After Faking My Death, I Sub-gendered into an Omega; My Alpha Ex-Husband Tracked My Scent and Wept - Chapter 3

During the lunch break, Shen Qi encountered the person he wanted to see the least in the breakroom.

“Specialist Shen?”

Miss Chen leaned against the coffee machine. She glanced at the name tag on his chest while intentionally exposing a corner of the pheromone blocker behind her ear.

Her gaze was filled with scrutiny. “I heard Canghe is currently downsizing.”

Then, her nose twitched, and she looked at Shen Qi with pointed implication. “It must be hard for a Beta to survive in a company like this, right?”

Shen Qi pressed the button on the coffee machine. The buzzing sound of steam filled the air. “Miss Chen, you are overthinking it. President Cheng only looks at performance.”

The woman suddenly leaned in closer, startling Shen Qi into taking half a step back, but her tone became light and airy. “Is that so? Then tell me one more thing. Do you know when President Cheng’s rut cycle is? Last time he…”

“Sorry, I am a Beta. I am not aware of these things.”

“Next Tuesday.”

Two voices spoke at the same time. Shen Qi turned his head.

The other cold, sharp voice came from the doorway. Cheng Yanzhou was standing there, holding the fountain pen that Shen Qi had dropped at the entrance of the breakroom.

He spoke again.

“I welcome Miss Chen to visit today, but I do not like people discussing personal matters at the company.”

As the words fell, an oppressive, intimidating atmosphere swept through the entire breakroom.

Miss Chen’s face turned deathly pale. As she passed by Cheng Yanzhou, she received a “tsk” of annoyance; she hurriedly pressed her pheromone blocker firmly into place and fled as if escaping.

Shen Qi finished pouring his glass of water without a word.

Cheng Yanzhou walked in a few steps. When he handed over the fountain pen, his fingertips accidentally brushed against Shen Qi’s palm.

In that instant, he immediately pulled away as if he had been burned, leaving behind a “work hard” before walking away quickly.

Watching his back, indescribable emotions rose in Shen Qi’s heart.

Cheng Yanzhou had come to help him out of a difficult situation; he should have been happy, but that small action just now…

What kind of married couple would immediately pull away the moment their fingers touched?

How much must he hate him?

The Alpha’s voice was strictly professional, and the hem of his suit jacket stirred up a breeze as he turned.

Shen Qi thought that if only he were an Alpha or an Omega, perhaps the scent of gin would have grazed his nose along with the movement.

Of course, he still could not smell anything.

Clutching the fountain pen and sitting back at his desk, the metal casing no longer held Cheng Yanzhou’s body heat.

He stared at the computer screen, his peripheral vision catching that tall, straight back disappearing into the elevator lobby, and he felt a tightness in his chest.

Trying to win over Cheng Yanzhou was still too difficult; he just could not do it…

He could not be a little emperor; he could only be a pitiful corporate slave.

The more he thought, the more frustrated he became, so Shen Qi took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to his good friend.

[Yu An, are you free for dinner tonight? I want to talk to you.]

The other side replied instantly: [OK]

“So you are stressing out over this?”

Yu An stuffed a piece of sashimi into his mouth, used the hand holding his chopsticks to push up his decorative black-rimmed glasses, and wore a very expressive look.

“You have been married for three years and you are suddenly feeling a spark? Shen Qi, is your puberty delayed?”

The izakaya was bathed in dim, warm light. Shen Qi poked at the rice soaked in tea in his bowl and pouted unconsciously, feeling a bit angry.

However, he was angry at himself, because Yu An was right.

When facing Cheng Yanzhou, it was too easy for him to lose his heart.

He had grown accustomed to three years of indifference, but one unintended approach from the other person was enough to easily break the thick ice at the bottom of his heart.

Only to find that the water flow beneath the ice was still surging.

“Because, he came to sleep in the master bedroom last night… although he did not do anything.”

“Wait,” Yu An suddenly lowered his voice. “Do not tell me you two have not done that yet?”

He made a gesture with one hand forming a circle and the index finger of the other hand thrusting into it, a gesture that was immediately understood.

Shen Qi’s earlobes turned hot. “…”

After a silence of three seconds, he nodded awkwardly.

“Oh my god, you two have been married for three years, how can you endure this? Are you ninjas?”

Yu An truly could not understand.

Even though he did not have a stable partner, he had already slept with quite a few handsome Alphas. Yet, his friend across the table had been married for three years and had not gotten a single taste!

“It is not that he can endure it; it is because he does not like me at all, so why would he touch me?”

Shen Qi picked up a piece of tempura and put it into his mouth without much interest, but it felt like chewing wax, and his voice was wilted.

“That is because he has no eye for quality!”

Yu An felt indignant and stared at Shen Qi carefully.

At this moment, Shen Qi’s hair was dyed a light chestnut color by the restaurant lights, making him look soft and fluffy. Several stray locks hung over his forehead, swaying gently with his movements as he lowered his head to eat.

Then there were those watery eyes, slightly drooping at the corners, carrying an unintentional, innocent quality. Yet, the lines of his brow ridge were sharp, revealing a bit of hidden heroic spirit.

There was a small black mole on his right cheek, like a speck of ink accidentally dropped there; when he smiled, the mole would move slightly upward with his apple muscle.

Looking at his face, Shen Qi was clearly a refined and cute type, but his shoulder lines and jawbone structure carried the clean-cut sharpness unique to a young man, neutralizing that softness and making him look pleasant and comfortable to be around.

No, their Qiqi was so good-looking! Why would he not be liked?

Everyone who knew Shen Qi said he was a person whose appearance reflected his heart; he was the kind of obedient, gentle, kind, and cute boy. If Shen Qi were an Omega, he would be fought over by countless Alphas!

Yu An became increasingly irritated. This Cheng Yanzhou really did not know what was good for him!

“I just do not get it. You two live together every day and work together too. Even if it was not a marriage based on love, there is no need to be this cold to each other, right?”

“I cannot help it. He acts like an ice sculpture all day long, keeping his distance from me.”

Shen Qi felt wronged.

Shen Qi was unhappy.

Shen Qi downed the remaining sake in his glass in one breath.

“Then what are you going to do? Do you still want to like him?”

The person who had just been scorched by a mouthful of alcohol wrinkled his face for a long time to recover and did not answer. When he looked up, however, his watery eyes gave the answer.

Yu An propped his face in one hand, sighed helplessly, and decided to offer some ideas.

“How about this? Let us try seducing him! How about you prepare a surprise on your third anniversary?”

Yu An looked excited, snapped his fingers, and took out his phone to start scrolling. “I know an adult shop owner; I guarantee you will be able to charm the Cheng guy even without using pheromones.”

“Yu An!”

Shen Qi’s face turned bright red in an instant, and he almost knocked over his glass. Someone looked over at the sound, and he quickly lowered his volume. “Can you be serious!”

As a lawyer, Yu An shrugged and threw his phone aside. “The Marriage Law does not state that flirting with an Alpha is a crime.”

After a moment of silence, he said seriously, “But Qiqi, is Cheng Yanzhou really worth it? He has not even given you a public title in three years. In my opinion, do not hang yourself on one tree. If you divorce, just say goodbye; the next one will be more obedient.”

Hearing this, Shen Qi stared at the flickering light in his wine glass and suddenly remembered the cold sticky note from this morning.

“But…” he said softly, “I do not seem to be able to let go.”

After saying this, he cautiously looked up and, sure enough, saw the “resentment that his iron won’t turn into steel” expression on his friend’s face.

He lowered his head again, feeling a bit of resentment toward himself as well.

A moment later, he heard Yu An’s indignant voice. “You should not have agreed to that bullshit engagement in the first place.”

Yu An stirred his chopsticks, his tone plain, but every word struck deep.

“The Shen family treats you as a bargaining chip, and Cheng Yanzhou treats you as a decoration. You really have been a ‘Mrs. Cheng’ so obediently for three years, and apart from being able to provide you with gold coins to support you, there is zero benefit.”

Shen Qi remained silent.

He naturally knew that what Yu An said was correct.

The Shen family was not a wealthy, prestigious clan; at best, they were a declining scholarly family.

His father was an Alpha, his mother had passed away early due to illness, and there was only a stepmother and a younger half-brother who was also an Alpha left at home.

Back then, Cheng’s father and his own grandfather had casually made an arranged marriage when they were young. Later, the Cheng family took a liking to Shen Qi’s obedient and sensible personality, so they forcibly pushed this marriage through.

At the beginning, it was not that Shen Qi had not resisted.

Even though it was an arranged marriage, he and Cheng Yanzhou had met only a handful of times, and he did not understand this person at all.

But his stepmother said, “If you do not marry him, how will your brother’s gland surgery be paid for?”

His father said, “The Cheng family can ensure you have a worry-free life for the rest of your days.”

Even Cheng Yanzhou, on the night of the wedding, had only coldly dropped one sentence: “You should understand that this is only a contract marriage between us.”

And after that, it was three years of respecting each other like “ice.”