“Because…”
“A hibiscus emerging from clear water, naturally crafted without adornment.”
The Alpha’s voice was faint as he recited the poem once.
Under his brush, layers upon layers of petals gradually became lush and full, clustering together one by one with slightly curled tips and stretching branches.
The colors transitioned from deep to light, smudging across the canvas—blooming grandly and majestically upon the Omega’s fair, slender shoulder.
Lu Siyan’s skin was the finest parchment.
When Xiao Yanxiu painted, his focused gaze fell entirely upon the side of the Omega’s shoulder. In his line of sight, the slightly upturned corners of his brows carried a hint of handsome heroism.
It made one unable to resist wanting to trace his silhouette with their fingertips.
The hibiscus, primarily bright red, made the clear and elegant Lu Siyan appear much more flirtatious. Especially that look in his eyes—rippling like water—it added a touch of seduction to those round, innocent eyes.
“How is it?”
After the final stroke was outlined, Xiao Yanxiu put down the brush. The man seemed to be waiting for his praise.
Lu Siyan did not dare to meet his gaze. His eyelashes trembled slightly as he averted his eyes: “I… I can’t see it.”
The Alpha laughed. He used his fingertip to lift the Omega’s chin, carefully admiring him from every angle before sharing his own perspective.
“Vivid and fragrant…”
They were very close; their hearts were almost pressed together. Xiao Yanxiu tilted his head slightly, his breath intertwining and lingering with the Omega’s warmth.
Lu Siyan snapped his eyes shut, his heart racing.
An ambiguous atmosphere diffused into the surroundings. Just as the two were slowly drawing closer, their lips about to touch, a chaotic commotion suddenly erupted from downstairs.
The butler rushed over, knocking forcefully on the door: “Sir, Sir!”
“The little ancestor of the Rong family has arrived.”
“She says she must see you today no matter what.”
Someone had arrived—and it was the little granddaughter of the Rong family, who was of equal social standing and shared an engagement with Xiao Yanxiu.
Lu Siyan’s heart tightened instantly. He recoiled sharply, pulled back to reality from the subtle atmosphere as if he had been dealt a harsh slap by a bystander.
He struggled to get up from the man’s embrace to dress and find a wardrobe to hide in, but Xiao Yanxiu pressed him back into his arms with a firm grip.
“What are you afraid of?”
Seeing that the person downstairs was about to burst in, Lu Siyan, in a moment of desperation, buried his head into the Alpha’s chest, hiding his face securely.
Rong Xiyun, wearing purple high heels and clutching the hem of her French princess dress, stormed into the study aggressively.
“Xiao Yanxiu!”
The female Omega’s voice carried a sharp edge.
The moment she entered, she saw the Alpha unashamedly holding an Omega sitting on his lap.
Their collars, cuffs, and fingertips were all smudged with paint.
There was also a large patch of crimson, rounded petals climbing from the shoulder toward the Omega’s spine.
Lu Siyan’s fingers gripped the man’s shirt collar tightly. His body could not help but tremble slightly.
Rong Xiyun reacted quickly.
She whipped out her phone and took a flurry of photos of the two.
While snapping pictures, she cursed: “Truly shameless.”
The moment the insult left her mouth, Xiao Yanxiu clearly felt Lu Siyan’s body stiffen for half a second.
The bodyguards from downstairs arrived a step late. Not wanting to use brute force, they were “inviting” the young lady downstairs with semi-compulsion.
Xiao Yanxiu raised his hand slightly, and the crowd released her.
The man’s expression was cold and stern as he tapped his finger heavily on the desk in front of him: “Shameless?”
The Alpha spoke with gravity to rectify his Omega’s name: “This person is my lawfully wedded wife, with whom I have registered a marriage certificate.”
“The two of us are in our own home, behind closed doors. Whatever we choose to do has nothing to do with outsiders like you.”
“As for you, Miss Rong—breaking into a private residence in the middle of the night and wantonly insulting others without rhyme or reason.”
“This… seems rather inappropriate, doesn’t it?”
Rong Xiyun was fuming: “Xiao Yanxiu!”
“Everyone in Yunjing knows we have an engagement.”
“Now you marry someone else without a word—where does that leave the reputation of our Rong family?”
The man brushed off her interrogation lightly.
“What engagement? It was nothing more than a joke whispered by the elders of both families in their youth.”
“Since you are here today, let’s just call off this engagement.”
Rong Xiyun pointed at the man: “I don’t need you to say it!”
The young lady was so angry she smashed an antique vase in his study. Not satisfied, she smashed another.
Fragments flew in all directions. One shard grazed Lu Siyan’s exposed lower leg, and blood welled up instantly.
“It’s not your place to call off this engagement.”
“It is I, this young lady, who is calling it off!”
“Think for yourself how you’re going to explain this to my grandfather.”
After making a massive scene, Rong Xiyun pushed past the bodyguards and butler blocking the door and left the villa with her head held high.
Only after she left did silence return to the room.
Auntie Liu brought people in to quickly clean the study and noticed the blood on Lu Siyan’s leg.
The auntie cried out in alarm: “The Madam is injured!”
Xiao Yanxiu looked down, his warm fingertips grasping the calf. The man’s brows furrowed deeply: “Bring the medicine box.”
Lu Siyan was excessively startled, but since the matter was resolved quickly, he regained his senses: “It’s… it’s nothing serious.”
It was just a small wound that would heal quickly; he didn’t even feel much pain. In fact, compared to this, something else was more serious…
The Omega pointed his finger at Xiao Yanxiu’s shirt collar.
In his desperation earlier, he had lunged into the man’s arms, forgetting there was an oil-painted hibiscus on his shoulder.
Now, the shape and color of the flower were completely imprinted onto the Alpha’s clean clothing.
Looking at the cut and fabric, he guessed it must be incredibly expensive.
Lu Siyan had caused a small mishap. He was hesitating over whether to mention compensation or offer to hand-wash it himself.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yanxiu didn’t care at all. He simply flicked Lu Siyan’s nose with his knuckle.
“This shirt was originally worth 50,000.”
“Now… after being touched by you, it’s worth at least 500,000.”
The Omega looked away: “How could it be worth that much?”
The Alpha rubbed his thumb gently, wiping away the smudged traces on his shoulder: “This is called art.”
Lu Siyan knew Xiao Yanxiu was intentionally coaxing him, and his mood was actually quite good. Though a large part of that was due to the phrase the man used to go public: “Lawfully wedded.”
The Omega’s expression shifted slightly.
Unknowingly, he was sinking into it.
After washing up that night, the pheromones of Bergamot and Camellia Cedar intertwined closely once more in silence.
By the time he finished breakfast the next morning, Lu Siyan had arrived at school early. After class, he and Miao Yi took a bus to the film set.
He apologized very sincerely to Yin Wu.
The other party was quite young, easy to talk to, and understanding. He sympathized with Lu Siyan’s situation and welcomed his return.
Sitting back in the studio, the feeling of being busy writing and revising scripts felt very familiar. The Omega instantly felt his life become fulfilling again.
He quickly familiarized himself with the scripts from the past few days.
He also saw the sections marked in red that needed revision.
But within a few minutes of working, the area outside the set began to get noisy again. The sounds of clattering and smashing interrupted Miao Yi’s incessant marveling.
“Heavens, I only realized when I got back to school last night—the car your family’s driver used to drop me off was actually a Rolls-Royce!”
Lu Siyan looked up: “What’s wrong with Jiang Shuyao now?”
Miao Yi curled his lip: “Throwing a tantrum every three days like it’s a performance quota. I’m too lazy to even ask around anymore.”
“Several assistants have quit. Yesterday I saw a new Beta following him; they looked quite young.”
“Getting scolded every day—truly unlucky.”
“Meeting such a freak right when they start working.”
Another follow-up editor next to them, seeing the two of them whispering, couldn’t help but lean in to gossip.
“You two don’t know yet?”
“Jiang Shuyao’s sugar daddy was exposed as being married.”
Miao Yi was shocked: “Jiang Shuyao’s sugar daddy?”
He had almost forgotten the rumor about this freak having an affair with Xiao Yanxiu; those two weren’t even close.
But he still subconsciously glanced at Lu Siyan, whose face had suddenly turned pale.
This contract marriage between them.
It was supposed to start quietly and end quietly.
Suddenly making it known to everyone would only make the Omega’s situation more awkward when the time came to part.
Miao Yi faked a smile to smooth things over: “Sister, don’t talk nonsense.”
The senior editor felt a competitive urge: “Who’s talking nonsense?”
She pulled out her phone: “A news story broke just last night. Don’t you guys follow the news? The fiancée came out personally to drop the hammer.”
“Jiang Shuyao doesn’t even rank.”
“The Rong family’s granddaughter stormed into her fiancé Xiao Yanxiu’s house last night, only to find that scumbag Alpha holding another Omega in the study, doing ‘this and that’.”
“Our Queen didn’t tolerate it at all. She took a few spicy photos on the spot and posted them on Weibo as she walked out.”
Miao Yi took the editor’s phone and saw the post with over a million shares: [Engagement Broken.]
The attached photo was…
Truth be told, the photo was shot quite well.
The atmosphere was peaked.
A handsome Alpha in a crisp suit sat boldly in a leather executive chair. Before him was a heavy, antique dark brown wooden desk.
A vintage brass desk lamp sat on the table, paired with a deep green jade shade.
Behind him, an entire wall featured French relief carvings—an open-style bookshelf reaching all the way to the ceiling.
Every shelf was packed with various classical books and collected works of famous artists.
The man held the Omega in his arms with one hand.
There was no fear or attempt to avoid the lens.
He stared straight ahead, the corners of his eyes upturned slightly, his aura so overbearing it felt like he could stare through the lens at the netizens beyond the screen.
It sent a chill down one’s spine.
And the petite Omega hiding in his arms had a thin back, toes lightly curled, and slender arms wrapped tightly around the Alpha’s neck.
The pajamas had slipped down halfway.
Just a single frame.
The intense sexual tension felt as if it would tear through the image.
The sight of the Omega curled up in the Alpha’s arms out of fear further ignited a protective urge in countless straight Alphas online.
“This aesthetic is incredible.”
“Who could possibly hold back?”
But there were also plenty of netizens cursing passionately, mostly accusing the Omega of being an interloper, a “third wheel,” or having no moral compass…
The incident continued to ferment until this morning, when the Xiao family’s PR team finally began working—deleting posts and silencing voices.
Unexpectedly, this incited public anger instead, making the discussion even hotter. Eventually, the staff simply gave up.
Until Xiao Yanxiu himself came forward to post.
He posted a photo of two marriage certificates from a week ago, carefully blurring out Lu Siyan’s name and photo, only showing his own part.
The caption followed: [Legal Spouses.]