The O Posing as a B is Fought Over in a Dating Show Shambles - Chapter 2

“Calling off the engagement?”

Qin Fenghai let out a derisive snort. “Don’t forget, your parents were the ones who came to me on their hands and knees, begging me to marry you. Are you sure they’ll even let you leave?”

“That,” Xi Qingli said flatly, “is my business.”

Qin Fenghai had always been a man of superior status and privilege, when had he ever been spoken to like this?

“And if I don’t agree?”

The words had barely left his mouth when Xi Qingli suddenly lunged, seizing his hand. A flash of silver streaked through the air as a sharp utility knife was pressed precisely against Qin Fenghai’s carotid artery.

A bone-chilling cold radiated from the tip of the blade straight to his brain.

Qin Fenghai’s pupils shrank. “You… Xi Qingli, have you lost your mind?! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?!”

Xi Qingli caught a glimpse of the cyan pheromones surrounding the man—for a split second, they flickered into purple.

Purple meant: Fear / Terror.

Hmph. So the bastard is afraid of dying after all.

“Are we calling it off?” Xi Qingli’s voice remained calm, even as he increased the pressure. The tip of the blade instantly nicked the skin, and a thin bead of blood welled up.

Xi Qingli had porcelain-pale skin, soft chestnut curls, and amber eyes that looked warm and harmless. When he spoke, you could catch a glimpse of two sharp, adorable canine teeth. Even now, holding a knife and making a threat, he possessed a certain non-aggressive sweetness.

If it weren’t for his 182cm height, significantly taller than the average Omega, he would look more like an Omega than the real thing.

Qin Fenghai stared at that harmless face, his own expression livid. He tried to release his Alpha pheromones to suppress the other man, but then reality hit him: this was a Beta. Pheromones had zero effect on him.

“Fine. You want to leave, right?” He gritted his teeth, his voice a low, humiliated roar. “Walk out that door, then. But don’t you dare come crawling back on your knees begging for a second chance!”

Crack—Boom!

A jagged bolt of lightning tore across the sky outside. A downpour was imminent.

As Xi Qingli dragged his suitcase out of the apartment, he could faintly hear the muffled sounds of Qin Fenghai on the phone, aggressively questioning his adoptive parents.

He curled his lip slightly. He had wasted half a year of his youth on this trash; as far as he was concerned, he had already repaid his debt to his adoptive parents.

Truthfully, he had once considered just “making it work” with Qin Fenghai, provided the man wasn’t so filthy. But clearly, a dog can’t stop itself from eating scraps.

As expected, the moment Xi Qingli reached the gates of the residential complex, his adoptive mother, Lin Xiaoli, called.

“Qingli! Fenghai said you’re calling off the engagement. What on earth are you thinking? Do you have any idea how much effort your father and I put into landing such a golden-ticket son-in-law? You think you can just walk away with one sentence? Are you trying to kill us with stress?!”

Xi Qingli stopped at the mouth of a nearby alley, gripping the handle of his suitcase. “Did you not watch the videos I sent?”

“So what if we did?”

Lin Xiaoli sounded utterly indifferent. “Qin Fenghai is the eldest son of the Qin family and an A+ rank Alpha. You’re just a Beta with no pheromones. Do you know how many people are jealous of you for being able to marry him? So he brings a few people home for fun—just endure it, look the other way, and it’ll pass.”

Xi Qingli lowered his eyes. The yellow glow of the streetlamp overhead cast a warm wash over his pale face, but it couldn’t reach the chill in his heart.

“Mom,” he said softly. “I don’t like him.”

He paused, then added: “He’s too filthy.”

It was the first time he had ever told his adoptive mother how he truly felt about Qin Fenghai.

“Is ‘liking’ someone going to put food on the table? He’s the heir to the Qin family! If you marry him, you’ll have endless wealth and honor for the rest of your life. By then, you’ll realize that ‘love’ is worth absolutely nothing…”

“I don’t care how you do it go back right now and apologize to Fenghai. Get his forgiveness, or your father and I will never find peace, even in death!”

His mother’s voice became increasingly shrill. Suddenly, Xi Qingli staggered. An unnatural, feverish flush swept across his face.

A surge of heat—one he was beginning to recognize erupted from within, his body temperature climbing uncontrollably. The Omega gland at the nape of his neck began to swell. As a stray gust of night wind brushed against it, he buckled under a sudden, sensitive shiver.

Slowly, a faint, sweet scent of orange began to drift into the air. A desperate craving to be touched started to grow like wildfire.

This sensation was sudden and overwhelming. Xi Qingli leaned against the alley wall, gasping for air. For once, he felt a flicker of genuine panic.

Because his secondary differentiation was unprecedented, the “side effects” didn’t follow a regular schedule. He had planned to find a pharmacy to get a pheromone supplement after moving out, but man proposes and God disposes, this damn side effect was a ticking time bomb, and it had just detonated without warning.

“Xi Qingli! Are you listening to me?”

On the phone, Lin Xiaoli’s voice turned angry. “I told you to go back and apologize—”

Xi Qingli hung up. Silence finally returned to his ears, but the agony in his body only intensified.

Splash!

The rain suddenly began to lash down, cold droplets pelting his face and soaking his clothes.

“Ugh”

It felt as though a furnace had been lit inside his chest. Every cell was steaming, forcing a pained moan from his throat. His strength was draining away rapidly. If it weren’t for the icy rain helping him maintain a shred of consciousness, he wouldn’t have been able to stand.

Step. Step.

The sound of footsteps echoed from ahead.

Xi Qingli froze and snapped his head up. Rainwater slid down the corners of his burning, red-rimmed eyes. A few meters away, a disheveled vagrant was staggering toward him, his drunken eyes locked onto Xi Qingli with a predatory stare.

The man had no umbrella, and more importantly, no colored pheromones. He was a Beta.

Xi Qingli gripped his phone and forced himself upright, trying to steady his breathing to look normal.

Splash. Splash.

Puddles had already formed on the ground. With every step the vagrant took, water sprayed around his feet.

Xi Qingli braced himself against the wall, slowly backing away.

“Hey there, beauty… what’s wrong? Do you need some help?”

The vagrant bared a row of yellowed, rotted teeth. He lunged forward, grabbing Xi Qingli’s wrist and trying to drag him deeper into the dark alley. “Don’t be scared, beauty. I’ll help you right now…”

“Get… get away from me…”

Xi Qingli was weak. In the struggle, his footing gave way and he collapsed onto the wet ground. He scrambled toward the mouth of the alley, his hands slipping on the pavement, but the man bent down to grab his arm again.

“Beauty, don’t be afraid. I’ll be very gentle…”

As the man leaned in, the stench of sour sweat and cheap alcohol assaulted Xi Qingli’s senses. The swelling in his neck gland throbbed with a sharp, stabbing pain. It was the visceral, subconscious rejection an Omega felt when approached by someone they loathed.

Xi Qingli’s gaze turned lethal. He swung his phone with everything he had, slamming it into the man’s head.

Thwack!

The vagrant let out a cry of pain, reflexively letting go and stumbling back.

The rain continued to hammer down, the water level on the ground slowly rising. Already soaked to the bone, Xi Qingli used the wall to haul himself up. With trembling fingers, he pulled the utility knife from his pocket and glared at the man.

“Get out!”

Seeing the blade, the vagrant’s drunken mind cleared significantly. “Fine… fine! See if I try to be a ‘Good Samaritan’ again!”

The man turned and bolted, disappearing within seconds.

Xi Qingli let out a long, shaky breath. He had never lost a fight in his life, but currently, crippled by the side effects of his differentiation, he had no strength left. If the man hadn’t left, he wasn’t sure he could have escaped safely.

Flicker, bzzt.

The streetlamp at the entrance of the alley suddenly died. The entire space was plunged into total darkness.

He couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, which only served to sharpen his other senses.

The relentless drumming of the rain.

And then… huff, huff.

The sound of heavy breathing?

The hair on the back of Xi Qingli’s neck stood on end. He spun around, staring into the pitch-black depths of the alley.

“Who’s there?”

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