Chapter 2
Xu Jinnan finished her earnest explanation, then looked up to see Shen Shu’s expression that clearly said, Keep pretending. She felt rather awkward.
Words alone were insufficient, but a hospital could provide proof.
Lost in thought, Xu Jinnan felt her hand empty. Shen Shu had pulled away, supporting herself against the cool tiles with uneven breaths. She was clearly unable to stand, much less lean on Xu Jinnan.
Xu Jinnan asked, “Shall we go outside?”
Shen Shu’s fingers twitched. Xu Jinnan guessed she was still wary of the two Alphas barging in earlier, so she added, “You need to rest now. But if you don’t want to stay here, I can have someone take you wherever you want to go. Or do you want to contact someone yourself?” The Omega before her was still easily startled. Though she maintained her composure, her body unconsciously leaned against the glass door, almost at a right angle.
She felt incredibly unsafe.
Therefore, each of Xu Jinnan’s sentences was phrased as a question, leaving the decision entirely in Shen Shu’s hands.
After a few seconds, Shen Shu finally spoke, her soft voice still laced with suspicion: “You’ll really let me leave?”
This time, Xu Jinnan didn’t reply. She turned, opened the bathroom door, rummaged through her bag for her phone, and held it out to Shen Shu from a safe distance. “Don’t worry. I said I wouldn’t hurt you, and I won’t.”
Rest was paramount for an Omega during their heat, and Shen Shu certainly wouldn’t find any peace here.
Xu Jinnan glanced over, meeting Shen Shu’s scrutinizing gaze. After a moment of eye contact, Shen Shu took the phone but didn’t react immediately.
Xu Jinmnn looked away, bending down to pick up the clothes from the floor. The gold thread on the wedding robe shimmered under the bright light. Glancing at the forcibly torn buttons, she now recalled the red marks on Shen Shu’s neck.
Xu Jinnan tossed the robe into the trash.
It was the first time she’d been treated with such wolf-like suspicion. She shook her head helplessly.
Walking into the bedroom, she heard a sound from the bathroom behind her.
The Omega’s voice was a little hoarser than before, amplified in the empty bathroom. Xu Jinnan paused her search for clothes.
Less than half a minute later, the call ended.
Xu Jinnan stood still, Shen Shu’s silhouette visible through the frosted glass. She was slightly hunched, but her outline remained distinct, even more captivating in the hazy light.
But at this moment, Xu Jinnan, as an outsider who had read the first half of the novel, felt an inexplicable complexity.
In Savage Lover, Shen Shu was adopted, but raised like a treasure by her maternal grandmother until her death. Only then did she return to the Shen family.
But by then, Shen Shu’s adoptive parents already had their own biological son, a rare S-class Alpha in this world, and naturally looked down on Shen Shu. However, they discovered another use for her – Shen Shu’s beauty and talent could bring them business advantages.
They were greedy and selfish, which was why the original Xu Jinnan could so easily manipulate them.
Yet Shen Shu… chose to sacrifice her own happiness for them, bowing her head not only for them, but also for her deceased grandmother.
This was why, in the novel, Shen Shu didn’t immediately leave the original Xu Jinnan after that night. However, it all served as a turning point for Shen Shu’s eventual fiery rebirth.
But the current Shen Shu couldn’t see that far ahead, still clinging to hope for the Shen family.
In this frightened and helpless state, in unfamiliar surroundings, the first people Shen Shu thought of were still the Shen family, that sliver of familial connection.
Xu Jinnan casually threw on a jacket, then grabbed a beige trench coat and walked out. Standing a safe distance away, she said to Shen Shu, “I’m leaving now. Change the passcode yourself. As long as you don’t want anyone here, no one will come again.”
There was no response from inside the bathroom. She tentatively took a step closer, finally able to see inside.
Shen Shu hung her head, lips tightly pressed together. Her slightly wavy black hair fell loosely around her, a few strands resting on her collarbone, the thin straps of her camisole precariously perched on her shoulders.
Xu Jinman touched her aching neck, the area around her scent gland slightly protruding. A strange, unfamiliar sensation spread through her body. Although it was painful, it wasn’t as agonizing as before, but rather a sense of release, like overcoming an obstacle.
Before she could process it further, Shen Shu collapsed like a kite with a broken string.
Xu Jinnan’s heart leaped. She rushed forward, catching Shen Shu just before she hit the floor. Her back slammed against the tiles with a thud.
She coughed twice, brought back to her senses by the burning in her chest. Shen Shu’s pained breaths against her felt like they were seeping into her skin.
Xu Jinnan noticed the temperature of the skin beneath her fingertips rising rapidly. Even more perplexing, the Omega pheromones in the air intensified again.
“Shen Shu!”
…
Shen Shu felt like she was burning up, her body no longer her own. Her pheromones were completely chaotic, every part of her aching and trembling.
Though a sliver of consciousness and reason remained, she couldn’t bring herself to move away from Xu Jinnan…
In her hazy state, she was enveloped by the scent of sunshine, the scent of Alpha pheromones.
She realized with despair that Xu Jinnan had tricked her again. The suppressant was fake, the promise to let her go was fake.
Of course, Xu Jinnan was an Alpha. How could she have an Omega suppressant? It was all a lie!
Hell awaited her.
Why was her life like this?
She was not resigned to this fate.
…
Xu Jinnan sensed something was wrong. Shen Shu was worse than before, and she heard several pained whimpers.
The suppressant should have worked. She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t effective on Shen Shu.
She frowned, calling out a few more times without a response, then glanced around, unable to find her phone.
Xu Jinnan held Shen Shu’s shoulders and helped her up, her gaze falling on Shen Shu’s face. The Omega looked like a beauty trapped in a nightmare, brows furrowed, cheeks flushed, and long lashes glistening with tears.
Was she crying?
Xu Jinnan’s brows knit together. She couldn’t bear to see a girl cry.
The proud and strong protagonist of the book was shedding tears in her presence. How much pain must she be in?
Xu Jinnan put an arm around Shen Shu’s shoulders, slipping her other arm under her knees, intending to carry her to the sofa before looking for her phone. As she moved, she felt something digging into her lower abdomen.
Looking down, she saw her phone nestled amongst the folds of the discarded wedding dress.
As she reached for the phone, Shen Shu stirred. Xu Jinnan froze, the unbearable excitement and suppression prickling through every pore of her skin. She forced it down.
Outside the window, the night was pitch black, but her insides felt like they were being scorched by the sun.
The pain in her scent glands intensified, as if a pump was constantly inflating them. Just when she thought her neck would explode, the discomfort suddenly vanished…
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but Shen Shu’s breathing seemed to ease slightly.
Without time to think, Xu Jinnan scooped Shen Shu up and placed her on the nearby sofa, then grabbed her phone and dialed.
In this world, every district had specialized hospitals for Alphas and Omegas, with emergency departments further categorized by S, A, B, C, and D levels.
S-class Alphas and Omegas, representing only 0.1% of the ABO population, received the highest level of care.
Xu Jinnan, a failed Omega, barely qualified for C-level.
However, she wasn’t worried about the response time. The Xu family was the biggest investor in the hospitals across both the North and South districts.
Everyone knew how much Xu Jinnan’s parents doted on her. Frankly, she was treated like royalty.
After the call, Xu Jinnan searched the room but couldn’t find any scent blockers. She did find a pheromone neutralizing spray in the bedroom. It could dissolve some of the pheromones in the air. After closing all the doors and windows, she sprayed it everywhere.
Xu Jinnan turned her attention back to the sofa. The high fever had Shen Shu drenched in sweat, her face flushed like a ripe peach, but her rose-colored lips were dry and matte.
Xu Jinnan suddenly felt thirsty herself.
After drinking a full glass of water, she filled another with warm water and walked over to the sofa, sitting beside Shen Shu. Her slender, pale arm reached across Shen Shu’s damp back, helping her sit up.
Shen Shu’s vision was blurred by a reddish haze, her body feeling like it was pressed against a steaming sponge. She wasn’t sure if this was dangerous, only that she felt endlessly uneasy…
The glass of water approached her lips. A moment later, Xu Jinnan laid Shen Shu back down.
By now, Xu Jinnan was covered in sweat again. A thought struck her, and she looked down at the Omega on the sofa.
Xu Jinnan went to the bathroom and wrung out a warm washcloth, gently wiping the sweat from Shen Shu’s face. As she reached her jaw, her movements abruptly stopped.
A shimmering trail of water traced a path from the corner of Shen Shu’s lips, down her jawline and neck, finally trembling to a stop at her collarbone.
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