Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Qinghai Hospital

"No, if we inject the catalyst again, he will die!"

"This is the young master's order."

At the bedside, the doctor, backed by security guards, faced off against the patient's family member.

The former was cold and unfeeling; the latter, a white-haired old man, stood isolated and helpless.

"Impossible!" The old man was in disbelief. "The young master would never kill Shen Hui!"

The doctor sneered disdainfully, "Don't you get it yet? He's just an expendable pawn now."

That remark exhausted the doctor's last shred of patience.

"Drag him out."

The bodyguards behind him forcibly removed the old man from the ward.

The sound of the door closing cut off the old man's feeble struggles and curses, leaving the entire ward so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The doctor walked to the bedside, looking down condescendingly at Shen Hui.

Even judged by the strict medical standards of facial proportions, he was an exceptional beauty—his features exquisitely handsome, with a flawless bone structure. His pale, sickly complexion made him appear even more fragile and delicate. If he were an omega, that face alone could captivate countless alphas.

No wonder two prominent new-money alphas had gone at each other's throats over him, leaving both battered and bruised.

But alas, being a beta destined him to be a pawn, ultimately falling into my hands.

The power to possess and decide the fate of such a beauty was always a source of delight. Leaning down, malice in his whisper, he spoke into Shen Hui's ear.

"Mr. Shen, I'm going to inject you with the gland transformation catalyst now. If you can endure it, there's a 30% chance you'll transform into an omega and stay by the young master's side—!"

"You... you're awake?!"

Shen Hui, who had been unconscious, opened his eyes. His gaze was calm and clear, startling the doctor so much he nearly dropped the syringe.

"Professor Li."

Recognizing the confidant Chen Shenzhi had personally promoted, Shen Hui spoke coldly. A faint, self-mocking smile curled his thin lips beneath the oxygen mask.

It seemed Chen Shenzhi had already discovered his betrayal and was magnanimously offering him a "dignified" way to die.

"I won't make things difficult for you," Shen Hui's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "You can inject me, but make it non-directional."

Professor Li was shocked by his suggestion and blurted out, "Are you insane? Without directional targeting, you've got less than a 10% chance of pulling through."

The research project on transforming betas into omegas had been Chen Shenzhi's pet project for over a decade. The final results were only two semi-finished formulas: one was directional transformation with a 30% success rate; the other was non-directional transformation, with a mere 10% success rate.

In both cases, failure meant death.

It was Chen Shenzhi who had betrayed him first. Shen Hui remembered that rainy night, right after his second surgery had failed.

Chen Shenzhi was locked in a kiss with another omega under the rose-covered trellis.

The breathless omega weakly leaned against his chest, panting, "Aren't you afraid Butler Shen will get angry?"

"He won't."

Chen Shenzhi replied calmly, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"But aren't you two lovers?"

"A beta who can't transform into an omega is just a defective product," Chen Shenzhi said matter-of-factly. "He doesn't deserve to stand by my side."

The heavy rain masked the sound of Shen Hui's frantic footsteps as he fled.

But Shen Hui was never one to simply weep like a delicate flower. Over five years, he had used himself as bait to deliver a fatal blow to Chen Shenzhi.

He could just picture Chen Shenzhi's resentment and fury upon seeing Yan Gui's victory.

Now, only his own fate remained undecided. Chen Shenzhi had given him two choices: struggle to survive and become his lapdog, or die alongside him.

Shen Hui would choose neither.

The one who betrayed first did not deserve loyalty.

Shen Hui looked at the hesitant Professor Li and smiled faintly. "Do you actually want me to survive?"

Professor Li stared at the syringe in his hand, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He knew Shen Hui—the beta Chen Shenzhi had picked up from an orphanage as a child. Later, due to his exceptional abilities, he caught the eye of Old Master Chen and was trained to become a personal butler. In reality, he was a blade sharpened by the Chen family, handling all their shady dealings with remarkable efficiency. His name alone made people tremble.

Yet, such a sharp blade was devoted solely to Chen Shenzhi, even undergoing three gland transformation surgeries for him.

But all three surgeries failed, and everyone knew Chen Shenzhi had abandoned him.

Professor Li quickly calculated in his mind: if Shen Hui actually transformed into an omega this time, Chen Shenzhi would undoubtedly favor him. If that happened, Li would be the one to pay. It was better to let Shen Hui die under the non-directional catalyst and eliminate the problem once and for all.

After weighing the pros and cons, Professor Li made up his mind. "You said it yourself. Don't come haunting me if you die."

Just as he bent down to change the reagent, Shen Hui suddenly sat up. Moving like lightning, he grabbed the professor by the throat, using the momentum to flip off the bed and sending medical equipment crashing to the floor.

Professor Li didn't even see Shen Hui's movements clearly. He only felt a dull pain at the back of his head, his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

Shen Hui didn't release his grip until the man was completely unconscious. The sudden exertion left his bones aching with a burning soreness. His vision blurred and his legs gave way, but someone caught him just in time.

"Shen Hui! Shen Hui!"

The person holding him was terrified, shouting hoarsely as he tried to carry him back to the bed, but Shen Hui stopped him.

Shen Hui was drenched in cold sweat, a bloody scratch from the IV on the back of his hand. His disheveled hair stuck to his temples, starkly contrasting with his pale skin. Fighting off dizziness and nausea, he finally recognized the person supporting him—Gu Yu.

The youngest lead surgeon in the gland department, and one of his few friends.

But there was no time for catching up. Shen Hui gripped Gu Yu's arm tightly, his face deathly pale. "What's the situation over there?"

Gu Yu half-dragged, half-pulled him back toward the bed, talking a mile a minute. "Old Master Chen probably won't make it through the night, but that's not the main issue. The real problem is Chen Shenzhi. After he found out you were behind it, he told Yan Gui right to his face that you volunteered for the gland surgery. The kid you raised immediately blew his top and is now storming over here to settle the score with you!"

Burning up with fever, Shen Hui heard Gu Yu's voice fading in and out. Slowly, he processed the key point.

Yan Gui was coming.

He stopped Gu Yu, who was frantically trying to push him back onto the bed, and spoke with effort. "There's no time. I have to leave now."

Gu Yu outright yelled, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Even without checking the medical records, he knew Shen Hui was still in the post-op recovery period; the inflammation caused by the gland infection could kill him outright.

If Chen Shenzhi was a venomous snake who got off on his prey's death throes, then Yan Gui was a wolf, demanding absolute submission and possession.

Once that little brat realized he had been manipulated, ending up dead in bed would be getting off easy.

"Find a way to make it so I can get around," Shen Hui said, closing his eyes to ease the dizziness.

Gu Yu felt that all self-important patients deserved to be shot: "Think you're a badass? Then deal with it yourself! My skills aren't good enough for a miracle worker like you!"

With that, he stormed out angrily, only to hear a thud behind him.

That idiot with a death wish had actually tried to stand up and leave on his own!

Why not just jump straight into the incinerator!

Gritting his teeth, Gu Yu turned back and helped the stubborn man to his feet. "I must have owed you five million in a past life!"

Shen Hui still had the energy to smirk, his weak gaze tinged with teasing, having Dr. Gu completely wrapped around his finger.

"..." Gu Yu’s heart skipped a beat under that fragile, moist gaze, and the words just tumbled out: "We’ll have to use a catalyst. It can temporarily push your gland to its peak state, which will reactivate your hormones..."

Shen Hui raised a hand to cut off the medical theory. "Then use the catalyst, but not the targeted one."

Shen Hui: "That's enough."

Gu Yu: ...

Just die already.

Lately, the nurses—especially the younger ones—had been buzzing about Shen Hui because he was such a unique case in the gland department.

*

As one of the hospital's top three hubs for gossip, the gland department consistently produced juicier scandals than the proctology or obstetrics wards. Everyone believed one universal truth: the prettier the face, the messier the private life.

But Shen Hui was an exception. His looks surpassed many omegas, yet in the month he’d been hospitalized, no one had visited him except for one elderly man.

A new nurse glanced at his room. "He seems kind of pitiful..."

Just as the head nurse was about to burst her bubble, a commotion erupted at the end of the hallway.

A group of well-trained private bodyguards, all alphas, swarmed toward them like a dark cloud.

Nurses and patients in the corridor gasped and scrambled out of the way. Leading the group was a furious alpha, his expression terrifyingly grim: "Where is Shen Hui?"

The experienced head nurse stood her ground and glared back. "This is a hospital!"

The man was clearly on the verge of exploding, but the manners Shen Hui had ingrained in him kept him from lashing out at omegas or women.

"Where is Shen Hui?!"

Just then, the hospital director hurried over, mopping his brow, his eyes full of sycophantic fear. "Young Master Yan! What brings you here? I just received the corporate notice... I—I’ll take you to him right away!"

He had only just learned that this young master of the Yan family had successfully secured his position, reclaiming all of the original Yan family assets and companies—including this hospital—from the Chen family. Even Chen Shenzhi had been overthrown.

The director led the way respectfully to the special care room and opened the door, only to see the new boss’s face darken instantly.

"Where is he?" Yan Gui spat out coldly.

The enraged alpha could no longer restrain his pheromones. A torrent of scorching, violent pheromones swept through the entire floor, setting off shrill alarms.

Several medical staff, whether alpha or omega, doubled over in agony. The beta director, though unable to smell anything, felt as if he’d been thrown into a fire, his body burning to a crisp.

Despite the oppressive aura, he peeked inside. The special care room was empty, the bed tangled with messy wires and equipment.

The patient was gone.

Yan Gui stepped inside, his face dark. The bed still held Shen Hui’s residual warmth; the sheets were slightly damp, likely from feverish sweat.

Rubbing the lingering moisture between his fingers, Yan Gui reined in his blazing pheromones, cooling like hardened lava.

"He hasn’t gone far. Seal all hospital exits and search."

Within five minutes, Qinghai Hospital was locked down tight, with even the underground parking garage swarming with patrolling bodyguards.

Gu Yu hid in a corner of the storage room. The moment a search party moved past, he started to emerge, only to be yanked back by Shen Hui.

A bodyguard turned sharply toward their corner but was distracted by noise elsewhere and moved on after a moment’s hesitation.

Gu Yu let out a relieved sigh. "Searching the hospital so openly—does he think he owns the place?!"

"He does," Shen Hui replied calmly, scanning their surroundings. Pale but composed, he showed no trace of his earlier weakness, moving more agilely than Gu Yu. As they weaved through the parking garage, he explained quietly, "Qinghai Hospital and the research institute were originally Yan family assets, later seized by the Chen family. It was only a matter of time before he took them back."

Gu Yu rolled his eyes. "You’re pretty defensive of him. Then why run?"

"Does liking a disease mean you have to sleep with the patient?"

Gu Yu stumbled, nearly tripping over nothing. That wasn’t what he meant—and what did "sleep with" imply?! He opened his mouth to retort, but Shen Hui cut him off: "Which way?"

Gu Yu choked back his words, opening and closing his mouth several times before conceding defeat. "Climb out the window of the emergency stairway ahead into the greenbelt. The fence and surveillance there are broken. Once you’re through, you’ll see the pickup car."

Shen Hui nodded. "I’ll go alone."

Gu Yu was still a doctor at Qinghai Hospital and couldn't risk being implicated.

Knowing he couldn’t help further, Gu Yu agreed. "Be careful."

The escape went smoother than Shen Hui expected, but his unease grew with every step away from the hospital. He double-checked the license plate and the driver’s face before getting into the car.

Yet his internal alarm bells screamed the moment he sat down.

He immediately tried to push the door open, but it swung open before he could.

Yan Gui stood outside, blocking the only exit, looking down at him with a cold, penetrating gaze.

"Got you."

Author's Note:

New story is here! As usual, handing out red envelopes~ Rolling around begging for favorites and comments~ ❤️❤️❤️

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