TPLTMOE - Chapter 26

Ling Ran slept deeply, so soundly that within less than two hours, he found himself tangled in a series of bizarre dreams.

At one moment, he was being chased and torn at by ferocious beasts; the next, he was thrown into an icy cellar in the dead of winter. Finally, he was adrift in an endless ocean, where shadowy figures paced the shore, their hands pushing him back under the waves every time he struggled to climb out.

He floated amidst the briny tides, lost and suffering, unsure where the currents were carrying him.

Then, someone reached for him again. This time, he hesitated to take their hand—only to be abruptly lifted from the freezing depths and pulled into an embrace...

Ling Ran jolted awake with a sharp inhale, disoriented until he realized he wasn't drowning in the sea but nestled in a warm, comforting hold.

He shifted slightly, his legs numb from being spread apart for so long. A hand slid down to gently knead his calves, the touch so soothing that Ling Ran's eyes fluttered shut again in contentment.

Jiang Zhiyu, noticing he was awake, set aside the documents in his hand and glanced at Ling Ran's gland. The bite marks from earlier hadn't yet faded.

The person in his arms seemed embarrassed, their earlobes flushed crimson, their voice soft and small: "I... I want to get down..."

Jiang Zhiyu loosened his grip, and Ling Ran immediately wriggled out of his embrace, steadying himself by holding onto the table nearby.

He couldn't remember how he'd ended up sleeping in the man's arms—his last memory was in the bathroom, where he'd apparently bared his scent gland and begged to be bitten...

It was far too embarrassing.

Now he felt somewhat better, though his scent gland still tingled slightly. When he reached back to touch his nape, the area felt swollen and numb.

"Feeling better?" Jiang Zhiyu asked.

Ling Ran covered his neck and nodded gently. "Much better, thank you..."

"Let me see your hand."

Ling Ran obediently extended his bandaged hand. Jiang Zhiyu lifted the gauze to inspect it—the thin cut had faded to a narrow red line. "Come here."

He walked to the bedside to fetch ointment, and Ling Ran followed.

"Avoid getting it wet these two days," he said as he applied the salve to Ling Ran's palm, then glanced up at the young Omega. "Your scent gland too."

Ling Ran nodded. "I know."

Watching the man's lowered brows as he tended to him, Ling Ran felt no pain from the wound in his palm before it was freshly bandaged. For a fleeting moment, Ling Ran had the illusion that he was a cherished treasure being cradled in someone's hands.

Ling Xu had dragged him around all day without noticing his injury.

After applying the ointment, Jiang Zhiyu wiped the residual slickness from his fingertips. When he straightened to look at Ling Ran, his presence naturally exuded an irresistible intensity.

Now was the time to ask what he hadn't earlier: "Why did you come to me?"

Like a child caught misbehaving, Ling Ran hung his head, fingers nervously twisting the hem of his clothes.

"I... I..."

He bit his lip lightly before speaking slowly: "I didn't want to go back."

He'd spent the entire afternoon alone in his room, doing nothing but staring blankly out the window.

His thoughts were tangled, racing through countless things.

When he saw the cruise ship slowly entering the bay in the distance, his heart had begun pounding uncontrollably.

As expected, upon returning, his parents first scolded him harshly. Ling Ran had intended to confess about his plans to interview at Jiangzhou, but before he could find the right moment, his father declared that he'd disgraced the family and would need to reflect on his actions after returning home—they'd find him another marriage partner soon enough.

The words Ling Ran wanted to say stuck in his throat. He knew no amount of pleading would make his parents approve of his final interview or his internship at Jiangzhou. The unfairness stung—why was he the one repenting after the broken engagement, while Jiang Shengyi, the actual wrongdoer, faced no consequences?

Moreover, with the engagement barely called off, his parents were already matchmaking again. Ling Ran felt only fierce resistance, accompanied by an inexplicable wave of panic and anxiety.

Certain he'd burst into tears if he stayed in that room any longer, he'd ignored his parents' calls and run away without looking back.

Their presence was too cold and oppressive, nearly suffocating him.

But this was an isolated island surrounded by sea—nowhere for him to go. Perhaps influenced by pheromones, or maybe because only one figure surfaced in his mind, before he realized it, he had already knocked on the suite's door.

"Did you tell your family?" Jiang Zhiyu asked.

Ling Ran quickly lifted his head. "No, I don't want them to know. So... can you not tell anyone I'm here?"

Jiang Zhiyu saw the plea in his eyes and nodded in silent agreement before asking, "Did something upset you?"

His body still carried the other man's pheromones, and the question was spoken in a deliberately softened tone, sounding almost gentle.

If no one had asked, Ling Ran would have swallowed his grievances in silence. But freshly marked and with his wounds carefully tended to,

a surge of overwhelming bitterness welled up in his chest, his eyes instantly brimming with tears.

Yes, he had suffered a lot.

No one had asked. No one had cared.

Only Jiang Zhiyu asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ling Ran fidgeted nervously with his fingers, unsure if Jiang Zhiyu truly wanted to listen or if he'd grow annoyed at being used as an emotional dumping ground.

But Jiang Zhiyu kept watching him, his dark eyes steady and powerful, as if capable of soothing all unrest.

Ling Ran tentatively began, "They... they didn't want me to study journalism or work in media..."

"They said the broken engagement was mostly my fault, that I needed to reflect...

"And they... they said..."

They would find him another marriage prospect.

But Ling Ran couldn't bring himself to say it. His head hung low, as if he truly believed all of this was his own doing.

Jiang Zhiyu lifted his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Then what do you think?"

Ling Ran had never been asked for his opinion so earnestly before. His eyes misted over, unsure how to respond.

Would anyone really care about what he thought?

When he didn't answer, Jiang Zhiyu suddenly withdrew his hand.

Ling Ran's head swayed slightly forward from the sudden lack of support. The touch had been comforting, and deep down, he longed to be closer—to be held in his arms again.

But that hand had retreated without hesitation.

His grievances swelled further, his lips trembling as he fought back tears.

"Don't know how to say it, or don't want to?" Jiang Zhiyu pressed.

Ling Ran turned his face away, unwilling to let him see how close he was to crying.

The agave pheromones in the air seemed to thin, and without their soothing presence, Ling Ran grew restless and agitated, his fingers nearly tearing at the edges of his clothes.

This subconscious gesture reflected the anxiety brewing within him.

Jiang Zhiyu brushed the back of his hand against Ling Ran's forehead, checking for fever before asking, "Feeling unwell?"

Ling Ran nodded, instinctively wanting to nuzzle against his hand but missing the touch.

"A little... uncomfortable..." Ling Ran murmured. "Mr. Jiang, could you... give me some pheromones?"

Jiang Zhiyu was deliberately restraining his pheromones. He knew the young Omega wasn't in heat—just clinging to his scent as a comforting crutch.

"Answer my question first," he said.

Ling Ran's voice wavered slightly. "W-what question?"

Dark eyes pinned him in place. "Your thoughts."

It was as if he wouldn't get what he wanted unless he answered.

Being interrogated like this for the first time, it felt like the most hidden corners of his heart were being pried open and scrutinized. He wasn't used to baring his emotions, nor was he comfortable exposing his vulnerabilities.

Yet the pain, grievances, and frustration that had been festering inside him for so long suddenly cracked open. The facade of composure and strength shattered, revealing the tender flesh beneath.

Tears spilled down Ling Ran's cheeks as he covered his eyes with his hands. "I... I don't want to get married...

"I'm their child too... Why do they always use me for their own gain?"

"Can't I... have dreams of my own?"

He wept bitterly—not from physical discomfort, but from the anguish in his heart.

He had never broken down like this in front of anyone before. But then again, Jiang Zhiyu had already witnessed him at his most humiliated more than once.

One more time wouldn't make a difference.

As he cried, Ling Ran gradually felt himself enveloped in a warm, overpowering wave of pheromones. Jiang Zhiyu still looked down at him imperiously, but he handed over a handkerchief and ruffled his hair—a gesture laced with reassurance and encouragement.

"Feel better after letting it out?"

Ling Ran wiped his tears with the handkerchief. Having vented his emotions and received the calming pheromones, denying relief would be a lie.

He nodded with a muffled "Mm," then added, "Thank you... for taking me in."

Jiang Zhiyu arched a brow. "Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?"

Ling Ran lifted his red-rimmed eyes, studying him for a moment before answering softly, "I trust you. You're not."

Jiang Zhiyu's gaze flickered over his damp lashes before settling on his lips—redder than his tear-stained eyes. The plump, abused lower lip had been bitten into a swollen shade of crimson, slightly pouty and impossibly soft.

Ling Ran clutched the handkerchief and ducked his head. "I'll go wash my face."

With that, he fled into the bathroom like a startled rabbit.

Jiang Zhiyu pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. He grabbed a bottle of ice water from the fridge, downing half of it before returning to his study to resume reviewing documents.

When Ling Ran emerged, he had rinsed the silk handkerchief and left it to dry in the bathroom. His eyes were still faintly red, but his spirits seemed lighter.

He hovered at the study door, peeking inside. Seeing Jiang Zhiyu absorbed in work, he hesitated, not daring to disturb.

Just as he turned to leave, a voice called out, "Come in."

Ling Ran approached the desk, where Jiang Zhiyu handed him a freshly printed stack of documents.

Ling Ran skimmed through the table of contents, his eyes gradually widening in surprise.

Body structure, hormone secretion, pheromone categories, eight genders, common diseases, marking types, pregnancy symptoms, gestation cycles...

"Your physiological knowledge is probably limited to what you learned in school," Jiang Zhiyu said. "These are medical textbooks—more comprehensive. There's an introduction to pheromone-related illnesses inside. You might want to focus on the parts relevant to you."

Ling Ran nodded obediently. "Okay."

Holding the documents, he sat down on the nearby sofa and prepared to start reading.

The distance between them wasn't far—just enough for their two pheromones to mingle and blend together.

Surrounded by the warm, intoxicating pheromones, Ling Ran found himself adapting surprisingly well, even though the alcoholic scent was now much stronger than when he'd first encountered it.

His body was gradually adjusting and accepting it.

"Ask if you don't understand anything."

"Mhm, I will," Ling Ran replied with a soft smile. "Please focus on your work."

He turned the pages gently, careful not to disturb Jiang Zhiyu.

He flipped to the chapter introducing pheromone-related illnesses first. After a quick scan, he realized there were so many conditions he'd never even heard of before.

His own case was a combination of pheromone dependency and glandular-reproductive cavity developmental atrophy syndrome. The documents didn't cover these two conditions together, so he kept flipping until he found a chapter specifically about overwriting marks. "An enigma can inject their pheromones into an Omega who has been temporarily marked by an Alpha, completely purging the Alpha's pheromones from the Omega's system. This process is called overwriting a mark."

"Methods of overwriting include: single overwrite, multiple overwrites, permanent overwrite, and periodic overwrite."

"Single overwrite refers to an enigma injecting a large quantity of pheromones into the corresponding Omega all at once. When the concentration of enigma pheromones accumulates rapidly in the Omega's body, the overwrite can be completed in one session."

"Multiple overwrites refer to an enigma injecting pheromones into an Omega in batches over a certain period."

"Permanent overwrite refers to replacing a temporary mark with a lifelong one. The enigma and Omega undergo knotting and fertilization, after which the previous temporary mark becomes invalid..."

Before he could read about periodic overwrites, Ling Ran abruptly snapped the document shut with a loud "thud."

The text was accompanied by vivid, explicit illustrations—far too graphic for his comfort. His face burned crimson, his mind involuntarily conjuring up scenarios that made his cheeks feel like they were on fire. Unconsciously, his gaze drifted toward Jiang Zhiyu.

The Alpha male in the illustrations was tall, muscular, and impressively endowed.

But the man sitting behind the desk, though only the contours of his arms were faintly visible beneath his black dress shirt, clearly possessed an even more powerful and well-defined physique.

Ling Ran had lain on top of him before—he knew Jiang Zhiyu's body far surpassed the illustrations.

In every aspect.

As he stared, Ling Ran suddenly realized he'd overlooked a crucial detail.

Overwriting marks were something enigmas did to Omegas. He was indeed an Omega, so that meant Jiang Zhiyu...

Was he actually an enigma?!

Ling Ran's eyes suddenly widened—he had always assumed Jiang Zhiyu was an alpha, never considering any other possibility.

The enigma gender was something he'd only read about once in a book, and in reality, enigmas were as rare as phoenix feathers.

Jiang Zhiyu noticed his gaze and abruptly glanced over.

Ling Ran, as if caught red-handed, immediately averted his eyes, blushing as he feigned composure and lowered his head to continue reading.

A few pages back, he found the section introducing the enigma gender.

"An enigma's pheromones are typically of an excessively high level. If they choose an alpha as a partner, through repeated temporary or permanent marking, they can catalyze the alpha into a pseudo-Omega, making them the most suitable mate..."

"If they choose a beta as a partner, they can also use their pheromones to stimulate the development of the beta's scent glands and reproductive cavity. Through knotting and fertilization, the beta's chances of conception can be increased..."

"If they choose an Omega as a partner, the risks are too great, and it is generally not recommended..."

Before Ling Ran could finish reading the rest, a sharp knock at the door startled him.

Jiang Shengyi's voice came from outside: "Open up, it's me!"

Ling Ran's expression froze for a moment. He hurriedly stood up, the documents on his lap scattering to the floor.

"Don't panic, stay calm," Jiang Zhiyu said, watching him. "No one knows you're here."

But Ling Ran couldn't fully relax. Hearing Jiang Shengyi's voice instantly brought back memories of that dimly lit room filled with the scent of snow and pine.

If he were to take another compatibility test now, he wasn't sure whether his pheromone match with Jiang Shengyi would still be 100%. But one thing he was certain of—he now despised everything about Jiang Shengyi, including his snow-pine scent.

"Mr. Jiang," he said, "can I hide in the bedroom for now?"

"Go ahead."

Ling Ran quickly slipped into the bedroom, shutting the door tightly behind him.

Jiang Zhiyu released a bit more of his pheromones, nearly masking the lingering grape scent, then walked over to open the door.

Jiang Shengyi still had bandages wrapped around his head. The moment the door opened, he was hit by the overpowering scent of tequila, making him grimace. "Locking yourself in during broad daylight with pheromones this strong—did someone piss you off, Uncle?"

Jiang Zhiyu's expression remained cold. "Seems like you've cleaned up your mess, if you have the time to come here just to say that."

Jiang Shengyi's gaze darkened, but he didn't dare truly lose his temper in front of him: "My old man said he'd step in to handle the fallout. Right after returning to Haishi, we'll convene a board meeting where everything will be settled."

Jiang Zhisong had largely withdrawn from subsidiary affairs these past two years, but after being outmaneuvered by Jiang Zhiyu in the Southeast Asia project, he had to intervene—otherwise half of the second branch might be lost.

"West Harbor will collaborate with the Tang Group. Go tell your father that those old fossils on the board won't be able to help you. Don't overreach," Jiang Zhiyu smiled faintly, "or you'll get your hands chopped off."

Something seemed to occur to Jiang Shengyi, making the hairs on his back stand on end.

The Tang Group had been expanding aggressively lately, almost to the point of overextension. The Jiang Group had been eyeing Lania Harbor for quite some time, and Jiang Shengyi knew Jiang Zhiyu had long wanted to get his hands on this bay. What's more, he'd always looked down on Tang Bei and Tang Jun, this father-son duo—so why suddenly propose cooperation now?

"What exactly are you plotting?" Jiang Shengyi's skin prickled painfully, but he still raised his voice to ask, "Everyone knows West Harbor is prime real estate! Haven't you considered that if this backfires, tens of billions could end up in the Tang family's pockets?!"

"This is headquarters' decision," Jiang Zhiyu said indifferently, giving him a sidelong glance. "Since when do you have the right to question it?"

"You—!"

Jiang Shengyi was left speechless. Throwing out a final remark—"I'm done with this! I'm taking a boat back to shore tonight—you all can play your games however you like!"—he stormed off in a rage.

Jiang Zhiyu paid no heed to his warning. He'd known from the start that Jiang Zhisong wouldn't sit idly by this time.

After closing the door and returning to the room, he entered the bedroom to find the little Omega sitting on the edge of the bed, a hand covering the gland at the nape of his neck.

His collar had slipped askew in the movement, revealing swathes of milky-white skin.

His face was flushed beyond belief. Glancing at the man standing by the door, he called out pitifully, "Mr. Jiang..."

"I... I don't feel so good..."

<<Chapter List