The grand ballroom was a sea of shimmering silk and rhythmic movement. As the orchestra began a sweeping waltz, the center of the room cleared as couples stepped forward.
Qixian's eyes scanned the crowd, the sharp silhouettes of tailored tuxedos cut through a sea of floor-length gowns—some shimmering with modern metallic beadwork, others draped in minimalist satin that caught the light like liquid. In the center of the room, the blur of navy, deep emerald, and classic black pulsed in time with the music, making the sheer scale of the event feel both intimate and overwhelming, through the gaps in the moving crowd, his eyes found the one person he was most desperate to avoid.
Yichen.
The Enigma in his tailored black suit and silver mask has captured a lot of guests, including Qixian. He was leading a young woman, a daughter of some influential conglomerate, onto the floor. Their movements were effortless, a display of grace and power that held the room captive, his back to a velvet curtain.
Qixian retreated into the shadows, his pulse thrumming with a restless energy typical of an annoyed Omega.
From the safety of a dark corner, he watched Yichen guide the woman onto the floor. The man's hand rested on the small of her back with an ease that made Qixian's jaw tighten. Against the backdrop of the dancers, Yichen looked like a master of the room, every step is a maneuver of grace and social dominance.
Qixian shifted further behind a decorative pillar, his analytical mind already dissecting why the sight annoyed him so much. It wasn't that he wanted to be in her place—at least, that's what he told himself—it was simply the sheer arrogance of that effortless glide. He remained a statue in the periphery, eyes fixed on the man he loathed to love, making sure the crowd remained the only thing between his gaze and a direct, soul-baring confrontation
'Why am I even looking at him?' Qixian hissed to himself, his own pheromones reacting to the sight of Yichen's closeness with another. 'He's just playing a part. We both are. Tsch.'
In his attempt to retreat further from the dance floor, Qixian was caught in a surge of guests moving toward the buffet. He was shoved sideways, stumbling through a set of heavy drapes through a side door and into a dimly lit service corridor.
He was about to turn back when a familiar, cold voice froze the blood in his veins.
"Is the secretary secured? I don't want any 'accidents' before the announcement," his mother's voice drifted from around a corner, stripped of its usual public sweetness. "He'll make it to the stage soon. Make sure the guards at the factory don't move until the announcement is finished," his mother's voice whispered, sharp as a razor.
"Don't worry, Mother, he's in the north basement of the old garment factory, I made it really hidden," Jin Rou replied, his tone chillingly intimate. "Once Qixian breaks that engagement and cleans my name, Chengli will be... disposed of. We can't have witnesses to our methods.'"
Qixian leaned against the cold stone wall, his breath coming in shallow gasps. "Mother?" 'My own mother—the woman who had watched me since my childhood—was conspiring with Jin Rou to dispose of me? But I did everything I could to be as perfect as they wanted and now I found out that they are together? Why? Do they hate me so much?... No... My mother, Jin Rou is her child, but not my father's...'
He wanted to barge in and confront them so bad, but he couldn't waste a second on grief. He pulled out his phone, shielding the light with his black suit.
"Yanlan. At the north basement of the Zhou family, old garment factory. You're brother was there, save him before I could make the announcement, tell me once it's done, thank you," he whispered the moment she picked up.
"On my way. Thank you, Qixian, I won't let you down." she replied, the line going dead with a sharp click.
___________________
Yanlan had made a move immediately, not wasting any more seconds.
As she reaches the factory, the old garment factory was a rotting husk of rusted steel and broken glass. Inside the north basement, four guards stood around a chair where Chengli was bound and gagged. They were laughing, tossing a coin to pass the time, until the heavy iron door was kicked off its hinges with a thunderous CRACK.
Yanlan stepped into the room, her heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete. The guards scrambled to their feet, reaching for batons, but they stopped dead as a wave of pure, crushing Alpha pheromones hit the room like a physical hammer. Her eyes were glowing a fierce, sharp gold.
"How dare you," she whispered, her voice vibrating with a power that made the lightbulbs overhead flicker. "How dare you touch my little brother."
One guard lunged at her, but Yanlan didn't even raise her hands, her eye color just simply glowed. She unleashed a sharp wave of her pheromones—a scent like ozone and orchid-like that hit the room like a physical explosion.
The guard's knees buckled. He hit the floor, retching as his nervous system buckled under the sheer weight of her dominance.
"Foolish," Yanlan sneered, stepping over his convulsing body. She seized the second guard by the throat and threw him across the room into a stack of wooden crates as if he weighed nothing. "Did you truly think your pathetic B-tier Alpha status would protect you from me?"
She moved through the remaining guards like an enraged eagle, her movements a blur of pure violence. Within seconds, the room was silent, save for the groans and gasping of the broken men on the floor.
She reached Chengli, slicing through his ropes with a pocketknife.
"You're here," Chengli wheezed, rubbing his bruised wrists. "How did you find me?"
"Qixian told me,"
"I think you should just carry me," Chengli chortled.
"Shut up and move," Yanlan replied, though her eyes softened for a fraction of a second. "We have to hurry and get you to hospital, your daughter is very worried."