As Cheng Ying opened the door to the meeting room, the concentrated pheromones inside quickly dispersed. The air surrounding them was finally no longer suffocating. Jiang Hanguang let out a breath of relief and took two steps toward Cheng Ying.
Cheng Ying was dressed in a cream-white cotton casual outfit today, still a pullover T-shirt and knee-length shorts. Her thick, coarse, shoulder-length black hair was casually tied back, her bangs were somewhat messy, and a silver stud earring with a sparkling diamond adorned her ear. She looked like a college student who had just escaped from a rave.
The alpha still wore that innocuous smile. She winked at her without a word and quietly moved aside, unblocking the doorway.
Clearly, she meant for her to leave this place of trouble first.
Is Cheng Ying okay?
Jiang Hanguang hesitated for a moment but still followed Cheng Ying’s suggestion and walked toward the door.
“Don’t go, Hanguang!” He Zhong, lying on the smooth floor like a flipped-over turtle, kicked his legs in anger a couple of times before scrambling to sit up. “Weren’t you going to make things clear with Boss Cheng?”
His once-straight nose, having been headbutted by Cheng Ying, now had two streams of blood flowing quite artistically. He could only tilt his head back to stop the bleeding while glaring at the two of them with a particularly twisted expression.
It’s such a shame that losing so much blood couldn’t drain the lust from your brain.
Cheng Ying scoffed, her gaze, light as a feather, falling on Jiang Hanguang, who was less than half a meter away.
Jiang Hanguang was wearing a gray, gauze, cinched-waist long dress today. The hemline nearly reached her ankles, and the collar was buttoned neatly around her snowy neck. Her long hair was coiled tidily in a bun at the back of her head. Perhaps due to the pheromones, a blush tinged the woman’s fair face. Her bright, captivating eyes were half-hidden by long, thick lashes, which paradoxically made one want to lean in for a closer look.
Perhaps noticing her gaze, those star-like eyes met hers, only to look away in an instant.
Jiang Hanguang’s eyes always held a multitude of emotions. Perhaps because she was too accustomed to hiding things, whatever couldn’t be spoken had to be expressed through other means.
Right now, those eyes were filled with helplessness, mixed with a trace of guilt.
Sigh, Miss Jiang, you really are something.
On her way over, Cheng Ying had already made Cheng Mantou play back the surveillance footage from this room. She knew perfectly well how He Zhong had used her to threaten Jiang Hanguang, how he had offended her, and how carefully Jiang Hanguang had endured it all.
If it had been Xu Ning or Bai Ruo, even if they didn’t immediately submit to He Zhong, they would probably be throwing themselves into her arms and crying their eyes out to prove their innocence.
But Jiang Hanguang?
She just looked at her, and even then, was stingy enough to only grant her a single glance.
Does such a kind to the point of foolish person still exist in this world?
The smile on Cheng Ying’s face didn’t fade. She suppressed the inexplicable anger in her heart and casually closed the door.
The reason she had wanted Jiang Hanguang to leave was that today’s matter was destined to be resolved with some less-than-civilized methods.
Before Jiang Hanguang fully trusted her, she didn’t want to ruin her image in Jiang Hanguang’s mind.
But seeing He Zhong’s undying lechery, if she let Jiang Hanguang leave now, this guy might think Jiang Hanguang had already succumbed to his power and was only forced to part with him because she had played the role of a meddling third party.
Rather than being endlessly entangled with him later, it was better to make him give up completely in one go.
She wanted Jiang Hanguang to tell this guy herself that she was already taken and had no interest in his fertile land, which was fair on the outside but foul on the inside.
The slender alpha’s eyes and brows held a dizzying smile. Her light blue eyes, looking at Jiang Hanguang, shimmered with a captivating, gentle light as she smilingly asked, “What was it you wanted to tell me?”
The overly gentle omega before her pondered for a moment before adopting the most respectable phrasing, “Boss He… he wants to sign me…”
“Oh,” Cheng Ying nodded, not at all surprised. She even earnestly helped Jiang Hanguang analyze the pros and cons. “Boss He does have far more resources than I do. Signing with him would probably make you famous faster. So, do you want to sign?”
“…” Jiang Hanguang looked at Cheng Ying’s gentle, completely non-threatening gaze and finally understood that the other party genuinely wanted her to make the decision.
She didn’t know what answer Cheng Ying wanted, but she certainly knew her own.
And she cherished this opportunity to choose, which Cheng Ying had personally given her.
The omega closed her eyes, which could make others feel inadequate, and shook her head firmly and frankly. “I don’t.”
“Good.” Cheng Ying nodded with a brilliant smile, then squatted down and patted He Zhong’s tilted-back head. “Did you hear that? She said she doesn’t want to. Hanguang is my artist. I hope you won’t bother her again in the future. Is that okay?”
The man opposite her, still in that bizarre head-tilted posture, rolled his eyes at her. A muffled snort came from his reddened nose; clearly, he wasn’t taking her seriously.
Cheng Ying sighed softly. On the surface, she looked helpless, but inwardly, she was somewhat pleased.
If He Zhong hadn’t been so defiant, she really would have had nowhere to vent the anger stirred up by that pretentious couple, Cheng Liang and Hua Ran.
The beautiful alpha extended her long, well-defined fingers and slowly but firmly grabbed the collar of He Zhong’s expensive suit.
“Does Boss He not understand my question? Then let me ask it in a simpler way.” The alpha’s voice was still gentle, but the blue sea in her eyes gradually churned with a frightening color.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and said, word by word.
“Do you know whose omega Jiang Hanguang is?”
Jiang Hanguang: “…”
She looked at the two alphas on the floor, one squatting and one sitting, looking rather intimate. This time, she really wanted to turn around and walk away.
He Zhong shot Cheng Ying a sidelong glance, still not answering.
Did this good-for-nothing, who was fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart, really think she could scare him by learning some “gone dark” tricks from cartoons and acting crazy?
He was determined to have Jiang Hanguang today, and no one could…
Before the arrogant monologue in his head could finish, He Zhong suddenly shuddered as if stung by a scorpion and instinctively recoiled.
The woody-scented pheromones that usually surrounded Cheng Ying, gentle and harmless, suddenly intensified, becoming like a razor-sharp dagger that entered his windpipe through his battered nose and sliced the fragile tube open in one go.
He Zhong coughed violently. The gland on the back of his neck worked at an efficiency that nearly destroyed it. The sharp pain in his neck and throat almost gave him the illusion of suffocating.
Biologically speaking, this was one of the instincts of a differentiated alpha. When they encountered a peer whose pheromone intensity was much higher than their own, they would use this extreme method to resist the other’s attack.
Even if it inevitably left some minor side effects, it was safer than having one’s glands directly crushed by another’s pheromones.
But how could Cheng Ying be stronger than him?
He Zhong’s mind hadn’t figured it out yet, but his body reacted first. He let go of his nose, which had just stopped bleeding, and scrambled with all four limbs, trying to get away from Cheng Ying.
But his collar was still clutched in Cheng Ying’s hand. The tall young alpha held him firmly in place with just one hand. The high-end fabric was infuriatingly sturdy; no matter how he tore at it, he couldn’t move an inch.
The gland on his neck grew hotter and hotter. He Zhong even had the illusion that it had already burned out. The thought of never being able to indulge in sensual pleasures again, combined with the physical pain, made tears well up in the nearly forty-year-old man’s eyes.
“Tsk.” He heard Cheng Ying’s disdainful hiss. The true conqueror sneered, “Aren’t you disgusting?”
The surging pheromones slightly eased their assault. Then, that gentle voice sounded again, like a tentacle reaching out from the depths of a nightmare, once again tightening its grip on his neck.
“I’m asking you a question. Whose omega is Jiang Hanguang?”
He Zhong stared straight at the alpha before him, whose delicate features were in no way inferior to an omega’s. The remaining consciousness in his mind still refused to submit.
To submit to this good-for-nothing whom he had trampled into the dust not long ago.
Seeing him remain silent, the other party laughed nonchalantly again.
“Still not talking? It seems my question wasn’t clear enough.”
The next second, the woody-scented pheromones, which had seemed to be subsiding, surged again, becoming sharper and more terrifying than the first time.
He Zhong felt as if his nerves were being brutally twisted into a rope by two brawny alphas who were then pulling it with all their might.
His eyes rolled back, his legs twitched, and a foul-smelling puddle of liquid pooled from between his legs.
“Tsk.” The alpha holding him shifted her position in disgust, lifted him from the ground by his collar like a dead dog, and grabbed the wine bottle from the table, pouring the entire half-bottle of expensive red wine over his head.
The cool, fragrant wine brought a sliver of consciousness back to He Zhong.
He saw the person in front of him clearly.
Cheng Ying was still holding him, smiling relaxedly as she asked, “Whose omega is Jiang Hanguang?”
This time, the instinct for survival finally forced He Zhong to make the right choice.
He hurriedly said, “Yours, yours, she’s yours. I won’t sign her, I won’t sign her anymore.”
The woman holding him nodded in satisfaction, her blue eyes narrowing into a smile like an angel’s. She gently placed him back in his seat, patiently straightened his wrinkled clothes, and patted his face. “Boss He is indeed a man who understands the greater good and won’t force others. In that case, Hanguang and I will be leaving. I hope you’ll be true to your word.”
He Zhong’s eyes were vacant as he nodded dazedly.
Cheng Ying turned to look at Jiang Hanguang and saw the woman’s eyes were three parts confusion and seven parts surprise, but there was no fear.
Or maybe she just hadn’t processed it yet.
She let out a silent, soft laugh, reached out to take Jiang Hanguang’s sleeve, and led the woman out of the meeting room with its complex mix of scents.
The overall decor of Cheng’s Media followed the slightly exaggerated futuristic style of the Cheng’s headquarters. The corridor was also an unsettling white. It happened to be empty at that moment. The two walked one after the other, connected by Jiang Hanguang’s not-so-sturdy sleeve. Their shoes made no sound on the soundproof metal floorboards. Cheng Ying didn’t speak, and Jiang Hanguang remained silent.
Cheng Ying was racking her brain for a good way to explain her behavior to Jiang Hanguang. She had been a bit emotional just now, because she knew that the reason Jiang Hanguang had suffered this ordeal was simply that she didn’t trust her enough.
She didn’t trust her, so she was afraid of implicating her. Even when she was in danger herself, she tried to maneuver the situation so as not to cause her trouble.
Cheng Ying actually hated this the most. She would rather die for those she wanted to protect than be a fool protected by the weak.
She was allergic to the idea of crying at a grave.
The alpha’s eyes were dark and unreadable. The hand holding Jiang Hanguang’s sleeve tightened slightly.
This was the first time she had used her pheromones to suppress someone, although she had long known her pheromone intensity must be quite good.
Cheng Mo might have been inhuman, but she always had strict quality control for the things she created.
It was conceivable that the “her” she had spent so long creating through thousands of genetic screenings would have data in all aspects that was absolutely superior to most humans.
And the reason for using such a brutal method on He Zhong could be summed up in one sentence—if a person hits you, you can reason with them; if a dog bites you, you can only use a dog-beating stick.
Cheng Ying wasn’t worried that He Zhong would go crying to Cheng Liang. For an alpha to be suppressed by a peer’s pheromones to the point of wetting themselves was a dark secret that anyone would keep tight-lipped about and take to their grave.
But how to explain it to Jiang Hanguang?
I didn’t really want you to be my omega; I just said that to make myself seem intimidating?
I didn’t mean to go that far; it’s just that my emotions and pheromones got the better of me for a moment and I couldn’t hold back. He might not find it shameful, but I find it filthy.
This sensitive omega must have been terrified by her. It would probably take a lot of effort to change her opinion again.
Until they got in the car, Cheng Ying did not look back.
She didn’t really want to see the fear in Jiang Hanguang’s eyes.
The two silently got into Cheng Ying’s car. Cheng Ying said, “I’ll take you home?”
“Mm,” came Jiang Hanguang’s soft reply from beside her, her tone indistinguishable from usual.
The more she acted this way, the more worried Cheng Ying became, fearing it was the calm before the storm.
The car, with its destination set, began to drive automatically.
Cheng Ying closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, finally speaking first. “In the future, if you encounter a situation like this, just walk away if you don’t want to deal with him. He was the one who acted despicably first. You’ve done nothing wrong, so no matter what he babbles on about, you don’t have to be afraid. I’ll handle it.”
“Mm,” the woman beside her replied softly, her emotions still unreadable.
After another bout of silence, Cheng Ying stared at the ever-changing scenery ahead and chose the simplest explanation. “What I said just now was all to scare He Zhong. Don’t take it to heart. I’m a genuinely reliable agent. You saw what He Zhong was like. If I didn’t use some strong medicine, he would never…”
“I know.” Jiang Hanguang’s voice came from beside her, and Cheng Ying’s words trailed off.
This was the first time Jiang Hanguang had ever interrupted her.
She was so startled that she turned to look at her side, only to see Jiang Hanguang looking back at her.
The woman’s face held a faint smile, like a stream in spring where the ice has just melted—clear and gentle.
It was as if she wasn’t a volatile alpha who had just used pheromones to coerce someone, but a child who had accidentally broken a plate and was hastily apologizing.
“I know.” Perhaps unused to being stared at like this, Jiang Hanguang awkwardly tucked a strand of her perfectly neat hair, but she still met her gaze and repeated what she had just said, as if to express her sincerity.
“You are a good person.”
