After Faking My Death, I Sub-gendered into an Omega; My Alpha Ex-Husband Tracked My Scent and Wept - Chapter 5

It was already dawn when Cheng Yanzhou pushed open the front door.

His suit jacket still smelled of antiseptic from the operating room, and the stitches on his gland throbbed with a dull pain. The first thing he did after waking up from the general anesthesia was to reach for his phone.

The sight of the red exclamation marks made him feel faint.

He had been blocked by Shen Qi.

The Alpha’s expression turned gloomy instantly, and his gin pheromones flooded the room, spiraling out of control. It was all in vain, however. It was because of him that Shen Qi was angry.

Cheng Yanzhou untied his tie powerlessly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed his emotions.

He had actually booked a restaurant, and he had bought a gift. He had wanted to spend this anniversary well. However, today happened to be the first day of his susceptibility period, and his condition was very poor. Furthermore, he was afraid of losing control during dinner with Shen Qi, so he had moved up his gland surgery.

However, the one-hour surgery had been extended to three hours due to complex pathological factors. Fearing that the surgery would cause delays, he had specifically set up a transfer in advance to apologize. One payment was for Shen Qi’s salary this month, and the other was an anniversary bonus. Ordinarily, it was not his place to pay the employees’ salaries, but his assistant had told him that morning that the finance director had underpaid Shen Qi, and Shen Qi had not made a fuss, quietly swallowing the bitter loss.

Therefore, he had intended to compensate him. Shen Qi was a little money-lover, but he was also a bit of a fool. He probably did not pay attention to the money, thinking the company belonged to his husband. However, he must have been suppressing his anger in private, so he had to soothe that anger for his foolish spouse.

Yet, he never expected that the drowsiness caused by his susceptibility period would make him mess up the payment details. The actual salary had not yet been sent when he was already blocked.

Thinking of these things, Cheng Yanzhou felt immensely guilty. This was the first time in three years that Shen Qi had been angry at him. After being blocked, he could not even make a phone call. By the time he rushed to that restaurant in a panic, it had already closed. He kicked a trash can on the side of the street in frustration, causing white petals to scatter. In the end, he could only return home in a disheveled state.

There were no lights on in the living room. As moonlight slanted into the house, Cheng Yanzhou’s gaze landed on the cake in the center of the dining table. It was Shen Qi’s handiwork. He was very good at making desserts, and the piping on the edges was even and beautiful. The words “Happy 3rd Anniversary” were written in frosting using an elegant script. Cheng Yanzhou did not particularly like sweets, but he could not help but walk over, dip his fingertip into a bit of the frosting, and taste it.

It was so sweet that it tasted bitter.

A few minutes later, Cheng Yanzhou stood before the master bedroom door, his knuckles hovering above the door panel, hesitant to knock. The stitches on his gland sent waves of sharp pain through him. The doctor had warned him not to use pheromones for six hours after the surgery, but at this moment, the mellow scent of gin was overflowing from his body, triggered by his emotional fluctuations.

He took a deep breath, and his knuckles finally tapped lightly against the door.

“Shen Qi.”

His voice was hoarser than he had imagined, revealing the complicated state of his mind.

Inside the room, there was dead silence. Cheng Yanzhou reached up to loosen his collar, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed his emotions.

“I can explain today’s events.”

From inside the door, there came the rustling sound of fabric, followed by the muffled thud of slippers stepping on the carpet. Cheng Yanzhou straightened his back involuntarily, mentally drafting what to say. He planned to apologize the moment the door opened.

In the next second, however, he heard a click.

It was the sound of the door being locked from the inside.

“No need for explanations.”

Shen Qi’s voice came from behind the door, muffled and heavy with a thick nasal tone. “President Cheng is a busy man, I understand.”

Cheng Yanzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He had never heard Shen Qi use this tone before, as if he were dealing with a difficult client.

“I tasted the cake,” he tried to ease the atmosphere. “It is very…”

“Throw it away,” Shen Qi interrupted him. “There was too much sugar; it was not good.”

As the words fell, the Alpha’s canine teeth bit into his lower lip, breaking the skin. The metallic taste of blood spread in his mouth. He leaned his hand against the door frame. Perhaps due to the surgery or something else, a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him.

“I went to the restaurant,” he mustered his strength, his voice dropping a decibel. “But you had already left.”

“Is that so?”

Shen Qi was so angry he laughed. His voice suddenly became more alert, but the words that slipped out were filled with bitterness. “That is quite a coincidence. I waited there for nearly four hours, and I did not even catch a glimpse of you.”

Cheng Yanzhou’s temples throbbed painfully. He knew he was in the wrong, so he could only remain silent. Then, he heard that exceptionally cold voice again.

Shen Qi’s voice was very soft. “Tell me, why did you not come today?”

Cheng Yanzhou could not speak. He wanted to say that it was because he was lying on an operating table, because his gland was falling apart, and because he was afraid of hurting him. He wanted to say how he had sent a message the moment he woke up from the anesthesia, and how the transfer had been a mix-up of notes, and he had no other intentions.

But the words circled in his throat, and in the end, he remained silent. He could not say it. He could not let Shen Qi know about his pheromone mania, and he could not let him know the reason why he had been secretly kind to him while deliberately keeping his distance.

“Tomorrow,” Cheng Yanzhou paused, intending to make amends. “Shall I take you to that new French restaurant tomorrow? As an apology, is that alright?”

A scoff came from inside the room.

“That will not be necessary.”

Shen Qi’s voice suddenly became very soft.

“Cheng Yanzhou, let us get a divorce.”

Moonlight slanted into the room from the corridor window, casting a patch of white on Cheng Yanzhou’s feet. He stared at that line between light and shadow, suddenly remembering their wedding three years ago. Shen Qi had stood in that same junction of light and shadow. Even though he knew the wedding was not based on love, he had raised his eyes to him with red earlobes and said, “Please take care of me.”

Now, he said, “Divorce.”

“Divorce?”

Cheng Yanzhou’s voice turned cold instantly, and his gin pheromones swept through the corridor like a storm. The stitches on his gland felt as though they were being torn apart, but he felt as if he could not sense it. He slammed his palm against the door, making it rattle.

“Say that again.”

A faint sound of gasping came from inside the room. Shen Qi seemed to be frightened by this sudden outburst of rage. Cheng Yanzhou could imagine his appearance right now. He must be curled up behind the door, his eyes, which were always wet, widened like a startled rabbit. This image appearing in his mind made his pheromones even more uncontrollable.

“It has been three years…”

Shen Qi’s voice trembled slightly, but after being shouted at like that by the person outside the door, he could not help but flare up a bit. “Cheng Yanzhou, what do you take me for? An ornament that you can summon and discard at will?”

The Alpha’s pupils contracted violently. The choked-up sounds inside the door did not stop. He heard him continue.

“I have been married to you for three years, have you given me even a sliver of affection? I had originally planned to…”

Planned to confess.

But he did not say it. Instead, his tone shifted. It sounded weak, as if he were pouring out his heart, yet also like a negotiation.

“I know we were forced to marry because of our childhood engagement. Now that you do not love me, why will you not let me leave? Finding relief would be good for both of us.”

Shen Qi leaned his back against the door panel. His heart hurt so much as he said these things. But if he did not say them, he was afraid he would be in pain for even longer.

Cheng Yanzhou listened quietly until he finished, his breathing becoming rapid. His nerves, extremely sensitive due to his susceptibility period, began to flare up. A wave of anger rushed to his head. He ripped off his tie violently, leaving red marks on his palms.

“Do not even think about it.”

Cheng Yanzhou squeezed these words out through gritted teeth. “As long as you are alive, do not even think about leaving this home.”

The room inside suddenly became quiet. All traces of sobbing and choking disappeared. He could hardly even hear Shen Qi’s breathing. This silence was more frightening than any argument. Cheng Yanzhou reached up to press his temples, where the pulsing blood vessels felt as if they were about to explode. He remembered the doctor’s warning: “Emotional fluctuations within 24 hours after surgery will lead to pheromone rampages.”

But he could not care about that now. Shen Qi wanted to divorce him; how could he not be anxious and angry?

“Shen Qi, do you hear me?”

His voice was terrifyingly low.

Answering him was a soft sob, like a sound released after being suppressed and controlled for a long time. Cheng Yanzhou froze completely. He had never heard Shen Qi cry. Even during his worst susceptibility periods, the one time he had lost control and pinned him to the wall, biting through his neck, Shen Qi had only endured it silently with red eyes before pushing him away and saying in a low voice, “I am sorry, I do not have a gland. I will go find you some inhibitors.”

And now, that barely audible sob felt like a sharp blade piercing his heart. He suddenly wanted to run away. He could not go in and hold him; he could only hide so that he would not have to hear that heart-wrenching crying.

In the end, Cheng Yanzhou took a step back and spoke first, his voice sounding completely raspy.

“You should think about it carefully, but divorce is absolutely impossible.”

With those words, the sound of his turning away was heavy and chaotic.

Behind the master bedroom door, Shen Qi slowly slid down to the floor, buried his face in his knees, and cried silently. Inside the opposite room, Cheng Yanzhou also leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor, his palms covered in cold sweat. His surgical stitches seemed to have burst open; he could feel warm liquid flowing down the back of his neck.

But compared to the pain in his gland, the spot in his chest seemed to ache even more.