The person on the other end seemed to be at a loss for words.
Shen Yan had never taken the caller seriously from the start. He tapped the tea pet on the table, his tone casual and dismissive. “Do you have any idea how much I earn per hour? Don’t waste my time.”
Unsteady breathing came through the phone, as if the other person was thinking hard about how to respond. After a long pause, a loud crashing sound was heard, and the call was abruptly disconnected.
Shen Yan raised an eyebrow and tossed his phone aside.
What concerned him more was the upcoming international art exhibition auction in a week. The list of participating companies would be released soon, and Shen Yan planned to contact a few suitable ones in advance before sending someone to negotiate.
The motion-sensor light by the door flickered on. Shen Yan withdrew his gaze and, without looking up, twirled his pen and said, “I’m not asleep.”
Footsteps slowly approached. Shen Yan didn’t turn around. After getting off work, Wen Xiuran would always hang his coat on the wall before quietly walking over and wrapping his arms around Shen Yan.
Soon after, Shen Yan felt a kiss on his ear, followed by two arms reaching from behind, holding him tightly.
Wen Xiuran’s deep voice sounded beside his ear. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Shen Yan took off his glasses, rubbed the space between his eyebrows, and turned to look at Wen Xiuran.
With so much work at the company lately, dark circles had formed under Shen Yan’s eyes, and he no longer looked as energetic as before. Stubble dotted his chin, and his unbound hair fell messily over his shoulders, clinging to his wool robe like vines.
When they first started living together, Shen Yan still cared about his appearance, meticulously grooming himself every day like a sleek, well-polished fox. He had the awareness of being a “pretty face”—since Wen Xiuran liked his looks, he felt he had to maintain his appearance.
Later, as they settled into a comfortable, long-term relationship, the two often weren’t home. Shen Yan dismissed the housekeeper and butler, and without outsiders around, he became even more unrestrained. He often wandered around without pants, ran barefoot through the rooms, jumped into bed without washing his feet, and generally neglected his grooming.
Wen Xiuran never questioned his behavior, believing Shen Yan should feel at ease. However, after Shen Yan caught a cold a few times from running around barefoot, Wen Xiuran had carpets laid throughout the entire room.
The alpha kissed his nose affectionately, a hint of concern in his voice. “Still busy with company matters?”
“Yeah,” Shen Yan adjusted his posture to get more comfortable, closing his eyes as Wen Xiuran gently scratched his chin. “I’m exhausted.”
“Let’s get married after we graduate,” Wen Xiuran’s hand moved to Shen Yan’s temples, massaging them slowly. “My father wants to meet you.”
Shen Yan suddenly opened his eyes, looking at him incredulously. “Your father didn’t object to us?”
Wen Xiuran was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. “My father never objected from the start. If anything, it was you who didn’t seem too keen on marriage back then. But we were both young at the time. Now that we’ve graduated, it’s time to think about it.”
Shen Yan fell silent for a while before looking up and meeting Wen Xiuran’s eyes. “Do you want us to sign a prenuptial agreement? Do I need to sign any contracts?”
“What are you thinking?” Wen Xiuran frowned, lightly flicking Shen Yan’s forehead, his tone tinged with displeasure. “I’ve told you before—what’s mine is yours. Why would we need a prenuptial agreement?”
Shen Yan crossed his arms and turned away, though his peripheral gaze lingered on Wen Xiuran. Previously, when he had reached the point of discussing marriage with an alpha, the other party, despite having limited assets, had insisted on a prenuptial agreement.
Suspicious, he leaned closer to Wen Xiuran. “Are you sure your father genuinely wants to meet me?”
“He really won’t do anything to me?”
Wen Xiuran didn’t respond, but as Shen Yan drew nearer, he silently pulled him into a tight embrace.
Shen Yan’s fluffy head nuzzled restlessly against Wen Xiuran’s chest, his tone sharp. “What are you doing?!”
Wen Xiuran rested his chin on Shen Yan’s head, speaking earnestly. “No matter what you’ve been through before, from now on, you have nothing to worry about. You are my heir and my only love. With me by your side, no one will harm you. I will give you all my patience and understanding. Whatever you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter to me—only our future does.”
The restless head in his arms stilled. Shen Yan replied softly, “I’ll go meet your father, but you have to come with me.”
“Scared of my father?” Wen Xiuran teased. “At home, you’re not afraid of me at all.”
Shen Yan silently punched Wen Xiuran’s chest.
Wen Xiuran chuckled, his hand discreetly loosening Shen Yan’s belt.
…
After the rain cleared, the morning sun streamed onto the bed. Shen Yan rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly sat up, squinting as he massaged his lower back.
Wen Xiuran’s heat cycles had become more frequent and intense lately. However, out of consideration for Shen Yan’s well-being, he often spent most of his heat alone at the hospital.
Once the fever subsided, Wen Xiuran would return exhausted, hold Shen Yan and kiss him for a long while, then wordlessly retreat to bed to sleep for an entire day.
As a Beta, Shen Yan couldn’t provide Wen Xiuran with pheromones. Having a partner had made Wen Xiuran develop a dependency on pheromones, much like lower-ranking alphas. The prolonged lack of relief had begun to affect his glands. Shen Yan had asked about it several times, but Wen Xiuran always brushed it off, saying it wasn’t a big deal.
Whenever he said this, Wen Xiuran avoided meeting Shen Yan’s eyes.
Shen Yan clicked his tongue. Deep down, he felt something was off. An illness severe enough to require medication for an S-rank alpha couldn’t be simple. Previously, Wen Xiuran had rarely gone to the hospital for pheromonal imbalances, but lately, he had visited several times on his own.
Slowly crawling out of bed, Shen Yan felt thirsty. He rolled off the bed onto the carpet, groggily got up, grabbed the glass from the bedside table, and stumbled out of the bedroom.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw two plates of steaming breakfast—his favorite sandwich and milk—being carried toward him.
Squinting against the sunlight, he recognized who it was and pushed Wen Xiuran aside, mumbling that he needed water.
When Shen Yan returned with his glass, he found Wen Xiuran with red-tipped ears, staring at him like a dog eyeing a bone.
Shen Yan glanced down, raised an eyebrow belatedly, and reached for the bathrobe hanging on the rack to drape over himself.
“…” Wen Xiuran pressed his legs together, coughed twice, and turned to offer Shen Yan the breakfast. “You really should break this habit. What if we had guests over?”
“Then don’t let outsiders in.” Shen Yan lazily leaned against the foot of the bed, a sandwich in his mouth. As an art student, he felt no shame about nudity, but Wen Xiuran was quite reserved about it. Several times Shen Yan had wanted to paint Wen Xiuran nude, only to be met with flushed refusals.
Later, Shen Yan decided it didn’t matter—as long as he could see it himself, that was enough.
He grabbed a cup of soy milk and climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged as he opened his laptop to continue handling work.
Wen Xiuran gently closed the laptop, the tips of his ears still tinged with red. “Finish your meal before doing these things.”
“Should I take you to school or the office later?”
Shen Yan swayed his head thoughtfully, frowning. “I don’t know. There’s nothing going on at school or the office today. I’ll just work from home.”
“The weather is nice today,” Wen Xiuran said, holding Shen Yan’s hand and looking outside. “Do you want to go out and have some fun?”
The two didn’t spend much time together aside from meals, and Wen Xiuran had gradually started talking more during their shared meals. Shen Yan found it amusing at first but eventually grew accustomed to it.
The air conditioning in the room was a bit too cold. Shen Yan wrapped himself in the blanket and said slowly, “No, I want to sleep today.”
Wen Xiuran gently brushed the stray hairs from Shen Yan’s forehead. “Then I’ll stay with you.”
Shen Yan instinctively nodded, then paused and shook his head like a rattle-drum.
He didn’t particularly enjoy socializing or going out, but being alone didn’t sit well with him either. Having Wen Xiuran around was nice, but he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for the next few days.
Wen Xiuran smiled helplessly and brought over a small box tied with a ribbon, gesturing for Shen Yan to open it. “A gift for you. Want to open it?”
Shen Yan finished the bread in his hand, wiped his fingers on his clothes, and tore open the box with a bit of force.
A fluffy little creature leaped onto him. Shen Yan’s eyes lit up as he picked up the fluffy lop-eared rabbit and stroked it.
“Do you like it?” Wen Xiuran pulled Shen Yan into bed, letting the beta rest his head on his arm. He smiled and said, “I’ve wanted to buy this for you for a long time.”
Shen Yan cleared his throat, suppressing a smile as he asked, “Why did you only give it to me now?”
Wen Xiuran thought for a moment and replied, “I couldn’t catch a rabbit, so I had to buy one.”
Shen Yan raised an eyebrow, about to say something, when Wen Xiuran’s phone rang.
Wen Xiuran never avoided taking calls in front of Shen Yan. Shen Yan pretended not to care but secretly pricked up his ears.
Outside, the sunlight was just right, and everything was lush and green.
Shen Yan squinted instinctively at the dappled light filtering through the window, his gaze fixed on the carpet on the wooden floor.
He lay on Wen Xiuran’s arm, the breakfast Wen Xiuran had made still steaming on the table. Shen Yan thought to himself: This doesn’t seem so bad.
Spending a lifetime with an alpha from a good family who was willing to spend money on him—perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea.
“There’s a company banquet tonight. Do you want to come with me?” Wen Xiuran leaned over and kissed Shen Yan on the cheek. “Many of my elders will be there.”
Shen Yan lay sprawled on the bed like a starfish. He always felt Wen Xiuran had some kind of skin hunger—whenever they were together, he never knew when he’d be kissed. Hearing Wen Xiuran’s words, he lazily replied, “Sure.”
A few seconds later, Shen Yan seemed to snap out of it and sat up straight, his eyes shifting as he looked down at Wen Xiuran. “You’ll stay with me then, right?”
Wen Xiuran tied up Shen Yan’s hair and said calmly, “I will.”
This evening banquet was for the birthday of a certain corporate group’s young master. To put it bluntly, it was just using the birthday celebration as an excuse to gather the elite of S City.
To reach the banquet hall from the entrance, one had to cross a vast, seemingly endless expanse of lawn. The grass was trimmed with extreme precision, and from a distance, it looked like a flawless, soft, and delicate emerald-green carpet.
At the center of the lawn was a shimmering lake. The water was so clear you could see the bottom, and as the breeze brushed over it, it stirred ripples that sparkled with fragmented golden light under the sun.
Beside the lake stood an exquisite pavilion, with upturned eaves and intricate brackets, exuding an antique charm.
Shen Yan boarded a sightseeing vehicle from the entrance and watched the sika deer foraging and drinking by the roadside, feeling somewhat surprised.
“There used to be lions and tigers here, but because there are many guests today and we were afraid of any danger, they were locked up,” the driver said, glancing at Shen Yan through the rearview mirror with a kindly tone. “Which family’s young master are you? At my age, this is the first time I’ve seen an omega as good-looking as you.”
Shen Yan had heard many compliments before and naturally knew how to handle them. When the driver learned he wasn’t an omega, he slightly furrowed his brows and probed, “Are you the beta of the Wen family’s young master?”
A few white cranes flew past the window, their scattered feathers drifting down from the sky.
Shen Yan felt a bit uncomfortable with the driver’s words and simply replied calmly, “My name is Shen Yan.”
The driver withdrew his smile, glanced at Shen Yan again, and said meaningfully, “You really are good-looking.”
Shen Yan naturally understood the implication in the driver’s words. He leaned against the window expressionlessly and smiled nonchalantly.
From the very beginning of this relationship, Shen Yan had faced hostility from many omegas. Some even directly confronted him with provocations. Shen Yan didn’t consider himself a particularly virtuous person, and since his methods weren’t particularly sophisticated, he didn’t take others’ insults to heart.
Later, after growing tired of it, he rather manipulatively went to Wen Xiuran to complain. Upon learning about it, Wen Xiuran dealt with quite a few omega families.
Now, he and Wen Xiuran had been together for over three years, and Wen Xiuran treated him as his fiancé. Yet, he was still mocked by a driver.
Social prejudices truly ran deep.
He twisted the plain ring on his finger. A gift he had given Wen Xiuran after they got together. Wen Xiuran wore an identical ring on his hand.
Shen Yan hesitated whether to tell Wen Xiuran about what had happened.
But since he wasn’t too affected by it, would Wen Xiuran think it unnecessary if he mentioned it?
Wen Xiuran had other matters to attend to and had arrived at the hotel earlier. As soon as Shen Yan stepped out of the vehicle, he saw his alpha walking hurriedly toward him.
Shen Yan held onto Wen Xiuran’s hand and slowly stepped down. As soon as he steadied himself, a clear voice rang in his ear.
“Is this Brother Shen Yan?”
Shen Yan turned to look. A long-haired omega wearing a white suit with a blue rose pinned to his chest smiled brightly at him. “I’ve heard Xiuran mention you many times.”
Wen Xiuran silently pulled Shen Yan closer into his embrace.
Shen Yan curled his lips and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Xiuran’s fiancé.”
The omega’s expression darkened slightly, and his smile stiffened as he reached out to shake Shen Yan’s hand.
The guests were dressed in finery—the men in tailored suits, exuding elegance, while the women shimmered in evening gowns adorned with dazzling jewelry, their graceful figures accompanied by soft laughter.
Shen Yan glanced at the omega’s visibly displeased expression and inwardly chuckled. Was this the same look he had when he was angry during their phone call?
“I’m Duan Yi, Xiuran’s former neighbor.”
The omega seemed eager to introduce himself further, but Wen Xiuran frowned and cut him off, his tone indifferent. “Shen Yan is my fiancé. I’ll handle his reception myself. You can attend to the other guests.”
With that, Wen Xiuran promptly wrapped an arm around Shen Yan and led him away, leaving Duan Yi and the other omegas standing there, their faces paling.
Shen Yan found it rather dull. Given that the other party had managed to contact him behind Wen Xiuran’s back, he must have had some tricks up his sleeve. Yet, Wen Xiuran hadn’t even spared him a glance.
The birthday banquet began in the evening, gathering business elites from various industries across S City. Shen Yan followed Wen Xiuran and was introduced to his family members.
Most of them showed no overt hostility and even appeared friendly, patting Shen Yan’s head and praising him for looking quite pleasant.
But Shen Yan could sense that their affection felt more like the kind reserved for a small pet Wen Xiuran had brought along. No one inquired about his family background, nor did anyone care about his education or achievements.
The responses were almost unanimous: “This child is so good-looking.”
In the banquet hall, illuminated by brilliant lights and filled with the clinking of glasses, Shen Yan stood side by side with Wen Xiuran. While they appeared quite compatible on the surface, almost everyone’s attention was magnetically drawn to Wen Xiuran.
No one paid any mind to a beta like him, who didn’t even need to wear a suppressant patch.
“Xiao Ran, I heard you’ve been studying finance recently. My Shi Yan was hoping to exchange ideas with you.” A voice rang out, causing Shen Yan to stiffen as if struck by electricity. He forced himself to slowly look up.
The speaker was a businessman with a thick beard and a protruding belly. Beside him stood a somewhat timid-looking alpha youth.
Upon seeing Shen Yan’s face, the businessman’s gaze faltered momentarily before he quickly adopted a professional smile, his eyes feigning warmth. “This must be Xiao Shen, right? I’ve heard about you from Xiao Ran’s father. You two are about to get engaged, aren’t you?”
Wen Xiuran, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke, his tone calm yet resolute. “Yes, he is my fiancé. We’ll marry after graduation.”
“That’s wonderful. You two make such a perfect match.” The businessman casually nudged Xu Shiyan with his elbow, prompting the latter to snap out of his daze and murmur, “Congratulations.”
Yet his gaze remained fixed on Shen Yan, filled with an inscrutable complexity.
Wen Xiuran hadn’t gotten a clear look at Xu Shiyan’s face last time and naturally hadn’t recognized him. Seeing another alpha openly staring at Shen Yan in his presence stirred a flicker of displeasure in Wen Xiuran. He stepped in front of Shen Yan, exchanged a few polite formalities, and then led Shen Yan away by the hand.
Shen Yan had thought he was here to meet the family and had mentally prepared himself for it. Little did he know that no one would pay him any attention at all.
Shen Yan grew increasingly bored. Wen Xiuran led him to the lakeside pavilion, kissed his nose, and said he would come to keep him company after dealing with the banquet.
Stars dotted the night sky, and the chirping of insects rose and fell from the grass.
The lake shimmered with rippling reflections under the moonlight, and a gentle breeze stirred layers of gentle waves.
Shen Yan picked up a stone from the lakeside and idly skipped it across the water.
“You really have no shame,” Duan Yi said, walking over with his arms crossed, his face full of disdain. “Seeing the lover who abandoned you before, yet you remain completely unfazed, not a hint of guilt. I really don’t understand why Xiuran likes you.”
Shen Yan didn’t even look back, continuing to pick through stones.
What bullshit lover. Xu Shiyan was nothing but a coward, the most embarrassing of all his alpha exes. Was he supposed to burst into tears at the sight of him? Did this fool Duan Yi really think he’d give up Wen Xiuran to reconcile with Xu Shiyan? Shen Yan still remembered how Xu Shiyan had harassed him before. It was only out of his own noble character that he hadn’t kicked that coward to the curb.
Surprisingly, Duan Yi didn’t get angry. Instead, he lowered his head, staring intently at his phone with a smug expression, and said slowly, “You said before that Xiuran already knew about your past, but I think he seems completely unaware.”
Sitting by the lake, Shen Yan was already filled with irritation. He forced himself to glance back at Duan Yi. “What else are you trying to stir up?”
Wen Xiuran had probably known about his past for a while now. So, what if he’d dated a few more people? It wasn’t a big deal.
“I sent Xiuran some of your old photos. He didn’t seem too happy about it,” Duan Yi added smugly, embellishing the details. “But then again, who would like seeing their lover in the arms of another alpha?”
Shen Yan frowned, slowly processing Duan Yi’s words. His gaze turned cold. Did Duan Yi think that by doing this, he’d get to sleep with Wen Xiuran? What a joke. Wen Xiuran would only see Duan Yi as meddling. Shen Yan always acted with a purpose—simply put, he benefited at others’ expense. So, he truly couldn’t understand why Duan Yi would do something that harmed others without benefiting himself.
Just for fun? How could someone be so foolish?
Shen Yan cursed under his breath, his eyes glancing at the lake beside him as a wicked thought crossed his mind.
Before he could act, several bodyguards approached from a distance and respectfully said to Shen Yan, “Mr. Wen has asked us to escort you back.”