1122 - Chapter 6

Jiang Yi never imagined that one day he would become an Omega. Initially, he didn’t want to compromise, but his puppy treated him so incredibly well especially after marking him, the care went bone-deep.

And day by day, he became more and more infatuated with his puppy.

The tattoos they once etched on each other’s necks no longer served as mere consolation for their inability to mark one another. Because now, they had completed glandular marking even complete marking.

Yes, he had been completely marked by “Chu Beiheng.” They were now the closest AO partners, the kind who would miss each other’s pheromones the moment they were apart. Their pheromone compatibility even reached an astonishing 98%.

And he could truly feel it now that he had differentiated into an Omega, he was growing increasingly dependent on his Alpha partner. He couldn’t even imagine what would happen if he ever lost his puppy.

He’d probably go mad.

And so, half a month passed since the marking.

He had taken nearly a month off to recuperate. Fortunately, Director Duan approved his leave and assured him to rest without worry, with Aaron covering his duties so he didn’t have to stress.

In the two weeks since being discharged, his puppy would wait for him to wake up every morning, prepare breakfast, and only leave afterward. Sometimes, if Jiang Yi clung to him too much, he’d even stay for a round before heading out. At noon, he’d return to cook lunch and nap with him before leaving again. And by seven in the evening, he’d be home on the dot to make dinner, then help him with birth cavity development exercises.

Not a single meal was missed, rain or shine.

He wondered, how had he been lucky enough to meet an Alpha as good as Chu Beiheng? Truly, twins were different. Yan Nanchen hadn’t given him a single explanation, not even a word of concern, despite the incident. At the very least, he could’ve acknowledged protecting Luo Songran.

But nothing.

Thankfully, the one he loved was Chu Beiheng.

Night fell.

“Puppy, let’s do pheromone code parallel, okay?” Jiang Yi lazily nestled against his boyfriend’s chest. Lately, he’d been feeling inexplicably sluggish. It was only a little past nine, yet the moment he leaned into his boyfriend’s embrace, drowsiness overtook him.

His fingers intertwined with his boyfriend’s.

From an angle Jiang Yi couldn’t see, Yan Nanchen’s expression stiffened for a fleeting moment. His eyes flickered, his heartbeat spiking with nervousness as his Adam’s apple bobbed.

Pheromone code parallel?

That would expose all of his pheromones. He wasn’t Chu Beiheng his pheromones were violet, and their scent would lay bare every detail of his identity in front of Jiang Yi.

Wouldn’t that unravel every lie in an instant?

The issue he had avoided for a month was now thrust back before him like an impenetrable wall, forcing him into another corner where he’d have to weave more lies to cover the old ones.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yi sensed the tension in his boyfriend and turned to face him. Noticing his pale complexion and the cold sweat beading on his forehead, he frowned. “Puppy, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Yan Nanchen took a deep breath, forcing down the panic. He forced a weak smile. “It’s nothing. Maybe I ate too much at dinner, my stomach feels a little off.”

Jiang Yi slipped his hand under his boyfriend’s shirt, pressing his palm against his stomach to massage it gently. “But I feel like your appetite hasn’t been great lately. You barely ate tonight less than me, even.”

“You have been eating quite a lot lately,” Yan Nanchen murmured with a low chuckle, taking hold of Jiang Yi’s hand that was rubbing his own stomach and pulling him tightly into his embrace. He buried his face into Jiang Yi’s shoulder, breathing in the beloved scent of Tuberose Jasmine. “There’s no rush to decide about the joint ownership. I’ll give you more time to think it over. Once we’re tied together, there’s no separating us. What if you don’t actually like me?”

“I like you. I love you,” Jiang Yi whispered, cradling his boyfriend’s head gently. “Puppy, Beiheng, Chu Beiheng. I’ve chosen you for this lifetime. I want to marry you. I mean it.”

Suddenly, Yan Nanchen felt like a fish out of water struggling to breathe, his chest tight, pupils constricting, heart numb with a piercing ache.

Beiheng. Chu Beiheng!

His Jiang Yi wasn’t calling for him. Not for Yan Nanchen.

It had always been Chu Beiheng he loved.

If Jiang Yi knew he was Yan Nanchen, he would surely hate him. He would turn and walk away without hesitation.

That couldn’t happen.

He would lose his mind.

Just a little longer. Let him think. Let him find a way. Maybe once Jiang Yi returned to work at Neptune, he could be better to him in their daily lives, try to salvage some goodwill.

Yes. After Jiang Yi went back to work.

“Yi Yi, I’m a little tired. Let’s sleep.”

Jiang Yi heard the exhaustion in his boyfriend’s voice and hummed in agreement, assuming it was just work fatigue. But when the bedroom lights went out, it suddenly occurred to him, he hadn’t even asked what his boyfriend did for a living now.

Was he still at Galaxy Group?

Ah, well. He could ask tomorrow. It wasn’t important.

With that thought, he gradually drifted into deep sleep.

Completely unaware that after he fell asleep, the man holding him carefully slipped out of bed and walked to the living room, sitting alone in the chair by the floor-to-ceiling window.

A faint pop the sound of a bottle cap being twisted open.

Yan Nanchen tilted his head back, swallowing the pill. A few minutes later, as if granted absolution, he exhaled shakily and leaned back into the chair. His gaze drifted to the city lights beyond the high-rise, vision blurring behind a thin veil of moisture.

Moments later, his hands trembled. He bent forward, clutching his head, fingers digging into his hair until his knuckles turned white.

“What do I do?”

Moonlight spilled onto the balcony, casting silver over the tall figure slumped in the chair, drowning in unbearable pain and despair trapped in the self-inflicted torment of his own lies.

“Baby, I just got called away for a business trip. I won’t be able to stay with you these next few days. Take care of yourself, okay?”

At the doorway, Yan Nanchen held Jiang Yi close, cupping his face as he spoke softly, eyes filled with concern. For some reason, an inexplicable panic gripped him, tightening around his chest until it ached.

Jiang Yi rarely saw his boyfriend so tense. Smiling, he leaned up to kiss him. “What’s wrong? It’s not your first time traveling for work. Why do you seem so nervous today? Didn’t sleep well?”

“Probably not,” Yan Nanchen sighed, pulling Jiang Yi into a tight embrace, as if trying to memorize his warmth. “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Do you want to wait for me before picking up your medical report?”

“No need. It’s just a report, nothing complicated.” Jiang Yi had been feeling unusually tired and had lost his appetite lately, but he hadn’t thought much of it. His puppy, however, had been so worried that he’d insisted on a full-body checkup yesterday.

“Okay.” Yan Nanchen still held him tightly, unwilling to let go.

For some reason, he had an ominous feeling as if if he didn’t hold Jiang Yi tighter, this person would disappear.

“Have a safe trip. I’ll wait for you to come back.”

Yan Nanchen lowered his head and pressed a kiss to Jiang Yi’s gland, devout and tender: “I’ll be back soon. Wait for me.”

The two shared an affectionate kiss at the doorway for several minutes before parting.

Neither of them could have imagined that this farewell would be their last embrace and kiss.

“You’re pregnant.”

Jiang Yi stared at the test results in his hand, looking at the doctor in disbelief: “I’m pregnant? But I’m a Secondary Differentiation Omega.”

“That’s correct. You are a Secondary Differentiation Omega, but you’ve already developed fertility. There are risks, though, because your birth cavity is still developing, it’s quite small. Its growth rate might not keep up with the fetus’s.”

“So, can I carry it to term?”

“Yes, but you’ll need to be very careful.”

His mind was still blank. He didn’t even know how he walked out of the examination room. He had only come to collect his test results, how had he suddenly been told he was pregnant? It was both a shock and a surprise.

He wondered if he should tell ‘puppy’ about this.

Jiang Yi tucked the test results into his pocket, thinking he’d surprise ‘Chu Beiheng’ with the news tonight. It would definitely give him a fright.

He couldn’t wait.

But first, he had to pick up a client at the airport.

The airport was bustling with people. As Jiang Yi waited for his important client, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd.

A tall, strikingly handsome Alpha in a casual shirt and khaki pants stood out like a crane among chickens. Without a second thought without even questioning why ‘puppy’ would be here, he ran toward him.

“Husband!”

Chu Beiheng, who had just returned from abroad, was walking toward the exit when he suddenly felt someone leap onto his back. Instinctively, he reached up to steady them, turning his head in confusion. Who was calling him ‘husband’?

Jiang Yi met Chu Beiheng’s bewildered gaze. For a moment, he felt something was off, but he still blurted out what he’d been holding in.

“Husband, I’m pregnant.”

Chu Beiheng: “?????”

What the hell?

He’d only been away for two years, how had he gotten married and had a child already?!

Chu Beiheng stared blankly at the man in front of him, who had called him ‘husband’ and now looked like he was about to cry, saying something about being pregnant. Was this some kind of prank the moment he returned to the country?

This couldn’t be real, right? He didn’t even have that kind of ability.

“Are you mistaking me for someone else?”

Jiang Yi’s expression changed. He stared at the man before him in disbelief. No, this wasn’t ‘puppy.’ The voice was different, the scent was different. This wasn’t his ‘puppy.’ But why did he look so much like?

Wait, this wasn’t Yan Nanchen either.

Chu Beiheng didn’t recognize the man in front of him. After a moment’s thought, he guessed, “Ah, I see. You must have mistaken me for my younger brother, Yan Nanchen, right? I’m Chu Beiheng, not Yan Nanchen.”

“You’re Chu Beiheng?” Jiang Yi stared at the man, his mind going completely blank.

“Yeah, I just got back from Country M, and I haven’t been in the country for two years. The person you know isn’t me, it’s my younger brother, Yan Nanchen.” Chu Beiheng finished speaking, only to find the man before him with reddened eyes, looking as if he was about to burst into tears. Instantly flustered, he thought, What on earth is going on?

“So you’re the real Chu Beiheng?”

Chu Beiheng felt an indescribable strangeness: “Aren’t I?”

Jiang Yi stared at the face identical to the one he loved, his eyes red-rimmed, focusing on that mole at the tip of the nose. No, it’s different. It’s still different. He had sensed it the moment they embraced, the pheromones weren’t the same, the breadth of the shoulders wasn’t the same.

How could it be different?

How could this happen?

He reached out to tug at the collar of the man before him, and in that instant, the unmarked skin on the neck made his pupils constrict violently.

No tattoo.

Chu Beiheng, startled, clutched his collar tightly as if his virtue had been compromised. But seeing the young man’s face turn deathly pale, tears beginning to fall, he fell silent again.

Jiang Yi was quiet for a moment before turning his face away with a bitter laugh, the curve of his lips tinged with anguish. He pressed his lips together and took a deep breath, as though steadying himself to accept this unbearable truth.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” he said hoarsely.

The person he had loved all this time wasn’t named Chu Beiheng.

The one who had deceived him was Yan Nanchen, the very person he despised the most. And yet, he had fallen in love with Yan Nanchen.

The Yan Nanchen he hated most.

The six-week pregnancy report crumpled in his grip was nearly torn to shreds.

Jiang Yi pulled out his phone and turned toward the airport exit. The moment the call connected, he immediately instructed, “Aaron, do me a favor. Come pick up Mr. Madison at North City Airport his flight arrives at 3:50, in half an hour. You handle it.”

Aaron on the other end sounded puzzled. “Didn’t Director Duan say you were going to pick him up?”

Jiang Yi replied expressionlessly, “Right now, I’m about to do what might be the most thrilling thing in my life at Galaxy Group.”

“What thing?”

Jiang Yi sneered. “Punching Yan Nanchen.” With that, he hung up and strode away quickly.

Yan Nanchen, you dared to lie to me. You’re dead.

Galaxy Group, executive conference room.

“Yes, the progress on the special medicine is going smoothly. All that’s left is—”

Before Yan Nanchen could finish, the conference room door was flung open. Assuming it was some ill-mannered secretary, he was about to lose his temper when he saw Jiang Yi and his expression instantly changed.

He met Jiang Yi’s furious, reddened eyes and thought, what’s going on?

“Puppy.”

Yan Nanchen’s face and body froze in shock as he stared at Jiang Yi in disbelief.

Jiang Yi didn’t care that Director Duan was present, he could always quit later. Right now, in front of everyone, he called out Yan Nanchen like that. Sure enough, he saw the exact same reaction as his boyfriend’s.

He let out a cold laugh, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as he glared at Yan Nanchen, enunciating each word slowly:

“Yan. Nan. Chen. Get out here right now!”

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