Chapter 57: The Married Beta’s Photo is Leaked

Chapter 57 Married Beta’s Photos Leaked

In the spacious arena of the Blue Dome high-end fencing club in Mando City,

Two men in white fencing gear were engaged in a duel with fencing swords. The soles of their fencing shoes made short, squeaking sounds against the floor, and the clashing of their sword tips produced sharp whistles.

Situ Jing lunged forward, his sword tip slashing toward his opponent's mask. As the opponent retreated to defend, Situ Jing bent his blade downward and thrust straight into the opponent's side, immediately triggering the scoring sensor. The match ended.

The opposing fencer removed his mask, revealing a rugged, sturdy face with sharp angles, wheat-toned skin, and a military demeanor visible in his expression. It was Xiao Jun.

He smoothed down his hair and shook his head with a smile. "Senior brother, I lost."

Xiao Jun appeared honest, but aside from his military academy background, he was involved in speculative business deals and couldn’t truly be called honest.

While abroad, he and Situ Jing had been students of the same finance guru, hence addressing each other as senior and junior brothers. This time, while in Mando City for business, he learned that Situ Jing was also there and arranged to meet at the fencing club for a match and to discuss matters.

Situ Jing took off his mask and stepped off the strip. "You lost in just three minutes. Haven’t you been practicing lately?"

Xiao Jun followed. "When things get busy, these activities fall by the wayside."

Situ Jing sneered. "I doubt it’s because you’re busy. More like you’ve fallen into a trap."

Xiao Jun smiled wryly, fully aware that Situ Jing was implying criticism. Still, he needed to report the situation to Situ Jing. After all, Situ Jing was the major shareholder of MS Investment Company, and the investment involved was too large to proceed without his approval.

"Recently, there’s a game company investment project. They’re developing a VR game, and I had someone investigate. The future profit projections are very promising."

Situ Jing remained noncommittal, stopping to look at him. "Don't you see what the Qin family wants from you?"

Seeing how blunt Situ Jing was, Xiao Jun dropped the pretense. "I know Qin Yuhe’s feelings aren't entirely genuine, but there’s some sincerity mixed in. No omega would willingly risk pregnancy for just any alpha. Bringing life into the world carries even more weight than a permanent marking."

Situ Jing continued walking toward the locker room, his tone cold. "I’ve never seen such a thing as 'sincerity' in this world. There’s only rationality and foolishness."

Xiao Jun stopped short as if the words had hit him, taking a deep breath before responding. "Senior brother, you don’t understand what it’s like to grow up without parents. Someone like me, who’s gotten to where I am today, owes most of it to luck. Sometimes, it feels empty. When I put my ear to her stomach and heard the baby’s heartbeat, I felt an incredible peace, as if I had a home, a place I belonged. Finally, there was someone in this world connected to me by blood, someone born from our bodies, growing deep within her. It felt wonderful, even better than sex. That’s why I decided to marry her."

Situ Jing couldn’t comprehend Xiao Jun’s perspective. To him, this was merely a failure in managing personal risks. It could easily be resolved with a financial settlement, leaving the position of wife for someone who could help advance his business interests.

Instead of cutting his losses, Xiao Jun had risked his entire fortune on it—an utterly foolish move, almost like he's bewitched.

As his senior brother, Situ Jing showed some restraint, asking only, "Aren’t you afraid the child isn’t yours?"

Xiao Jun’s eyes widened, his expression turning serious. "Senior brother, don’t think I’m that stupid. I may not be as shrewd as you, but when I place a bet, I make sure it’s genuine."

"Do as you please. I don’t do unprofitable deals. If their investment doesn’t meet the expected profit margin, you’ll cover the loss with your own money."

Situ Jing handed his épée to a staff member and headed into the VIP locker room to change.

Xiao Jun went into a regular locker room. He didn’t pay much attention to these status symbols.

From Situ Jing’s earlier words, it was clear he hadn’t changed—still cold, arrogant, and entirely elitist and self-centered, an alpha among alphas, unable to understand normal human emotions.

At the very least, Situ Jing had approved the investment, as long as Xiao Jun provided the guarantee.

After changing, the two walked out together.

Noticing it was already noon, Xiao Jun suggested, "Senior brother, there’s a famous Western restaurant nearby in Mando City. My treat?"

Situ Jing had a meeting in the afternoon but wasn’t in a hurry, so he agreed to go.

As they walked, Xiao Jun checked his phone and smiled.

Situ Jing asked coldly, "Something good?"

Xiao Jun hesitated. Based on his understanding, Situ Jing wouldn’t be interested in such matters, but he still generously showed him the screen.

"Yuhe has a younger brother who’s still in college. Lately, he’s been in low spirits, often drinking alone and getting piercings. She suspected his feelings were unrequited and worried he might do something extreme. Her brother is quite popular at school, so she checked their university forum to see if anyone was talking about it. After reading, she found out he had unrequited feelings and was rejected. But when she checked today, it seemed they’d made up. He’s a fair-skinned, handsome boy."

To Xiao Jun’s surprise, Situ Jing immediately took his phone, zooming in on the photo Qin Yuhe had sent.

The photo was taken from outside a classroom window, slightly blurry but still clear enough to make out Bai Yu’s fair, delicate face.

Qin Shaoxin had Bai Yu pressed against the classroom door in a suggestive pose, as if marking him.

A dangerous glint flashed in Situ Jing’s eyes, a thin smile playing on his lips.

Seeing Situ Jing’s sudden change in expression, Xiao Jun felt a chilling, violent aura emanating from the man, as if he wanted to kill someone—or shoot them full of holes.

"Senior brother, what’s wrong?"

Situ Jing glanced at Xiao Jun, then turned and strode away. "Forget the meal."

Xiao Jun hurried after him. "We’re not eating?"

"And scrap the investment project with the Qin family."

"What?!"

*

During afternoon class, Bai Yu noticed many classmates looking at him strangely.

Some wanted to say something but held back, others looked envious, and small groups whispered among themselves.

Bai Yu went to the back row and sat next to Fu Yusheng, opening his textbook and taking out a pen as usual.

Fu Yusheng cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered, "Did you patch things up with Qin Shaoxin?"

Bai Yu turned to him suddenly. "Who said that?"

Fu Yusheng showed him a post on the school forum filled with over a dozen photos of Bai Yu and Qin Shaoxin in the student activity room.

The images were somewhat blurry, but Bai Yu and Qin Shaoxin’s faces were recognizable.

The photos captured everything—from the two embracing, to Qin Shaoxin pinning Bai Yu against the classroom door as if marking him, to later applying a suppressant patch to Bai Yu’s neck.

Bai Yu felt his scalp prickling, his face turning pale. Who had taken these?

The photos were incredibly ambiguous and misleading, making it seem as if Qin Shaoxin had bitten his neck and they had reconciled, all affectionate and intimate. No wonder people had been looking at him that way on his way back.

After all, marking was a deeply intimate act, just like having sex!

The post already had over 99 comments, meaning it had likely been seen by many.

Bai Yu’s brain worked quickly. He reported the post, asking the moderators to delete it, and immediately contacted Qin Shaoxin.

Fu Yusheng noticed Bai Yu’s hands trembling as he typed and sensed something was wrong. "You’re not together?"

When Bai Yu looked up to answer, the corners of his eyes were red with urgency, as if he were about to cry. "No. I don’t know who took these photos. They need to be deleted now."

Qin Shaoxin replied to Bai Yu’s message as soon as he received it.

[I saw it. I’m getting it taken down.]

Bai Yu rarely logged into the school forum, but now he immediately accessed it and repeatedly refreshed the discussion section. There were more than just that one post about him and Qin Shaoxin; nearly every day, three or four accounts were posting updates about the two of them.

He shuddered, a deep fear welling up from the pit of his stomach and crawling up his spine. If the posts weren’t deleted, Situ Jing would eventually find out.

Just then, the class bell rang.

Song Huaiqian entered the classroom, and Bai Yu had no choice but to put his phone down.

During class, he felt anxious and unsettled, surreptitiously glancing down to refresh the forum repeatedly, hoping the moderators would delete the posts quickly.

When Song Huaiqian called on Bai Yu to answer a question, the content he had already previewed suddenly slipped from his mind, and his answer came out disjointed and confused.

Mu Qingkong turned around from the front row and glanced at Bai Yu, smirking with gleeful malice.

Lately, Mu Qingkong had been busy with practical credits and hadn’t had time to bother Bai Yu.

Now, the school forum was in an uproar over Bai Yu and Qin Shaoxin. Whether they continued dating or broke up, they would be under the microscope, especially Bai Yu, as an ordinary beta. The court of public opinion could drown him—he was in for it now.

Music arrangement was work that relied on inspiration and emotion, making it easily influenced by one’s mood. Without even lifting a finger, Mu Qingkong thought, Bai Yu would dig his own grave.

Song Huaiqian was unsatisfied with Bai Yu’s answer and called on another student to respond.

After sitting in a daze for a moment, Bai Yu opened his phone again to log into the school forum. When he entered, he saw that the post had already reached over 999 replies.

Most of the comments were congratulatory, but a few criticized him, questioning what right he had to be with Qin Shaoxin and accusing him of playing hard to get.

Bai Yu scrolled down, refreshed, closed his eyes, and hoped those photos would disappear quickly.

When he opened his eyes again, the page suddenly showed a 404 error.

Bai Yu returned to the forum’s homepage and found that all the posts about him and Qin Shaoxin had been completely deleted.

The announcement board listed the accounts that had been tracking and posting about him and Qin Shaoxin. They were permanently banned for spreading false information and violating others’ privacy.

Bai Yu breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking to himself that Qin Shaoxin had moved quickly.

He couldn’t meet Qin Shaoxin alone anymore. He couldn’t let something like this happen again, at least not for a year. After a year, he could see whoever he wanted without looking over his shoulder.

Free from his uneasiness, Bai Yu focused on listening to the lecture.

After class, Bai Yu left the school and walked a block away. The black luxury car was still parked in its usual spot by the roadside.

Bai Yu quickened his pace to the car, pulled the door open, and saw Situ Jing sitting inside. He was wearing a crisply tailored silver-gray suit and, instead of staring at his tablet as usual, was resting his head on one hand, staring straight at Bai Yu.

For a moment, Bai Yu felt as if Situ Jing’s gaze was appraising him like a criminal facing sentencing.

"Mr. Situ, you’re back early?" Bai Yu’s voice trembled slightly, his heart racing, and he unconsciously clasped his hands behind his back.

Situ Jing said calmly, "Get in."

Bai Yu climbed into the car and closed the door. The dry air conditioning and faint woody scent isolated them from the outside world, and the leather seats made faint creaking sounds.

The partition in the front suddenly lowered. Situ Jing pulled Bai Yu by the hand into his embrace. The man’s grip was strong, and Bai Yu let out a pained whimper, "Hmm?"

Situ Jing slowly raised his hand, gripping Bai Yu’s jaw between thumb and forefinger, holding his face firmly. He looked down at Bai Yu, his gaze sweeping from his forehead to his neck, saying nothing.

Bai Yu’s heart raced wildly. Under Situ Jing’s penetrating gaze, he felt as if his very thoughts and bones were exposed, with nowhere to hide. Time stretched infinitely in that moment.

Only two questions occupied his mind:

Did Situ Jing know about the photos?

Secretary Zhou was still here—would he do anything?

Situ Jing withdrew his gaze and calmly instructed the front, "Let’s go."

Bai Yu leaned against his chest, not daring to move, growing increasingly anxious.

Yet, nothing happened.

The man said nothing the whole way—no questioning, no arguing, no taking out his anger through rough intimacy. He simply held him.