“This honeydew smoothie is really refreshing, isn’t it?”
“The chef at this restaurant isn’t bad either.”
Zuo Shihuan idly stirred his drink with a straw, not at all engaged in their chatter.
“What’s wrong with you?” Yu Lizhu asked with concern. “You’ve seemed distracted ever since we left the park.”
Zuo Shihuan furrowed his brows slightly, then relaxed them and gave a faint smile. “It’s nothing—maybe I’m just a little tired.”
But in truth, he couldn’t stop thinking about that fleeting figure—someone who looked so much like Gu Heng.
He hadn’t chased after him at the time, restrained by reason, but part of him couldn’t stop wondering— Was that man really Gu Heng? And who was that Omega woman beside him?
Zuo Shiyun suddenly piped up curiously. “We passed a really famous bridal boutique earlier, and I just have to ask—have you two picked out your wedding outfits yet?”
Yu Lizhu and Zuo Shihuan exchanged an awkward glance and laughed.
As a fake engaged couple, such thoughts hadn’t even crossed their minds. And besides—if you weren’t marrying the person you loved, what did it matter what you wore at the ceremony?
Zuo Shihuan explained, “The engagement banquet in twenty days hasn’t even happened yet—we haven’t had time to think that far ahead.”
Yu Lizhu quickly echoed, “Right, right.”
Zuo Shiyun frowned skeptically. “What? Sister Yu, you don’t even care about your wedding dress? If it were me—or any Omega in my class—we’d get married a few more times just to have more chances to wear one!”
“Honestly, you two are already engaged, but you act just like ordinary friends. There’s no spark of affection at all—and you haven’t even posted a single photo together since going public!”
“The little plant accessories you’re wearing, Sister Yu, don’t really seem like your style. Were they a gift from someone? Brother Shihuan, on the other hand, looks very neat—there’s no sign of you giving him any presents.”
Under Zuo Shiyun’s sharp and suspicious gaze, both Zuo Shihuan and Yu Lizhu began to sweat nervously, terrified that she might see through them.
Especially Yu Lizhu—her forehead was already dotted with cold sweat.
She didn’t even have a single photo with Zuo Shihuan, yet her wallet still held several old photo booth stickers—those silly, cutesy couple shots—with Ji Shenwen.
Zuo Shiyun, however, continued talking to herself: “But that’s understandable. You two met through a business matchmaking event, after all. You’ve only known each other for a few days—it’s normal not to be close yet. I’m the same way.”
She took a long sip of her iced drink, fox-like eyes glinting slyly as she bit on the straw. “My own fiancé—my childhood sweetheart—is the same. He managed to buy two VIP tickets to a sold-out concert and went off with his girlfriend to the Music Planet! Didn’t even leave one ticket for me. That guy—choosing beauty over his childhood sweetheart! How infuriating!”
Zuo Shihuan froze: “???”
What did she mean, her fiancé—her engaged childhood sweetheart—went to a concert with his girlfriend?!
Yu Lizhu asked gently, “Are you… really okay with that?”
Zuo Shiyun shrugged nonchalantly. “We agreed from the start to do our own thing. It’s just a business marriage. I even sponsor a few Alpha idols online—every year on my birthday or during holidays, they send me personalized video greetings.”
As she spoke, she showed them the videos.
“I give them money and promotional exposure; they make their fans happy. I get joy, they get resources—it’s mutually beneficial.”
Zuo Shihuan stared at the screen showing several Alpha idols singing, dancing, and confessing affection to fans—but his mind drifted elsewhere.
If Gu Heng really became that widow Omega’s lover for money… then he could simply offer more.
He didn’t need Gu Heng to be his lover.
He could give him all the wealth and material comfort he wanted—the only selfish desire in his heart was that there would never be anyone else beside Gu Heng.
That thought filled him with unbearable jealousy.
He couldn’t deny it—
When he heard that Gu Heng was with another Omega, something poisonous coiled in his chest like a snake. The venom of jealousy clouded his mind so completely that even a fleeting glimpse of a similar silhouette in the mall made him think it was Gu Heng.
But that thought—he quickly dismissed it himself.
The bitterness of jealousy welled in his chest, yet it couldn’t outweigh a quieter, kinder thought.
Did it even matter whose lover he was?
Maybe they were the ones who truly belonged together.
Compared to him—a soon-to-be engaged Alpha—Gu Heng being with another Omega widow was far more acceptable in the eyes of the world.
“…”
“Brother Shihuan, can I have my communicator back now?” Zuo Shiyun asked, curious what had kept his attention so long on those Alpha idols.
Zuo Shihuan snapped out of it. “Here.”
Zuo Shiyun grinned mischievously. “Brother Shihuan, are you maybe interested in one of those Alpha idols? I could take you backstage to meet them and get an autograph!”
Zuo Shihuan said flatly, “I have zero interest in them. Zuo Shiyun, don’t get too obsessed with that stuff. The Zuo family’s activities are reviewed monthly by the family head. Father doesn’t oversee it directly anymore, so that authority falls to me.”
“Every so often, each Zuo family member’s academic and work performance gets recorded in the family’s internal rating system. If your scores stay too low for too long, your ranking drops—and that means your monthly allowance decreases. Your grades in math and P.E. have been slipping lately. If you don’t improve soon, your rank will drop.”
Zuo Shiyun: “…”
You could’ve just returned my communicator—did you really have to stab me in the heart, too?
People can do anything when pressured… except pass math or P.E.
Yu Lizhu looked surprised. “That won’t do at all. How about I tutor you? I only barely get A’s in math, but I’m great at sports! I’ve even broken a few school records and represented our school in the Omega long-distance marathon.”
Zuo Shiyun: “…”
She turned and bolted.
Leaving only a parting shout that she was full and going shopping in Zone E—then she vanished into the crowd like the wind. It was unclear if she was that fast in her P.E. exams as she was now.
Soon, only Zuo Shihuan and Yu Lizhu were left at the open-air café.
Zuo Shihuan looked at her with a faint smile as she crossed her legs, leisurely sipping white wine with an impish grin.
“Don’t scare the kid,” he said.
Yu Lizhu gave him a sidelong glance. “As if the Zuo family’s children are ordinary kids. She nearly caught us just now—now she’s learned that when adults are involved, children should stay out of it.”
Zuo Shihuan smiled wordlessly, clearly agreeing.
***
An hour later.
At the clothing store.
Zuo Shiyun and Yu Lizhu were trying on outfit after outfit, pairing clothes with bags. Zuo Shiyun had even maxed out the “Little Bear Brother” super-credit card she’d wrangled from someone, piling so many shopping bags into the cart that it couldn’t hold them all.
Outside was bustling and noisy, but the interior lounge for waiting guests was quiet.
Zuo Shihuan sat on the guest sofa—his posture as upright and composed as ever—eyes sharp as he scanned through digital documents, quickly approving and processing files on his communicator.
Until one particular notice appeared on the screen—
“Notification of Approved Major Transfer — Federation Academy”
“This student’s transfer from the Mecha Maintenance Department to the Business Management Department has been approved by the Federation University Academic Affairs Office. Please complete the procedures before XX/XX. Press Confirm to acknowledge receipt.”
Zuo Shihuan stared at the short lines of text for a long time, reading them over and over—dozens of times—before finally realizing how long he’d been staring, and pressing the Confirm button.
Scrolling to the next task that needed attention—
Yet something inside him seemed to fall away, a faint, complicated feeling that could not be spoken aloud lingered in his chest.
Just as his father, Zuo Zoujian, had said—he was now the heir being cultivated by the Zuo family, no longer that slum kid who had scraped a living repairing discarded appliances. He no longer needed to study mech maintenance to secure a decent job in the future.
As the heir of the Zuo family, he didn’t need profound technical knowledge of mecha repair, so switching to a major more befitting his current identity was only logical.
Zuo Shihuan understood this perfectly well, yet a faint, incomprehensible trace of melancholy and nostalgia flickered through his eyes.
In truth, he didn’t hate those days in the slums as much as one might expect. Every bit of money he earned through his own skill in fixing things gave him a genuine sense of satisfaction.
In what others saw as an inescapable quagmire, he relied on that single craft to hold onto a shred of hope for the future—working hard, earning more federal credits, waiting for the day he could finally leave that place.
But after changing his major, it felt as though the old version of himself had also been discarded.
A wry, self-mocking smile tugged at his lips. His eyes were deep and dim.
This, too, was one of the prices of becoming a Zuo.
When he had still been a poor Beta, he had taken on dangerous jobs just to afford tuition and daily expenses—but even then, his heart had been free. Material want might have constrained him, yet it couldn’t stop him from dreaming of a hopeful future.
He would have been like any ordinary Beta—finding an ordinary job, meeting another ordinary Beta who loved him, building a home, growing old together.
But fate had chosen to make a joke of him.
He had undergone a secondary differentiation, becoming an Alpha, gaining wealth and privilege beyond what he’d ever dared to imagine—only to be bound by family interests into marrying a stranger, an Omega he did not love.
While the Beta he truly liked… was rumored to be another Omega widow’s lover.
There was no turning back now.
Zuo Shihuan’s pupils contracted; his expression turned cold and numb. He closed the communication screen filled with red notification dots one after another, lifted his head toward Yu Lizhu, who was waving to him from the doorway, and slowly walked over.
***
“How can you come shopping and not pick out even one thing for yourself? Look, this tie was chosen by Shiyun—it’s got a nice color and pattern, don’t you think?”
Yu Lizhu held up a dark gray checkered tie against him, gauging the effect.
Zuo Shihuan’s tone was cool. “Anything’s fine. I don’t care.”
Yu Lizhu rolled her eyes at him. “It’s something you’ll be wearing—how can you not care about your own things?”
“The house steward prepares all my clothes,” Zuo Shihuan replied. “Whether it’s bought here or elsewhere makes no difference.”
Yu Lizhu gave him a puzzled look. Ever since they’d returned from the estate, he had seemed out of sorts—maybe he really was exhausted. With that in mind, she said gently, “Then let’s go home after we finish this store.”
“Mm.”
“Before that, help me pick this orange-yellow tie. I plan to buy it to apologize to Ji Shenwen—I’ll just say I lost the gift he gave me.”
As she looked at the tie, her gaze softened, as if Ji Shenwen were standing right before her.
Zuo Shihuan loosened his tense lips and gave a faint smile. “It looks nice.”
“As long as it looks nice. Ji Shenwen’s hopeless with fashion anyway—whatever I give him, he always thinks it looks good.”
Yu Lizhu tucked the orange tie into her bag, then looked warmly back at him. “You should try one too. It’s supposed to be a relaxing day out, after all—we should both have a little fun.”
Zuo Shihuan smiled and nodded.
Only, back home the steward always ironed his ties first, folding every edge neatly before handing them over.
Now that he was tying it himself, nothing seemed quite right.
Yu Lizhu frowned. “No, it’s a little crooked to the left… and the length is uneven.”
Zuo Shihuan looked down at the tangled tie in helpless frustration.
Yu Lizhu sighed. “If my hands weren’t full, I’d fix it for you. Why don’t I call Shiyun over? She’s terrible at schoolwork, but she knows plenty about fashion.”
Zuo Shihuan simply nodded.
As long as he didn’t have to wrestle with that rebellious tie again, he didn’t care who did it.
***
It should have been a trivial matter— anyone could tie a tie.
Zuo Shihuan bent slightly, letting his younger sister, Zuo Shiyun, help him. His light brown eyes drifted idly toward the glass doors.
A pair of men’s leather shoes came into view.
And suddenly, a strange, restless thump echoed in his chest—
Each step that followed seemed to land directly on his heart, sending sparks through him, shaking his still heart awake.
Unease, agitation, anticipation—
It felt like fate itself, something he could never escape.
Zuo Shihuan straightened, turning his head sharply toward the glass door.
Until—
Gu Heng strode into view, his sharp brows, noble and cold black eyes just as piercing as ever. His tall, well-built figure moved with power, long strides bringing him closer—until he was about to pass right by.
Then, as though sensing the weight of a gaze—
He suddenly turned his head.
Dark eyes met those of Zuo Shihuan through the glass.
Their gazes locked.
For a single instant, both saw the same startled disbelief reflected in the other’s eyes.
Zuo Shihuan’s pupils contracted sharply. He couldn’t believe he was meeting Gu Heng here, of all places.
What should he say? What should he do next?!
Whatever it was, his heartbeat had gone wild, pounding so fast it felt as if it might stop altogether—his palms slick with nervous sweat.
Because he was far too nervous, the usually calm and composed Zuo Shihuan found himself utterly frozen— unable to make any sort of timely reaction.
He just stood there, staring blankly at Gu Heng through the glass door.
Instead, it was Gu Heng who, after spotting Zuo Shihuan on the other side, recovered from his initial shock— and a hint of amusement flickered across his proud, aristocratic black eyes. He began walking toward the center of the glass doors, lips parting as if to greet the dazed Alpha who had avoided him for so long.
But then—
A strange female voice interrupted.
“Brother Shihuan, this tie really suits you.”
His half-sister, Zuo Shiyun, suddenly spoke up, praising the dark gray tie Zuo Shihuan was trying on. Her fair, delicate Omega hands even brushed imaginary dust off his shoulder.
To an outsider, they looked like a sweet and flirtatious Omega girl doting on her Alpha boyfriend.
If not for Zuo Shiyun’s sudden voice, Zuo Shihuan would have almost forgotten she was even standing beside him.
Outside the glass—
Gu Heng’s gaze locked tightly onto the Omega beside Zuo Shihuan.
His ears weren’t deaf; even through the glass he could hear that syrupy, nauseating voice calling “Brother Shihuan” in a tone far too intimate.
So that was why this Alpha hadn’t shown up at the bar recently— he’d been keeping company with some young, cute little Omega.
Gu Heng’s jaw clenched; the sound of his teeth grinding was audible.
He wanted nothing more than to drag that sentimental Alpha out of the store.
To think he’d even asked Ji Shenwen about him, only to hear that Zuo Shihuan had been “too busy to come.” Gu Heng himself had been tied up with important intelligence work lately—otherwise he’d have gone to find him long ago.
But as it turned out— Gu Heng’s situation wasn’t any better.
A mature, voluptuous Omega woman, Du Manning, looped her arm around his and said teasingly with a smile, “Little Gu, why’ve you stopped walking? We still have that ‘important matter’ to take care of later.”
Important matter?
What kind of “important matter”—checking into a hotel with a beautiful, mature Omega widow?
Zuo Shihuan gave a cold, derisive laugh inwardly.
Still, looking at the glamorous Omega beside Gu Heng—so alluring, so soft— she was clearly a far better match than someone like him, a stiff, unyielding Alpha. Anyone with eyes could see which was the better choice.
Zuo Shihuan bit lightly at his lower lip, his light-brown eyes dimming with quiet sorrow and unwillingness.
In just a few seconds— both he and Gu Heng were staring at the Omega standing beside the other, their eyes sparking with the kind of fury that could ignite the air.
The glass door between them seemed ready to melt under the tension.
Watching Gu Heng stand motionless, Du Manning, clearly eager to get on with their “urgent task,” urged, “Little Gu, what are you looking at?”
Gu Heng snapped out of it, his black eyes cold with anger. “Nothing. I didn’t see anyone I know.”
“…?” Du Manning blinked, puzzled.
She hadn’t even asked that.
Gu Heng turned away, his tone frigid enough to bite. “Let’s go.”
Finally—thank goodness—they could leave. Du Manning exhaled in relief. Still, curiosity made her glance back into the store.
All she saw was a refined, handsome Alpha man and a cute, lively Omega— just an ordinary couple out shopping together.
Could it be that His Highness, Crown Prince Gu Heng, had recognized one of them, and that was why he had suddenly stopped?
Anyone else would have assumed he’d been looking at the pretty Omega.
But Du Manning, long steeped in the power games of high society and skilled in reading human emotions, felt something was off.
Compared to the Omega—
His Highness had looked at that Alpha with an intensity that was… quite different.
Meanwhile, Zuo Shihuan’s face had gone cold.
His light-brown eyes burned with suppressed fury as he yanked the tie from his neck and crumpled it roughly in his hands.
Zuo Shiyun gasped. “Brother Shihuan, do you not like that tie?”
Otherwise, why treat a tie with such anger— as though it were an enemy.
The truth was the exact opposite.
Zuo Shihuan bit down on his lip. “No. I’m very satisfied with it.”
“Check out.”
