Chapter 27: A Rain of Blood
Samuel kicked open the door to the luxury suite. Although the Alpha was carrying a load of anger, Jiang Zhaosheng still felt himself being laid down with great careâthe muscles in Samuelâs arms were tensed as if he were holding precious porcelain.
He patted the otherâs chest, signaling him to let go.
The private doctor arrived quickly, performed a detailed examination on Jiang Zhaosheng, injected some nutritional fluids, applied a cooling ointment to his eyes, and carefully wrapped them with a layer of pure white gauze.
The doctor reported the situation to Samuel in a low voice: his vision wasn’t damaged; it was a temporary consequence of a strong drug backlash and violent emotional fluctuations. He only needed quiet rest and to avoid strong light and stimulation.
“When will it recover?”
Jiang Zhaosheng tilted his head to listen, but unexpectedly, Samuel covered his ears.
?!
He heard nothing, and he gave a hard pinch to the back of the hand covering his ear.
He was so used to being pampered that he only remembered after pinching that Samuel had apparently witnessed his “aftermath” twice and was filled with a bellyful of angerâhis resentment might be heavier than a ghostâs.
Jiang Zhaosheng silently withdrew his hand, even somewhat obediently hiding his arms under the manâs suit jacket, pretending to sleep under this “blanket.”
Samuel waved for the doctor and subordinates to all retreat. The bedroom door closed, isolating everything from the outside world.
It was completely quiet now; only the two of them were left in the room.
Samuel stood by the bed, his tall figure casting a shadow that enveloped Jiang Zhaosheng, who was leaning against a large, soft pillow.
The anger in his blue eyes hadn’t completely faded, and his tightly pressed lips showed his extreme displeasure and fear for the aftermath. He could almost imagine the snippets of what had happened in the secret roomâthat strange coat, Jiang Zhaoshengâs sightless eyes, and his fragile expressionâevery one of them burned his reason.
But Jiang Zhaosheng couldn’t see it because of the bandage over his eyes. His long hair was spread across the dark red pillow, making him look beautiful yet fragile.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was just now?” Samuelâs voice had lost its usual vitality, suppressing his churning emotions. “If I had entered even a little later, if that person…”
He didn’t finish, but the meaning was self-evident.
Jiang Zhaosheng tilted his head slightly. The gauze blocked out the light and also made him lose the ability to judge Samuelâs expression, leaving him to rely only on sound and intuition. He was silent for a moment, and then, in an extremely faint voice that was almost inaudible, he said:
“…I know. Thank you for coming.”
All the prepared questions and anger Samuel had were instantly stuck in his throat.
He looked at the person on the bed in shock, almost suspecting he had heard wrong.
Showing weakness? Jiang Zhaosheng was actually showing weakness? The same Jiang Zhaosheng who, after being cared for and comforted, would only hit back with his sharp side, was actually using a… soft posture, admitting the danger and thanking him?
This caught Samuel more off guard than any response.
After a long while, Samuel finally found himself. He took a step forward, sat on the edge of the bed, and pityingly took his hand and pressed it to his cheek. Looking at that face that appeared even smaller under the white gauze, he asked in disbelief:
“What did you… just say?”
Jiang Zhaosheng seemed a bit uncomfortable, moving his hand slightly but unable to pull it back.
So he turned his face to the other side, avoiding the manâs heavy gaze, and repeated his words more clearly than before:
“Thank you for coming in, Samuel.”
Another silence followed.
Then, Samuel suddenly gave a low chuckle:
“……Youâve really changed a lot.”
He reached out, his fingertips pityingly brushing through the otherâs black hair scattered on the pillow, feeling the strands flow through his fingers like cool water.
“Stellina, have you become a mother these past few years?”
Samuel “took advantage of the situation” to weigh some of the long hair. The moment their lips touched, he couldn’t help but chuckle lowly:
“How did you suddenly become so compassionate?”
Although Samuelâs address was unintentional, Jiang Zhaosheng still furrowed his browâhe never accepted the word “mother” being called out by anyone other than Jiang Wan.
“Don’t make that kind of joke, and don’t call me that,” Jiang Zhaosheng said, looking at him by intuition with his blind eyes. “Stellina… if you like that name so much, Iâll just give it to you……”
“Are you just realizing that now? In the past, if I dared to call you ‘Stellina,’ youâd dare to pull a gun and break off our friendship the next second.”
Samuel followed the leadâfollowed it so much that he was even somewhat overly attentive, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
He leaned in close, his warm breath brushing against Jiang Zhaoshengâs ear, and in a lingering, flirtatious tone that Jiang Zhaosheng was familiar with, he said slowly:
“Alright, Zhaozhao.”
Jiang Zhaosheng: “……”
He felt a wave of powerlessness, and the brow under the gauze furrowed even tighter.
“……Don’t call me that either.”
Jiang Zhaosheng wanted to criticize Samuel for saying the name so vulgarly. Why could others call him that normally? But on second thought, the person who called him “Zhaozhao” lately also seemed to have ulterior motives.
“Zhaozhao.”
“Why?” Samuelâs voice was full of obvious success and playfulness, as if he had turned back into that pestering Italian youth. “Zhaozhao, Zhaozhao……”
“Or, tell me, how do you want me to call you?”
His hand fell boldly, touching Jiang Zhaoshengâs face very quickly.
Jiang Zhaosheng felt as if he had been burned, turning his head abruptly, instinctively thinking it was a kiss and breaking out in a cold sweat.
Samuel ignored his resistance, gripping his hand tightly, then finally releasing the palm after a long while, cupping his hand. Jiang Zhaosheng was about to pull it back when he suddenly felt a warmth on the back of his hand.
“I won’t kiss you secretly, Zhaozhao.”
“Stop it.”
Jiang Zhaoshengâs tone took on the cold hardness of losing patience, but right now, the gauze over his eyes covered his sharp brows, and the paleness of his skin also masked the prominence of his nose bridge, leaving only a pointed chin and full, fleshy lips, which greatly reduced his deterrent power.
“No,” Samuel gripped it tighter, his thumb even going as far as to lightly stroke the skin on the back of his hand. “Unless you promise to be with me.”
“No.” Jiang Zhaosheng refused flatly.
“âOr you call me ‘amore’ once, and Iâll shut up immediately and let go obediently, how about it?”
Amoreâthe Italian word for “lover.”
His jaw tightened a bit… it seemed he hadn’t reached the point of being extremely angry; he could be a bit more excessive.
Jiang Zhaosheng didn’t know that Samuel had already evaluated his conclusion in his heart, and he still refused with a stiff tone:
“……Don’t even think about it.”
“Then you can only listen to me call you that, Zhaozhao.”
Samuel laughed pleasantly, as if the previous anger had never existed.
In the standoff, Jiang Zhaosheng suddenly stopped struggling. He seemed to have given up, or perhaps remembered something, as he turned his face toward Samuel, and the hand being held also suddenly relaxed.
Just as Samuel thought he had finally run out of patience and was about to beg for mercy, he heard Jiang Zhaosheng curl his lips at him in a casual, even somewhat contemptuous tone:
“Ciolo.”
The word landed, and Samuel felt his heart pierced by an invisible bullet, as treasured memories came rushing from his heart.
Time wound back to many years ago, on a sunny afternoon.
Samuel Esposito, still young at the time, had used all the family resources he could to finally capture that elusive trail.
His “Stellina”âJiang Zhaoshengâwas making a short stop in Florence.
Samuel had carefully selected his look, changing into the clothes he thought best showed his charm, combing his hair impeccably, and holding a bouquet of fiery red roses. Like a green youth, he blocked the other personâs path, expressing his burning admiration to a “kidnapper.”
In that quiet alleyway leading to the Ponte Vecchio, cast in shadows by ancient buildings, he saw that figure.
Jiang Zhaosheng was walking alone at a slow pace, several strands of his black hair fluttering in the warm breeze, reminiscent of something soft like a dandelion. The young manâs face appeared even colder in the interlacing light and shadow. His star, wearing a simple shirt and trousers, was one in ten thousand; just by passing by, he could turn the ancient and heavy scenery into his background.
The pigeons were startled by the manâs footsteps, and the sound of the birdsâ wings alerted Jiang Zhaosheng.
There was an untamed, beast-like sense of intuition in the youth. When he met his emerald-like eyes, Samuelâs impression of him became even deeper.
“Buon pomeriggio, Stellina,” Samuel said with confidence as he approached the alert youth. “Forgive my presumption. The night I spent with you made me understand what it feels like for a soul to be burned.”
Before him, Jiang Zhaosheng stood in the warm sunlight, his whole body exuding an air of keeping people at a distance. Regarding Samuelâs appearance and flowery wording, those cold emerald eyes didn’t show a flicker of emotion.
That gaze was high and mighty, as if born with detachment and scrutiny. Combined with an angelic face that seemed like a favorite of the Creator, it was enough to make most people feel ashamed under his gaze.
But Samuel didn’t care; the light in his blue eyes grew even brighter:
“Please don’t doubt my sincerity. The Esposito family never makes promises lightly, but once decided, it is eternal. I……”
The beautiful youth seemed to have finally lost his patience. Or rather, he had never had any to begin with.
Samuel didn’t even manage to finish his sentence.
A strong, scorching gust of air brushed past his cheek, and then, the bouquet of roses in the suitorâs arms exploded.
Fiery red petals burst out like blood, flying all over the sky.
In the rain of petals falling all around, Samuel saw the beautiful youth put away his gun and give him an extremely light smile. With a flick of his long eyebrows, the word he spoke was:
“Next time we meet, be careful with your head.”
“Ciolo.” (Little brat)
That bullet seemed to have brought a love that burned away his reason.
Jiang Zhaosheng didn’t look back, walking straight out of the mouth of the alley.
Samuel bent down, picked up a bullet from the petals all over the ground, and gripped it tightly in his palm. It was as if he had lost all sensation; even though it burned his palm, he didn’t realize it.
He knew he had completely fallen. “Ciolo,” the youthâs figure, along with the Florence sunshine, the smell of gunpowder, and the remains of the roses from that afternoon, was deeply etched into his very marrow.
Years later, in the luxury suite.
That long-lost address seemed to carry the gunpowder and floral scent of back then, hitting him accurately once again.
The astonishment, failure, and unwillingness of that moment, along with the burning love that had never been extinguished but had instead grown more violent, were awakened by a single word, hitting his nerves like a tsunami.
Samuel sat at the head of the bed as if hit by a lightning bolt, his hand holding Jiang Zhaoshengâs instinctively loosening.
Jiang Zhaosheng successfully withdrew his hand, his face expressionless, ignoring his massive reaction and silence.
Samuel stared at him for a long time before raspy opening his mouth:
“……You truly are…… completely unchanged.”
He was still the one who could easily make him collapse completely and surrender willingly.
Jiang Zhaosheng didn’t answer, turning around to face away, burying himself deeper into the soft pillow.
Samuel didn’t leave.
He still sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze complex as it fell on that section of white neckâit was smooth and flat, without any trace of an Alphaâs marking, only a faint,čĽćčĽć sweet fragrance lingering there, like the base note of a high-end womenâs perfume, lingering and ambiguous.
Samuel had covered Jiang Zhaoshengâs ears, so he hadn’t heard the private doctorâs words:
Once this scent appeared, it meant that Jiang Zhaosheng was still trapped in a pseudo-heat. Only when the fragrance completely dispersed would he be truly “clean.”
As for how to make the sweet scent dissipate… it was just as the man under the table had done in the living room.
Even if he can accept a stranger at a party, heâs not willing to let me solve it? Samuel clenched his fist, and his palm seemed to feel a phantom pain again. He longed to tear away the current mask of peace and confirm the personâs existence in the most direct wayâto get close to him, to possess him, to trap the person between his arms so that those emerald eyes could only reflect his own image.
“Who is he?”
He stared at the person on the bed who was facing away from him, seemingly trying to use silence to escape everything. The sweet fragrance lingering at his nose reminded him every second that tonight, on his territory, there was someone else……
Someone else had also smelled this scent… and touched him.
“The doctor said your heat hasn’t completely receded. This fragrance… is the proof.”
Samuel leaned forward, his arms propped on either side of Jiang Zhaoshengâs pillow, forming a highly oppressive posture of envelopment. His pheromones leaked out unconsciouslyâonly when an Alphaâs possessiveness was extremely strong would they do this, trying to cover the sweet fragrance that made his soul yearn.
Unfortunately, Jiang Zhaosheng wasn’t an Omega and didn’t react to his pheromones at all, much less lose his reason.
“Zhaozhao, the one who ‘helped’ you tonight… who was it?”
Jiang Zhaosheng still faced away from him, remaining silent. Just as Samuel thought he wouldn’t answer, he heard him ask back softly in a tone carrying a trace of subtle hesitation:
“Which one?”
Samuel felt the string of reason in his body snap from those three light words.
Jiang Zhaosheng hadn’t actually intended to provoke him. He was just completely immersed in his own thoughtsâthe address that man had left, the next meeting… the darkness brought by the gauze isolated the outside world, and regarding Samuelâs questioning, he had given his current thought without thinking.
Which. One.
Meeting… that address…
It wasn’t until his shoulders were turned by an irresistible force, the large silhouette of Samuel appearing blurred before his eyes, and he felt the other personâs almost tangible anger that Jiang Zhaosheng came to his senses blankly.
âIt seemed he had said the wrong thing.
……Oh no.
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