After Entering a Contract Marriage with a Disabled Alpha - Chapter 3

Lin Shuxing stood in the hallway, gritting his teeth as he watched the servants move things out of the bedroom.

Since the matter was settled, he refused to let Pei Yu benefit from any of his belongings. He called over more maids to remove every single personal decoration, not even leaving the room fragrance behind.

The dressing table had been covered in rows of bottles and jars, with all sorts of exquisite bracelets and earrings glittering under the lights. Had he not known Lin Shuxing was still a student, Pei Yu would have thought he had stumbled into the room of a famous celebrity or influencer.

The bedroom decor was lavish. Under the warm orange glow of the crystal floral lamps, mottled shadows played across the walls. The servants were efficient; in less than half an hour, Lin Shuxing’s bedroom was empty.

“Please change the sheets and covers. It smells a bit…” Pei Yu let the sentence hang.

The scent of the aromatherapy was too strong for his liking. If he had not held it back, he would have started sneezing repeatedly.

The hypersensitive Lin Shuxing exploded instantly.

His pheromone scent was durian. He had gone to great lengths to hide this fact, never going a day without scent-blocking patches and odor-suppressing wristbands. Aside from his parents, no one knew the true scent of his pheromones.

Luo Meihua doted on him and happened to like durian, but Lin Yifeng was different. To him, it just smelled foul. When Lin Shuxing first manifested, Lin Yifeng had actually wondered if a toilet in the house had exploded.

In short, it was his secret. He assumed Pei Yu was mocking his pheromones for being unpleasant.

“What are you acting for? You are just a Beta. Can you even smell pheromones?”

“You are the one who stole my room, yet you are the one acting aggrieved!”

The servants were still present, so Lin Shuxing forced himself to appear calm, even though his heart was hammering against his ribs.

Pei Yu looked up and gave him a faint, sideways glance. Lin Shuxing’s cheeks flushed red, and his fists clenched at his sides.

“Are you nervous?” Pei Yu asked meaningfully.

Lin Shuxing’s heart raced as he struggled to maintain his composure. “What would I be nervous about?”

“Oh,” Pei Yu replied. He withdrew his gaze and kindly explained, “I was not talking about pheromones. The citrus scent in this room is too thick. It is pungent. Can you not smell it?”

Terrified of his pheromones leaking, Lin Shuxing always used an excessive amount of fragrance to cover it up. The servants with allergies had been choked by the scent many times while cleaning, but they could never criticize the young master. They simply assumed he had a habit of overusing perfume. Even the most expensive perfume becomes sickeningly sweet when you spray half a bottle a day.

They truly could not understand such taste. A few servants could not help themselves, and faint snickers escaped.

Lin Shuxing was fuming. He glared at them but dared not let his emotions get too volatile for fear of his pheromones leaking. He had no choice but to grab his skincare products and leave in a pathetic state. Before exiting, he did not forget to turn around and hurl a haughty insult at Pei Yu. “Do you even know what perfume is? You bumpkin.”

This childish verbal attack was harmless to Pei Yu. He turned and entered the room.

After the servants changed the bedding, he hung his clothes in the wardrobe. He had only brought a few hoodies and T-shirts. The hems were faded from washing, but they were clean and carried a faint scent of roses from the laundry detergent Jiang He used to buy.

Closing the door, Pei Yu collapsed onto the bed, burying himself in the soft mattress. After a long day, he did not want to move. The master bedroom was much larger than the guest room he had stayed in previously, and the renovations were several grades higher.

While the luxury made little difference to him, insisting on this room was a small act of retaliation. He did not expect to live here for long anyway. Since moving in, Lin Yifeng had never seen him. Luo Meihua claimed to welcome him, but she had conditions: he had to abandon his eighteen-year bond with Jiang He and acknowledge her as his only mother.

Once he regained some energy, Pei Yu took a towel to the bathroom. He removed his thick glasses and brushed back his bangs. After staring at himself in the mirror for a few seconds, he undressed to shower.

When he emerged in his pajamas, water droplets slid down his slender white calves, leaving a trail from the bathroom door to the bedside. He had just finished changing when someone knocked on the door.

“Little Master, I am sorry. The eldest young master said he forgot to take the suppressants he left in the bedside drawer. He asked me to come and get them.”

The maid spoke softly outside. It was late, and she was afraid the little master had already gone to sleep.

Accompanied by the sound of lazy footsteps, the door opened a crack. A hand reached out from inside. The skin was fair, and the knuckles were clean and well-defined. He was so thin that the blue veins on the back of his hand were visible, giving off a sense of fragility.

“Take them,” Pei Yu said, handing over a case containing several ampoules of suppressants.

The maid looked up and was instantly stunned. The room was filled with the faint, moist mist of a recent shower. The youth’s cheeks were flushed pink, and a few stray droplets of water clung to his skin, sliding down the clean line of his chin.

On his bridge sat those same lifeless, thick-framed glasses. However, his wet hair was pulled back completely and held in place with a cute hair clip, revealing a full, fair forehead.

The lights in the room were off, but a beam from the hallway shone directly into his eyes. They shimmered with a captivating brilliance. Most striking was the small red mole at the corner of his left eye, looking like a splash of vivid red paint, beautiful and enchanting.

Is the little master actually this handsome?

The door closed. The maid held the suppressants, her heart fluttering as if brushed by a feather. It took her several seconds to recover before she walked stiffly toward Lin Shuxing’s secondary bedroom.

Night fell, and a crescent moon hung in the dark sky. Back on the bed, Pei Yu checked the daily report sent by the private nurse. The message detailed Jiang He’s condition: her level of consciousness throughout the day, today’s medication, and her pheromone fluctuation levels.

Pei Yu replied with a “Thank you,” as he always did. He then exited WeChat and opened his email app. He had only one special contact: the person who had provided him with a scholarship during middle school.

At the time, the school had a one-on-one assistance program for students in poverty. After learning about his family situation, his teacher had signed him up. Normally, the identities of the donor and the recipient remained anonymous. However, while turning in an assignment once, Pei Yu happened to see the donor’s information on his teacher’s desk. There was no specific name, but the contact info listed a phone number and an email.

Afraid that calling would be too intrusive, Pei Yu hesitated for a long time before writing a brief, sincere letter of thanks. After a while, he received a reply: [You are welcome. Study hard.]

Since then, Pei Yu would send his grades to the other party, as if to say: “Your kindness is not being wasted.”

During that period, his pressure was immense. He had to care for Jiang He, work part-time, and maintain his studies. He wished he could use a cloning technique to split himself into several people. Once, after sending his recent grades, he felt lightheaded and confessed to the other party about the stress he was under. It was as if he had found a vent for his heavy burden. As soon as he regained his senses, he regretted it.

Unlike WeChat, email had no “unsend” function. He thought to himself that this was likely why schools kept donor information secret.

Just as he was feeling anxious, the other party replied. They did not blame him; instead, they comforted him. However, the person seemed not to know how to comfort someone, simply replying: [Pressure is the source of motivation.]

Pei Yu found it funny at the time, but upon reflection, he realized it was true. Perhaps this was the wisdom of an adult. Relying on that sentence, he did manage to pull through his most difficult days.

Since then, Pei Yu continued to send his grades and occasional updates on his daily life. The donor’s replies remained as simple as ever: “Read,” “Received,” “Mhm,” or “Okay.”

Now that he was no longer responsible for the bulk of his mother’s medical fees, Pei Yu was thinking about repayment. In the dim room, the white light of the phone reflected off his exquisite features. He edited the message repeatedly, fearing any hint of impoliteness.

[Could you please provide me with a bank account number? In the future, I…]

Jiangcheng was shrouded in faint moonlight, though the city’s lights burned brightly through the night. Neon signs flashed, and traffic flowed like a river. In the heart of the city, where land was worth its weight in gold, a cluster of historic Western-style villas sat quietly by the street. Every brick and tile held the weight of time.

Through the ornate iron gates, one could see vast patches of roses blooming in the courtyard. Every pedestrian passing by would stop to admire them. “It would be amazing to live in there one day.”

“Sure, it only costs tens of thousands a night.”

“Damn, only?”

“Hey, do you think this property can be privately owned?”

“With enough power and money, anything is possible. I heard the head of the Qin Group used to live here.”

As the night deepened, a heavy, dull thud suddenly echoed in a room within the villa. The butler standing outside felt his heart tremble. He leaned toward the closed wooden door and whispered, “Mr. Qin, are you alright?”

He was a Beta who could not smell any pheromones. Yet, as he approached the door, the coldness spreading through the air made his limbs stiffen. It was a warning from his subconscious.

It felt as though a great beast with bared fangs was locked behind that door. The butler knew that Mr. Qin Shen had simply entered his rut. He took a breath and knocked twice more.

The room was a mess. Chairs and tables were overturned, and bedding was scattered across the floor. All sharp objects had been removed in advance. The room felt as though a heavy, dense snowstorm had hit; the ice was bitter and the wind whistled, making it hard to breathe.

The floating pheromones had condensed into something physical, sharp as ice picks. If anyone dared to step inside, they would be met with an immeasurable, violent attack.

During every rut, Qin Shen arranged his work in advance and confined himself to his room. Paralyzed in both legs, his pheromones were turbulent and restless. He lay weak and slumped on the carpet, looking quite disheveled.

His arched back strained against his suit jacket. His solid-colored tie lay discarded nearby, and his collar was open, revealing a cold, white collarbone. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead. He gritted his teeth, the veins in his neck bulging.

An unshakeable itch nagged at his fangs. He ground his teeth repeatedly, tortured by the agonizing desire to sink his fangs into the soft glands on the back of an Omega’s neck.

As a rare S-grade Alpha, Qin Shen’s physical capabilities and senses were at the human limit. His superior leadership had allowed him to establish a firm foothold in the treacherous Qin Group early on, and his ruthless methods had eventually brought the entire conglomerate under his control.

Because of his superior Alpha traits, his ruts were more violent than those of any other Alpha. For Alphas without partners, the tech-pharmaceutical company under the Qin Group had long since developed Omega-pheromone-mimicking drugs to soothe them.

However, those drugs were useless for him. Qin Shen had to endure the agonizing torture of the rut through sheer willpower.

Unless he found an Omega with extremely high compatibility to mark and possess, he could not alleviate this bone-deep pain. But while enjoying the comfort of an Omega’s pheromones, an Alpha’s possessiveness toward that person would only grow stronger. It might start with holding hands and hugging, but with intimate contact, more desires would sprout: kissing, temporary marking, complete marking, and total possession.

A high-compatibility Omega would also influence an Alpha’s emotions and judgment. Being controlled or influenced by another was something the solitary Qin Shen could not accept.

The butler outside heard the faint groans and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. “Mr. Qin, perhaps you should listen to the Old Master and find an Omega with high compatibility.”

Find an Omega?

Sweat dripped down his sharp jawline. Qin Shen struggled to prop himself up against the edge of the desk and sat back in his wheelchair. He never believed that the suffering brought by his genes could control him. If he yielded so easily to pheromones, how would he be different from a beast?

Soaked in sweat, his shirt clung to his chest, outlining the powerful physique of a mature man. He said hoarsely, “I am fine. Prepare a set of clean clothes and leave them at the door.”

“But…” The butler hesitated, finally letting out a sigh. “Very well, I will prepare them immediately.”

A notification chime for a new email sounded from the laptop on the desk. Qin Shen operated the wheelchair buttons, his long-fingered hand sliding across the mousepad.

A rut lasted three to four days. He had already instructed his special assistant to handle his work during this time. For sensitive issues or major decisions, the assistant would contact him via email.

Qin Shen clicked open the email. When he saw the sender, his gaze faltered for a moment.

A moment of silence followed. A few seconds later, he typed a reply with slow deliberation: [No need to repay.]

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