The searing pain of the needle piercing her skin was insignificant compared to the numbing of her nerves. Liu Huanran felt as if a thread was pulling at her, slowly wearing down her flesh and veins.
The area where the needle had pierced burned and tingled, the pain spreading throughout her body. Liu Huanran felt herself nearing madness. Her arms were limp and useless, and when she tried to speak, she found her tongue had gone numb, as if she'd been poisoned.
"..." Liu Huanran mumbled something, but her once agile tongue had turned into lead, leaving her words slurred and incomprehensible.
Yu Zhiwan leaned in closer, prompting her to repeat herself, finally realizing Liu Huanran was saying:
"Killing is illegal."
Yu Zhiwan chuckled at the absurdity of such a naïve thought.
"Miss Liu, marital rape is illegal, forcibly harassing and marking an Omega is illegal, stealing and altering another company's intellectual property is illegal, kidnapping is illegal too. You've committed so many crimes—has anyone come to punish you?"
The Omega's voice was sweet and gentle, her long, pale fingers tracing Liu Huanran's face through the fabric of her dress. Yu Zhiwan had cut off a piece of the wedding dress with a small knife, and the coarse material scratched against Liu Huanran's skin, feeling rough and unpleasant. Her budget was limited, and even though she had planned to spend the night with the Omega, her bank account could only afford cheap, second-hand fabric.
To be fair, Liu Huanran, as the supposed "main character," did have a strikingly beautiful face. Her bone structure was smooth, her face a natural V-shape with no signs of surgical enhancements.
Even though fear had distorted her delicate features, it didn't diminish her beauty. In fact, Liu Huanran's terrified expression intrigued Yu Zhiwan, sparking a desire to toy with her.
"Mm, mm, mm!"
Liu Huanran, oblivious to the changes in Yu Zhiwan's expression, desperately tried to wriggle free and defend herself.
Cool liquid was forced down her throat, and although she didn't know what Yu Zhiwan had given her, the numbness in her tongue finally began to subside. Gasping for air, she felt as if she had just returned from the brink of hell, her eyes bloodshot, hair disheveled, and all traces of her former glory gone.
"You tricked me..."
Yu Zhiwan was curious about what she was trying to say, surprised when the Alpha spoke in a tearful voice, as if the roles of victim and perpetrator had suddenly reversed.
Before she transmigrated, Liu Huanran had been an ordinary office worker, with nothing more than a pretty face to attract attention. She had never done anything extraordinary, much less faced any significant hardships. How could she be equipped to handle a situation like this?
She only knew that in the original story, Yu Zhiwan was a blind, disabled Omega. Omegas were naturally more delicate than Alphas, their bodies inherently weaker.
Having lived under the same roof with such a fragile Omega, Liu Huanran had genuinely developed feelings for her and wanted to protect her. But as time passed, her growing ambition and greed had tainted those initial feelings.
Yet she was still unwilling to give up.
Yu Zhiwan had deceived her. She could see, and her legs were fine, just a little different from normal. But she had used her apparent disability to make others drop their guard!
Recalling how she had once looked at Yu Zhiwan with affectionate eyes, only for the Omega to see it all, Liu Huanran felt a chilling fear crawl up her spine. Her mental state was near breaking, even more so than when Yu Zhiwan had left her and she had to take out loans to cover her debts.
Back then, she had still hoped to win Yu Zhiwan back, despite the financial burden. But the constant harassment from a mysterious figure had pushed her to take this desperate, reckless action.
Even if she wanted to kidnap Yu Zhiwan, she couldn't have done it alone. She needed the help of those mysterious figures.
Fear gnawed at Liu Huanran's sanity. She didn't know what had been injected into her neck—a poison or some other drug. Was it enough to kill her? What did Yu Zhiwan want, and was she working with those people to set her up?
In her dazed state, Liu Huanran felt Omega's soft fingertips press against her eyelids.
For the first time, Liu Huanran clearly smelled Yu Zhiwan's pheromones. As a high-ranking Omega, her pheromones were a blend of two scents, with the deep fragrance of roses as the main note, lulling Liu Huanran into a seductive, intoxicating haze.
Her pheromones smelled so good.
If Yu Zhiwan had released them to her earlier, she would have been overjoyed.
Driven by instinct, Liu Huanran's lower abdomen burned with desire. She wanted to release her own pheromones and entwine herself with Omega's, but her glands remained unresponsive, completely numbed.
In a fleeting dream, Liu Huanran saw a different Yu Zhiwan, one who was obedient and submissive.
Even when she had done something wrong, like taking advantage of Omega's abilities while refusing to let others think she was mooching off her, removing Yu Zhiwan's name from the credits and compensating her in other ways, Omega had only smiled helplessly, poking her cheek and sighing, "You silly thing."
"I didn't lie to you. At first, my eyesight was blurry, about the same as yours is now." She heard Yu Zhiwan's explanation. "And my legs only started getting better recently. I told you I had a car accident, didn't I?"
Liu Huanran remembered now. Yu Zhiwan had been kind to her in the beginning. Although there was no romantic tension, she treated her like a gentle older sister, never raising her voice.
After Liu Huanran moved into her house, she felt guilty and took it upon herself to clean and do all the chores. One day, she accidentally bumped into Yu Zhiwan's leg and apologized profusely. Yu Zhiwan shook her head, telling her it was fine.
"I had a car accident. My legs have no feeling; it doesn't hurt. Don't worry, go on with your day."
After that, Liu Huanran was always careful when opening doors. That night, she lay in bed, unable to sleep, wondering why such a kind person like Yu Zhiwan was always dealt such a cruel hand by fate. She knew Yu Zhiwan was her future wife, according to the story, and vowed to work hard to give her a warm home, a safe harbor.
Xiangcheng had excellent medical facilities, and Yu Zhiwan hadn't wasted her time there. She had been undergoing intense physical rehabilitation, falling and getting back up repeatedly.
Using the methods Pei Yujang had taught her, Yu Zhiwan engaged her core to strengthen her legs. After surgery, she trained her muscles, massaging them to regain their function, striving to stand and walk like a normal person. The effort required was unimaginable.
Yu Zhiwan precisely injected another dose into the same spot on Liu Huanran's neck. As the Alpha's pupils dilated, indicating the drug had taken effect, Yu Zhiwan casually tossed her to the ground like a piece of wood.
When she glanced at the time on the phone screen, Yu Zhiwan noticed that Liu Huanran's wallpaper was still a photo of the two of them.
Before Liu Huanran's behavior had escalated, they had coexisted peacefully. One day, Liu Huanran shyly asked if she could take a picture with her, and Yu Zhiwan had agreed.
The wallpaper was an unedited photo taken with the original camera. The lighting was perfect, and Liu Huanran, half-squatting beside her, smiled bashfully. Yu Zhiwan's eyes were open, though she couldn't see at the time. Warm sunlight bathed her face, making her smile glow with a gentle warmth.
After confirming that enough time had passed, Yu Zhiwan discarded Liu Huanran's phone beside her, then unsteadily made her way to light the scented candle.
The lighter clicked several times before igniting. As the rich aroma filled the room, Yu Zhiwan's legs gave out, and she collapsed into the pile of dry straw behind her.
For the past few days, Pei Yujang had been busy meeting with the mayor of Xiangcheng, discussing issues related to the water plant. She hadn't noticed that Yu Zhiwan hadn't replied to her messages.
At first, their conversation was calm, but Pei Yujang eventually sensed that the mayor intended to cover up the situation with Mrs. Chen, pretending it had never happened. Pei Yujang lost her temper and started shouting at her.
It wasn't exactly an argument, more like Pei Yujang unleashing her fury on the mayor.
Pei Yujang was genuinely furious. She viewed the corrupt officials of Yicheng as nothing more than walking corpses, undeserving of being called human. But the mayor, with her bit of sense and brain, had lost her head over love, infuriating Pei Yujang to the point where she wanted to crack open her skull and see what kind of water was inside.
At first, the mayor was annoyed by Pei Yujang's questioning, but after being berated by her, she deflated and asked Pei Yujang to leave her alone.
But Pei Yujang didn't give her time to cool down. Fearing the mayor would be swayed by Mrs. Chen's pillow talk again, she showed her all the evidence from the water plant.
The good news was that after several days of persuasion, the mayor finally came around. Pei Yujang, exhausted, returned home to sleep, and the next day she went to investigate the water plant again. When Yu Zhiwan still hadn't replied to her messages, she finally realized something was wrong.
Even if Yu Zhiwan didn't reply to her messages, she would never go so long without responding.
Suspicious, Pei Yujang called her, but there was no answer. She went to Yu Zhiwan's house and knocked, but there was no response.
She eventually found a blocked message from half an hour ago in her phone's spam folder. She had a fraud prevention app installed, which automatically filtered out spam messages. She rarely manually blocked numbers, but the familiar digits jogged her memory.
Pei Yujang removed the number from her blacklist and tried calling it, only to discover she had been blocked.
Realizing that Yu Zhiwan might be in Liu Huanran's hands, Pei Yujang felt her heart clench painfully.
She floored the gas pedal, speeding down the highway, ignoring the GPS's sharp warnings of "over speed" as she raced through the night.
When she arrived at the location from the text message, Pei Yujang parked her car as instructed and quickly checked the sharp fruit knife she had hidden on her person. She had come in a hurry, bringing only two knives—one in her jacket pocket and another, a folding knife, tucked into her boot. Her heart pounded as she cautiously walked down the dark, abandoned factory path, scanning her surroundings.
The text had warned her that alarms were set up around the area, forbidding her from calling the police. Any noise would result in Yu Zhiwan's immediate death. She was also prohibited from bringing weapons and had to come alone.
The message was brief but effectively blocked all possible escape routes, clearly written by someone experienced in this line of work.
Pei Yujang even suspected that Liu Huanran might have hired a gang leader to orchestrate the kidnapping, her mind racing with possibilities.
She imagined all sorts of scenarios, and as she struggled with the potential outcomes, negative emotions flooded her, compounded by self-doubt and regret.
Pei Yujang bit down on her tongue, using the pain and taste of blood to force herself to stay focused.
The abandoned factory was shrouded in darkness, its silhouette barely discernible. She spotted a faint light and followed it inside, her heart pounding as she approached the half-open door. Bracing herself, she burst through it.
Before entering, Pei Yujang assumed a defensive stance, even harboring a brief, unthinkable thought.
She imagined finding armed guards waiting inside, ready to ambush her. Her life wasn't just her own, but if it meant saving Yu Zhiwan, she would give anything to protect her.
With a powerful kick, Pei Yujang burst through the wooden door, rolling in smoothly to absorb the impact and entering the room in a near-perfect position.
The dimly lit room was damp and musty, far from the perilous situation she had anticipated. What she found was Liu Huanran lying unconscious on the floor.
The air was thick with the scent of aphrodisiac mixed with Omega pheromones. As Pei Yujang scanned the area, she spotted Yu Zhiwan tied to the bed, her mouth gagged, looking helpless.
After ensuring there were no traps on the floor, Pei Yujang cautiously approached. The moment she crouched down, the disheveled, flushed woman trembled and collapsed into her arms.