After an Alluring Alpha Provokes an Unhinged Omega 40

Chapter 40: Palpitation

Jiang Yuying pushed open the hotel door. The dull ache and burning sensation in her chest made her want to escape this temporary shelter and breathe in the air outside.

Zhao Jia was in the next room and should be fast asleep by now. These past two days, Zhao Jia had worked hard to take care of her. Afraid of worrying her, she had only dared to move after she returned to her room.

At the end of the corridor, the silver metal doors of the elevator happened to open.

She walked in and pressed the button for the ground floor.

Her body hadn’t fully recovered, and her legs were still a little weak, but the long-term “idol” discipline prevented her from relaxing against the inner wall of the elevator car.

She let out a long breath, trying to exhale all her chaotic thoughts.

The elevator doors hadn’t closed yet when a figure suddenly appeared in her line of sight. Before she could see clearly, the elevator doors opened.

The air was instantly filled with a clear, cool pine scent.

Tan Zhaoxin’s gaze paused. She was no longer a stranger to Jiang Yuying now.

Her gaze landed on Jiang Yuying’s sickly and tired face, her tone steady, “Going out?”

She might have felt that this was not appropriate for their relationship. They were not familiar with each other.

Tan Zhaoxin added, “I mean, are you okay?”

Jiang Yuying saw the person clearly. For a moment, she remembered being pulled up by the woman with one hand in the private room of the bar in a daze. Although she couldn’t hear what she had said to the people around her, that firm tone had become a reassuring presence in a certain dream.

She was grateful to Tan Zhaoxin.

“President Tan.” She already knew Tan Zhaoxin’s identity. After a weak greeting, she nodded. “Just getting some air. About last night…”

But Tan Zhaoxin didn’t press further. She stepped to the other side. Just as the elevator doors were about to close again, a hand with brightly painted nails suddenly reached in, forcefully blocking the closing doors.

The hurried sound of high heels hitting the floor rushed in, along with a flamboyant, almost pungent smell of perfume.

“Zhaoxin! Why are you walking so fast?” Maddy’s tone was coquettish, with a deliberate complaint. When her gaze swept over Jiang Yuying leaning in the corner, it was as if she were sweeping over an unsightly wall, her eyes full of vigilance.

She rushed to Tan Zhaoxin’s side in a few steps. The tip of her high heel stumbled uncoordinatedly as she turned, and her elbow, with considerable force, slammed into Jiang Yuying’s arm.

Jiang Yuying, who was already enduring her discomfort, was caught off guard. The impact made her body sway violently. A wave of nausea rose in her stomach, and a weak dizziness made her lose control and fall to the side.

A hand with distinct knuckles, as fast as lightning, firmly caught her.

Tan Zhaoxin’s brow furrowed slightly. Her movements were decisive. She took a step in front of Jiang Yuying.

“Why are you pulling her?” Maddy’s expression instantly changed from contempt to a mixture of shock and anger, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “You know each other?!”

Her voice rose eight degrees, and her gaze immediately pierced the woman behind Tan Zhaoxin. “You can fall even when you’re standing properly? Are you doing it on purpose?”

“That’s enough, Maddy.” Tan Zhaoxin’s voice was not loud, but it had the penetrating power of an ice needle. “Watch your tone.”

Maddy sneered in anger. “I should watch my tone?”

Her exquisitely made-up face looked a little ferocious. “I haven’t even asked you! Why are you so nervous and protective? Where did you pick her up from? Does President Tan now specialize in rescuing these half-dead people?”

Her harsh words were like poison.

Tan Zhaoxin narrowed her eyes, her gaze landing on her face with extreme pressure. “The same words, don’t make me repeat them a second time. Maddy, I don’t want to make things too ugly, unless you really don’t want to part on good terms.”

Maddy’s chest heaved violently, clearly choked by this merciless warning.

She stared at Tan Zhaoxin, then shot a fierce glare at the face that was hidden behind her, which was almost just a pale silhouette.

After a few seconds of suffocating silence, her high heel stomped heavily. “Fine! Tan Zhaoxin, you’re good!”

She slammed the nearest floor button, squeezed out the moment the elevator doors opened, and then disappeared at the end of the corridor in a fit of anger.

In the elevator, there was suddenly only a cold silence, and soon, the faint hum of the elevator descending again in the awkwardness.

The pungent smell of perfume in the air had not yet dissipated.

Tan Zhaoxin glanced at the still-panicked Jiang Yuying, then took two steps away, resuming a polite distance. She turned to look at her, her voice calm, with a hint of imperceptible apology, “Sorry.”

She shouldn’t have appeared here again. This time, her little bit of soft-heartedness for Maddy had also completely disappeared.

Jiang Yuying endured the discomfort in her stomach, took a breath, and stood firm, trying to make her voice sound smooth. “It’s okay. President Tan, about the bar, I haven’t had a chance to thank you yet. Thank you so much.”

Hearing this, Tan Zhaoxin looked at Jiang Yuying in front of her and suddenly fell silent. Her gaze lingered on her face for a moment, and she hesitated between Jiang Yuying’s forced expression and her obvious weakness.

The elevator indicator light was flashing with numbers.

Just as the air was about to freeze again, Tan Zhaoxin suddenly spoke. Her voice was purely objective, even with a hint of professional inquiry and scrutiny:

“Miss Jiang, I have a question that might be a bit impolite.” She paused, then said something shocking, “You don’t have a habit of using drugs, do you?”

Jiang Yuying suddenly looked up, her pale face filled with astonishment and complete confusion. Her eyes, which had been occupied by fatigue and physical discomfort, were now a blank slate.

“…Huh?”

The cold metal wall of the elevator reflected Tan Zhaoxin’s unnatural face. She pursed her lips. It was indeed a strange question. It was just that the few times she had seen Jiang Yuying, she hadn’t looked very healthy.

She looked at the exaggerated expression on Jiang Yuying’s face from being caught off guard. That “huh?” sounded clear and helpless in the small space.

After a low cough, her gaze deepened. Tan Zhaoxin imperceptibly looked away, hiding the embarrassment in her eyes, as if the shocking question just now was just a casual remark.

“It’s nothing. I misspoke,” she said. “As for helping you, you should thank Yan Wei.”

The elevator doors opened at the right time, reaching the ground floor lobby.

Tan Zhaoxin raised her hand to block the door frame, gesturing for Jiang Yuying to go first. The gesture was gentlemanly but also created an invisible distance.

Jiang Yuying was still in a daze. The discomfort and the shock of the abrupt question were mixed together. She pursed her pale lips and said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

Suddenly, Tan Zhaoxin called out to her again.

“By the way, if you want to thank her, you’d better have Jiang Mi do it.”

Jiang Yuying opened her mouth. Although she didn’t know what Tan Zhaoxin meant, she still nodded. “Okay.”

After replying, she walked out before Tan Zhaoxin.

Tan Zhaoxin watched the woman’s thin and slightly unsteady back disappear into the crowd at the lobby entrance before slowly taking out her phone.

She thought to herself, Is it appropriate for her to go out alone so late?

But she didn’t think too much about it. Her fingertips slid across the screen, and without any pause, she directly dialed a number.

The ringing tone sounded in the receiver.

A few seconds later, the other end picked up, but Yan Wei didn’t speak.

On this end of the line, Tan Zhaoxin got straight to the point, “How have you been these past two days?”

From the receiver, Yan Wei’s breath seemed to be unsteady, but her tone was even colder, as if it had been quenched in ice. “Is something the matter?”

Tan Zhaoxin: “Just asking.”

“No need.” The displeasure in Yan Wei’s tone almost burst through the microphone.

Tan Zhaoxin shrugged on the other end of the line, but she also immediately heard the strangeness in Yan Wei’s tone. It wasn’t just anger or resistance; it seemed to be mixed with some kind of physical discomfort.

“Yan Wei.” Tan Zhaoxin became a little more serious. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

Yan Wei was silent on the other end. That silence seemed to foreshadow something about to go out of control.

Yan Wei: “I’m hanging up.”

“Wait a minute.” Tan Zhaoxin stopped her, her words coming out a little faster. “There’s something. About the minor from before, the girl’s mother is unyielding and a bit extreme. There might be some minor trouble recently. Just so you know.”

As Tan Zhaoxin spoke, she clearly heard the sudden, heavy, and rapid breathing from the receiver.

The breath was short and chaotic, as if she were trying to calm something down, or as if some unbearable pain had suddenly intensified.

“Yan Wei?” Tan Zhaoxin’s voice completely sank. “Are you… sick?”

The response she got was the cold, busy tone of the call being cut off.

In the top-floor suite, the pressure was terrifyingly low. Yan Wei was leaning against the sofa, the brilliant lights of the city flickering on and off beside her.

The ominous heat in her body surged up like a fire, enveloping her limbs. Every breath was like inhaling scorching sand.

A hard-to-describe soreness arose from the depths of her muscles, and a feeling of weakness seeped out from the cracks in her bones. Her head was also extremely heavy.

The feeling of disgust in her chest and the physical discomfort were intertwined. Her throat was extremely dry.

Anxiety.

A kind of anxiety mixed with physical pain.

Her fingertips subconsciously swiped and lit up the screen. A full twenty minutes had passed since Jiang Mi’s call.

She hadn’t come yet.

A nameless fire suddenly shot up, burning her nerves.

What was worse was that her body was also starting to feel wrong—the stuffy heat was overflowing from the depths of her bone marrow, and the strength in her limbs seemed to be instantly drained, leaving her limp and powerless.

For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she was cold or hot, only that she was covered in moisture.

She urgently needed some comfort, even if it was just for a moment.

Yan Wei let out a heavy, scorching breath. Her gaze fell on the desktop. She walked over, each step like stepping on cotton.

She grabbed the half-empty bottle of Scotch whisky on the table. The amber liquid tilted and poured into the thick-bottomed glass.

She almost chugged it down. The spicy, pungent liquid squeezed into her mouth, and the sharp stimulation briefly numbed the suffocating stuffiness.

With a crisp sound, the empty wine glass slipped from her fingers and smashed on the marble table.

The sharp sound of the collision echoed in the empty room.

At the same time, the doorbell rang.

In this extremely quiet room, it was particularly piercing.

But the world instantly became quiet again, as if only her own slightly heavy breathing was in the silent room.

Yan Wei dragged her heavy steps, almost stumbling to the door.

The moment the door opened, the cool light of the hotel corridor flooded in. In the halo of light, Jiang Mi’s figure was clearly reflected in her eyes.

A black trench coat wrapped around her slender figure. Her bangs were damp from the outside air, falling on her smooth, full forehead, unable to hide her clear, clean, yet undeniably anxious eyes.

Jiang Mi just stood there, holding a paper bag.

She seemed to be still carrying a hint of the cold night air, completely different from the stuffy, scorching air in the room.

Yan Wei’s state also made Jiang Mi’s brow furrow slightly—fine beads of sweat covered her temples, and her face was an unnatural flush.

Almost subconsciously, Jiang Mi’s hand had already reached out.

The moment her fingertips touched that scorching skin, her heart sank.

Yan Wei also shivered. The sudden touch made her break out in a cold sweat, and a rash appeared on her arm.

“So hot?” Jiang Mi withdrew her hand, her tone anxious. “Have you taken your temperature?”

Yan Wei looked at Jiang Mi. The fatigue of her body made her extremely irritable. She turned to find something to support herself.

Seeing this, Jiang Mi knew that Yan Wei hadn’t done this. She frowned and muttered, “Why didn’t you? You’re burning up.”

She subconsciously walked into the room. “There’s a thermometer in the first-aid kit from last time.”

Jiang Mi was about to find the drawer where the thermometer was kept.

Then, remembering something, she turned to pull Yan Wei, wanting her to go back to her room. Yan Wei’s wrist tightened. She lowered her eyes and glanced at it, but silently turned her body and walked to the sofa with slightly unsteady steps.

Then her back sank heavily into the soft sofa.

Jiang Mi stood there for a moment, then remembered that the last time she was here, Yan Wei had also been like this, resistant to sleeping in the bedroom.

She remembered that Mo Yun seemed to have said that Yan Wei didn’t like to sleep in the bed in the room.

She didn’t have time to think too much. She restrained her unnecessary movements, bent down, and picked up a blanket from the side, gently shook it open, and then covered Yan Wei with it.

Her gaze inadvertently swept over the coffee table. The empty tall glass caught Jiang Mi’s eye. There was still a hint of dark red liquid at the bottom of the glass.

“You’ve been drinking?” Jiang Mi blurted out, her voice filled with even more worry. “Then… it’s hard to say if you can take cold medicine.”

Jiang Mi said in a low voice, sitting down on the sofa next to Yan Wei while taking out her phone, preparing to ask someone.

Just as her fingertips touched the cold phone case, suddenly, a warm body heavily, and without warning, leaned against her.

Yan Wei leaned against her back from the side. The heat that was steaming from the inside out, through the fabric, burned her skin. She stiffened slightly.

“Are you very uncomfortable?”

Jiang Mi maintained a calm surface, turned her head, and asked in a low voice, her voice a little dry.

No response.

Only Yan Wei’s slightly heavy, abnormally hot breath brushed against the back of her neck in waves.

Jiang Mi quickly swiped on her phone screen, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper as she looked.

“Teacher Yan, how could you drink? You can’t take cold medicine right after drinking…”

Yan Wei’s heart was beating, so strong and yet so fragile. She listened to the sound of her own breathing, listened to Jiang Mi’s anxious words.

It was different.

Every time she was sick, there were many people who cared about her, whether it was Tan Zhaoxin, Surui, or others…

The feeling of them caring for her was different.

She closed her eyes. Her body was still so uncomfortable, but her nerves were slowly relaxing.

The breathing in Jiang Mi’s ear seemed to have lightened a little. She turned her head slowly and carefully supported Yan Wei’s shoulder, letting her lie flat on the sofa.

Then she quickly walked into the bathroom. The cool water flowed over her fingers, and then she wrung out the towel.

Jiang Mi returned to the side of the sofa, half-knelt down, pushed aside Yan Wei’s damp hair, and gently placed the cool towel on Yan Wei’s sweaty forehead, carefully wiping it.

The coolness seemed to bring a hint of comfort, and Yan Wei’s brow relaxed a little.

“My body is uncomfortable…” Yan Wei’s eyes were closed, her voice low and slurred, as if suppressing some surging discomfort.

Jiang Mi understood. The towel in her hand moved down, along her sweat-soaked, slender neck, and landed on her exposed skin.

The moisture from the towel took away some of the sticky, hot sweat, but it wasn’t enough.

“Wipe inside…”

Yan Wei’s voice sounded again, with a scorching breath and a hint of unquestionable command.

Jiang Mi’s wiping motion instantly froze, as if she were being held by an invisible hand. Her fingertips tightly gripped the wet towel, and the three words “wipe inside” made her not react.

Just now, she had no thoughts at all. In this instant, her gaze uncontrollably swept over Yan Wei’s body. Today, Yan Wei was wearing a soft, knee-length casual dress.

The neck was one thing, but if it were her body…

Jiang Mi’s gaze was as if burned, and she quickly looked away from Yan Wei.

“You’ve touched it all before. What are you afraid of?” Yan Wei’s tone became irritable again, her hot and humid expression very impatient. As if threatening, she called out her name, “Jiang Mi.”

She was very weak. Although it was a threat, in Jiang Mi’s ears, it sounded like a coquettish tone.

Jiang Mi: Am I really crazy?

Jiang Mi paused for a few seconds, and finally, as if she had made some kind of decision.

She bit her inner lip, and her hand carefully reached under the thin blanket, landing on the edge of the dress at Yan Wei’s calf. The thin blanket was arched up into a small arc by her movement.

Jiang Mi’s fingertips were cold, carrying the moisture from the towel. Extremely slowly, and with extreme caution, she explored the skin under the hem of the dress, trying to wipe away the sweat that was covered by the fabric.

In the faint rustling of the fabric.

Yan Wei felt a sudden coolness and an unintentional touch. A very light gasp escaped her throat, and her body tensed imperceptibly.

The thin blanket, with Jiang Mi’s movement, and the hem of the dress, which was lifted into a wrinkle, bulged up at her waist, an unignorable mark.

Just Yan Wei’s voice was enough to make Jiang Mi feel a wave of heat, uncontrollably surging up from the depths of her body, and her cheeks were also faintly hot.

She suspected that she was also running a fever.

This thought, along with the familiar sofa under her, suddenly pulled her back to that same hot night—at that time, what echoed in her ears was also this suppressed and heavy breathing, with a heart-palpitating wetness…

“What are you thinking?”

Yan Wei’s low, hoarse voice sounded without warning, so clear in the silent space where only their breaths intertwined, like a shock.

Jiang Mi’s wiping motion came to an abrupt halt.