Chapter 106 Chapter 106. The Unwanted Visitor
"Mr. Valerius, you and Zephyr are the same at your core." Zoria said slowly, her voice turning cold. "I can’t just escape a tiger’s den only to throw myself straight into a venomous snake’s mouth."
To put it bluntly, Zephyr was trash—and Lysander was not much better. Why should she ever choose one piece of garbage from a pile of garbage?
A cold glint flashed through Lysander’s blazing golden eyes. He flicked the cigarette away and crushed it under the toe of his boot. He understood Zoria’s meaning all too well. This fanged little rabbit clearly despised him, even lumping him together with Zephyr as the same kind of man.
Zoria watched as Lysander rose and walked toward her. He stopped right in front of her, backlit, his face swallowed by shadow, an oppressive darkness clinging to him. She forced herself to swallow her fear and did not step back.
A low, soft chuckle brushed past her ear. The sense of danger in her mind exploded in an instant. A cold hand clamped tightly around Zoria’s wrist. She struggled, but couldn’t break free, and was instead yanked straight into his chest, his arm locking firmly around her waist.
His face lowered, stopping less than a centimeter from hers. He looked at her with mocking eyes and said, “Zoria, I’m much better than Zephyr.”
The corner of his lips curved upward. His eyes were heavy and dark, like a night choked with storm clouds, not a single star in sight. Just as Zoria thought he might actually do something to her, Lysander suddenly let go, stepped past her, and headed for the door.
His lazy voice drifted back. “Get some good rest. I’ll come see you again in two days.”
The door closed. By the time Zoria came back to herself, her back was icy cold.
Lysander was terrifying. She hadn’t expected him to break his promise and find her hiding place so quickly. Did she really have to move again? But she had already paid a deposit, and the lease wasn’t up yet. If she checked out early, she would lose that money.
…
The moment Lysander stepped out of Zoria’s room, the stench outside hit him head-on, making his stomach churn. This place was truly unfit for living. Yet inside her room, there had been no smell at all. When he got close to Zoria, he had even caught a faint, gentle fragrance on her body, a very “Omega” kind of scent that made his instincts hard to restrain.
It seemed he truly liked Zoria.
Zephyr sat in the corner against the wall, having drunk quite a bit. He leaned back, swayed as he stood, then staggered downstairs in a half-drunk, half-awake state.
He walked to the door of Zoria’s bedroom, went inside, and collapsed straight onto the bed. Out of habit, he reached to the side, trying to pull her into his arms, but his hand touched only cold emptiness.
“Zoria, come here, let me hold you for a bit…”
A cold draft swept through the room. Zephyr shivered, sobering up by half. He opened his eyes wide and looked around in a daze. The room was empty. There was no one there.
Suddenly, it hit him. Zoria had ended their bond a long time ago.
He had thought getting drunk would help him forget her, but instead her image only grew clearer in his mind. It felt as if a huge hole had been torn open in his chest, icy wind pouring straight through, growing colder and sharper until his heart felt frozen solid.
Zephyr clutched his head and curled up into himself. A month of pent-up longing erupted all at once. He rolled off the bed, went into the living room, grabbed his phone, and dialed the number he had recited silently hundreds of times.
The phone rang for a few seconds before the other side finally picked up.
“Hello?” Zoria’s gentle voice came through the phone.
Zephyr’s eyes burned instantly. Countless words clogged his throat, and he couldn’t force out a single one.
“Zoria, I…”
There was silence for a few seconds. Then Zoria hung up decisively. The busy tone sounded through the phone, almost making Zephyr break down. He stared bitterly at the phone in his hand, then immediately dialed again. Just as he had expected, she had blocked him.
He only wanted to hear her voice once, just once. He wanted to say, “I miss you so much.” Yet she wouldn’t even give him the chance to say that much. At last, Zephyr tasted the full bitterness of rejected love.
A dull ache spread through his chest, as if something were gripping his heart tightly.
Zoria had been busy all day and collapsed onto her narrow bed, falling into a deep, heavy sleep. A sudden phone call came through, and half-asleep, she fumbled to answer it. The moment a familiar voice reached her ears, she snapped fully awake.
Zephyr? Why did he keep clinging to her like this?
Grinding her teeth, Zoria yanked the phone away from her ear and hurled it straight into the trash.
Her sleep was light to begin with; now it was impossible to fall back asleep. She stared at Hamburger, who was sprawled at the foot of the bed, fast asleep. Her eye sockets throbbed, and an unshakable bitterness welled up in her chest.
That night, Zoria barely slept at all. In the morning, she dragged her exhausted body out of bed, washed up, brushed her teeth, and made breakfast. After eating, she held her phone and searched for jobs. She had already submitted more than a dozen CVs online, yet there was still no response. She could not help but suspect that someone was quietly sabotaging her.
Just then, the roar of a power drill exploded outside the door, instantly shattering her train of thought. The soundproofing in this building was terrible; the drilling felt as if it were pounding right next to her ears, so loud it made her snap with irritation. Hamburger was startled too. He let out a few low growls toward the door, then darted under the sofa to hide.