of the essence. “He’s been missing for nearly a month. That is not normal.”

Was it his imagination, or did Xie Ming’s brow furrow at those words? “You’re saying he’s been missing for a month?”

“Yes!” Fang Qing replied eagerly.

Just as he was about to elaborate, his attention was drawn to Xie Yun walking in from the other side of the room. The moment Xie Ming saw his brother, his face darkened. He looked away sharply, his hands gripping the armrests of his wheelchair so hard his knuckles turned white.

He was a Xie, too; he had a right to the company. Yet Xie Yun had broken his legs and exiled him. A banquet he once attended at will was now his only excuse to return to the city.

The guests immediately flocked to Xie Yun with sycophantic smiles. Xie Ming’s chest heaved with suppressed rage. What right do they have? What right does Xie Yun have?! How dare he show his face here!

Fang Qing recoiled at the sight of Xie Ming’s distorted expression. To Xie Ming, Fang Qing’s timidness was just like Duan Huaijing’s, utterly pathetic.

“Anything else?” Xie Ming snapped, rolling his eyes.

Fang Qing swallowed. “About finding Duan Huaijing.”

“We’ll see,” Xie Ming dismissed him.

“But!” Fang Qing was cut off as Xie Yun approached their direction. He had planned to go to Xie Yun if Xie Ming failed, and his eyes lit up as he prepared to speak.

The man walked right past him without stopping.

Fang Qing’s words died in his throat. The crowd followed Xie Yun, their flattery echoing in Fang Qing’s ears before fading away.

“Strange. that man smells exactly like the one in the shopping centre that day,” Fang Qing whispered once they had passed. As an Omega, he was highly sensitive to scents a “superpower” that meant he never forgot a fragrance.

Xie Ming, sitting close by, caught the comment. “What?”

Fang Qing summarized the encounter at the shopping centre. Xie Ming listened in silence, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.

Duan Huaijing had been gone a month. His own sources said Xie Yun had been frequently absent from the office for a month. When he’d previously joked that Xie Yun wouldn’t like a Beta, his brother had replied, “That’s not necessarily true.”

Pheromones are etched into DNA; they don’t lie.

“Interesting,” Xie Ming murmured, a predatory glint in his eye. His brother was possessive, what he wanted, he took and monopolised. Anyone else even looking at his property was an insult.

But Xie Ming was perverse. He lived to take whatever his brother loved. Besides. Duan Huaijing was quite pretty. It wouldn’t hurt to play with him for a few days before tossing him aside.

As Fang Qing racked his brain for another way to convince him, Xie Ming suddenly downed his drink. The movement made his legs ache, and his expression turned vicious. “I’ll do it.”

*****

A month later, Xie Yun returned to the “home” he shared with Duan Huaijing. His car took a convoluted route to avoid CCTV, making his trail impossible to follow.

He checked the surveillance feed as usual. Seeing a figure curled up asleep on the sofa, a flicker of manic dependency crossed his eyes. The thought that his babe was right under his nose, hidden away where no one could find him, filled Xie Yun with a morbid satisfaction. It was enough to soothe all his anxieties.

He traced the image on his screen, his blood running hot. Babe is sleeping without a blanket again. he’ll catch a cold.

His waist is so thin. I love it.

I want to hold his legs. I want to lick every inch of him.

Xie Yun closed his eyes and pressed the hand that had touched the screen to his nose, as if he could smell that sweet scent through the phone. He looked like a man possessed, savouring the thought of a fine meal after days of starvation.

Suddenly, his eyes sharpened. He noticed something glinting on the driver’s uniform, something invisible to the naked eye.

Xie Yun narrowed his eyes. “You’ve brought a tail back with you.”

The driver’s heart skipped a beat. He searched himself frantically and eventually pulled out a tiny tracking device. Xie Yun’s expression turned glacial, a storm brewing in the depths of his eyes. Someone was catching on.

****

The Eye returned much later than usual. Duan Huaijing had already slept and woken twice by the time he arrived. Dazed with sleep, he jumped when he saw a figure standing beside him.

The lights were off. The Eye stood tall and motionless like a statue in the dark. The pressure was suffocating. He looked as though he had been standing there for a long time, watching over his captive.

Duan Huaijing recovered his composure and sat up. “Why are you so late?”

The Eye continued to stare.

“Hmm?” Duan Huaijing prompted.

The man drew closer, step by step. Even in the dark, his foul mood was palpable. “Handling some business,” he said, his voice low.

Duan Huaijing didn’t press him. He stood on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the man’s lips. Noticing that The Eye didn’t deepen the kiss as he usually did, Huaijing paused, then used his tongue to trace the man’s lips with tiny, cat-like licks.

The Eye’s gaze darkened. He seized the back of Huaijing’s head and crushed their mouths together. The kiss was a battle, neither of them willing to yield.

A wave of nausea rolled through Duan Huaijing’s stomach. He still couldn’t truly stomach kissing “The Eye,” yet psychologically, it had become his only comfort. Like a drowning man needing oxygen, he needed this contact because his soul was suffocating.

After another day of isolation, he was in agony. When The Eye was gone, he felt like the last person on earth. Only when the man returned and they touched could he feel a sense of reality. The kiss was devoid of lust; it was pure, desperate dependency.

Minutes later, they pulled apart, their lips swollen and bruised, looking like crushed rose petals.

“Will you leave me?”

Wrapped in the man’s arms, Duan Huaijing felt the vibration of his voice against his chest. He shook his head. “No.”

He wasn’t stupid. Saying “yes” now would likely result in being strangled.

“Will you leave me?” the man asked again, like an insecure child needing constant reassurance.

Duan Huaijing sighed inwardly, hugging him back. “No. I will never leave you.”

The Eye released him. Before Huaijing could react, his shirt was yanked up. “Bite this,” the man said, handing him a corner of the fabric.

“What for?” Huaijing was confused, but he obeyed, biting the white shirt and exposing his flat stomach.

A sharp pain flared in his abdomen. Huaijing flinched, his jaw tight. The man had bitten him. He didn’t pull away; instead, he ground his teeth against the wound until blood welled up. He felt the man’s tongue lick away the blood.

Huaijing was too pained to speak. The man traced the mark with his eyes, whispering, “Beautiful.”

“What is wrong with you?!” Huaijing finally gasped.

“I’m leaving my mark on you,” The Eye said casually. “That way, you can’t escape.”

Duan Huaijing looked away. There was no reasoning with a lunatic. The man buried his face in Huaijing’s neck. “You know, if you ever dared to leave me, I would definitely kill you first.”

The moment was interrupted by a sudden commotion outside. The sound made Huaijing’s heart race. It was the first time he had heard other voices in weeks. He listened intently; it sounded like a car engine.

His sluggish brain struggled to process the noise. He felt like he had forgotten something. The sounds from outside felt like they were coming from another world.

“There’s someone outside.”

“Just the decorators,” the man said smoothly.

“Oh.”

“Are you hungry? I’ll cook for you,” the man said, distracting him.

Duan Huaijing nodded, trying to shake off his unease. “I’m hungry. I want sweet and sour ribs.”

“Alright.”

As the man busied himself in the kitchen, Duan Huaijing sat on the sofa, clutching a cushion. He stared at the man’s back, a sense of deja vu washing over him. He had seen this back before. But where?

Before he could place it, a familiar voice shouted from outside.

“If you don’t open this door, I’m going to drive right through it!”

Huaijing froze. That was Fang Qing’s voice!

He dropped the cushion and glanced at the kitchen. Seeing that The Eye wasn’t looking, he scurried to the window and peeled back a corner of the curtain.

Several strangers stood in the courtyard. At their head were Fang Qing and Xie Ming. This was no decorating crew. Huaijing narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on Xie Ming’s wheelchair. His legs are ruined? Karma.

Fang Qing spotted him in the window and his eyes lit up. He made a gesture: I’m here to save you.

Duan Huaijing frowned. This felt like a trap. If “The Eye” was powerful enough to hide him here, he wouldn’t be caught off guard like this. This was his house. The only explanation was that he was letting them in.

Don’t do anything rash!

Huaijing began to speak, but a voice came from behind him. “Dinner’s ready.”

He dropped the curtain and walked to the table, pretending nothing had happened. The food was excellent, but he had lost his appetite. He knew he had to eat, or he would be punished. He chewed slowly, the silence of the room making the shouting from outside even clearer.

“If you don’t let him out, I’ll burn this villa to the ground!” Fang Qing screamed. He knew the building was expensive and well-made; if a fire started, it would be hard for anyone inside to get out. He hoped the threat would force the captor’s hand.

Duan Huaijing’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at The Eye, who acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, calmly placing a piece of meat in Huaijing’s bowl. “Eat.”

“They say they’re going to burn the place down,” Huaijing said, testing him.

The Eye gave a slow, indifferent hum.

“Are we going to die?”

“No.”

The Eye clearly had a plan. Before Huaijing could think further, a brilliant light flared outside. He spun around to see flames leaping toward the windows. They had actually done it.

“Don’t be nervous. This house is treated with fire retardant. If the fire gets too big, the safety barriers will deploy automatically.”

Huaijing sighed in relief, then realized the horror of it. “Doesn’t that mean the bigger the fire gets, the more danger they are in?”

“Mmh,” The Eye confirmed.

Stop! Don’t set the fire! You’re the ones in danger! But it was too late. Thick smoke began to fill the air outside, and the barriers began to rise. He could hear the sound of heavy coughing from below.

He didn’t care about Xie Ming, but Fang Qing was his friend. He couldn’t let him die.

“You”

The Eye anticipated him. “They want to take you away from me. Do you really think I’ll let them go?”

“You can do whatever you want with Xie Ming,” Huaijing pleaded, his voice trembling. “He hurt me; I don’t care about him. But Fang Qing is my friend. He’s my only friend. Please, let him out.”

“They shouldn’t have coveted what belongs to me,” The Eye whispered, his voice thick with a possessiveness more suffocating than the smoke outside.

Below, Fang Qing was doubled over, coughing. His plan had backfired spectacularly.

Duan Huaijing watched him from the window. Images of his time with Fang Qing flashed through his mind. Aside from “The Eye,” he had never felt that anyone truly “cared” for him. But now, he saw the proof. He wasn’t alone. Someone actually cared if he lived or died.

His eyes grew red, not from the smoke, but from emotion. He blinked back tears. “What do I have to do to make you let him go?”

The Eye leaned in and kissed away a tear. “Either you stay by my side forever, or we all die together.”

“Fine.” Duan Huaijing closed his eyes, surrendering to his fate.

The Eye’s expression softened, the icy resolve beginning to melt. Below, the smoke was thinning as the barriers partially opened. Fang Qing looked up and met Huaijing’s gaze.

The Eye cupped Huaijing’s face, blocking his view, forcing him to look only at him. They kissed for a minute before Huaijing pushed him away, his voice weak. “I… I want some soup.”

“I’ll get it.”

The moment the man turned his back, Huaijing’s expression sharpened into something ruthless. He grabbed a paring knife, held it to his own throat, and backed toward the window.

The Eye froze, the smile on his face turning rigid. “Babe, what are you doing?”

Huaijing tilted his head back, letting the blade press into his skin. “Let me go.”

He knew threatening anyone else was useless. To threaten “The Eye,” he had to threaten himself.

“Be a good boy. Put the knife down.”

Huaijing pressed harder. Blood bloomed instantly, but he didn’t flinch. If he didn’t leave now, he never would.

To his surprise, The Eye pulled out his own knife and held it to his own throat. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Huaijing moved the knife to his arm; the man did the same, slicing his own skin without blinking. Blood splattered onto the floor. It was a scene of pure madness. “Wherever you want to cut yourself, I’ll do it to me instead,” The Eye said.

Below, Fang Qing was ready. He signaled to Huaijing.

Duan Huaijing looked at the chaos around him and suddenly felt a strange sense of detachment. He moved the knife to his heart.

The Eye took advantage of the distraction to move closer, his own knife following the movement toward his own heart. Duan Huaijing sat on the windowsill, his legs dangling. As The Eye prepared to lung forward, Huaijing made his choice.

It was an impulsive decision. He could have let “The Eye” kill himself and been done with it. But instead…

Duan Huaijing took a deep breath, his decision final. He threw the knife onto the floor.

Clatter.

The Eye lunged to pull him back, but Huaijing had already leaned back, vanishing into the white void below.

He thought: From this moment forth, I am free.

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