Nan Yi looked at the alpha’s back as he walked away, his expression dark, and turned toward the study.
He Yushen’s study door was open, and the room was empty.
His expression stiffened for a moment, and he quickly ran toward the stairs.
The butler had just returned from seeing off Nan Zhaimin, and the sound of someone running down the stairs made him look up.
“Mr. Nan,” he called out politely.
The anxious-looking man simply brushed past him without slowing down.
The butler followed him in confusion.
Wearing slippers, the Omega, who was covered in the alpha’s scent, rushed toward the villa’s main entrance. It was getting late, and the low-beam headlights of a black car were already on.
The person in front stumbled and nearly fell, one of his slippers slipping off. He did not seem to care at all. He did not even stop to pick it up and kept running toward the gate.
The butler frowned slightly and picked up the small, white rabbit slipper that had fallen on the ground.
It felt soft to the touch; it was not something from the villa.
Nan Yi stood outside the gate, staring blankly at the car disappearing around the distant corner.
He did not move until the butler approached and called out to him.
Butler: “Mr. Nan, please put your slipper back on.”
Nan Yi shifted his body and bent down to put on the soft slippers he had bought cheaply earlier that day.
After the butler crouched down to put the shoe back, he stood up and looked toward the corner. “Mr. Nan, if you miss your father too much, you can go back and visit him.”
Nan Yi’s eyes dimmed.
After saying this, the butler took out his phone’s memo page and handed it to Nan Yi.
He looked at the phone held out to him but did not move for a long time. Just as the butler, thinking he had nothing to say, began to retract the phone, the Omega reached out and gently took it, bowing his head to type.
The butler waited quietly by his side.
【Father, did he ask about me?】
The Omega’s cold eyes held a flicker of expectation. The butler’s expression became conflicted.
【I understand. Thank you for helping me pick up my shoe and for the phone.】
From the butler’s expression, Nan Yi received the answer he was looking for. He did not stand there waiting for a verbal response; he simply typed a new message and handed the phone back to the man.
The butler paused for a moment before taking it. “It was my duty; you are welcome.”
After he spoke, the Omega in the rabbit slippers had already walked past him back toward the house. His slender back, with his shirt fluttering in the evening breeze, looked excessively loose.
Perhaps it was the night air, but his thin, fragile silhouette looked somewhat desolate, and the butler could not help but feel a strange sense of sympathy for the Omega.
Nan Yi walked through the living room and slowly went upstairs. The atmosphere in the bedroom was heavy; the alpha sitting on the bed radiated a very low pressure.
He froze for a moment, then hesitated before stepping inside.
“Go and apologize to Xiaojing,” He Yushen said, frowning at the cold-faced Omega. He felt restless and slightly irritable, his body temperature rising.
Nan Yi stood at a moderate distance from He Yushen, quietly locking eyes with him.
As if reminded that the Omega before him could not speak, He Yushen became even more irritable, especially given those cold, distant eyes.
With a cold face, he stood up, walked straight to Nan Yi, grabbed his hand, and dragged him toward the door.
“If you cannot speak, surely you know sign language. Go and apologize.”
Nan Yi was forced to follow. He Yushen’s thick, calloused palm locked onto his wrist, making it impossible to pull away.
He Yushen, who was always crude when dealing with him, knocked gently and politely on Song Jing’s door. Nan Yi was led along and left standing outside the room.
“Is that Brother Shen? Brother Shen, please come in!”
A joyful Omega’s voice drifted from inside the room; one could tell just by the tone how excited the person inside was.
He Yushen pushed the door open. The person on the bed, who had been full of smiles, stiffened the moment he saw Nan Yi behind him.
Song Jing’s lips twitched rigidly, his smile turning artificial. “Brother Shen? Is there something Mr. Nan needs from me?”
“I brought him here to apologize to you.”
The Omega on the bed stiffened even more, followed by a triumphant smirk as he looked at Nan Yi.
Nan Yi met his gaze, kept his lips tightly sealed, and stood silently.
Seeing that Nan Yi stood there coldly without moving, He Yushen’s face darkened with displeasure.
“Are you deaf?”
The low, intimidating voice rumbled above him, but Nan Yi stood motionless.
He had taken his brother’s place at the He family home. He could silently endure He Yushen’s rudeness and cold words because he was the one who had deceived him.
However, Song Jing had used his inability to speak and He Yushen’s hatred of him to frame him. Nan Yi could not bring himself to apologize to such a petty person.
Perhaps it was because he had come to the He family, blocking Song Jing’s little schemes toward He Yushen, that led to this targeting.
But that was none of his business. If Song Jing were truly capable, the marriage between He Yushen and his brother, Nan Zhi, would never have happened.
“Cannot you hear me talking to you?”
Nan Yi’s coldness infuriated He Yushen. He gripped Nan Yi’s face tightly, forcing him to look up.
Only when he saw the flicker of pain in those cold eyes did He Yushen feel satisfied. He shoved the person aside in disgust.
Nan Yi stumbled a few steps, barely managing to keep his balance.
“Brother Shen, it is fine even if he does not apologize,” the person on the bed said understandingly. “Besides, Mr. Nan cannot speak.”
Red marks appeared on both of Nan Yi’s cheeks from the bruising grip. After steadying himself, he acted as if he were invisible, turning his head to stare blankly out the window.
“Do not go to school for the next few days while your foot is injured; rest well at home.” This was different from the tone he used when speaking to him.
Although it still lacked inflection, there was a hint of concern in his voice.
“Mm, okay.”
Even though it was summer, the room felt chilly with the air conditioning running at night. Nan Yi lifted his arms to hug himself, his eyes still fixed on the pitch-black sky outside.
“Then get some rest,” He Yushen said. He looked at Nan Yi, who was staring into space, noting the confusion and… loneliness in those cold eyes.
He frowned slightly and stepped forward, wanting to pull the Omega closer. But seeing the red ring around the slender, pale wrist, he paused, and his movements became gentler.
Nan Yi snapped back to reality and followed the alpha out with a blank expression. Since he was unusually obedient for once, He Yushen slowed his pace.
After returning to the bedroom, He Yushen went into the bathroom to wash up, while Nan Yi continued to sit obediently on the edge of the bed.
His hair had dried naturally, becoming soft, fluffy, and a bit messy.
When He Yushen exited the bathroom, that was what he saw: a “bird’s nest” atop the Omega’s head as he sat dazed on the bed like a little fool.
He curled his lips in amusement, walked over to sit beside him, and forcefully ruffled his hair.
“Do you want to know why Nan Zhaimin came to see me?”
His low, sexy voice sounded above him, and Nan Yi looked up, startled.
He Yushen looked into those bright, alert eyes, raised an eyebrow, and pressed him down onto the bed.
The Omega frowned, but he did not resist.
“Nan Zhaimin wanted a piece of land in the north. As for you…” He Yushen looked down at the person who, despite his fear, had not pushed him away and was listening intently. He toyed with a lock of Nan Yi’s hair and continued, “He told me to play with you however I like.”
Nan Yi felt as if his ears had gone deaf. He stared at the nonchalant alpha with wide, disbelieving eyes, tears already welling up.
“To think, you were only worth a piece of land.” He Yushen’s slender fingers traced Nan Yi’s flushed lips.
“For a project worth a few million, you, a low-quality Omega, are not being wronged.”
“Be obedient from now on, and I might keep you around for a while longer.” Although He Yushen was angry that Nan Yi and the Nan family had conspired to deceive him, he found Nan Yi’s scent acceptable.
Besides, such a little mute, abandoned by his biological father, pitiful, non-threatening, and still clean, would be perfect to keep around to help deal with his rut cycles. That was what He Yushen thought.