Lin Yunzhu moved quickly, administering another dose of suppressant into Shen Loucheng’s arm before allowing him to leave. Only after that did he turn his gaze toward the omega lying motionless on the bed.
He had to admit, the situation before him was rather intriguing.
When Fu Xu finally opened his eyes again, the sky outside had already fallen completely into darkness.
Bathed in the dim silver light of the moon, an alpha sat quietly beside the bed. His eyes, dark as pools of ink, were veiled by a thin layer of translucent white film over one side.
The moment Fu Xu stirred, the alpha blinked, and the film faded away. His pupils cleared into a deep, pure black once more.
That person… Mr. Shen was no longer here. Had he sent him away while he was unconscious?
“Mr. Shen…” Fu Xu shrank back instinctively, inching away until his back was nearly pressed against the cold wall.
“He left,” Lin Yunzhu said, not even bothering to move. His tone carried faint impatience. This omega truly was dependent on Shen Loucheng.
Fu Xu’s heart sank heavily to the bottom of his chest.
So it was true after all.
Clutching the edge of the bedsheet with trembling fingers, he stared down for a long while before finally looking up again. “Excuse me… did Mr. Shen… sell me to you?”
Everyone always abandoned him in the end. He should have expected no different.
“I would never take in an omega like you,” Lin Yunzhu replied bluntly, clicking his tongue with mild disdain.
Still, remembering that this pitiful creature was his good brother’s omega, he added, almost lazily, a half-hearted clarification. “He didn’t sell you. He just went out.”
“Oh.” Fu Xu finally allowed himself to breathe again, though his body still curled protectively at the farthest corner of the bed.
Lin Yunzhu regarded him with a look of faint amusement. “You wake up and the first thing you do is ask for Shen Loucheng. You two haven’t known each other that long, have you? Is he really that important to you?”
Fu Xu clutched the blanket tighter to his chest as if it could shield him, the fabric pressed against his heart offering a trace of comfort. “Yes… Mr. Shen is very kind.”
So timid. So fragile. As if he truly believed Lin Yunzhu would devour him if he came too close. The alpha’s eyes turned sly, a hint of curiosity stirring beneath his indifference. Since Shen Loucheng was not here, perhaps he could extract a bit of useful information from this little omega first.
“If he’s really that good to you,” Lin Yunzhu drawled, “have you ever thought about how you’re going to repay him?”
Fu Xu nodded with quiet seriousness. “I have.”
He truly wanted to repay Mr. Shen.
“Then that’s good. I can give you a chance. If you do well, you’ll be able to stay in the Shen family forever and repay him properly. Would you like to try?” Lin Yunzhu leaned closer, studying the way confusion flickered through the omega’s frightened eyes, followed by hesitation, then a fragile resolve.
“What… what do I have to do?” Fu Xu asked softly.
Lin Yunzhu raised his hand and gestured toward his own neck, where his gland rested. “I want to run a test on your gland. If the results allow, I can modify it so that you’ll produce pheromones. That way, Mr. Shen can mark you permanently. You’ll become his omega for life. How does that sound?”
The offer was undeniably tempting.
Fu Xu blinked slowly, his mind carefully processing the man’s words one by one.
If he truly could become Mr. Shen’s omega… that would mean he would never have to worry about being abandoned again. Yet….
He hesitated for a long time before shaking his head firmly, though his voice was soft. “No. Mr. Shen doesn’t like omegas with pheromones. I can’t.”
It was precisely because he had no pheromones that Mr. Shen had chosen to keep him. If that changed, would Mr. Shen still want him?
Lin Yunzhu had not expected that even such an offer could not sway him. For the first time, faint admiration flickered in his gaze.
“All right, you refuse now,” he said, his tone casual, “but think about this. If Shen Loucheng really dislikes pheromones, he could simply find a beta instead. They’ll never have any at all. But you, what exactly are you?”
The words pierced straight into Fu Xu’s chest like a blade, sinking deep until his breath caught painfully in his throat.
“I won’t make you decide right now,” Lin Yunzhu continued. “You have two months to think it over. If you don’t give me an answer by then, I can’t promise your Mr. Shen will survive this year.”
A metallic card clattered onto the bed, the sharp sound ringing crisply through the silence. “Think it through.”
Fu Xu stared at the card for a long time, his pale fingers trembling as they brushed against the faint scars on his neck where his gland had once been damaged. His lashes quivered as though stirred by a cold wind.
He could use it… to save Mr. Shen.
In the dead of night, the lights in the study still burned.
Shen Loucheng sat behind his desk, papers scattered across its surface. His long, beast-like tail swept restlessly across the floor, betraying the irritation simmering beneath his calm exterior.
With a sharp flick of his fingers, he pressed a button on the desk communicator. Downstairs, Zong Yuan answered immediately. The alpha’s low, steady voice came through. “Prepare the car. We are returning to headquarters.”
“Right now?” Zong Yuan lifted his wrist, the pearl-white face of his watch glinting faintly under the moonlight. The hands pointed to three in the morning. “Understood.”
There was never any room to question the family head’s orders. He wanted to advise his superior to rest but the words died unspoken.
In a pitch-black room elsewhere, a man was bound by heavy chains, every breath escaping his lungs as a painful rasp. The air was thick with the choking scent of suppressants, drowning out every trace of pheromones.
The door opened with a heavy click. Hard-soled boots struck against marble, each step slow, deliberate, and merciless, like the sound of an executioner approaching his prey.
“Doctor Jiang,” Shen Loucheng’s voice was calm, faintly mocking, yet edged with frost. “It has been a while.”
An attendant carried over a leather chair adorned with gemstones. Shen Loucheng sat down leisurely, his fingers tracing along the sapphire inlays of the armrest.
“As expected of the institute’s chief researcher. Even your chair must be decorated with gems. You must have made quite a fortune over the years, haven’t you?”
Dr. Jiang spat out a mouthful of blood, then sneered. “So what if I did? My creations will keep earning for me. You’ll see. They’ll find me sooner or later.”
Shen Loucheng let out a cold laugh and clapped his hands once. From outside, guards dragged in a monstrous figure, something barely resembling a human being. It snarled and thrashed wildly, restrained only by reinforced chains.
“You!” Jiang’s pupils contracted sharply in disbelief. He stumbled backward, horror twisting across his face. “How did you capture him? He was supposed to be unstoppable!”
That creature had been his proudest achievement, unmatched in speed and strength. It should have been impossible to capture.
Shen Loucheng watched his reaction in silence, the sharp lines of his face half-hidden in shadow.
Alpha birth rates had fallen below the red line. Even the existing mutated alphas were too few to meet the army’s needs. With enemy nations circling like vultures, their defensive borders were stretched dangerously thin.
To solve the crisis, massive funding had been funneled into research institutions, seeking ways to strengthen alphas and increase their numbers.
Jiang Fenggu had once been the most brilliant researcher of his generation. His serum could increase alpha births by nearly five percent.
But that had not been enough. To achieve greater results, he began experimenting with gene fusion, creating hybrid alphas with immense power yet dangerous instability.
Many of these so-called “enhanced” alphas lost all reason, becoming feral and uncontrollable. Rather than destroy them, Jiang had kept them alive, insisting their offspring might yield the next evolution of test subjects.
When those mutants began attacking civilians, the Alpha Security Division had been established. Granted full military authority, it existed solely to contain the crisis and protect the nation.
“Still not ready to talk?” Shen Loucheng crossed one leg over the other, his voice almost playful, calm and low but filled with quiet menace. “Let me guess. Your base, is it in Beihuai? Or perhaps… in Qingyang?”
Jiang slumped weakly to the floor, his defiance fading yet stubborn pride keeping him upright. “You can guess all you want. You’ll never find it.”
“Is that so.”
Shen Loucheng stood and approached slowly. He raised his fists before Jiang’s bloodstained face. “Then tell me, which one should I use first?”
Jiang’s gaze flickered nervously between them, but he still lifted his chin in defiance. “I will not tell you.”
Shen Loucheng smiled faintly, straightened, and turned toward Zong Yuan. “We are going to Qingyang City.”
Zong Yuan nodded immediately. He had never once doubted the commander’s judgment. As Chief of the Division, Shen Loucheng’s decisions had always been flawless. This time would be no different.
“Let us head back,” Shen said, pausing briefly as he glanced at his watch. “Today is the day we visit the Fu family, is it not?”
Zong Yuan checked his notes. “Yes, sir. But Commander, the experiment is also scheduled for today.”
Across the nation, alpha conditions were worsening rapidly. Although the Security Division held enormous authority, every mission they took was perilous.
Many of the experimental trials carried fatal risks. To test the newly developed stabilizing serum, Shen Loucheng had volunteered as a subject himself.
He did not have much time left to live anyway. If his death could contribute to the cause, it was a price he would willingly pay.
“Tell the technicians to begin without me,” he said calmly. “Send a few specialists to supervise. I will join them by afternoon.”
“Yes, sir.”
Meanwhile, in the Shen residence,
The doorbell rang repeatedly.
Fu Xu stood frozen by the entrance, uncertain what to do, too afraid to open it on his own.
After a while, the ringing stopped. A faint rustle sounded from outside, followed by a man’s steady voice.
“Mr. Fu, today is your homecoming day. The family head instructed us to deliver a few items for you. If you are home, could you please open the door?”
On the wall beside him, a small screen displayed a real-time view of the entrance. Fu Xu tilted his head slightly and looked closely. The emblem on the man’s uniform was identical to the one on Mr. Shen’s chest that night.
Even if they were strangers, Assistant Zong had always been careful. No outsider could possibly enter the Shen estate without authorization.
If he delayed them and made Mr. Shen angry again… would he be cast out once more?
After a moment’s hesitation, Fu Xu slowly turned the handle and opened the door.
Two men stood outside. The one who had spoken looked to be around fifty, his face calm and respectful.
“Mr. Fu, here are the clothes you’ll need for today. Assistant Zong should have given you your wristband yesterday. Departure is scheduled for nine o’clock. You have about an hour to prepare.” The man extended a tray toward him.
Just yesterday, Ren Jiu had been punished and dismissed. The commander’s anger had been terrifying to witness. All of it had started because of this omega, and even Zong Yuan had been reprimanded. The messenger decided it was safest to remain polite and complete his duty quickly.
Nine o’clock… home coming day…
Fu Xu had been so anxious earlier that he had completely forgotten the man mentioning it.
Even in this modern era, certain customs remained unchanged. Regardless of gender, newlyweds were expected to visit their family once after marriage.
Now that alphas were so rare, being personally escorted home by one had become a symbol of honor, a public display of favor, and proof that the omega was cherished.
Such omegas were considered the most likely to bear alpha offspring in the future.
Fu Xu lowered his gaze quietly. He had only been brought into the Shen family as a substitute. Even if Mr. Shen did not care about appearances, others certainly would. Returning home now would only invite mockery.
Perhaps Mr. Shen intended to use this “home coming” as an excuse to leave him behind for good.
He was used to expecting the worst in every situation.
Forget it, he told himself silently.
If Mr. Shen wanted to cast him out this way, it was at least a dignified ending. Forcing anything would only make things worse. He could only take things one step at a time.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(≧▽≦)ﾉ☕ coffee!
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Substitute MarriageChapter 2 · PleaseChapter 3 · Thank you, Mr. ShenChapter 4 · Mr. Shen, are you going to throw me away?Chapter 5 · You don’t have to please me in everythingChapter 6 · Is This For Him?Chapter 7 · Do you know you don’t have long to live?Chapter 8 · But what about you? What will you be then?Chapter 9 · That’s a vehicle from the logistics department.Chapter 10 · What do you take my Shen family for?Chapter 11 · Can I bite your gland?Chapter 12 · He is not my “medicine catalyst”Chapter 13 · Who is that Alpha?Chapter 14 · Perfectly matched omegaChapter 15 · Perhaps you could call him, baby?Chapter 16 · That’s… Fu Xu’s scent?Chapter 17 · It was made by the masterChapter 18 · Abusing a pregnant omega is a serious crime.Chapter 19 · Mr. Shen is the best alpha.Chapter 20 · Family elderChapter 21 · Shen Louchen’s berserk periodChapter 22 Part 1 · You are my wifeChapter 22 Part 2 · You are my wifeChapter 23 · Aren’t we mutually in love?Chapter 24 · Which alpha did you go to see?Chapter 25 · Fu Xu, tell me you like meChapter 26 · Could Mr. Shen possibly have a little crush on him?Chapter 27 · Get out!Chapter 28 · Stay close to meChapter 29 · Mr. Shen and I are a legally married coupleChapter 30 · Spit it outChapter 31 · He’s been acting increasingly strangely latelyChapter 32 · Do you listen to everyone except me?Chapter 33 · Monthly ExamChapter 34 · Parent Teacher MeetingChapter 35 · The classroom was cold at nightChapter 36 · Court deathChapter 37 · Wife, Kiss meChapter 38 · This omega trying to steal a kiss from him?Chapter 39 · His omega turned out to be a little cunning.Chapter 40 · Is this little omega taking advantage of him?Chapter 41 · “Madam Shen” is your trump card, understand?Chapter 42 · Mr. Shen, I don’t know how to wear it…Chapter 43 · HusbandChapter 44 · Why is Shen Louchen acting like a peacockChapter 45 · I won’t abandon you, and I never willChapter 46 · Omega with a 92% match rateChapter 47 · Are you waiting for him?Chapter 48 · How can someone magically transformChapter 49 · Now it’s all good, two kids.Chapter 50 · Mr. Shen, will you regret it then?Chapter 51 · What is regret?Chapter 52 · If you’ve got the guts, say it again!Chapter 53 · That’s my milk teaChapter 54 · What he wanted to replace was the alphaChapter 55 · How do you know I’m not part of Mr. Shen’s plan?Chapter 56 · Why don’t you just kill me?Chapter 57 · Are we sending him away?Chapter 58 · Are you angry?Chapter 59 · Inhibitor or marker?Chapter 60 · Let Fu Xu mark himChapter 61 · There should be limits to joking, right?Chapter 62 · Do you really not like Young Master Lian?Chapter 63 · Will you still love me after I go to school?Chapter 64 · You are the best husband in the worldChapter 65 · Extra 1Chapter 66 · Extra 2