Shen Qi was jolted awake by a piercing headache and the sensation of alternating between chills and fever.
When he opened his eyes, daylight was already flooding the room. The sunlight made his already red and swollen eyes sting even more. The ceiling seemed to twist and spin in his vision, and his throat burned as if it were on fire.
I feel so awful.
He fumbled for the phone on his nightstand. It was 10:15 AM, well past his clock-in time.
“Hiss.”
As he tried to prop himself up, a wave of dizziness hit him, and Shen Qi collapsed back onto his pillow. A stinging pain in his palm caught his attention, and he noticed a bandage on his right hand, with traces of dried blood along the edges.
Memories of last night were like shredded paper, with only a few blurry images flashing through his mind: the neon lights of the bar, Yu An’s worried face, the way Cheng Yanzhou’s jaw tightened as he held him, and that tearful plea: “Please, just love me.”
Shen Qi suddenly covered his face, his ears burning even hotter than his forehead.
Is it real? Or was it a dream? Did I really say something like that?
Shen Qi closed his eyes in despair. It was too humiliating. What would Cheng Yanzhou think? Would he find him laughable? Or something else?
Forget it, the more I think about it, the more my head hurts. I should just call the office to take leave.
Including today, this would be his third consecutive day of leave. He wondered if he would be criticized by his stern supervisor.
With mixed feelings, Shen Qi sighed and found Team Leader Wang’s number.
“Team Leader Wang, I am sorry.” Shen Qi dialed the call, his voice so raspy it startled him. As he spoke, he reached up to check the temperature of his forehead. “I have come down with a fever today, so I would like to take another day off.”
The sound of keyboard clicking came from the other end of the line. “President Cheng has already requested leave on your behalf.”
Team Leader Wang paused. “He said you were unwell. Come to think of it, how did he know you were sick? Are you and President Cheng very close?”
Upon hearing this, Shen Qi’s ears flushed inexplicably. He explained dryly, “No, we just happened to run into each other last night. He must have noticed it then.”
“President Cheng could tell you had a fever? Aren’t you a Beta? How could he tell?”
“Uh.”
“Oh, well, never mind. Get some rest. You have to come to work tomorrow no matter what; that report of yours has been delayed for a long time.”
Shen Qi let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly agreed. “Okay, thank you for your hard work, Team Leader Wang. I will hang up now.”
After hanging up in a hurry, Shen Qi dialed Yu An’s number, wanting to ask about what happened last night.
When the call connected, Yu An’s voice carried a thick tone of gossip. “Yo, is Mrs. Cheng awake?”
Shen Qi’s voice was hoarse. “Don’t mess with me. I blacked out from drinking. Last night, did he pick me up?”
“Who else?” Yu An sneered. “You were so drunk I couldn’t even lift you, so I had to ask your husband for help. Did he do anything to you?”
Shen Qi spoke in despair. “I don’t remember anything. At the bar, did I act normal?”
Yu An intentionally drew out his tone. “Back at the bar? You were crying and laughing. Then your man came to carry you away, holding you so tightly that I almost thought he was going to mark you right then and there.”
I am a Beta, how could I be marked?
Shen Qi reined in his thoughts, his fingertips unconsciously clutching the bedsheet, and asked, “What happened after that?”
“After that?” Yu An paused. “After that, he took you away. But wait.”
He suddenly lowered his voice. “Your husband’s pheromone concentration was terrifyingly high. Several Omegas in the bar were screaming and their legs were going weak on the spot. Tsk tsk tsk.”
Shen Qi lowered his eyes.
Yes, Cheng Yanzhou’s pheromones could make every Omega swoon, except for him, a Beta who couldn’t smell anything at all.
“So, are you okay now? Do you want me to come over and keep you company?”
Even though Yu An loved to gossip, he truly cared about Shen Qi’s feelings. If the guy surnamed Cheng had done anything truly harmful, he would be the first to stand up for Shen Qi.
“I am fine, I just need some rest.”
After a moment, Shen Qi added, “Yu An, I asked him for a divorce. On our anniversary.”
“Ah? Why are you only telling me now? How did he react? Did he agree?”
“No, he said that unless I die, I shouldn’t even think about divorcing him.”
“Son of a bitch, is he sick in the head?”
“Don’t say that about him.”
If hospitals had a department for lovestruck brains, Yu An would surely take his good friend, dear Shen Qi, to get checked out to see what on earth was going on in that head of his.
He rolled his eyes and said earnestly, “We can’t just sit around and wait for our doom. I was going to tell you that his concern for you last night didn’t seem fake, but since he could say something like that to you, how could he be a good person?”
He started to get worked up again.
“Besides, you have been so good to him. He is the one who has been in the wrong all along! How can he have the nerve to keep you tied to his side like that? Qi-zai, listen to me. I have handled plenty of divorce cases. If you have really made up your mind, I will do everything I can to help you get away from that jerk.”
After his rant, Yu An drank a large gulp of water in anger.
What is so good about a possessive, unreasonable, scum Alpha like him? Just because he has a nice face and a good figure? There are millions of handsome men in the world; it is not like he is the only option.
“Mm, I will think about it carefully. Yu An, thank you.”
Shen Qi’s voice sounded after a long silence. Yu An had nothing more to say, so after checking on him a few more times, they hung up.
When Shen Qi dragged his feverish body downstairs, the housekeeper was cooking noodles in the kitchen.
“Young master is awake?” The housekeeper wiped her hands and hurried over. “Mr. Cheng instructed me to make you a hangover soup, and also…”
“Was he home last night?” Shen Qi interrupted her.
The housekeeper’s gaze flickered for a moment. “Uh, after Mr. Cheng brought you back, he left.”
“He didn’t come back at all?” he asked softly, his heart filled with suspicion.
The housekeeper didn’t look up, continuing the lie Cheng Yanzhou had instructed her to tell. “No.”
Shen Qi sighed silently, took the breakfast handed to him by the housekeeper, and thanked her.
He ate the bowl of chicken soup noodles quietly, noting the hangover soup placed on the dining table. So, Cheng Yanzhou had left immediately after dropping him off, not returning for the entire night.
Was he angry because I got dead drunk?
Shen Qi thought again of the hangover soup Mr. Cheng instructed to be made, and felt a surge of melancholy.
Cheng Yanzhou was like this: distant, yet occasionally revealing a glimmer of warmth amidst his continuous coldness, making it impossible to fathom his true heart. If not for these fleeting moments of warmth, he wouldn’t be so pathetic, falling in love with someone who seemingly had no interest in him.
He took a sip of the hangover soup, and it seemed to ease his headache a little.
Shen Qi pondered again: if that were the case, perhaps the dialogue from his memory fragments last night was just a drunken dream.
As he thought this, he stared blankly at the bandage on his palm.
That is not right. If it were just a dream, why would there be an injury on my palm?
He tried to recall, but he couldn’t determine the truth or the timeline of those fragmented memories no matter how hard he tried. And whenever he thought back to those words, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed and disgraced.
Whatever. I will just treat it as a dream.