A Fatal Attraction from Lawyer A - Chapter 60

The atmosphere in the hospital ward was somewhat subtle.

When Gu Yuxi woke up, he didn’t see Luo Panzhi. Instead, he saw Luo Panzhi’s younger sister, the Alpha Luo Yuchu. For a moment, he was a bit dazed, unsure of how to strike up a conversation.

“You’re awake?” Luo Yuchu sat leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. Looking at Yuxi’s bewildered expression, she smiled. “My second brother asked me to look after you. He had some business to attend to and stepped out.”

“I see.” Yuxi felt it was improper to remain lying down while someone was visiting. He tried to sit up, but as soon as he moved, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen, causing him to frown.

Luo Yuchu was quick to react, stepping forward to support him. “Don’t move just yet. You don’t want to strain your stomach or your waist.”

“I’d prefer to sit for a bit.” Seeing her helping him, Yuxi offered a gentle smile. “Thank you, I’m alright.”

Stunned by his smile, Luo Yuchu silently averted her eyes. She had to admire her brother—to be able to land such a handsome man, an Alpha no less, and even get him pregnant… she was truly impressed.

She propped a pillow behind Yuxi’s waist. “Then lean back like this. When my partner was pregnant, he didn’t like lying flat either because his back ached. It’s more comfortable to lean against a pillow. I used to get an earful from him about whether he should be sitting or lying down.”

“It seems Miss Luo is also a very gentle Alpha,” Yuxi remarked, noticing flashes of Luo Panzhi’s shadow in her.

Luo Yuchu blinked, startled by the formal address. she laughed and turned away. “Don’t call me ‘Miss Luo,’ it sounds so distant. Just call me Xiaoyu like Panzhi does. We’re family now, after all.”

“Is that ‘Yu’ as in feather?”

“No,” she explained, “It’s the ‘Yu’ that means ‘to give’ (予).”

Yuxi immediately understood the meaning behind her name. Having experienced firsthand how deeply in love Director Luo and Director Chu were, it made sense that their children would be so well-cared for.

“Then I’ll call you Brother Yuxi,” Luo Yuchu said, picking up a bowl of fresh fruit from the nightstand. “Which one do you want? I’ll peel it for you. You need to eat more fruit during pregnancy. My partner ate a ton of it—sour, sweet, everything—which is why he hasn’t had much morning sickness even at six months.”

Yuxi didn’t have much of an appetite, but seeing how attentive she was, he found it hard to refuse. He smiled and said, “I’ll have some in a while, thank you.”

“Brother Yuxi, did you know my eldest brother is already seven months pregnant?” Luo Yuchu, clearly fond of this new “Alpha brother-in-law,” opened the floodgates of conversation to share family stories.

Yuxi had met Chu Guzhi before and heard about the pregnancy, but when he saw him at the Group office recently, there were no visible signs. “Seven months?”

“My eldest brother is too thin; he doesn’t show much. But it’s very obvious on my partner at six months. I don’t know if you saw him last time—the fair-skinned one, very quiet and well-behaved? He’s three years older than me. When we were kids and hadn’t differentiated yet, I used to bully him and call him a crybaby.”

Yuxi listened quietly as the tall female Alpha with the high ponytail chatted away. Every sentence she spoke revolved around her lover, and her eyes brightened whenever she mentioned him.

“Back then, I thought his constant crying was annoying, but he still followed me every day. Eventually, it became a habit, and I couldn’t bring myself to bully him anymore. It wasn’t until he differentiated into an Omega that things changed. At first, he didn’t dare tell me, but I realized it once I smelled his pheromones. After that, our roles reversed: as kids, he chased after me; now, I’m the one chasing after him.”

Luo Yuchu laughed, then remembered something. “By the way, Brother Yuxi, we have a tradition of taking a family portrait every year. Luo Panzhi has held the ‘C-position’ for the single and lonely for four years straight. I guess he won’t be the target of our ridicule this year.”

Yuxi recalled Panzhi mentioning this. “Why do you tease him about it?”

Luo Yuchu caught the protective tone in Yuxi’s voice and raised an eyebrow. “Because he’s so picky! They arranged so many beautiful Omegas for him, and he didn’t like a single one.”

Yuxi hadn’t expected to hear about this again. It reminded him of the spark that caused their last argument. However, he didn’t truly mind; even when he was abroad, Director Luo had tried to arrange Omegas for him. He felt that past events could be spoken of openly.

“No wonder he was so angry when my Big Dad arranged for him to meet the eldest daughter of the Jiang Group; you two were already together then,” Luo Yuchu noted. “My second brother… he’s a bit spoiled and has a temper. I’m really grateful you’re willing to take him. Thank you, truly.” She pressed her hands together in a mock gesture of prayer toward Yuxi.

Yuxi was amused. They truly were a family of similar spirits.

Seeing him smile, Luo Yuchu suddenly remembered Panzhi’s instructions. She slapped her thigh. “Oh no! Panzhi told me to call him the moment you woke up. I completely forgot!”

“I’ll call him.” Yuxi looked around and saw his glasses and phone on the nightstand. He reached out to grab them.

Luo Yuchu beat him to it, handing him the phone. “Let me, let me. Since you’re pregnant, you should avoid bending over too much; it presses on the stomach.”

As Yuxi took the phone, he couldn’t help but wonder how the Directors had raised their children. How was every single one of them so thoughtful and attentive? Even as a thirty-year-old man, he felt he couldn’t compare to these younger ones.

He dialed Luo Panzhi’s number, and it was answered almost instantly. He asked first, “Where are you? Why weren’t you here when I woke up?”

“Baby, you’re awake! I’m out buying fruit for you. I’m on my way back now~”

Yuxi frowned in confusion. He glanced at the pile of fruit on the nightstand. “I don’t want to eat anything. Just come back.”

He was primarily worried about what Panzhi might be doing. Before falling asleep, he had told Panzhi that the driver from the accident was likely Mo Wenbin. He was uneasy.

“Or is there something else you want to eat? Sweet, spicy, sour?”

“I don’t want anything,” Yuxi replied.

“Ah, nothing at all? My baby has such a poor appetite, what should I do? I’ll come back and cook something you like!”

Yuxi felt helpless against Panzhi’s “child-coaxing” tone. “Just come back first.” He hung up, only to see Luo Yuchu looking at him with a face full of gossip.

She leaned in grinning. “Brother Yuxi, don’t be fooled by Luo Panzhi’s act. He’s a master at acting spoiled (sajiao), but he always has a motive. When he was a kid and did something wrong, he’d act cute with Papa to avoid Big Dad finding out. Or if he wants something, he uses it to get his way. It works every time.”

Yuxi’s brow furrowed slightly. A sense of unease settled in his heart. He wasn’t worried that Panzhi would get hurt—he was worried that Panzhi, in a fit of impulse, might do something irreversible to Mo Wenbin.

He put on his glasses and opened his browser to find the news report from earlier.

[A man was found dead this morning in Apartment 60, West City Avenue. The victim showed signs of sexual assault and a severed gland nerve. Blood tests indicate the victim was a ‘Secondary Differentiation Omega’ whose primary gender was Alpha.]

Yuxi’s finger stopped on the page. His expression turned grave. The pheromones he had smelled were undoubtedly Oud and Gentian. It was Mo Wenbin. The car accident was clearly premeditated; the man was coming for him.

He couldn’t understand why Mo Wenbin was so determined to kill him, or why he repeatedly harmed innocent people just to hurt Yuxi indirectly.

“Xiaoyu, can you turn on the news channel for me?”

Luo Yuchu immediately grabbed the remote and switched the TV to the news. They were currently following a report on the third case of secondary differentiation caused by assault.

“…The suspect’s modus operandi is blatant. Traces of the suspect were left in all three victims. DNA and pheromone database comparisons have yet to find a match for the perpetrator, which is a key point of the investigation.

The victims appear to be chosen at random. The first was a Beta who differentiated during the assault; the intense rejection of the suspect’s Alpha pheromones led to death. The second was also a Beta. The third victim was an Alpha, who similarly underwent secondary differentiation and died from pheromone rejection.

Criminal experts suggest the suspect may have experienced severe trauma or harbors extreme hatred toward Omegas. The killings appear to be a form of retaliation and psychological self-consolation. Given the precision of the attacks, it is suspected the perpetrator may be a medical professional.”

Yuxi leaned against the headboard. His expression behind his glasses was calm, but his grip on the phone tightened. Including himself, this was the fourth attempt.

Song Yinling had also been a victim, but she hadn’t differentiated, meaning she lacked the genetic predisposition.

Mo Wenbin used to be a doctor. Back at the orphanage, he would visit regularly to give out gifts and teach classes on ABO physiology. The director had called him a “kind uncle,” and the caregivers praised his benevolence. Nobody believed he could be a monster.

So why was this “good doctor” a beast in human skin when it came to Yuxi? Why was he trying to trigger secondary differentiation through assault? Was he experimenting with human lives? Or was he so obsessed with the humiliation of having his hand broken by Yuxi—who was an Omega at the time—that he sought this specific revenge?

“This person is completely twisted, right?” Luo Yuchu commented, unaware of Yuxi’s history. “And how does he know his victims will differentiate? It’s like he knows exactly how to trigger it. It’s revolting.”

“He knows because he’s an Alpha,” Yuxi said tonelessly.

Luo Yuchu looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Psychological suggestion,” Yuxi replied. He remembered Mo Wenbin’s health classes. He clearly recalled the man saying: “When someone is good to you for a long time, or meets your needs, even if they force you to do something you don’t want to do, if they show weakness during the act, your subconscious will soften. Under that suggestion, they achieve their goal.”

—I bought you many books, didn’t I? —I bought you new clothes and shoes, right? —Doesn’t that mean I’m good to you?

Perhaps Song Yinling had compromised because she got something she wanted. But to Yuxi, it was laughable.

He finally understood Mo Wenbin’s obsession. The man thought he was “satisfying a need” and expected a response. But in Yuxi’s eyes, those gifts were just things every child received. He felt gratitude, but nothing more. When the assault happened, he didn’t waver. He differentiated into an Alpha to protect himself and broke the man’s arm in self-defense.

If he hadn’t been stopped back then, he might have killed Mo Wenbin.

That was the difference between him and the other victims. They were innocent and retained their “innate goodness” even when persecuted, hoping the villain might show mercy. That hope became a loophole for the psychological suggestion.

Before meeting Luo Panzhi, Yuxi’s environment had taught him that no one could be relied upon. He could only protect himself. His guarded nature and pride had saved him.

“I’m glad I differentiated into an Alpha. Sometimes, a ‘death before dishonor’ mentality is its own kind of courage,” Yuxi said with a faint, liberating smile. “A blessing in disguise.”

He lost the possibility of being an Omega, became an Alpha, met the Directors, entered a social circle he could never have reached on his own, and then met the greatest stroke of luck in his life.

Luo Yuchu froze for a moment, sensing something deeper in his words.

“Luo Panzhi is the greatest luck of my life,” Yuxi said, looking at her. The coldness of his features was softened by the smile on his lips. “I’m also very lucky to become part of your family.”

He could walk forward without fear. Even if he had to retreat, there was nothing to be afraid of because Luo Panzhi was standing right behind him.

As for Mo Wenbin—his blatant actions suggested he was ready to sacrifice himself for his twisted satisfaction. Fine. This would end once and for all. Mo Wenbin had been a fugitive for fourteen years; now that Yuxi knew he was alive, he would never let the matter rest.

Luo Panzhi, who had been standing at the door for a while, was overjoyed to hear his partner’s praise. Heart racing with a desire for a hug, he pushed the door open and poked his head in. Meeting Yuxi’s gaze, he gave a radiant smile.

“Hi, baby! I’m back!”

Meeting Panzhi’s beaming face, Yuxi adjusted his glasses and asked coolly, “Where did you go?”

Panzhi hurried inside, closed the door, and sat by the bed, grabbing Yuxi’s arm. “I told you, I went to buy fruit! But since you didn’t want any, I came back. Does your stomach still hurt?”

As he spoke, he reached under the covers to feel Yuxi’s stomach, leaning down to give it a worried kiss.

Yuxi caught a faint scent and frowned. His eyes landed on Panzhi’s suit jacket. Narrowing his eyes, he pinched the sleeve and looked closely. There were a few nearly imperceptible drops of blood. His face darkened instantly.

“Luo Panzhi. I am asking you one more time. Where did you go?”

Hearing his full name spoken in that cold tone, the fear of “being dominated” made Panzhi gulp. He looked up cautiously, meeting Yuxi’s eyes, clinging to the last shred of his dignity as a CEO.

“…Don’t call me by my full name. I told you, I went to buy fruit.”

Luo Yuchu laughed. She stood up and patted her brother on the shoulder. “Now that you’re back, I’m handing Brother Yuxi back to you. Take care of yourself, Second Brother.” With a grin, she left the ward.

Finally, someone can keep my brother in check. Heaven has eyes! she thought. This year’s family portrait won’t be a staring contest anymore.