After Breaking Up with the Alpha Villain, I was Forcibly Marked - Chapter 23

“Three questions. You only get three, and once you’re done, get the hell out of here!”

Gao Chang was too exhausted to delve into the subtext of the reporter’s words. Frowning, he laid down his ultimatum.

“No problem!”

The young reporter’s face filled with excitement, his secret joy impossible to hide. The other journalists, who hadn’t fully recovered yet, also perked up, pulling various interview props from their bags.

Seeing them pull out background boards, lighting equipment, audio recorders, and even makeup kits, Gao Chang immediately put a stop to it. “Can we skip all the unnecessary fluff? Just ask what you want to ask and get on with it!”

The young reporter paused, taking a quick glance around the room where the “evidence” of a wild encounter was visible everywhere before his eyes settled on the interviewee. Gao Chang had dark circles under his eyes, swollen lips, and a neck and ears covered in hickeys.

It was the quintessential “post-coital” scene.

The reporter hesitated, asking for confirmation: “Uh… we can do that, but… are you sure?”

They naturally wanted as many “selling points” as possible. As long as the subject didn’t sue them later…

“I’m sure. Now get on with it,” Gao Chang said, rubbing his aching temples, his voice dripping with impatience.

“Okay, starting now!!”

The young reporter motioned for the others to adjust the lenses, focusing the frame on Gao Chang’s upper body. Gao Chang thought that by skipping the tedious preparations, the interview would be a simple matter of a few seconds to dismiss these people.

That was until he saw the reporters take out three boards, each about thirty centimeters wide. These were pre-made answer cards for the questions they had prepared.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Gao Chang’s lip twitched. He pointed to the top white board which read: ‘Please choose one: Current, Same (Invalid), or Ex (Choose with Caution).’

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. This is actually our agency’s signature style. We set up this question-and-answer format for every guest. It’s mainly to save the interviewee time. It increases efficiency and won’t take up too much of your time. It’s incredibly convenient!”

The young reporter lied through his teeth. Gao Chang was speechless, immediately calling them out: “So you’re just making me do a survey?!”

The young reporter nodded vigorously, clasping his hands together with a sincere smile. “Pretty much, pretty much. Please just cooperate a little you did promise us just now!” Fearing Gao Chang would flip the table and leave, he promised again: “Just five minutes! We’ll be done in five minutes!”

Gao Chang suppressed the urge to hit someone and waved his hand. “Fine, just ask.” He wanted to see what kind of pit they had dug for him this time.

The reporter held the microphone to the Alpha’s face, cleared his throat, and asked with high spirits: “What we want to know is, in your heart, who is more important: your ex-boyfriend or your current boyfriend?”

Gao Chang’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively shot back: “Why are you asking that?” What a bizarre question. He thought they would ask something more substantial.

The reporter blinked innocently. “This is what the citizens of the Empire have been dying to know lately. You don’t mind sharing, do you?”

Gao Chang’s eyes involuntarily followed the youth standing near the reporter. All the snarky comments he had planned were suddenly replaced by a frantic heartbeat the moment the youth looked over. For a rare moment, he stammered, “It’s… a feeling that’s hard to put into words…”

“Ahem, then if you had to choose one between the two, which would you pick?”

Hearing his non-answer, the reporter gave a light cough. In the camera’s blind spot, his colleague began pointing frantically at the “Current” option on the answer card, signaling him to give a clear response.

Gao Chang: “…”

“Young Master Gao, pick an option and answer,” the reporter whispered in a voice that was almost pure air, bypassing the microphone to nudge him.

Only after he followed the prompt to answer the first question did the reporter slowly move on to the next.

Two days later, on the Empire’s most popular social media platforms, several news posts regarding “The Richest Heir’s Current Partner,” “Clarification,” “The Child,” and “High-Profile Declaration of Love” dominated the top ten trending list. The situation continued to escalate, with citizens gossiping fervently.

Outskirts of the Imperial Central City.

In a corner of a terrace of a thousand-square-meter luxury villa, an Alpha dressed in silk pajamas lay listlessly on a lounge chair, his eyes glazed as he stared at the distant rows of trees.

Beside him, a man in a flax-colored trench coat, tall and slender, was carefully placing medical instruments back into his kit. Without looking up, he lectured:

“Even though you are a high-quality Alpha and your self-healing ability is several times stronger than average, as your family doctor of many years, I must remind you: even during a Rut, you should maintain moderation. Excessive indulgence will only increase the burden on your body… especially as the Alpha in the bottom position.”

With that, Wen Chengmin snapped his medical kit shut. He glanced at the motionless Alpha. Even with his face turned away, Gao Chang’s bright red ears betrayed his thoughts. He wasn’t as indifferent as he appeared.

To be honest, the first time the doctor saw the marks on his employer, he was beyond shocked. Over the past two years, the employer had always asked him to prepare inhibitors for his Rut. He rarely had to deal with situations like the previous employer, who would lose control and accidentally injure Omegas. He had assumed Gao Chang rarely engaged in physical relations.

He had been mistaken. The employer didn’t strike often, but when he did, it was world-shaking. Not only did he spend his Rut with a yet-to-be-differentiated person, he ended up being the one taken. Looking at the “disaster” on his nape no residual pheromones, yet it wasn’t hard to guess the mindset of the person who bit him.

Wen Chengmin weighed his words for a moment before offering his professional guess: “The reason you entered your Rut early this time must be because you came into contact with a specific person or touched an object that triggers Alpha mania. If it was a person, that individual’s compatibility with you might be several times higher than any Omega you’ve met before. You two might be a ‘Match Made in Heaven’.”

After all, the higher the compatibility, the stronger the attraction, and the easier it is to induce an Alpha’s mania. It was simply a matter of nature.

The image of that Omega who looked exactly like Xing Xiyan surfaced in Gao Chang’s mind. The sleepiness in his eyes vanished instantly. “So that’s how it is…”

No wonder he felt so off after interacting with Xing Xiyan’s brother; it was a matter of compatibility. According to Wen Chengmin, that Omega’s compatibility was significantly higher than his “exes.” Higher than 79%…

Thinking of the still-undifferentiated Xing Xiyan, Gao Chang couldn’t help but ask, “Do you think… it’s possible for there to be two people with the same high compatibility who can both influence me?”

If Xing Yizhao could influence him, then the differentiated Xing Xiyan’s compatibility should logically be even higher. Unfortunately, Wen Chengmin quickly shot down the idea.

“Impossible. Not all high-compatibility Omegas can induce mania in an Alpha. The only one who can satisfy both conditions simultaneously is usually an Alpha’s ‘Fated Pair’.”

Forget two existing at once the probability of an Alpha even meeting their Fated Pair was infinitesimal. Many go their entire lives without ever finding their “Match Made in Heaven.” Those who do are a tiny minority of lucky individuals, comparable to hitting the grand prize in a lottery across infinite pools.