CH 26

Qi Han let the words echo in his ears for more than half a minute before he really figured out what they meant.

Fu Ge hadn’t taken out the rings because he was nostalgic for what they used to have. He was the only one who remembered the anniversary of the wedding that never happened.

Not only that, but his lover wanted to destroy the ring he had designed for him and give it to another man who had nothing to do with it.

Because that man had “extracted twenty tubes of pheromones” for him.

Now Qi Han really knew what it meant to make a wedding dress for someone else, to bear all the pain and suffering himself and then watch Fu Ge share every ounce of care and devotion with another.

But he didn’t even dare to tell Fu Ge the truth, nor did he have the qualifications to claim those twenty tubes of pheromones.

“If gege wants to give him a return gift, there are many other options…” His voice was muffled; he lowered his eyes and averted his gaze, trying to keep his tone as smooth as possible: “I can have someone prepare it now, and it will definitely satisfy you.”

He was humbled to the point where he would rather go to prepare a gift for Qi Chuan himself.

But the young Beta was adamant: “There is nothing more suitable than this.”

“……”

Qi Han took a deep breath, his crimson eyes almost bursting with blood, “But this is my ring, my wedding ring, the sketch book is gone, it’s the only memory I have left, I haven’t worn it, not once…”

Fu Ge sneered when he heard his words, “Haven’t you worn it?”

“Ah, it’s true that President Qi hasn’t worn it.” He lifted the quilt, stepped with his bare feet on the carpet and walked slowly and deliberately towards Qi Han: “Because I begged you to wear it many times when I was tortured to the point of delirium, and you brushed me off like a mangy dog.”

He held the loose diamonds in his hand, the sharp edges sticking in his palm: “Are those the pleasant memories that you were talking about?”

His heart was slashed to pieces and then soaked in salted water with chilli rubbed into it repeatedly. Qi Han’s thin lips were tightly compressed, and every breath caused him sharp pain.

He turned his head and exhaled, his voice trembling as he said, “You don’t have to provoke me with your words. I won’t agree.”

“I’m not asking for your consent!”

“I’m also just informing you.” Qi Han suddenly took a step forward and bowed to confine Fu Ge between his arms and the edge of the bed, “Give me the ring and I will prepare a suitable return gift for you.” His tone was clearly forceful, yet it seemed all the more pitiful: “Gege… please… leave it to me…”

The stoic and stubborn look, the innocent, moist eyes vaguely seemed to remind Fu Ge of the eighteen-year-old Qi Han when he was pestering him for love.

The young Beta’s gaze turned hazy, his already hollow eyes gradually becoming unable to focus. He hurriedly closed his eyes and pressed the diamonds into his palm once again, and when he opened his eyes, he quickly looked at the brooch hanging on the wall for a moment.

“Fine.” He grabbed the diamonds and the rings decisively, “In that case these pieces of junk are even more useless!” With a wave of his arm he threw the last memories Qi Han was guarding out of the window.

“No!”

His arm was intercepted in the air at the last second. Qi Han clutched his arm and pinned it to the bed, imprisoning Fu Ge’s entire upper body underneath him, gritting his teeth and questioning, “You didn’t want to give him a gift, nor did you want to use the diamonds to make some kind of tie clip, you just wanted to torture me, didn’t you?”

Fu Ge tilted his chin up, panting, and didn’t deny it.

The long-suppressed dark undercurrent in Qi Han’s eyes surged. He forcefully held Fu Ge’s wrists above his head, letting out a sigh.

“Gege, I know I’m wrong, I’m a bastard, I deserve to die, I’ll do my best to make it up to you. Torture me and punish me all you want, do whatever you want to me! But one thing: leave outsiders out of this.”

He cupped Fu Ge’s chin and forced him to look at him, expressionless like a snake watching its prey: “Did my repeated retreats give you the illusion that I would allow you to throw yourself at another man?”

Fu Ge’s response was to raise his hand and give him a loud slap: “We are no longer related! It’s my freedom to like whoever I want and to be nice to whoever I want!” 

Despite having no extra feelings for Qi Chuan other than gratitude, it didn’t stop him from taking pleasure in Qi Han’s expression, jealous to the point of madness.

The other man didn’t even dodge, waiting for him to finish slapping him and leaning to kiss his lips, “Then you can try!”

“Ugh! Let go, let go of me—”

Fu Ge pushed him violently, messy slaps landing all over his head and face. Qi Han clutched his wrist and pressed it down. His tears mingled with his breath, every movement full of despair and sorrow.

His mouth felt so bitter; he was about to catch the little Beta’s tongue and suck on it when he was suddenly bitten with a deadly force. Qi Han withdrew in pain, looking down to see Fu Ge staring at him with ruthless eyes, crimson blood staining his lips.

“Does President Qi want to do what happened in those fourteen days all over again?”

His fleeing sanity instantly returned. Qi Han’s scarlet eyes darkened. He got up and let Fu Ge go. “I’m sorry… I won’t do it, I said I wouldn’t hurt you again and I’ll do what I said. But Qi Chuan is different…”

He picked up the diamonds and rings from the ravaged quilt and continued calmly: “His pharmaceutical company is too fragile. As long as I withdraw its five-year right to sell drugs, it will be easily turned into an empty shell. I guess Qi Chuan won’t risk bankruptcy to collect your tie clip. Gege should prepare another gift.”

Fu Ge was silent, and for a moment actually only felt ridiculous, “So President Qi has come this far by avenging his personal grievances and abusing his power.”

Qi Han didn’t care anymore: “Thanks to him, this may become the first stain on my career.”

Fu Ge was not interested in flirting with him, his eyes unblinkingly staring at the things in the Alpha’s hand. 

Qi Han’s eyes were covered in a layer of fog, no matter how much he blinked, he couldn’t see anything.

“Do you really not want to give it to me that much?…” He asked despondently, adding, “I won’t take it for nothing, I have a gift for gege too.”

He took out a USB flash drive from his pocket and carefully placed it in Fu Ge’s palm. Fu Ge looked at him in confusion, not knowing what was there.

“This should be the thing that gege wants most.” Qi Han said, “It contains the recording from… those fourteen days, surveillance images from the entrance of the basement and photos of your wrist and ankle injuries.”

His dry lips twitched silently as he looked at Fu Ge, dropping the last sentence with difficulty, “This is all the evidence I have collected on my imprisonment and persecution of you. Gege can hand it over to the police at any time and I will arrange for a lawyer to help you.”

Fu Ge’s pupils suddenly shrank; he didn’t have time to hide the momentary doubt in his eyes, “Have you been saving for long? Or was it the last moment—”

Qi Han smiled and touched the tip of his nose, not answering where this evidence actually came from, only saying, “You want me to be punished so badly but don’t want to get your hands dirty, so I thought, gege should need these things very much.”

Fu Ge’s lips twitched, his throat was dry and tight, and his fingers hidden under the quilt trembled uncontrollably, “A Beta who is marked for life enjoys Omega’s rights protection by law. You imprisoning and torturing me is a felony that with eighty percent probability will result in-“

“Death sentence.” Qi Han finished his words lightly and added softly, “Then you can take my life as a matter of course. In this case, as a return gift, leave me the rings, can you…”

He said that he would give Fu Ge what he wanted.

Whether it was before those sins happened, or after the truth came out, the little Beta was the only boy he had ever indulged.

He didn’t know if Fu Ge would hand those things over, and when it would be if he did, so he made a desperate bet speeding up Fu Ge’s treatment process.

If he was sentenced to death in the future, Fu Ge would be free forever.

With a suspended death sentence, he could only hope to cure Fu Ge before then.

The little Beta looked at him with wide eyes, thinking for a moment that he had heard it wrong, “Are you… are you crazy? Giving me these things just for that pair of rings?”

“Right.” Qi Han nodded, spread out his palm and held the rings in front of him, pleading softly and gently, “I’ll help gege come up with the gift for Qi Chuan, but this really won’t do.”

“It’s something you don’t want anyway, and when I die I want them to be put in my ashes…”