Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The first thing Lu Yao felt was a piercing, bone-chilling cold that swept through his entire body. He stared silently, for a long time, at the familiar yet unfamiliar person before him. Then, with trembling hands, he reached past Fu Yanhuai to grab the door handle, yanking the door shut.

Fu Yanhuai braced against the door, his tone firm. "Lu Yao!"

Lu Yao abruptly raised his head, and Fu Yanhuai clearly saw revulsion and rejection in his eyes.

Fu Yanhuai looked at him in shock, his grip loosening.

Lu Yao said nothing. He didn’t know what to say—seeing this man only reminded him of everything he desperately wanted to forget.

Lu Yao reached out to close the door again, but Fu Yanhuai stubbornly blocked it with the back of his hand. The lock scraped heavily against his skin, but he stood his ground. Through clenched teeth, he said, "I think I owe you an explanation about that contract."

Lu Yao released the door handle and looked directly at Fu Yanhuai, his hatred unconcealed. "Mr. Fu, I don’t think that’s necessary."

A dull ache throbbed in Lu Yao’s chest. This was the first time he had dared to raise his head so boldly, studying Fu Yanhuai’s face intently, not missing a single shift in his expression.

"Our marriage was nothing more than a transaction we both consented to. Now that it’s over, you don’t owe me any explanations."

Lu Yao’s attitude was a stark contrast to what Fu Yanhuai had imagined. The immense disparity left Fu Yanhuai with a disorienting sense of unreality. His throat worked as he said, "I didn’t expect you to leave like that."

Fu Yanhuai’s hand dropped, the red mark on the back of it painfully visible. In the past, Lu Yao would have been heartbroken to see it.

But now, more than just a divorce agreement stood between them. Lu Yao retorted, "Then what did you expect? For me to keep lying in the hospital, blissfully unaware, waiting for you to take our child away and marry some society-approved omega?"

The door was wide open, but Fu Yanhuai couldn’t bring himself to step inside. He had imagined Lu Yao might be sad, even devastated—but he hadn’t expected such cutting hostility, as if Lu Yao saw him as an enemy to be guarded against at all costs.

Fu Yanhuai had never experienced such a loss of command. From birth until now, everything had unfolded exactly as he dictated—the Fu Group empire, his life, all of it.

"I know you blame me," Fu Yanhuai tried to explain. "But I promise, even though we’re divorced, your circumstances won't drastically change."

"You said it yourself—we’re divorced!" Lu Yao’s voice shook with barely contained emotion. He gripped the nearby cabinet tightly, ignoring the spells of dizziness as he shouted at Fu Yanhuai, "We have nothing to do with each other anymore! I don’t want to see you!"

Lu Yao’s face was pale. Cream, the dog, whined anxiously, circling his feet. Fu Yanhuai, alarmed by his condition, reached out to steady Lu Yao’s wrist. "What’s wrong?"

Cream let out a whimper and bit Fu Yanhuai’s trouser leg, refusing to let him touch Lu Yao.

Afraid Fu Yanhuai might hurt Cream, Lu Yao yanked his arm away with all his strength and crouched down to pick up the puppy. "Don’t touch me."

Fu Yanhuai’s hand remained suspended helplessly in midair.

Lu Yao’s breathing was slightly labored, his vision beginning to darken. He kept his head down, his voice icy. "Please leave."

Cream kept sniffing at Lu Yao’s face with small, distressed whines. Fu Yanhuai knelt halfway, trying to pull Lu Yao into his arms. "Let me help you inside first—"

"I said don’t touch me!"

Lu Yao’s eyes were bloodshot. "I never want to see you again."

Shakily, Lu Yao forced himself to stand, like a cornered animal bristling with hostility and wariness, determined to keep any outside threat at bay.

Only then did Fu Yanhuai slowly realize that a fundamental belief he had always held was crumbling. Just before the door closed, he shut his eyes.

"It’s about Nian Nian."

The door clicked softly as it locked. Lu Yao braced a hand against it, his pupils dilating slightly when he heard Fu Yanhuai’s words.

Nian Nian’s development hadn’t been ideal. Yesterday, Fu Yanhuai’s assistant had received a call from Yao Jun, and Fu Yanhuai still remembered the hesitation on his assistant’s face.

Lu Yao wanted to rush out and demand how Fu Yanhuai could stoop so low—how he could weaponize their child to manipulate him like this.

Lu Yao didn’t want to open that door, but his child was on the other side.

Snatching an unopened package from the cabinet, Lu Yao flung it at Fu Yanhuai’s face the moment he pushed the door open.

Fu Yanhuai didn’t move. The packaging left a thin red line on his cheek, but he silently bent down to pick it up.

It was an unused tube of scar cream.

"I hate you," Lu Yao whispered. "You make me sick."

A lance of pain pierced through Fu Yanhuai’s heart. Slowly straightening, he handed the scar cream back to Lu Yao.

Lu Yao hated Fu Yanhuai for making him so wretched, for parceling out crumbs of affection only to discard him, for his deceit and indifference.

But most of all, he hated his own helplessness—how he always had no choice but to compromise.

Disgusted, Lu Yao turned his head away. Fu Yanhuai lowered his gaze and set the scar cream aside.

The only scar that would still need treatment now, Fu Yanhuai knew, was the cesarean scar.

At last, Fu Yanhuai vaguely realized the depth of his folly. It had taken him four months to confirm that he couldn’t live without Lu Yao—but it was clearly too late.

"What’s wrong with Nian Nian?" Lu Yao crushed Cream to his chest, like a drowning man clinging to his only lifeline. His voice was hoarse. "He didn’t cry when he was born."

The sharp pain faded quickly, but the deep, persistent ache was slow and unmistakable. Lu Yao didn’t cry, yet Fu Yanhuai instinctively reached out to wipe his tears. "He—"

Lu Yao took a large step back. Cream, curled protectively in his arms, barked at Fu Yanhuai.

Fu Yanhuai didn’t step inside. He stood outside the door, looking at Lu Yao, unable to stop himself from comparing him to the man he'd once been.

He hadn’t realized how vividly he remembered Lu Yao’s face. Dazedly, Fu Yanhuai recalled how, just a few months ago, Lu Yao’s eyes would light up with joy the moment he saw him.

The chasm between memory and reality was unbearable. Fu Yanhuai exhaled. "Nian Nian was born premature. His growth is lagging compared to other babies his age. He’s not meeting the developmental benchmarks."

Lu Yao’s heart seized. Forgetting everything else, he asked anxiously, "What do you mean he’s not meeting them? Is Nian Nian healthy? Is he sick?"

"He… isn’t sick."

Fu Yanhuai hesitated, unable to bring himself to tell Lu Yao the unvarnished truth about Nian Nian’s condition.

"His development is just delayed. He’ll catch up in a couple of months."

But Lu Yao was instantly suspicious. "I don’t believe you. If Nian Nian is fine, why did you come here today? What were you trying to say by bringing him up?"

When it came to their child, Lu Yao wasn’t so readily deceived.

Perhaps it was because he had been deceived too many times before—he couldn’t trust a single word spoken without proof.

For the first time, Fu Yanhuai found himself at a loss for words. He could only say haltingly, "Nian Nian misses you."

Could a four-month-old baby even understand missing someone? Lu Yao knew it was a lie, yet it still cut straight to his core.

Drawing a shaky breath, Lu Yao asked, "What's your real game here?"

Fu Yanhuai had originally come today to assess Lu Yao's stance. In his view, Lu Yao had been away long enough. These four months had given both of them time to cool off, and Fu Yanhuai had thought he could calmly discuss this sensitive topic with Lu Yao.

But the moment he actually saw Lu Yao, Fu Yanhuai realized he had been too naive.

So Fu Yanhuai made a decision on the spot, trying to calm Lu Yao down with a measured tone, "I was thinking... maybe you could look after Nian Nian for some time."

Fu Yanhuai thought this would make Lu Yao happy, or at least lower his guard, but instead, Lu Yao glared at him with humiliation in his eyes.

"Because Nian Nian is my child, you think you can treat him the same way you treat me, is that it?"

Lu Yao didn’t know whether he felt more anger or sorrow. Even Cream in his arms trembled along with him.

"Fu Yanhuai, I gave everything I had to this marriage," Lu Yao said hoarsely. "I know—I know you don’t like me. But wasn’t this child what you wanted? You’re his father. At the very least, you should treat him well."

Being the heir of the Fu Group and being Lu Yao’s child—the difference in status would inevitably lead to a drastically different life for Nian Nian.

And Lu Yao knew all too well that if the Fu family wanted Nian Nian, he stood no chance.

Over these four months, Lu Yao had repeatedly told himself not to dwell on it—as long as Nian Nian was doing well, that was enough. The Fu family would cherish and protect their own bloodline.

But today, Lu Yao realized Fu Yanhuai wasn't as invested in Nian Nian as he had imagined.

Lu Yao couldn’t accept it, couldn’t understand it. Fu Yanhuai was stunned by the uncontrollable pain that showed on Lu Yao's face.

"Have you actually been raising Nian Nian properly?" Lu Yao grew increasingly disappointed. "Where has he been growing up? Who’s been taking care of him? How can you just—"

How could he so casually decide where the child would stay—two months here, two months there? Did Fu Yanhuai not love this child at all?

Fu Yanhuai had no answer. Aside from providing information to the hospital and ensuring Nian Nian had the best resources, he hadn’t considered any of the deeper questions.

Picking what he could respond to, Fu Yanhuai replied, "It's been my mother caring for Nian Nian."

Lu Yao felt completely drained. He let out a bitter laugh. "The dessert shop downstairs from the Fu Group—every time a department completes a project, they order cakes from there. And every day, someone orders afternoon tea."

All of those had been delivered upstairs by Lu Yao.

He had willingly taken on these extra tasks beyond his salary because Fu Yanhuai was the owner of that skyscraper. Looking up at the highest floor, Fu Yanhuai was always there.

After that banquet ended and they returned home, Lu Qianxing had mocked him enviously, saying he’d hit the jackpot—Fu Yanhuai never showed closeness to anyone else.

That night, Lu Yao secretly searched for Fu Yanhuai’s name. His outdated phone struggled as the page loaded, Fu Yanhuai’s photos appearing bit by bit from top to bottom.

He couldn’t help but feel a helpless, overwhelming delight. He hungrily gathered the few photos of Fu Yanhuai and the many records of his outstanding achievements. That day, Lu Yao memorized Fu Yanhuai’s name and found boundless courage in it.

Later, when Lu Yao heard in the Lu family that Fu Yanhuai was considering marrying a beta, he delivered the afternoon tea as usual—but this time, he didn’t leave. Instead, he hid in the stairwell, climbing aimlessly, floor after floor.

Lu Yao couldn’t even remember which floor he reached when he finally sank onto the steps in exhaustion. Then, Fu Yanhuai suddenly pushed open the emergency exit door and walked in.

That day, Fu Yanhuai must have been in a bad mood—his entire demeanor was unusually tense. Lu Yao noticed the cigarette in his hand.

But in the end, Fu Yanhuai didn’t light it, because Lu Yao looked up and asked him—if he really just wanted to marry a beta, would he consider him?

When Lu Yao left, he carried deep bite marks on the back of his neck and was reeking of Silver Fir, though he couldn’t smell it himself. He had climbed up the stairs, only to end up nestled in Fu Yanhuai’s arms, flushed and disoriented as they took the private elevator down.

But now, Lu Yao’s infatuation had faded away. Hearing these words, Fu Yanhuai stood stunned.

Lu Yao was too tired to even speak. "Even if there was no love, at least in this agreement, I didn’t do anything wrong."

Numb with cold hands and feet, he murmured, "Even if I beg you... can’t you just let me go?"

He wanted no part of the past—didn’t even want to mention it.

How much more did Fu Yanhuai need to hurt him before he was satisfied? Lu Yao didn’t understand why he had to endure this. In the beginning, all he had wanted was just a scrap of affection.

But before Fu Yanhuai could say anything, Lu Yao whispered first, "Forget it."

Forget it.