The sound of the pursuing footsteps finally reached him.
Gu Heng no longer intended to stay—nor to continue with his original plan.
More urgent than catching the mysterious mastermind now was ensuring that Zuo Shihuan did not see him.
So Gu Heng abandoned the mission. His original plan had been to lure the pursuers into the hotel, but now he would finish them off before being discovered.
A flash of cold light swept through his black eyes as he turned toward the direction of the enemy.
And soon—
A silent hunt began.
Up above, Zuo Shihuan heard faint noises carried on the wind. It sounded almost like the wailing of the breeze—or maybe the muffled cries of people in pain.
But when he looked down over the lush garden, everything appeared peaceful and beautiful. Only a few trees swayed gently, scattering leaves.
Probably just the wind.
He didn’t think much of it, realizing he’d been standing there quite a while. It was time to return to “work.”
Just as he turned to leave—
A sharp gunshot shattered the air, startling the birds into flight.
Then came panicked shouting:
“Stay away from me! I—I have a gun! Don’t come any closer!”
A terrified man stood trembling with a gun in his hands, surrounded by his unconscious comrades—all of whom had been taken down by the impossibly strong, almost inhuman man before him.
They’d been so close to catching their target, but the moment they confronted this man, they’d been struck down. When the gunman came to, everyone else was already sprawled on the ground, barely conscious.
Realizing he was no match for the handsome stranger, he fumbled for his weapon, hoping to scare him off.
He fired once.
No effect.
Maybe his aim was off.
He fired several more times—still missed every shot.
Gu Heng’s brow furrowed at the sound of gunfire. A flicker of anxiety flashed in his dark eyes—not for the shooter, but for the person in the white building in the distance.
He looked up instinctively—
And froze.
Zuo Shihuan was gone.
The spot on the terrace where he’d stood was empty. Gu Heng’s heart clenched in panic as his gaze searched frantically.
But no matter how many times he looked, there was no one there—as if the man he’d seen moments ago had been an illusion.
Yet whether it was or not, Gu Heng didn’t dare investigate. All the skills of a top-tier Alpha seemed useless now.
He just stood there, staring again and again at that empty place. His dark eyes gradually dimmed with quiet desolation.
—Perhaps Zuo Shihuan had simply gone back to where he belonged.
While Gu Heng hesitated, the terrified gunman took advantage of his distraction. Crawling and stumbling, he tried to escape—putting as much distance as possible between himself and the deadly man.
The movement caught Gu Heng’s attention.
His eyes flicked toward the gunman—who was fleeing straight toward the white building. A cold light flashed in Gu Heng’s gaze. Only one thought filled his mind:
—He cannot be allowed to reach Zuo Shihuan.
A sharp gust of wind roared behind the gunman. The sound alone made his scalp prickle; a suffocating sense of danger closed in.
Desperate to survive, he ran for his life, firing wildly behind him, terrified to stop even for a second.
But the bullets were running out, and the danger was only growing closer.
A sudden blow struck him from behind, sending him sprawling into the dirt, face-first.
Panicked, pale, and on the verge of tears, the man turned over, trembling as he aimed his gun—one bullet left—at the emotionless, beautiful man advancing toward him.
He looked like a frightened prey begging for mercy.
“D-don’t come any closer! I—I’m just a low-level grunt! Please, let me go… If you take another step, I’ll shoot!”
Gu Heng stepped forward, dry leaves crunching beneath his boots. Facing the row of dark gun barrels, his noble, aloof black eyes looked down from above, cold and composed, as he advanced step by step toward the terrified man holding the gun.
The man with the gun had no other choice. He didn’t want to die. Hatred flashed in his eyes as he pressed the trigger, shouting hoarsely, “Go to h*ll!!!”
He didn’t notice that Gu Heng suddenly stopped in his tracks, his black pupils trembling as his gaze locked on a glimpse of white pant leg appearing at the end of the path.
Bang—
“Aaaahhhhhh—”
The bullet fired.
But the one screaming was the man sitting on the ground, clutching his bleeding hand where the bullet had pierced through his palm, wailing in agony as the gun flew out of his grasp.
A calm, cool voice sounded.
“Are you alright?”
Gu Heng’s pupils constricted in shock. He glanced toward the man emerging from the dense shrubs but didn’t dare raise his head fully.
He could only see that man’s white suit, still immaculate, the filtered green light of the forest spilling across his shoulders. The trees shaded most of his face, revealing only a pale, refined profile. He stood tall and straight, his polished white leather shoes untouched by dust.
Then Gu Heng looked down at himself — covered in dust and blood, his long, slender fingers caked with grime and someone else’s blood. His dark gray coat was torn by bullets, his boots smeared with mud.
Compared to Zuo Shihuan — elegant in his spotless white suit, as if he could step straight into a banquet — Gu Heng looked utterly wretched.
He lowered his head even further, unable to show his face. The once-arrogant, defiant darkness of his eyes dimmed, a trace of fear and inferiority flickering within. His heel instinctively slid backward.
He wanted to run.
To leave before Zuo Shihuan could see him.
At the very least… he didn’t want this—his disheveled, broken self—to be seen again by that man.
A person who wouldn’t flinch before a gun was now consumed entirely by the urge to flee.
But the mission wasn’t finished yet.
The bleeding man still lay wailing on the ground, the gun flung aside. Not far away, several unconscious, unidentified attackers littered the area — they could wake at any moment…
Gu Heng didn’t dare leave. He clenched his fists, his feet rooted to the ground.
But as steady footsteps approached, his resolve wavered. With every step the man took closer, Gu Heng forced himself back, as though ripping his roots painfully from the soil, retreating inch by inch.
He kept his head low, a shadowy figure avoiding the light.
“Are you alright?”
Zuo Shihuan lifted a branch in his path, his expression wary.
The silver pistol in his hand still smoked faintly. From a cautious distance, he studied the two unknown men before him — one of whom kept his head bowed, retreating, face hidden.
Zuo Shihuan’s gaze narrowed. There was something familiar about that figure.
Still holding his gun, curiosity overcame caution. Ignoring the risk, he took a few steps closer, wanting to see the man’s face.
But in the next second, that strange man suddenly turned away.
That back — that turning silhouette — struck Zuo Shihuan with a shock of recognition. He blurted out in confusion, “Gu Heng?”
Even as he said it, Zuo Shihuan himself couldn’t believe it.
That man had long since left the Federation’s main star. How could he possibly appear here?
Earlier, just as Zuo Shihuan was about to return to his engagement banquet, he’d heard a gunshot from the viewing terrace above. He immediately sensed something was wrong.
Then came several more shots — enough to make him uneasy. By coincidence, he thought he saw a familiar figure darting through the garden’s trees and shrubs.
That figure looked just like Gu Heng.
Though Zuo Shihuan knew the chance of it being him was nearly impossible, unease pushed him to follow, pistol in hand — just in case.
It didn’t take long before he heard an angry shout, and cutting through the bushes, he saw a man on the ground pointing a gun at another.
With no time to think, Zuo Shihuan fired, saving the man who — for some reason — drew his attention.
Fortunately, his marksmanship hadn’t dulled.
But the rescued man didn’t seem grateful — as soon as he saw Zuo Shihuan, he dropped his head and turned to leave.
Zuo Shihuan, wary of being caught up in whatever this was, hadn’t planned to interfere further.
Who knew what kind of danger these armed intruders posed? Especially since that man seemed to be hunted by a whole mysterious group — though judging from the scene, he’d turned the tables on them.
Yet the sight of him walking away stirred an inexplicable agitation in Zuo Shihuan’s chest, pushing him to speak that impossible name —
“Gu Heng.”
The man froze. Then hurried his steps even more.
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes narrowed to slits. The hunched, retreating back looked even more familiar now. Before he could give chase, Butler Lin arrived with a team of well-equipped Zuo family guards.
Butler Lin rushed up to Zuo Shihuan, his face tensing at the scene — the pistol still in his young master’s hand, several unidentified men on the ground.
“Young Master Zuo Shihuan! Are you injured? I received the alert and brought the team right away.”
“I’m fine. Take these people and hand them over to the police,” Zuo Shihuan said coolly, passing the silver pistol to him.
But Butler Lin’s face remained tight with worry. Looking at the calm, composed Zuo Shihuan — as if nothing had happened — he spoke in a low, reproachful voice he barely dared to use.
“Next time, Young Master, please let someone else handle it. These men were armed — it’s fortunate you weren’t hurt.”
“…Mm.”
But Zuo Shihuan didn’t seem to hear him.
His light brown eyes stayed fixed on the dense woods ahead — where shadows overlapped, concealing something hidden within.
Then Butler Lin directed the security team to tie up all the unidentified men, confiscating the firearms and weapons they carried.
When he saw the manufacturer’s mark on the weapons, Butler Lin let out a contemptuous sneer. To dare bring weapons produced under the Zuo family’s Blue Eagle Group—and on the day of the Zuo family’s most important engagement banquet, no less—charging in and disturbing Young Master Zuo Shihuan himself? They were courting death.
There was no need to wait for the police to identify who these people were—the Zuo family would never let them go easily.
But for now, there was something more urgent.
Butler Lin said, “Young Master Zuo Shihuan, it’s getting late. Miss Yu is ready as well, and Old Master Zuo Zoujian along with all the guests are waiting for you to begin the engagement ceremony and ring exchange.”
“I know.” Zuo Shihuan lowered his gaze, but didn’t move.
Butler Lin found it odd. Following Zuo Shihuan’s line of sight, he saw only a patch of perfectly normal garden and trees. Curiously, he asked, “Young Master, what are you looking at?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
Zuo Shihuan withdrew his gaze and turned to leave, revealing nothing about the person who had disappeared. He had decided to let him go—just this once.
Since you’ve gone, don’t come back. If there’s a next time, luck won’t be on your side again.
But sometimes, fate refused to let him walk away so easily.
Just as he resolved to leave the matter behind, that very person appeared again on his own.
While Butler Lin was explaining the sequence of the engagement banquet and the details of the ring exchange, and everything was ready—just waiting for Zuo Shihuan, the main figure of the ceremony—to arrive—
Something suddenly fell from above, perhaps a stone or a fruit, striking Butler Lin on the back. He yelped in pain.
Zuo Shihuan frowned slightly. “What happened?”
Butler Lin looked up but saw nothing. Puzzled, he said, “Nothing, perhaps some fruit fell from the tree and hit my back.”
Yet as they continued walking, every time Butler Lin mentioned the engagement banquet, something else would hit him again.
After several such hits in a row, Butler Lin’s eyes nearly blazed with anger.
Zuo Shihuan also realized something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help laughing softly—earning a pitiful, resentful glance from the butler.
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Zuo Shihuan cleared his throat and said lightly, “We’re almost out of the garden. Just a bit further and—”
Suddenly, Zuo Shihuan stopped.
Butler Lin paused too, puzzled, waiting to see what would happen next.
Then he saw Young Master Zuo’s face turn colder than ever before. The faint warmth that had lingered in his light brown eyes vanished, replaced by a glacial, tightly contained fury. His gaze fixed straight ahead as he spoke in a trembling, icy voice through gritted teeth:
“…So it is you.”
Who?
Butler Lin’s heart lurched in confusion—then the answer appeared.
A tall young man stepped out of the shadows. His features were striking, almost unnaturally handsome and refined—so much so that, in proper clothes, he would have looked every bit the young heir of a noble family at a grand banquet. But here, in the Zuo family’s exclusive, fully-booked Federation Hotel, he wore dark outdoor gear—jacket, pants, and boots fit for field missions.
His sharp, dangerous black eyes locked unflinchingly onto Zuo Shihuan, burning with an intensity that seemed ready to ignite.
Something about him was deeply wrong.
“Who are you? Leave immediately!” The Zuo family’s bodyguards, trained veterans, reacted instantly—raising their guns and forming a tight circle around the intruder.
Inside, each guard was more on edge than the last.
When had this man appeared? Had he been following them all along without being noticed? How had none of them—retired elite soldiers from the Federation—sensed a thing? He had made no sound, no disturbance, just appeared. If this were the battlefield, they’d already be dead.
Gu Heng’s hands were empty—no weapons, no visible threat. Yet his expression was emotionless, his aura sharp and oppressive.
Even so, the armed guards instinctively tightened their grips on their guns. Adam’s apples bobbed. Sweat dripped down their faces. A chill crawled down their spines.
Every nerve screamed danger, as if the man before them were not human, but a predator wearing human skin.
But Gu Heng ignored them all. His shadow-dark eyes were fixed solely on one person.
Thoughts too dark to speak swirled in his mind—rising, suppressed, rising again—torturing himself by replaying every word he’d just overheard: Today… engagement banquet… Zuo Shihuan… dressed more formally than ever… surrounded by the Federation’s elite…
A flood of information poured into his brain.
As someone trained to maintain absolute control, Gu Heng still couldn’t block out the truth clawing its way through his mind—his chest tightening, vision reddening, heart refusing to accept the conclusion forming so clearly:
——The person getting engaged today was Zuo Shihuan.
It made sense.
He was an Alpha—an heir of the powerful Zuo family.
A political marriage was inevitable.
Being with another Omega was only a matter of time…
But still…
——He found out.
Gu Heng’s pupils contracted sharply, the darkness of his eyes deepening until they seemed bottomless. Blood-red veins spread across the whites of his eyes, a thin film of tears reflecting that ever-calm face before him.
A stabbing ache tore through his chest.
Of course an Alpha would be drawn to another Omega. The attraction between pheromones, the compatibility of scents—it was the foundation of this human society, a law written by evolution over millennia, one everyone instinctively obeyed.
——So cruel.
Clutching at his fragile self-control, Gu Heng’s eyes reddened further. He understood all of it—too well.
As the crown prince of the Empire, raised under the weight of a nation’s expectations, born a perfect Alpha—he knew better than anyone the logic of hierarchy and pairing that ruled their world.
——But how could he so easily cast him aside?
——No, that’s not right. He was the one who let go first.
The impossible one was him—the one who lied to Zuo Shihuan that he was a Beta, when in fact he was an Alpha. Two Alphas together—how could that ever work?
——But he’s really ruthless.
He found an Omega to replace him so quickly, didn’t even stop for a moment before filling the space he left behind. That’s just like Zuo Shihuan—always so perfect, so mature and rational it made people speechless.
He never stopped pursuing what he wanted with absolute conviction. Soon, there would be an Omega by his side—holding hands affectionately, kissing, doing everything intimate couples do, exchanging pheromones, and like countless other bonded pairs, spending the rest of their lives together.
——From now on, Zuo Shihuan truly had nothing to do with him anymore.
Gu Heng’s pupils went blank and unfocused. Something deep in his eyes seemed to shatter into darkness without a trace of light. He clenched his teeth and refused to admit it.
——As long as Zuo Shihuan didn’t tell him personally, he wouldn’t believe this reality.
Even though Gu Heng stubbornly rejected the truth, he still forced himself to look—almost self-torturously—at Zuo Shihuan’s cold expression.
He kept looking, kept thinking.
Zuo Shihuan was dressed differently today, in a white suit. He looked… really good. Probably what he would wear to the wedding. The bride must be wearing a matching white gown too…
Wait—was he blocking Zuo Shihuan from going to the wedding right now?
Time was almost up.
Zuo Shihuan should be heading there soon. Would he even notice Gu Heng standing here? Or would he, for the sake of a perfect, punctual wedding, just ignore him—deliberately, coldly avoid seeing him?
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done that.
Even his own mother, the empress who gave birth to him, used to watch coldly when he was injured as a child—like he was something unsightly in her eyes.
Gu Heng fell silent.
He dug his nails into his palm, his tension stretched thin like a string about to snap. His fragile pride trembled on the edge, and he dared not let a trace of emotion show on his face.
He just stared silently at that person.
And in that eerie calm, a thought surfaced—
Bringing an Alpha back to the Empire wasn’t that difficult. The Zuo family would lose one member, but it wouldn’t make much difference. No one in the Empire would know, and he could make sure Zuo Shihuan lived better than he ever had in the Federation—give him higher status, more power.
As long as he stayed by his side.
That thought flickered through Gu Heng’s mind. His black eyes were like a bottomless abyss, the crumbling edges threatening to collapse at any moment.
Until he saw Zuo Shihuan storming toward him, grabbing his collar, those bright brown eyes blazing like fire—light piercing straight into Gu Heng’s shadowed ones.
Gu Heng suddenly laughed.
Zuo Shihuan froze, then grew even angrier. “What are you laughing at?”
Feigning obedience, Gu Heng lowered his gaze and softly said, “Then I won’t laugh.”
But the glint of laughter still danced unrestrained in his dark eyes—pure, vivid amusement. He even grinned, showing his teeth, smiling brightly at Zuo Shihuan.
It had to be said—this face was cheating.
Zuo Shihuan’s pupils trembled. D*mn it. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt this b*stard.
Even though this b*stard had left the Federation’s main star without a word, and just when Zuo Shihuan thought he’d never see him again—he appeared, on the day of his engagement.
Zuo Shihuan’s mind was a mess. His forehead throbbed with a headache as he asked helplessly, “Why are you here? Didn’t you leave the Federation’s main star with Ji Shenwen?”
The smile in Gu Heng’s eyes deepened. He stared intently at Zuo Shihuan’s face. “You knew I left?”
He had never told Zuo Shihuan that. Which meant—Zuo Shihuan had been keeping an eye on him all along.
Zuo Shihuan’s expression froze, his face flickering through several emotions before his light brown eyes flushed faintly red. Grinding his teeth, he snapped, “I found out by accident! It’s not what you think!”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Gu Heng’s voice dropped low, his magnetic tone brushing close like an intimate whisper by Zuo Shihuan’s ear.
“Zuo Shihuan, you really do understand me. I did leave the main star, but I came back, didn’t I? To see you.”
Zuo Shihuan’s ears slowly turned red, his serious face struggling to hold its composure, looking both angry and flustered under Gu Heng’s teasing.
Gu Heng, amused, decided to stop before pushing too far—but then he froze, startled by Zuo Shihuan’s reaction.
Zuo Shihuan’s brown eyes curved unconsciously, brightening with pure, unguarded joy. His lips twitched, trying to hold back a smile—then failed, though he quickly pressed them flat again.
Especially since that smile would only make this terrible man prouder.
He schooled his expression back into calm maturity, but when he lifted his gaze to Gu Heng again, his eyes were filled with quiet hope as he carefully asked: “Did you really come back to see me?”
Gu Heng’s breath caught. Meeting Zuo Shihuan’s bright, expectant eyes, his chest tightened with an ache so sharp it almost choked him. Guilt swelled until it nearly drowned him.
It was a lie.
He hadn’t planned to return at all. Once the mission was complete, he was supposed to go back to the Empire—never to set foot on the Federation’s capital again, never to see this Federation Alpha again.
That was what he’d decided…
It was supposed to be the best outcome for both of them. He had forced himself to believe that.
But he couldn’t do it.
The moment he saw Zuo Shihuan again, he realized he couldn’t stand it. He had told himself that staying apart, never interfering, was best—that as long as Zuo Shihuan lived well as the Zuo family heir, that was enough.
But “living well” did not mean standing by and watching him marry another Omega.
Just when Gu Heng had done everything to hide his true identity and planned to leave quietly before being noticed—he learned something from Zuo Shihuan’s butler that he could not accept.
The beautiful wedding today was Zuo Shihuan’s— and the Omega beside him was someone unknown.
The blow hit Gu Heng like thunder—his mind went blank as Butler Lin kept talking about the engagement banquet. He thought he could endure it, but waves of grief, bitterness, jealousy, and unwillingness surged uncontrollably. Without realizing it, he clenched his hand so hard that the tree branch in his grip snapped.
The broken twig fell on Butler Lin’s back, making him cry out in pain.
Gu Heng followed along, still struggling to restrain himself, forcing acceptance of this unchangeable reality.
But he was hopeless—a b*stard who could never be saved.
He’d been like this back in the Empire, and coming to the Federation hadn’t changed him—a selfish, rotten b*stard all the same. He regretted letting go. So he revealed himself, stepped out, and stood before Zuo Shihuan.
“It was an accident that I came here,” Gu Heng said, meeting Zuo Shihuan’s eyes with rare seriousness, “but I really wanted to see you.”
He didn’t dare hold Zuo Shihuan’s hand tightly—only brushed it lightly, humbly hooking his pinky around Zuo Shihuan’s pale, clean finger.
Zuo Shihuan was silent for a few seconds. Then, turning his hand over, he gripped Gu Heng’s wrist firmly and raised it, his gaze sharp and cold with restrained anger. “The one from earlier—that was you, wasn’t it?”
A person can tell countless lies in their life. Words leave no marks.
But hands—hands never lie.
A fisherman’s hands bear cuts from nets, a farmer’s fingers are stained with soil, a baker’s palms carry the scent of warm bread.
And the hand he was holding now—Gu Heng’s hand—was smeared with blood and dust of unknown origin, with rough calluses from holding weapons too long.
What exactly did he do?
He thought back to the gunfire from earlier, to the strange armed group that had chased them down.
Who was Gu Heng, really? Why were people trying to kill him?
Zuo Shihuan had always sensed that Gu Heng wasn’t ordinary. He had too many skills—too strong, too capable to be a mere Beta. He could move between planets faster than logic should allow. Even when Zuo Shihuan had investigated through every possible channel afterward, nothing came up.
Though Gu Heng had admitted he wasn’t “normal,” Zuo Shihuan had only guessed he was involved with some kind of gray-market smuggling group.
But reality told him there was something deeper—something far more secret—hidden within Gu Heng.
Zuo Shihuan had been afraid to dig further. The anxiety that came with it made him stop. And since Gu Heng had already cut off contact between them, he decided keeping a safe distance was best.
He wanted to remember Gu Heng only as that reckless person who’d crossed between Baile Star and the Federation’s main star just to retrieve a mech model no one— not even his own mother—cared about.
The only person who had ever been purely, selflessly kind to him.
But all that depended on one condition— that Gu Heng stayed alive.
Not like this— not being hunted, not barely escaping with his life!
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes were full of worry and anger. “Was it fun avoiding me?” he demanded. “Do you even know you almost got yourself shot?”
Just thinking about it made his chest seize painfully. The one staring down the barrel earlier had been Gu Heng. If he hadn’t arrived in time and wounded the attackers, it could have been Gu Heng bleeding on the ground right now.
A suffocating fear gripped him—his heart squeezed tight, cold dread washing over him only now that the danger had passed.
And the infuriating part was—the b*stard in front of him still had that careless grin, completely unaware of how close to death he’d been.
Seeing the worry in Zuo Shihuan’s eyes, Gu Heng felt something warm and soft spread in his chest, melting the cold edges of his composure. His sharp brows relaxed, and he smiled slightly, still carrying that faint air of pride.
“Don’t worry,” he said lightly. “Those people couldn’t hurt me.”
Zuo Shihuan’s frown deepened. His fist twitched—he wanted to punch this reckless fool—but he held back. There were more pressing concerns.
“Are you really not hurt?” he asked tensely. “Then whose blood is on you?”
His eyes searched Gu Heng’s face, neck, and every bit of exposed skin, anxiety written all over him. His fingers unconsciously intertwined with Gu Heng’s, as if to draw warmth from his hand, to make sure he was real, alive.
Under that intense, earnest gaze, Gu Heng’s smile grew broader, more self-satisfied.
The darkness in his eyes was gone; they gleamed with mischief and vitality. He tightened his grip on Zuo Shihuan’s hand, refusing to let go, leaned in close to his ear, and murmured with a teasing smile—
“It’s not mine. If you don’t believe me, you can take off my clothes and check yourself.”
Shameless. Completely, utterly shameless.
Zuo Shihuan went speechless, his light brown eyes flickering with shock and a faint, embarrassed shimmer. He looked at Gu Heng—this handsome, smug-faced man—who met his gaze so boldly, so brazenly, without a shred of shame.
A beautiful face. A man utterly without shame.
Zuo Shihuan pressed his trembling lips together. Years of upbringing and restraint kept him from saying something harsh. He let go of his clenched fist and said quietly, “As long as you’re fine.”
He meant it—every word sincere, even as he buried his worry deep inside. He was still holding Gu Heng’s hand, his fingers unconsciously tightening.
These small, unthinking gestures betrayed his unease.
But Zuo Shihuan lowered his eyes, dim with restraint. He couldn’t ask anything—had no right to. Even if he did, would Gu Heng tell him the truth?
And besides… he hadn’t forgotten. Today was his engagement. All the guests, the Zuo family, Yu Lizhu—they were all waiting for him in the grand hall.
Seeing Gu Heng again made him angry, yes, but also genuinely—impossibly—happy. At least this b*stard was alive and standing before him. But it didn’t change what came next.
Like Gu Heng said—their meeting was just an accident.
He would treat it as one.
While Gu Heng was still quietly immersed in the fleeting warmth between them, unaware of the turmoil in Zuo Shihuan’s heart— someone else suddenly spoke up.
“Young Master Zuo Shihuan, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but there really isn’t much time left—the engagement banquet is about to begin. May I ask if you’re ready to go?”
Butler Lin bent slightly as he spoke, his peripheral vision hesitating between the complex expression on Zuo Shihuan’s face and the cautious glance he cast toward the man standing beside him—a man radiating danger and authority, appearing before Young Master Zuo for the very first time.
“I’ll go. Let’s leave now.”
Zuo Shihuan held his breath, closed his eyes for a second, and forced out the words that felt like a sharp cut across his heart.
He didn’t dare look at Gu Heng’s face to see what kind of expression he was wearing.
Keeping his reason as best he could, Zuo Shihuan slowly loosened his grip on the hand Gu Heng had been holding, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion but outwardly calm and composed as he said,
“You can wait for me to come back, or you can just leave without telling me… I’ll have people investigate those who were chasing you and hand the results over to the Federation Police. If you need personal protection, you can contact me anytime. No matter what, I’m glad to have seen you. I hope next time you—”
“Ah—!”
Zuo Shihuan was cut off mid-sentence. He widened his eyes in shock and looked at the man beside him.
Gu Heng’s face had gone pale. He was clutching his abdomen, his handsome features tightening with suppressed pain. A trace of fragility and suffering showed through his expression, his eyes reddened and glistening with tears, shimmering as though silently pleading for help.
It was enough to make anyone’s heart soften, to evoke sympathy at first glance.
All the more so for Zuo Shihuan—his mind went blank in panic. Forgetting all about the engagement banquet, he turned to Gu Heng in alarm, anxiety twisting his voice.
“Where does it hurt?”
Zuo Shihuan gentled his movements, wanting to check whether Gu Heng was injured, but in front of so many people, he couldn’t exactly lift his clothes to look.
He could only ask, one place after another.
“Where does it hurt? Did the bullet hit you earlier? Are you bleeding? Where were you shot? Is it your stomach—or your waist?”
Gu Heng kept clutching his abdomen, his face contorted in pain. “I don’t know… Zuo Shihuan, it really hurts. I think I might be hurt—”
“Then tell me quickly! Where are you hurt?”
Zuo Shihuan, flustered, pulled open Gu Heng’s shirt without hesitation and checked him over—his hands brushing over his chest, the firm, sculpted muscles of his abdomen, his broad shoulders and narrow waist, the tight lines of his back.
Gu Heng froze. He couldn’t keep up the act—being touched like that sent a tingling jolt through him that almost made him give himself away. A faint blush spread to his ears.
It really did feel like Zuo Shihuan was taking advantage of him.
But Zuo Shihuan clearly had no such thought. After checking thoroughly, he confirmed that Gu Heng had no visible injuries—no bleeding, not even a bruise. His body was perfectly healthy.
Gradually, Zuo Shihuan realized something was wrong.
He calmed down, recalling that just moments ago, Gu Heng had arrogantly said no one could hurt him.
If he wasn’t injured, then why suddenly cry out in pain?
Zuo Shihuan frowned, looking at Gu Heng with suspicion. “Are you really in pain?”
Gu Heng fell silent for a moment, his eyes flickering. “Maybe I was hit by someone earlier… I don’t know where exactly, but it hurts.”
The doubt in Zuo Shihuan’s eyes deepened.
From the side, Butler Lin urged, “Young Master Zuo, Miss Yu says she’s ready. The engagement banquet is truly about to start. According to schedule, we should’ve arrived five minutes early—we’re already ten minutes late.”
Zuo Shihuan hesitated, torn. His growing anxiety made it impossible to leave Gu Heng alone.
He had just been chased by unknown forces—what if something else happened while Zuo wasn’t there? And what if Gu Heng was actually injured?
Even if this “injury” seemed questionable.
Still, Zuo Shihuan couldn’t deny the possibility. There were rare cases where people suffered severe internal injuries from impact without any visible wounds on the surface.
But on one side, Butler Lin kept urging him to leave, while on the other, Gu Heng looked pitiful and in pain.
Zuo Shihuan felt completely overwhelmed, unable to make a choice.
Just as he was caught in this turmoil—
The real cause of it all, Gu Heng, knew full well his own despicableness. His dark, bloodshot eyes stayed locked on Zuo Shihuan, his heart tightening painfully, beating wildly in his chest.
When judgment finally came down, he knew—he was nothing but a liar. He wasn’t injured at all. Those people could never have hurt him.
He just didn’t want Zuo Shihuan to go.
Didn’t want him to attend that engagement banquet.
Didn’t want him to stand beside another faceless Omega.
Because the one Zuo Shihuan cared about—was him.
So what if there was no Omega pheromone comfort? He would find a way—a perfect solution if he had to use any means necessary. Even two Alphas could get through a dangerous pheromone heat period together!
He only wanted Zuo Shihuan.
Only Zuo Shihuan.
He wanted no Omega, no offspring, no so-called compatibility or ideal match—what was the point of any of that?
His own parents had been a perfectly matched Alpha-Omega pair. And yet they were as cold and estranged as enemies.
All his life he had felt like an orphan, unloved, unwanted.
His father only cared that he could produce a superior genetic heir, a token to appease the ministers and continue his war games against the Zerg. When his uncle kidnapped him to threaten the emperor, his so-called father had abandoned him without a second thought—after all, there were plenty of other princes and princesses to replace him.
And his mother—she’d carried him in hatred and disgust, never once holding him, unable even to bear sharing a room with him.
Because to her, he was nothing more than the spawn of a rap*st—a forced breeding, the child of the man who had violated her.
The man she truly loved was his uncle.
Even when he was young—when he accidentally fell from the rockery in the Imperial Palace garden, scraping his knee and bleeding—the first look his mother gave him was still one of fear and disgust. She turned away before he could even reach out.
Everyone around him in the palace—the servants, the guards, the ministers—only revolved around him because he was the Empire’s Crown Prince, the heir of a top-tier S-class Alpha who could bring them protection and benefits.
As for who he was beneath that title, it didn’t matter in the slightest.
Even without him, there would always be another to take his place.
If that was the case, then let all those royal brothers and sisters of his produce as many heirs as they wished.
Gu Heng only wanted Zuo Shihuan. He only wanted that one Alpha from the Federation. He regretted it—regretted leaving Zuo Shihuan back then.
Now Zuo Shihuan had someone else.
Gu Heng’s eyes reddened. He clenched his teeth, gaze fixed unblinkingly on Zuo Shihuan, the man who now held his fate in his hands.
Perhaps he wasn’t a liar.
His heart truly did hurt—like being cut open by a knife—pulled apart over and over by Zuo Shihuan’s wavering expression, his throat tightening until even breathing tasted faintly of blood.
The moment he imagined Zuo Shihuan walking down the aisle with some unknown Omega—amidst blessings and applause—
Gu Heng felt trapped in an endless nightmare with no end in sight. The very thought of it was unbearable. Jealousy gnawed at him until he wanted to smash apart that beautiful wedding.
He had once sworn never again to abase himself in his own weakness, never again to beg for someone to turn back and look at him.
He had been wrong.
Now, he wished to be as weak as he could be, as pitiful as he could be—if only Zuo Shihuan would look back at him once.
Time slipped by.
Gu Heng’s whole body felt cold. He realized how pale and powerless he was, enduring each torturous second, praying and fearing all at once for the final answer.
He had no advantage, nothing with which to persuade Zuo Shihuan to choose him.
Even his seemingly exalted identity as the Empire’s Crown Prince was meaningless to a Federation Alpha like Zuo Shihuan—if anything, his true identity was an obstacle that had to be hidden.
He had nothing to offer Zuo Shihuan.
Zuo Shihuan, heir to one of the Federation’s most powerful families, lacked neither status nor wealth; even compatible Omegas would willingly line up to form alliances with the Zuo family.
From that perspective—
Gu Heng truly had nothing.
On the contrary, today, he had barged uninvited into someone else’s grand engagement ceremony.
Perhaps—no, there was no “perhaps.”
Without him, Zuo Shihuan would surely live better.
Gu Heng’s heart sank in quiet despair. His dark eyes shimmered faintly with unshed tears. He forced a bitter smile, unwilling to let himself look too pitiful later.
He would turn and leave the moment Zuo Shihuan spoke.
He couldn’t truly bless Zuo Shihuan and someone else—he feared his jealousy would twist into something ugly and frighten that beautiful, blissful bride.
And then—
Zuo Shihuan suddenly let out a long, deep sigh.
Gu Heng’s heartbeat jumped twice, then sank again into silence.
He hadn’t expected Zuo Shihuan to turn to the butler and say, “Postpone the engagement banquet. Butler Lin, please inform everyone. I’m taking this guy to get his wound treated first.”
Gu Heng’s head jerked up.
Zuo Shihuan’s face was a mix of anger and exasperation; his light brown eyes glared sharply at him. Then he reached out, grabbed Gu Heng’s wrist, and warned with fierce irritation—
“If you weren’t injured, I’d beat the h*ll out of you right now!”
Gu Heng, however, smiled as if the pain was the sweetest thing in the world.
—No matter what comes later,
—This time, he had won what he prayed for.
