After Faking My Death, I Sub-gendered into an Omega; My Alpha Ex-Husband Tracked My Scent and Wept - Chapter 2

Midnight.

Shen Qi tossed and turned on the oversized bed in the master bedroom.

The bed was too large and empty, making him feel like an unnecessary piece of furniture. Staring at the ceiling, he recalled the image of Cheng Yanzhou turning and heading upstairs earlier. That man had not even paused in his stride, as if he did not want to look at him for a second longer. Consequently, that tentative invitation of his had fallen flat, landing without even an echo.

“…”

No, no, he could not think about it anymore.

Shen Qi suddenly felt a wave of grievance. He kneaded the corner of the quilt, forcing himself to shift his focus, and began to count sheep.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep.

Five.

Five, fifty, fifty points.

As he counted, his mind drifted to the time Cheng Yanzhou returned home tonight.

Ten-fifty.

He had arrived home thirty minutes later than last week’s average, and an hour later than last month’s.

The window was not shut tight, and the night breeze carried the scent of cedars from the courtyard and seeped inside. Shen Qi’s nose twitched, and he took a deep breath of the air.

Still, he smelled nothing.

A Beta’s sense of smell was pitifully dull; other than natural scents, he could not capture any pheromones. To this day, he had never personally smelled Cheng Yanzhou’s pheromones; he only knew it was a scent of alcohol. For that reason, he had once gone to a bar, foolishly ordered every type of alcohol on the menu, and had his Omega friend identify the one most similar to Cheng Yanzhou’s scent.

He got almost dead drunk that day, but he finally found it. Since then, he only ordered Gimlets at bars, as they have a high gin content.

Caught in his stray thoughts, he finally began to feel sleepy.

At 1:00 AM, the study door was gently closed.

Work had been too busy lately, there were too many social engagements, and on top of that, the symptoms of his gland issues had worsened. It was truly exhausting. Cheng Yanzhou rubbed his temples. His gin pheromones spilled out uncontrollably, fermenting and growing stronger and more mellow in the air.

He suddenly thought of Shen Qi.

God knows how stifled that remark made him feel.

However, now that his temper had cooled, he could not help but want to check on the other person. Cheng Yanzhou stood up and walked on tiptoe to the hallway. He stared at the master bedroom door handle for three seconds, then raised his hand to knock.

A moment later, the lock clicked.

“Cheng Yanzhou?”

Shen Qi opened the door while rubbing his bleary eyes. His voice was still thick with sleepiness. He had finally managed to fall asleep, only for the culprit behind his restlessness to come and disturb his dreams.

The door was only opened a tiny crack. The harsh hallway light shone into the room, causing him to squint.

Cheng Yanzhou had an idea. He said with a straight face, “The air conditioner in the guest room is broken.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the loose neckline of Shen Qi’s pajamas. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he added, “Do you mind if I sleep here?”

Shen Qi’s fingertips tightened around the door frame.

He should refuse.

He had just asked such an embarrassing question earlier, and Cheng Yanzhou had not even bothered to respond; yet now, he was taking the initiative to suggest sharing a bed? Why should he rush to take him in? Besides, were there not other empty rooms in the villa?

He should have kicked him hard and then slammed the door shut to go back to sleep!

However, his body was far more honest than his reason. By the time he came to his senses, he had already turned sideways to make way.

“It is fine, the bed is big.”

The mattress sank slightly as Cheng Yanzhou lay down. Shen Qi lay with his back to him, his entire body tense. He could feel the Alpha’s much higher body temperature radiating through the air, scorching his back until it felt numb.

“Go to sleep. We both have work tomorrow.”

Cheng Yanzhou’s voice sounded exceptionally deep in the darkness.

Shen Qi gave a soft “Mm.”

Moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, drawing a silver line across the floor. Shen Qi stared at that line, listening to the steady breathing behind him, and suddenly felt a sour ache in his nose. They had been married for three years, but they rarely shared a bed; it had been nearly two years since they had slept in the same one. He had not expected the reason for this reunion to be a broken air conditioner.

He admitted that when Cheng Yanzhou knocked, his groggy mind had echoed his own “Shall we do it tonight?” from earlier, and he had, shamefully, held onto a glimmer of hope. But now, there was a half-arm’s distance between them; they had not even touched the hems of each other’s clothes.

Sensing that the person behind him had fallen into a deep sleep, Shen Qi turned over cautiously.

He gazed at him openly.

The Alpha’s sleeping face was exceptionally peaceful and clear under the moonlight. Cheng Yanzhou was very handsome. His brow bone was perfectly shaped, his jawline was sharp and distinct, and his nose bridge was high; his bone structure was flawless. Those eyes that were usually frozen with frost were now closed quietly, with long, thick eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath his lids, uncharacteristically hiding away all his cold edge and sharpness. His thin lips were naturally pursed, and his skin seemed to shimmer with a cool, glazed sheen in the moonlight. He was impeccably handsome.

Driven by an impulsive urge, Shen Qi reached out to touch him, but stopped abruptly just before his fingertips brushed Cheng Yanzhou’s brow bone.

He pulled his hand back, turned away, and curled into a ball.

The next morning, when Shen Qi woke up, the space beside him was already empty. The sheets were as flat as if no one had ever slept there; only the wrinkles on the pillow proved that last night had not been a hallucination. Shen Qi touched the depression in the mattress; any lingering warmth had long since dissipated.

He had slept without dreams last night, which was rare, but he could not say he had slept well. It was strange. When he could not see him, he would dream of him; but when they lay together, there was no ripple at all.

He yawned and swept his gaze to the side, only to find a glass of milk on the nightstand. It was surprisingly still warm, and a sticky note was pressed under the bottom of the glass:

“Today I have an early meeting, so I am leaving first. You should drive yourself to work.”

Shen Qi stared at the lines of text for a long time. The note was just as icy as the man himself; Cheng Yanzhou probably felt that even adding a “Good morning” was unnecessary.

He climbed out of bed mechanically to wash up, went downstairs to eat the breakfast prepared by the housekeeper as usual, and subsequently drove himself to the office.

Canghe Group Building, Finance Department.

No one in the company knew that Shen Qi was Cheng Yanzhou’s spouse. His colleagues in the finance department merely thought of him as an ordinary employee, and because he was a Beta, his presence in the company was ridiculously low-key.

“Qiqi!”

As soon as he sat down, his colleague, Xiao Yang, leaned in mysteriously. “Did you know? I heard that President Cheng is bringing the daughter of the Chen Pharmaceutical family to tour the company today?”

She gestured toward the floor above, her tone full of gossip. “The old board members are so happy. They say that is a true match made in heaven for an AO couple.”

Hearing this, the fingers Shen Qi used to type paused, and the numbers on the screen suddenly skipped a row. He looked down to delete and edit, his voice calm: “Is that so? That is great.”

“But, why do you think President Cheng still is not married? He is handsome, capable, and an S-rank Alpha; he should be highly sought after.”

Hearing this, Shen Qi felt a blockage in his heart. The words slipped out before he could think, and his tone was not particularly friendly.

“What if he is already married, and we just do not know about it?”

“Uh, that possibility cannot be ruled out either, I guess.”

Xiao Yang seemed bewildered by Shen Qi’s reflexive reaction. She replied dryly, then, finding it uninteresting, silently returned to her own workstation.

The elevator chimed, and the entire finance department suddenly fell silent.

Cheng Yanzhou walked through the hallway with Ms. Chen, introducing the operations of this office area. He looked very sharp today; the black suit accentuated his razor-sharp shoulder lines. Through the glass wall, Shen Qi clearly saw Ms. Chen lean in close to Cheng Yanzhou’s ear to say something. The Alpha nodded slightly, his gaze dark and unfathomable, yet the corners of his lips curved upward ever so slightly.

Even though it was not hard to tell that it was just a polite smile, it still made Shen Qi’s heart ache with sourness.

“President Cheng is here!”

Seeing the CEO appear with a beauty in tow, Xiao Yang forgot all about the previous awkwardness and grabbed Shen Qi’s arm in excitement. “Oh my god, his pheromone concentration must be off the charts today, right? My legs are turning to jelly even from this far away.”

Shen Qi looked silently at the goosebumps rising on his arm.

A Beta could not smell pheromones, but he could roughly imagine what it smelled like. The top note was rich and fragrant; the more you smelled it, the more it resembled juniper berries combined with a hint of spice—an intoxicating alcohol scent, yet not cloying.

Hmph.

So what if the concentration is off the charts?

They are just some lowly Alphas and Omegas who rely on scents to get into heat at will. Only us Betas work and live with undivided attention; it is really unfair!

Shen Qi felt stifled. He wore his emotions on his sleeve for once. He rolled his eyes and lowered his head to continue working on his financial reports, a fire burning in his heart.

Come to think of it, his wedding with Cheng Yanzhou had been so hasty that very few people knew they were married. Canghe Group, built by the Cheng family’s generations of blood and sweat, was a leader in the industry and could be considered the central hub of their generation’s business empire. Their formidable strength meant Canghe did not need business marriages to build relationships. Plus, after Cheng Yanzhou took over the company, he had everything running like clockwork; he was like a duck to water. It was incredibly stress-free; the only drawback might have been that he had not found a partner.

Thus, Cheng’s father and mother simply fulfilled an old marriage contract, hurriedly settled their son’s marriage, and traveled the world. Even though his parents-in-law were actually quite nice to Shen Qi, they spent very little time together.

Not many people cared about an ordinary Beta like him, not even the people in their respective families. So, back then, they had just registered the marriage, invited their close blood relatives for a meal, and he had married into the Cheng family.

It was normal that no one acknowledged him, Shen Qi thought. He was too ordinary; it seemed he could not support the status of being President Cheng’s spouse.

I really am unwilling.

“…”

Three seconds later, Shen Qi took a deep breath, his hands suddenly resting on the armrests of his chair, the little person inside his heart bristling with rage.

Hmph!

What do you mean I cannot support it? Betas are the best!

I married Cheng Yanzhou, so I should be living like a little emperor!

Having been stifled for three years, Shen Qi made a secret resolution:

“I am going to win him over!”