Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The private jet arranged by Luo Heng arrived two hours later.

An Nuo closed all the windows in the house, activated the "Pets Home Alone Mode," and settled the two kittens. Then, he quickly packed some luggage and boarded the aircraft without hesitation.

Just as he was about to leave, An Nuo finally received a reply from Lu Yunyan—cold and brief. There was none of the intimacy from when they were together. It seemed that once he was no longer needed, he had become strictly business to Lu Yunyan.

Lu Yunyan sent two messages.

The first one read: "I was busy yesterday. My assistant was handling my phone, and I forgot to reply afterward."

The second one was likely in response to his inexplicable series of deleted messages and the question, "I’m ignoring you forever."

Lu Yunyan asked: "What happened?"

An Nuo’s heart seethed with resentment, and he sneered inwardly—*Hah, what happened? You’re asking me what happened?*

Did he even need to ask?

The fact that it took so long for him to reply was already an unforgivable offense.

An Nuo read the messages over and over, and finally decided to follow Lu Yunyan’s example—he wouldn’t reply, nor would he tell him where he was going.

Planet-hopping was no easy feat.

Jet lag was the smallest of the issues; the shifts in gravity and magnetism were a new experience every time, and each trip was exhausting.

After several hours of disorientation, he finally arrived at Urano, where it was already late at night.

An Nuo touched down, landing on the rooftop of the hotel.

Bai Wu and Luo Heng came to greet him.

The moment he saw them, An Nuo’s mood lifted. He rushed over and gave them a huge bear hug.

Thankfully, he still had friends by his side.

He wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

"Ahhh, I would be lost without you guys!"

During the space travel, there was no phone signal until just before landing.

Though he kept telling himself to become a detached omega from now on, he couldn’t resist checking for messages once the signal returned.

The result was as disappointing as expected.

Unlike him, who was easily affected, wavering and overthinking, Lu Yunyan seemed completely unaffected. He didn’t even send an extra message to ask further.

An Nuo didn’t understand—how could an alpha who was so clingy and attached when they were together cut ties so thoroughly once apart, without even sending an extra message?

The night breeze of Urano carried a sweet coconut aroma in the air.

The moment he hugged Bai Wu, An Nuo felt like crying.

Thankfully, he could come to Bai Wu and Luo Heng.

What if he didn’t have these two friends? What if Luo Heng hadn’t sent a private jet to pick him up?

Did Lu Yunyan really not consider the emotional whiplash this might have on him? Did he really just leave him alone without caring?

"Are you hungry? Come on, let’s go eat. I specially ordered a big cake for you. We can eat while you share your thoughts on this marriage."

"Alphas are all trash. I’ll stay up all night with you cursing them."

Luo Heng: "I really—"

Bai Wu: "Don’t interrupt."

A few words broke through An Nuo’s sadness once again.

And so, An Nuo stayed.

He spent a week with them, traveling around, living large, picking up the tab for everything without hesitation, spending money like it grew on trees.

And everything was done to the highest standard, all billed to Lu Yunyan’s account.

Since Lu Yunyan had no remorse treating him this way, An Nuo saw no reason to feel guilty.

Besides, he was only spending Lu Yunyan’s money—at least he wasn’t causing him any emotional harm.

Moreover, doing this served as a reminder to himself—their relationship was nothing more than a transaction. If he truly developed feelings for Lu Yunyan, he’d be screwed.

Still, on the other hand, An Nuo couldn’t help but check Lu Yunyan’s messages from time to time.

When posting to his feed, he made sure to include several pics with Luo Heng.

It was a petty move.

He told himself not to care anymore, but he still did. In places where no one would notice, he secretly added details that revealed his stubbornness.

By the end of the week, there was still no follow-up in his conversation with Lu Yunyan.

As time passed, perhaps the influence of pheromones had truly faded, and An Nuo no longer felt as miserable. He had gotten over Lu Yunyan’s neglect.

On the day of his return journey, An Nuo was already calm about it.

It seemed Lu Yunyan was right—there was indeed a withdrawal period at first, but it got better with time.

So be it.

Though the beginning had been rough, he had already experienced it once and now knew how to handle it.

An alpha’s rut cycle occurred about once every three months, so over three years, it would happen at most ten times.

He was already 10% done. As long as he endured the remaining 90%, he’d be fine.

After all, they didn’t see each other regularly. Lu Yunyan didn’t even reply to his messages. They only met during certain times.

If he learned to control his emotions and not let Lu Yunyan string him along, then surviving these three years might not be so torturous after all.

...

Returning home, it was another late night.

Due to the time difference, the date had even gone back two days, creating a disorienting feeling of time flowing backward.

Having been away for so long, An Nuo was worn out from all the playing. Stepping back into the quiet, spacious penthouse, he felt no loneliness or discomfort—only a long-awaited tranquility.

After a week apart, what he missed most were the two little cats.

Although the home robots did an excellent job taking care of them, they were still so young, and their actual father wasn’t around. An Nuo couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

Walking through the door and down a long hallway, An Nuo finally found the two kittens pouncing and playing on the cat tree.

After a week apart, their growth was obvious—they were even fluffier and cuter.

But the warm reunion scene he’d imagined didn’t happen.

The kittens were still too young. They weren't too familiar with An Nuo before, and after so many days apart, they didn’t even recognize him.

An Nuo really wanted to stroke them, but in the end, he just crouched down and watched them for a long time, forcing himself to hold back the urge.

“…Forget it,” he muttered. “As much as I like you and want to bond with you, I can’t take you with me when we divorce. Better not get too attached.”

“…Seriously, why even bother? What was the point of your actual father raising you only to leave you behind?”

“…Ah, never mind. You’re just two little kittens. Better not talk, or you’ll scare me.”

After muttering random things to the kittens and cursing Lu Yunyan in his mind again, An Nuo stood up, deciding to take a shower and go to bed early.

But as soon as he turned around, he saw Lu Yunyan standing right behind him.

It felt like his soul nearly left his body.

An Nuo’s scalp tingled, and every hair stood on end.

He couldn’t control his reaction—his eyes widened, and he let out a scream: "—Aaaahhh!!"

"You scared me to death! You scared me to death! You scared me to death!" he exclaimed.

"Are you okay? How did you appear out of nowhere like a ghost?!"

"You should be arrested! You’re not even human! You scared me to death!"

He’d cursed Lu Yunyan so much lately that the words came out smoothly.

Lu Yunyan hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from An Nuo.

His original intention was to surprise An Nuo, but it had clearly backfired—turning into a horror movie moment.

Lu Yunyan had wanted to ask An Nuo what he meant by those words to the kittens, but now there was no need. First, he had to comfort him.

"Did I scare you?" Lu Yunyan said softly. "Sorry, I should’ve made some noise."

But honestly, it wasn’t about the noise.

The fact that Lu Yunyan had suddenly appeared in their home was terrifying in itself.

After calming down a little, An Nuo snapped, "Why are you here?!"

Lu Yunyan paused for a couple of seconds, finding it funny.

He never thought he’d be asked why he was in his own home by his wife.

"I felt like you were upset when I wasn’t home," Lu Yunyan said, trying to put on a slightly wronged tone.

"But when I came back, you weren’t here."

"Then when did you get back?" An Nuo snapped. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

If he hadn’t been scared tonight, An Nuo would never have asked Lu Yunyan these questions—he couldn’t bring himself to.

But tonight provided the opportunity, allowing him to voice all his complaints he’d been holding inside.

"Do you have any idea how terrifying it is for you to appear like this?" An Nuo exclaimed. "You really almost scared me to death!"

Behind him, the two kittens were still batting at each other.

One of them happened to be throwing a tantrum—not only extending its claws but also hissing with an open mouth.

It was almost like a reflection of An Nuo’s inner feelings.

Cuteness overload.

Actually, a lot of Lu Yunyan’s not responding was deliberate.

He wanted to see if An Nuo would miss him.

But it didn’t work.

An Nuo seemed only very dissatisfied with his lack of response, then turned around and went out to have fun with his friends.

Lu Yunyan had seen An Nuo’s social media posts—posts every day, always happy.

Especially when he saw the pictures of An Nuo with Luo Heng, Lu Yunyan got pretty jealous.

Even if they were good friends, wasn’t that too intimate?

Have some sense of propriety, okay? An Nuo was a married omega—no matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t appropriate.

But something that childish was something Lu Yunyan couldn’t say.

"I thought it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t say anything. Seeing how happy you were outside, I didn’t want to disturb you with something so trivial… Okay, don’t be angry? Don’t spoil your good mood, hmm?"

"Sending a message to let me know—how would that bother me?" An Nuo snapped, not buying Lu Yunyan’s explanation.

"It’s clearly that you didn’t want to message me… Even replying to a message is like waiting for rebirth. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were traveling through space-time."

"……"

The result of talking too much behind Lu Yunyan’s back.

The upside was that come backs came fast now, right off the tongue.

The downside was that they came too quickly—it almost felt like he was having an outburst at Lu Yunyan.

An Nuo could hardly believe it himself, but he was indeed losing his temper—and a major one at that.

It couldn’t be helped; tonight was the perfect opportunity.

An Nuo also retorted with conviction.

"I was wrong, darling. Can you stop being angry?"

Although after seeing Lu Yunyan, An Nuo inexplicably yearned for Lu Yunyan's embrace, and his body seemed to ache for Lu Yunyan to comfort him.

But when Lu Yunyan actually moved closer and reached out to touch him, reason made him pull away.

An Nuo took two steps back, creating distance between them: "Don't touch me. From now on, except during your necessary mating cycles, it’s better if we keep our distance the rest of the time."

Hearing this, Lu Yunyan’s expression grew tense.

"...Why?"

An Nuo felt no shame and spoke clearly, word by word: "Because your previous behavior crossed a line and caused me a lot of hurt."

"So I think we need to establish some necessary boundaries between us."