Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The moment Pei Siyue's gaze landed on him, Pei Siming felt an immediate prickle of dread, as if a highly dangerous predator had him in its sights. His mind screamed for escape, and his alpha pheromones, threatened and uncontrollable, surged forth—a chaotic blend of aggression and terror.

But the instant his pheromones were released, they were forcefully suppressed by a higher-tier pheromone, crushed back into his body. The sensation was intensely uncomfortable, causing Pei Siming to stumble back two steps, his face turning deathly pale, his grip on Ruan Shuyang's shoulder faltering.

Ruan Shuyang, at the epicenter of this pheromone clash, should have been profoundly affected. Yet, he felt nothing—only a gentle current forming a protective shield around him.

Pei Siyue's cold gaze swept over the disheveled Pei Siming before he simply stated, "Let's go."

With only three people present, the recipient of his words was unmistakable.

Pei Siyue strode ahead, Ruan Shuyang following slowly behind. Pei Siming, still struggling to breathe under the pheromone's oppressive weight, finally regained his senses after Pei Siyue had moved on. Seeing Pei Siyue already ahead and Ruan Shuyang taking a few steps forward, he gritted his teeth, quickened his pace, grabbed Ruan Shuyang's hand, and snapped, "Why are you wandering off? Stay behind me, understand?"

Pei Siyue, walking ahead, paused and turned back. His expression instantly darkened as he saw Ruan Shuyang being pulled by Pei Siming. He was about to speak when he noticed Ruan Shuyang's hand, hanging by his side, give a subtle shake.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and ultimately remained silent.

Behind him, Ruan Shuyang quietly said to Pei Siming, "Understood."

Only then did Pei Siming seem somewhat appeased. He pulled Ruan Shuyang along, quickening their pace to catch up with Pei Siyue.

"Big brother, as always, you're so rude and cold-blooded, using your pheromones to suppress your own younger brother." Pei Siming paused, then adopted a sickly sweet, irritatingly boastful tone. "This is my fiancé, Ruan Shuyang. Perhaps you're jealous that your younger brother has a fiancé while you're still alone. If you need help, just ask. I, as your brother, can set aside our past disagreements and introduce you to a few omegas."

"Oh, right, I remember you once said you're allergic to omegas. Maybe your preferences are unique and you prefer alphas. I can introduce you to a few alphas too. It wouldn't do to see you remain lonely forever. Unlike you, I'm not so heartless—I genuinely can't bear to see it."

Pei Siyue listened expressionlessly to Pei Siming's words, but by the end, he actually chuckled.

Tall and towering over Pei Siming, he looked down at him, his unhurried voice carrying an implicit hint that, unfortunately, Pei Siming failed to grasp.

"Then I'll trouble you. Perhaps I will indeed need your help in the end."

After speaking, Pei Siyue turned and strode quickly into the villa, paying no further attention to Pei Siming.

Seeing Pei Siyue enter the villa, Pei Siming snorted softly and pulled Ruan Shuyang in with him.

They arrived at six in the evening. Servants were preparing dinner in the kitchen, Pei Yan was reading on the sofa, and Pei Siyue stood in another corner of the living room, speaking quietly on the phone. Zhou Wei immediately approached when she saw Pei Siming enter with Ruan Shuyang, scrutinizing him from head to toe with a critical eye. Considering others were present, she only snorted lightly and said nothing.

This was Ruan Shuyang's second time meeting Pei Siming's parents.

Pei Yan seemed as stern and unsmiling as ever, treating him as if he were invisible.

Zhou Wei, much like last time, though well-maintained, her face sharp with disdain, her gaze filled with arrogance and contempt.

Ruan Shuyang bowed his head and greeted, "Hello, Uncle. Hello, Aunt."

Pei Yan, sitting far away, pretended not to hear.

Zhou Wei initially couldn’t be bothered to respond either, but after Pei Siming nudged her, she reluctantly acknowledged him.

Ruan Shuyang wasn’t surprised by their attitudes. At the engagement banquet, he had already seen it—Pei Yan had only appeared for five minutes before leaving, barely acknowledging even Pei Siming, let alone him.

Zhou Wei had always looked down on him, considering him an illegitimate child from the shadows, and that the Ruan family had fallen from grace, making him utterly unworthy of Pei Siming. The fiancée she had in mind for Pei Siming was Jin Nan, the young master of the Jin family.

They had met once during the engagement, and Zhou Wei had warned him not to entertain any delusions of grandeur, saying the engagement was merely a temporary measure for cooperation and would certainly be called off later. She had chosen a Jin family member for Pei Siming, someone of far superior background.

At the time, he had been unavoidably hurt by those words, but looking back now, it all seemed ridiculous.

If he remembered correctly, Pei Siming had also started as an illegitimate child. And if the situation allowed, he would have liked to ask Zhou Wei if the engagement could be called off now.

Dinner was soon ready. They moved to the dining room and sat at a moderately sized round table. From left to right, the seats were occupied by Zhou Wei, Pei Siming, Ruan Shuyang, Pei Siyue, and Pei Yan.

Somehow, the seating arrangement placed Ruan Shuyang between Pei Siming on his left and Pei Siyue on his right.

...It felt suffocating.

He hardly dared to move, keeping his head down, eating in silence.

Zhou Wei was the first to speak at the table, addressing Pei Yan in a tone that was both consultative and somewhat ingratiating. "Siyue is already 27. Shouldn’t he start thinking about dating and marriage? Siming is younger but already has a fiancé."

Pei Yan's voice was exceptionally indifferent. "Ask him yourself."

As Ruan Shuyang reached for a dish, he noticed Zhou Wei speaking to Pei Siyue in a cautious, almost timid tone. "Siyue, I know a few suitable omegas. If you have time, you could meet them."

"If you don’t like omegas, that’s fine too. I can introduce you to betas or alphas."

"Don’t call me Siyue." It was the first time Ruan Shuyang had heard Pei Siyue speak in such an icy tone. "It’s disgusting."

Ruan Shuyang kept his head down, eating, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Wei’s face turn pale.

Pei Siming said discontentedly, "How can you speak to my mother like that?"

Before Pei Siyue could respond, Pei Yan interjected in a commanding tone, "Everyone, eat. Less talking."

The table fell silent, but Ruan Shuyang, sandwiched between the overwhelmingly present enigma and alpha, still felt tense.

Suddenly, his right leg under the table was gently patted—a gesture that felt both like a reminder and a comfort.

The person sitting to his right was Pei Siyue, who had secretly patted his leg under the table—a small action meant only for the two of them.

He glanced subtly to his right and saw Pei Siyue give him a faint, almost imperceptible smile before saying, "The longjaw kingfish today is quite good, very fresh."

A few minutes after Pei Siyue’s praise, Ruan Shuyang quietly reached out with his chopsticks and took a small piece of the fish.

As he ate, he thought to himself that it was indeed delicious.

Ruan Shuyang believed his movements were subtle enough to go unnoticed, but Pei Siming saw him glance at Pei Siyue and then eat the fish Pei Siyue had praised.

Pei Siming’s expression instantly darkened. His left hand dropped under the table, slowly clenching into a fist.

The dinner was a tense, difficult affair. Afterward, Pei Siyue was called away by Pei Yan to the study on the second floor. Pei Siming approached Ruan Shuyang, suggesting with a kindly expression, "This is your first time at my home. Let me take you for a walk in the garden, alright?"

Though Pei Siming’s expression was warm, Ruan Shuyang felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a faint sense of fear stirring within him.

He tried to refuse. "There’s no need to trouble you…"

But Pei Siming took his hand and led him out, leaving no room for refusal.

The Pei family garden was elegantly arranged, with white marble corridors winding through it. Standing in the corridor, one could smell the sweet fragrance of summer flowers.

The night sky was vast, as clear and serene as glass.

It should have been a peaceful evening, but Ruan Shuyang was so tense he could barely breathe.

Pei Siming stood beside him, holding his hand firmly, gradually moving closer until his face loomed large in Ruan Shuyang’s vision.

Under the white overhead light, his once handsome and refined face now seemed sinister and terrifying to Ruan Shuyang.

Sensing danger, Ruan Shuyang tried to break free from Pei Siming’s grip, but the alpha’s strength far exceeded his. Pei Siming’s hand clamped down on his wrist like an iron vise, gripping so tightly it felt as if his bones would break.

Ruan Shuyang was extremely nervous, "What... do you want to do?"

Pei Siming reached out and gently touched Ruan Shuyang's face. His palm was not warm but rather cold, like a venomous snake flicking its forked tongue near Ruan Shuyang's cheek.

"I just suddenly realized that you seem to be quite interested in my elder brother, hmm?" Pei Siming's tone rose at the end, growing even colder. "What, as a bastard of the Ruan family, being my fiancé isn't enough for you? You still want to seduce my brother?"

"No," Ruan Shuyang shook his head desperately. "I don't want to seduce your brother."

"Then why were you looking at him during dinner?" Pei Siming glared at Ruan Shuyang, his voice filled with anger. "And you even served him the dish he said was delicious. Tell me, are you trying to curry favor with him just because he's in charge of the Pei Corporation now?"

Ruan Shuyang truly didn't know how to explain; he could only keep shaking his head, so frightened that tears were about to fall. "No, I didn't, it was just... just a coincidence."

But Pei Siming didn't believe him.

He stared intently at Ruan Shuyang, watching tears roll down his face, his large eyes filled with fear, and tear tracks on his pale, almost translucent cheeks. Suddenly, he felt a strong urge to claim him with his mark.

He remembered something.

Ruan Shuyang was his fiancé, and he hadn't marked him yet.

He gave a soft chuckle, his voice no longer agitated but turning gentle.

"Shuyang, I just remembered—I realize I haven't marked you yet since our engagement."

Ruan Shuyang's eyes widened abruptly, as if he had thought of something, and he stared at Pei Siming in horror.

"Yes, you guessed right." Pei Siming's tone grew even softer, his gaze even carrying a hint of tenderness as he chuckled and said to Ruan Shuyang, "I'm going to mark you. Of course, given the time and place, it's only a temporary mark."

"Later... I might give you a permanent mark. I believe your father would agree."

"No, no, don't—"

Ruan Shuyang was terrified to the extreme, struggling desperately to break free, but he couldn't overcome Pei Siming's strength.

Pei Siming easily grabbed both of Ruan Shuyang's hands with one hand, suppressing his struggles effortlessly. With his other hand, he first removed his own alpha blocker patch, and the scent of sour lemon began to fill the air around Ruan Shuyang.

Then, Pei Siming reached to remove the gland patch on the back of Ruan Shuyang's neck. Ruan Shuyang shook his head, trying to resist, but it was easily removed.

The fragrance of Lily of the Valley began to intertwine with the scent of sour lemon.

But there was something unusual about the Lily of the Valley scent—it drifted like water vapor, swelling like a tide, beginning to overpower the sour lemon fragrance.

This made Pei Siming, who was about to mark him, his expression shifted dramatically, staring at Ruan Shuyang in shocked suspicion.

The feeling of his pheromones being suppressed was extremely uncomfortable. How could it be that just by removing Ruan Shuyang's blocker patch, it felt as if his own pheromones were being suppressed?

Could it be that Ruan Shuyang was a high-level omega, so high that he couldn't even mark him?

But before he could figure it out, a large hand suddenly grabbed his wrist with immense force, making him cry out in pain and involuntarily let go of Ruan Shuyang.

Ruan Shuyang, suddenly freed, staggered back a few steps before was steadied by a hand at his waist.

He looked up and saw Pei Siyue standing beside him, though he hadn't noticed his arrival.

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling suddenly safe.