After Faking My Death, I Sub-gendered into an Omega; My Alpha Ex-Husband Tracked My Scent and Wept - Chapter 4

When Shen Qi returned home after dining with Yu An, the villa was as quiet as ever.

Shen Qi paced around upstairs in his slippers, but he did not see even a shadow of Cheng Yanzhou.

Well, he would probably be back very late again.

A sudden thought occurred to him, and he quietly walked into the guest bedroom, picked up the remote control, and pointed it at the air conditioner.

With a “beep,” the air conditioner started to run perfectly.

It was not broken.

Perhaps someone had come to fix it during the day.

Then, he would be spared the trouble of someone knocking on his door tonight.

Thinking this, Shen Qi locked his bedroom door as soon as he returned. He showered, dried his hair, and dove into the large bed as usual. Just as he was burying his face in the quilt, lost in a daze, he suddenly realized that Cheng Yanzhou had been lying right here to sleep the night before.

His face inexplicably grew hot. Shen Qi recalled how Cheng Yanzhou looked in his pajamas, how his hair appeared when wet and smooth, and how the veins on his arms stood out after he had knocked on the door.

It was over. How could there be such a thing in this world as secretly loving your own husband?

He had a habit of overthinking things. Today at the office, he had finally managed to harden his heart for once, but it could not change anything.

The things he had discussed with Yu An surfaced in his mind, and Shen Qi sighed, deciding to let those bitter feelings run their course.

Should he divorce?

But he still liked Cheng Yanzhou so much, and he still could not let go.

He thought for a moment, then sprang up from the bed and drew a red circle on the calendar hanging on the wall.

Third Wedding Anniversary.

It happened to be next Tuesday.

He suddenly felt that this date sounded familiar, but he could not quite recall why.

Shen Qi ultimately decided to tell the other man his true feelings on that day. After all, the worst possible outcome was just to be ridiculed and then return to the previous state of affairs.

He could accept that.

On Monday evening, Shen Qi had already requested a half-day off for the following day. Thus, on Tuesday afternoon, he left the company and drove to the flower shop to pick up the flowers he had ordered.

During this time, he nervously sent the message he had edited countless times. It was simple, yet he had changed it over and over again.

[Are you free for dinner tonight? I have booked a restaurant.]

After about ten minutes, Cheng Yanzhou’s profile picture lit up, and he replied with a single character: [Hmm.]

Even though it seemed perfunctory, Shen Qi still felt a warm glow in his heart.

He hugged a large bouquet of white tulips back from the flower shop.

Cheng Yanzhou did not like overly intense fragrances, and this variety was just right.

The lights were just coming on.

Inside a high-end Western restaurant in Hai City.

Shen Qi sat at a table by the window, staring at the neon lights outside while twisting a petal of a white tulip between his fingers.

They had agreed on six o’clock, but Cheng Yanzhou was already nearly an hour late.

He watched as the toasted bread appetizer grew cold, his expression calm.

When the waiter came for the third time to refill his lemon water, there was already a hint of pity in their eyes.

At this moment, his phone screen lit up, and Shen Qi hurriedly grabbed it to check.

[Temporary meeting, will be an hour late.]

Shen Qi took a deep breath, his fingertips tapping lightly on the screen: [Okay, I will wait for you.]

He took the opportunity to lower his head and smell his own wrist. The citrus-scented perfume had great staying power. He had sprayed only a little, and though the fragrance was faint, it lingered in that small space.

This was the latest model of fake Omega pheromone perfume, which was said to make Alphas feel a sense of closeness.

Shen Qi’s ears burned. He had actually listened to Yu An’s suggestion and bought this embarrassing thing.

Two whole hours passed by quietly, and the people in the restaurant gradually thinned out.

Shen Qi was still waiting.

He aimlessly toyed with his empty water glass, his gaze already showing signs of exhaustion.

At this moment, his phone vibrated. He picked it up almost immediately, only to be disappointed once again.

It was a dining review notification from the restaurant’s app. After all, nearly four hours had passed since he had logged into the ordering system, so the system had determined the meal was over and popped it up automatically.

He felt quite despondent as he locked his phone screen and threw it aside.

At this moment, footsteps approached, and the waitress’s voice was polite yet detached. “Mr. Shen, are you still not going to serve your reserved dishes? The kitchen says they are almost sold out.”

Shen Qi sighed silently. “Please serve them now. If they get cold, I will have them reheated when my husband arrives.”

A moment later, he stared blankly at the steak on the table.

Although his stomach was empty, he did not seem to feel hungry at all.

This M9 Wagyu beef was something he had specifically chosen; it was Cheng Yanzhou’s favorite cut.

It looked delicious, but as time passed, it slowly grew cold, and the fats solidified on the surface like a layer of unsightly wax.

The wait was truly too agonizing.

Shen Qi was a financial specialist and had always been sensitive to numbers. He calculated that this torment had lasted for nearly three hours and forty-five minutes, until the restaurant closed.

Cheng Yanzhou, in the end, had not appeared.

The night breeze, carrying the chill of early autumn, brushed against the hem of Shen Qi’s clothes. He stood on the stone steps at the entrance of the restaurant, the petals of the white tulips in his arms trembling in the wind.

The three hours and forty-five minutes of waiting had caused the pure white petals to fade into a haggard, pale yellow.

Shen Qi’s fingertips brushed over the silk wrapping paper, the rustling sound exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

He lowered his head to sniff them; even though they were the freshest flowers, he could not smell a hint of fragrance.

When his phone vibrated in his palm, he still stiffened his back out of a conditioned reflex.

A bank notification pierced his vision:

[Cheng Yanzhou transferred 520,000.00 yuan to you.]

Remark: Salary.

Shen Qi’s breath hitched for a moment, and his whole body went numb.

The number itself was sweet, but the label “salary” was like a dull knife, slowly carving into his heart.

He stared at this mocking number, suddenly remembering how he had blushed while telling the clerk at the flower shop to “wrap them nicely”;

How he had repeatedly edited the invitation message sent to Cheng Yanzhou;

And how, before leaving, he had secretly sprayed that embarrassing perfume on his wrists and behind his ears.

The night breeze suddenly turned sharp, scraping his eyes until they stung.

A transfer on an anniversary remarked as salary?

What did he consider him to be?

They were legally married; they had slept in the same bed for a year; and he had…

He had sometimes shown tenderness, after all.

So, was he still just an employee to him? A “wife” who needed to be paid a salary?

How ridiculous.

He had not been that sad when he waited so long and no one showed up. He had even thought, perhaps Cheng Yanzhou was just too busy to get away, and it did not matter.

But this transfer threw his self-esteem heavily onto the ground, scattering it all over the floor along with the dirt and dust.

Great anger and grievance welled up. His fingers acted before his reason, and by the time he regained his senses, Cheng Yanzhou’s contact page already displayed a glaring red notification: [Blocked].

The tulips in his arms instantly became heavy.

Shen Qi walked to a trash can on the side of the road, his fingertips sinking deep into the wrapping paper.

He paused for three seconds, then suddenly threw the bouquet into the bin with a surge of ferocity.

With a dull “thud,” the pure white petals scattered and flew everywhere, a few sticking to the edge of the trash can.

Shen Qi turned and walked away quickly. His leather shoes stepped over a petal on the ground, crushing out a faint juice that glimmered in the moonlight.

He never looked back.