After the Corporate Slave Beta and the Top Alpha Married - Chapter 35

Wine splashed into the crystal glass as Ji Yu took a sip.

It was a strange taste. Not unpleasant, but unlike other wines that left a sweet aftertaste. The mellow aroma upon entry gave way to a distinct bitterness. Ji Yu had never tasted such odd wine; it felt as though it was meant to turn sour, yet it remained a bitter vintage.

His delicate brows furrowed, and he took another stubborn sip. His eyes narrowed instantly, his face scrunching up like a ball of crumpled snow.

“Don’t like it?” Shang Yuanzhou asked.

Ji Yu shook his head, not saying he disliked it, but rather, “It’s a bit strange. Not for me.”

Not for me.

Shang Yuanzhou took the bottle from his hand. “Is that so?”

Pheromones smelling of bitter wine brushed heavily against the nape of the Beta who had just declared them “unsuitable.” A portion of the scent drifted, “licking” across the Beta’s lips, even trying to worm its way into the warm, moist mouth. An invasion from the inside out, intended to let the Beta feel exactly what “unsuitable” meant.

The tall, handsome Alpha “tore” his pheromones away, set the bottle on the table, and said, “Let’s head down for dinner.”

Pheromones are the reflection of the owner’s true emotions; they were boiling with passion, mocking the owner’s outward calm and restraint.

After dinner, Ji Yu brought up the suggestion Uncle Yu, the butler, had made that afternoon.

Shang Yuanzhou sat in an armchair and fell silent for a moment. “Let’s put that aside for now.”

“You don’t need to accompany me to galas for the next two weeks. Consider it a vacation; get some good rest.”

Eh? Ji Yu blinked blankly, surprised. “Why give me a vacation?”

“You must be tired lately,” Shang Yuanzhou raised an eyebrow. “I can’t have my poor employee, who was sobbing and acting spoiled in my arms last night, start working overtime again so soon.”

Ji Yu stared at him blankly. “President Shang, does this count as sexual harassment of an employee?”

Shang Yuanzhou chuckled. “It counts as being considerate of an employee.”

Another reason was the situation with those two from the Ji family. Such a massive scandal would inevitably be discussed, and Shang Yuanzhou didn’t want Ji Yu to hear any of it. He was starting to wonder if his methods were wrong; Ji Yu had spent over a decade with no one to listen to him, and now he had to believe he was “acting” every second.

“By the way,” Ji Yu remembered something, “this room has been swept, right?” Otherwise, Shang Yuanzhou wouldn’t have spoken so freely without ruling out hidden cameras.

“Then I’ll sleep on the floor,” Ji Yu said, eyeing the carpet. “With this rug, it shouldn’t be cold. I’ll make a pallet, and in the morning, I’ll roll it up and hide it in the closet. No one will know.”

The high-end, hand-woven wool carpet cost tens of thousands for a small piece, and it covered the entire bedside area. It felt soft and comfortable underfoot. The more Ji Yu looked at it, the more he liked the idea.

Shang Yuanzhou didn’t refuse; he had no reason to.

Ji Yu briskly set up his bedding on the carpet and, after a shower, lay down comfortably. Shang Yuanzhou didn’t sleep yet; for a top-tier Alpha, five or six hours of sleep was enough to return to a perfect state. After Ji Yu fell into a deep sleep, Shang Yuanzhou threw back the covers and knelt beside the sleeping man.

His large, well-defined fingers traced the clean features of Ji Yu’s face before circling behind his ear.

“Wife is covered in my scent from head to toe, yet he still thinks about sleeping in separate beds?”

If Ji Yu were an Omega, being drenched in such thick pheromones would have pushed him straight into heat like a forced-bloom flower. But he was a Beta, a Beta born free.

Shang Yuanzhou ground his teeth, squeezing the Beta’s nape where the bite mark hadn’t faded, like pinching a disobedient kitten. The closer he got, the harder it was to endure the distance. Shang Yuanzhou didn’t know how much longer he could pretend everything was normal, maintaining a surface-level relationship with Ji Yu.

He stood up to leave, taking the small toy Ji Yu had hidden. The veins on the back of his hand bulged; when he let go, the pink object, crushed into fragments, fell into the trash.

Shang Yuanzhou cast a loathing glance at it. Some people needed to be warned and disciplined.

Ji Yu spent a very pleasant week. The atmosphere at the studio was great; although he was still doing odd jobs, he was learning a lot. He grew closer to his colleagues, especially An Nian.

During work, Ji Yu discovered that An Nian also wanted to be a wilderness photographer. The petite Omega spoke longingly of grand landscapes, but then his tone shifted: “But if I find an Alpha with a high pheromone compatibility, I’d probably give up that dream.”

Ji Yu’s brow furrowed. “Is that so?”

An Nian stared at him. “Brother, you don’t think I’m ‘love-brained,’ do you? You’re a Beta, so you might not understand. If the compatibility between an Alpha and an Omega is high, they are instinctively attracted and will love each other forever.”

Ji Yu suddenly thought of Shang Yuanzhou. Would the calm, self-controlled Shang Yuanzhou who seemed entirely removed from desire also be instinctively attracted to a high-compatibility Omega?

Probably. He wasn’t entirely removed from desire,  at least not during his rut.

Ji Yu shook his head, clearing the strange thoughts. “But what if, after marriage, they meet someone with even higher compatibility? That kind of ‘love’ influenced by pheromones…” He trailed off, clearly disapproving.

An Nian explained, “Once an Alpha marks an Omega, the Omega won’t be attracted to others. While an Alpha can mark many Omegas, once they permanently mark one, it’s very hard for them to be influenced by others. Besides, if compatibility is over 90%, even a higher one won’t matter much. Generally, Alphas and Omegas with less than 90% compatibility don’t even get married. Most of them have very good relationships. Even for the few unhappy ones, they can wash away the mark and get a divorce.”

Ji Yu smiled. “I see. That’s good then.” Scumbags like his father, who used psychiatric diagnoses to bind and torture their Omegas, were hopefully the minority. Ji Yu understood the logic, but the loathing he had felt for Alphas and Omegas since childhood couldn’t simply vanish just because he understood the theory now.

At the end of another workday, Ji Yu got into the car sent for him. Only the driver was inside. Ji Yu asked casually, “Is A-Zhou not off work yet?” Usually, the driver picked up Shang Yuanzhou first and then him.

The driver spoke uncertainly, “I think President Shang has a business dinner. I was sent separately to pick you up, Mr. Ji.”

Ji Yu was still on “vacation,” so he didn’t ask further. While he sat at the villa’s table for dinner, Shang Yuanzhou was at a five-star hotel banquet.

In Shang Yuanzhou’s position, attending these banquets was unavoidable; giving Ji Yu a “vacation” didn’t mean there were no events for him. He sat at the head of the table, his eyes slightly lowered, looking bored.

“Tsk, Brother,” Shang Yuanchen leaned in. “I heard you sent those two brothers of the Beta sister-in-law ‘inside’? With such a big move, surely you’ve won her heart by now?”

Shang Yuanzhou’s eyelids lifted slightly. “Have I ever told you that I don’t like the tone you use when you mention Ji Yu?”

Shang Yuanchen stiffened, his expression turning exaggerated as he cried foul. “You’re my brother, so isn’t he my sister-in-law?”

“Your branch of the family will yield 5% profit on this project,” Shang Yuanzhou said coldly. It wasn’t a negotiation; it was an order.

Shang Yuanchen was shocked. “To you? Brother, that’s too much. I’d be working for nothing!”

“To Ji Yu,” Shang Yuanzhou glanced at him. “I told you, there won’t be a next time.”

Shang Yuanchen’s face shifted through several colors before he finally, reluctantly, agreed and left.

As the gala continued, Shang Yuanzhou went to the restroom to wash his hands and get some air. On his way back to the private suite, a clumsy waiter carrying wine crashed right into him. Shang Yuanzhou stepped back to avoid the collision, but the waiter lost his footing and fell straight forward.

As he fell, the waiter let out a soft, delicate cry of alarm. He should have landed in Shang Yuanzhou’s arms, but Shang Yuanzhou showed no “gallantry” and stepped to the side. The waiter hit the floor hard, wine spilling everywhere. Even though Shang Yuanzhou avoided the person, his trousers were inevitably splashed.

Shang Yuanzhou caught a scent of something cloyingly sweet, though he couldn’t tell if it came from the wine.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, sir!” The waiter hurriedly pushed himself up, kneeling on the floor and grabbing Shang Yuanzhou’s pant leg. He looked up, revealing a pretty face. “I’m so sorry, let me wipe it for you.”

“No need.”

Shang Yuanzhou took out his phone and called his assistant. “Buy a pair of suit pants and bring them to the Jinhu Hotel.” Returning to the suite with wet pants was clearly unrefined.

The waiter hurriedly followed. “Your pants are so wet, how about I take you to a room first? You can wait there for your friend.” He looked as if he were trying hard not to cry, saying, “I’m so sorry. How much are the pants? I’ll pay for them.”

Shang Yuanzhou ignored him and walked away. He frequently did business or attended banquets here; the top-floor presidential suite was permanently reserved for him. He didn’t need guidance from this seemingly new waiter.

But after walking a short distance, Shang Yuanzhou realized something was wrong.

A fire seemed to be burning in his lower abdomen. His pheromones were leaking uncontrollably, and his consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred. The wine on his pants had darkened significantly. Shang Yuanzhou touched a bit of the liquid and sniffed it.

An exceptionally cloying scent.

There was something wrong with that waiter. Was it targeted? Or an accident? If it was intentional, what was the goal? To crash into him so obviously after showing his face seemed too stupid.

Shang Yuanzhou turned back quickly, but the waiter was gone. He couldn’t think further; a scorching heat swept through him. His perfectly fitted suit pants had become painfully tight. Desire roiled and screamed for release; his rationality was about to crumble into nothingness.