When an Alpha is Marked by One of His Own Kind

Chapter 34

After enduring a night of unspeakable dreams, Shen Qiao woke even earlier than usual the next morning.
When his consciousness returned, he kept his eyes closed for a long while, waiting to hear the sound of his alarm. But nothing came, and he finally lost his patience. He tightly furrowed his brows and felt around in bed until he brushed the edge of his cell phone.

Once he got his hand on his phone, he dragged it over and cracked open one eye to check the time.

7:30 AM.

He let out a putrid breath and chucked his phone onto the nightstand. It hit something with a thunk, but Shen Qiao didn't even look over to check what it had knocked down. He threw off the covers and sat up. He just sat there in bed for a while before finally trudging into the bathroom to wash up.

After cleaning himself up, Shen Qiao felt a little more refreshed. Before heading out the door, he went to the closet out of habit and started rummaging around for his swim trunks. But he paused halfway and closed the closet doors again.

That day, he left the room without his usual bag.

......

The light of daybreak scattered across the whole city. Shen Qiao stood by the side of the road with a bouquet of lilies. He hailed down a cab and climbed in.

"Shifu, to Beiyuan Cemetery."

The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, then spun the steering wheel and got them on the road.

Over forty minutes later.

The driver pressed down on the meter and read out the fare that popped up: "One hundred and twenty-three yuan."

Shen Qiao took out his phone and paid with WeChat. He opened the cab door and climbed out. The flowers he held had yet to fully bloom; the small buds bounced slightly, ever-so-slightly, as he walked.

With the bouquet in his arms, he approached the gate to check in. After showing the gatekeeper that he carried only the flowers, and no flammable items, he was admitted to the cemetery.

His black sneakers crossed the stone steps one by one. He followed a path he'd memorized to a familiar headstone.

Turn right. Go straight. Turn right again. Then, on the third level-

After passing four monuments, he saw the black and white memorial photo of a woman with cold, delicate features. Perhaps she'd taken on an overly formal expression for the photo. Her eyes, the corners of her lips, and even the set of her jaw were all especially cold in that image. When one saw that photo attached to a memorial headstone, a chill was likely to run through their bones.

This was Shen Qiao's mother, Shen Jinyi.

To be more specific, this was his adoptive mother.

Shen Qiao set down the flowers. He lifted a hand and rubbed his fingers over the tribute altar in front of the headstone. His fingers came away with a layer of dust and grit.

A faintly derisive look crossed his face before he met the gaze of the woman in the photo. His voice was just a touch hoarse as he started to speak:

"It would be such a simple thing to find someone to clean up here for you every so often. And Lu Chengzhen won't even do that much.

"If you were still alive now, you wouldn't let him walk all over you like this, would you? After all, Mom, you always strove to be the best. You refused to be second to anyone."

That was how she'd treated Lu Chengzhen, how she'd treated Su Qiongpei, and later... how she'd treated Shen Qiao.

Shen Qiao had forgotten to bring tissues. He could only wipe at the dust on the headstone with his hand. His clean palm was quickly stained an ashy gray. Shen Qiao didn't mind at all. He lowered his head to blow away the rest of the dust, then placed the lilies he'd brought on the altar.