“This is two million.
Let’s break up.” I pushed the card to him casually.
His eyes widened.
He stared at the card with disbelief in his eyes.
“Why?
Isn’t our deal six months?
It’s only been two months.”
“I know.” I picked up the cup of wine and sipped it leisurely.
Glancing out from the floor-to-ceiling window, I silently grimaced at how bright the world still was.
Nightlife was the best.
Yet the day remained stubbornly bright.
It was so annoying.
“I’m bored.” I yawned.
“Take the card and leave.
Our deal is over.” Perhaps it would be better to return home and get some good sleep before the sky darkened.
“Elian!”
Hearing my name so rudely called, my lips pursed slightly.
“What is it?
Is the money not enough?” I remembered the deal was only 1.5, right?
I even added 500 more.
What was the deal with him?
“Are you taking the card or not?”
“Why?
Why do you want to break the deal?
I’ll change.”
He sat upright.
“Whatever you want.
I’ll do it.
Please, Elian…”
My eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
“Heck, I don’t know, Elian.
All I know is that I love you.”
“Wait, is it because I confessed?
Is that why you’re treating me this way?”
I suddenly felt the urge to laugh.
Irritation gnawed at my chest.
“See?
Can we break this off amicably?
The deal clearly stated that we were only having fun.
Why are you making things difficult for me?”
I pushed the card closer to him.
“It’s your payment.” My voice turned cold.
His eyes reddened.
He clenched his fist several times.
My eyes subtly moved.
Was he planning to throw a punch?
If that was the case, I might really need to scream.
Fortunately, we were in an open space.
An alpha attacking an omega, he’d definitely be beaten up by other alphas in the room.
A smirk formed on my face.
My mood got even better.
Seemingly noticing my glee, he cursed under his breath and forcefully glared at me.
I met his gaze head-on.
He gritted his teeth, slamming his hand on the table.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten you’re an omega.” He stood up.
“I want to see how long you can keep playing this game, Elian.”
I sneered.
“Until I get knocked up.” Winking, the mockery in my eyes couldn’t be more obvious.
He picked up the card and left.
My eyes lingered on his back until he was out of sight, and my gaze slowly turned cold.
Slamming the cup on the table, I snorted and picked up my phone.
“Hey, guys.
I’ve sent him away.”
The message circulated in the group within only a few seconds.
“Really?
Then, you’re single again?”
“When is the next deal?”
“Elian, can you give me the next hot dude?
You’ve taken all the available hot ones!”
“Oh no.
Get back with him right now and leave the circle for us!”
Staring at the overwhelming messages from my friends, I laughed so hard that my stomach ached.
Pride filled my soul, raising my shoulders higher than normal.
“Sorry, guys.
The crime is my beauty.” A crying sticker.
“I’m really too beautiful for this world.” A sighing old man’s sticker.
“My goal is to give every handsome man in the world a warm embrace.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck off.”
“I love you!”
The messages came in again, and I had to cover my mouth to laugh.
CLANG
The sudden noise startled me, and my phone dropped on the table with a low noise.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m so sorry, sir.”
A female’s flustered voice rang in my ears.
My brows twitched.
I raised my head to see the commotion…
Cold grey eyes.
Heck, that was the first thing that caught my attention.
Then, a tiny scar at the left corner of his sharp chin.
Whoa.
My gaze froze, staring into those deep grey eyes like they were the only thing I could see.
My thoughts ran wild.
“I’m sorry.
I’ll pay for the cleaning.”
“Forgive me, sir.”
The flustered voice came again.
Seeing the waitress stepping close to the hot man with wipes in her hands, my body moved before my legs did.
I grabbed some wipes from my table and rushed toward them, placing myself before the man and the waitress.
“It’s okay.
You can leave.”
The waitress looked surprised.
“Sir?”
“You can leave.” I bet I’d spent all my patience repeating that statement.
The waitress’ eyes flickered with gratefulness as she bowed repeatedly.
“Thank you.
Thank you.”
My lips pressed into a thin line.
When would she leave?
Finally returning to her senses, she smiled and bowed again.
“Thank you.” She repeated and bent forward to pick up the broken fragment of the cups.
With the disturbance gone, I turned around, ready to strike up a conversation with the man.
“Can…”
Tall.
He was so tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Clad in a black shirt carefully tucked into his black suit pants, his narrow waist became even more prominent.
My eyes ran wild on his figure, unable to look away.
Fortunately, I’d been in the game for so long that even my composure had been honed.
I forced my eyes off the long legs and returned my attention to those carefully structured and sharp facial features.
Older.
I finally noticed.
He was different from the other alphas I’d snatched in the past.
Matured and steady.
He was the exact kind that couldn’t be easily found.
At least, not in my generation kind of bar.
Noticing his cold grey eyes on me, I swallowed, struggling to hold back my thoughts.
“Come with me.
I’ll help you to the bathroom.”
Without waiting for his response, I led the way.
His footsteps rang behind me.
I could feel gazes on us.
Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who saw him as a top catch.
But that didn’t matter.
I caught him first.
“We’re here.” I opened the door to the bathroom and got in first.
The man stopped outside.
His eyes flicked over me.
Emotionless, yet seemed to convey thousands of words.
I found myself swooning over those eyes again.
“You’re an omega.” Deep.
Extremely deep.
Magnetic.
I blinked gently.
“Oh.” Then, stepped out, making way for him to step in alone.
He nodded gently to me as he closed the door behind him.
Resting my back against the wall, my fingers wouldn’t stop twitching.
He looked so rich and mature.
He definitely wouldn’t accept the same deal as the rest.
But letting such a good catch off wasn’t in my dictionary either.
What should I do?
The thoughts remained on my mind as the door opened and the man stepped out.
He glanced at me.
“Thank you.”
The voice again.
“It’s okay.”
We walked back together.
“I’m Elian Sterling.”
“Sébastien Hawthorne.”
My eyes widened.
Sébastien?
Like, Sébastien???
“Thanks for today.” His lips slowly curled.
“I…” I trailed off.
Aged whiskey scent.
Warm.
Smooth.
Deep.
It wasn’t overwhelming.
It was quiet…
like the man himself.
My body trembled slightly.
An alpha’s pheromone…
Then, memories rushed back.
“Waste.
He can’t even perceive alpha’s pheromones.”
“Incomplete gland waste.
You can never be as good as us.”
The loud laughter.
Those mocking stares.
The sneers.
All kids.
Yet vicious.
Heartless.
Then, the cold report…
“His gland isn’t fully developed.
He might never be able to perceive alpha’s pheromone in the future.”
It had been more than ten years.
Life had been so good and fun even with the incomplete gland.
But that pheromone…
how?
Why?
My fingers involuntarily clenched.
“Doctor, what can we do?
My son can’t survive the criticism.”
“I’m sorry, Mr Sterling.
There’s nothing we can do.
Unless…”
The memory became distorted.
After years of growing, living, and surviving, those memories no longer mattered.
But today, just today, I wished I remembered.
An alpha’s pheromone…
was this how it scented?
Cool.
Comforting.
Pleasant.
Unlike any alcohol I’d ever tasted in my life.
I instinctively sniffed, hungry to take in more.
However, the scent was gone.
Disappointment flashed across my eyes.
My gaze refocused.
I looked around.
Gone.
He was gone.
I ran toward the exit, searched, and asked.
He was gone.
“Mr.
Sébastien?
He left just now.”
“His car?
Oh, he already drove it away.”
He had vanished.
Alongside his pheromone.
Alongside my sense of taste…
He was long gone.
Staring at the space before me, a strange feeling slowly crept up in my chest.
I didn’t even know where he lived.
But I already knew…
I wasn’t letting him disappear a second time.