Chapter 47

Chapter 47

It was obvious that Lu Xingwen was dead set on treating him—no matter how much he refused, it was pointless. What needed to be treated had to be treated, and what needed to be applied had to be applied!

Su Xingze fought it, squirmed, and made excuses, but it was all useless.

Xiaolu still insisted on putting the medicine on him. Even though it was for his own good, this was way too risky.

If Xiaolu lost control, he'd be the one paying for it again.

At the last second, Su Xingze decided to give it one more shot: "Can I do it myself?"

He tried to soften Xiaolu up, but Lu Xingwen just sat on the edge of the bed watching him: "Are you sure you can do it yourself?"

Su Xingze sat up, stretched his arms, and winced at the pain. He gave up and flopped back down onto his stomach. "Fine, you do it. Just treat me like a slab of meat and get it over with."

"You make it sound like you're heading to the gallows." Lu Xingwen kneaded the round cheek and gave it a light smack. "Even like this, what could I possibly do to you?"

Su Xingze whined, "How am I supposed to know? You're so rough."

During his heat, he'd said no, but Xiaolu wouldn't listen, and every time he said no, Xiaolu just got more worked up.

"Only rough in bed." Lu Xingwen assured him.

Su Xingze was shocked: "Not only are you unrepentant, but you're going to keep it up?"

Lu Xingwen ducked his head to kiss his neck: "I'll learn to do better, so it won't hurt you."

Su Xingze was stuck. His attitude was sincere, flawless, and so gentle—he clearly knew Su Xingze would fall for it.

"Hurry up, my food's almost here, I wanna eat." Su Xingze lay face-down under the blanket.

His upper half was under the quilt, his lower half under a thin blanket, leaving only the middle exposed. Lu Xingwen scooped up some ointment, warmed it in his hands, then massaged the area to loosen it up before slowly going in.

It still stung a bit. Su Xingze bit his wrist to keep from yelping.

Lu Xingwen moved slowly, covering every spot, carefully and thoroughly spreading the ointment inside.

When he was done, Su Xingze's face was bright red, his breathing was ragged, and he nearly got hard.

He rolled over and lay there for a bit. Xiaolu kept his distance, standing by the window to cool off.

From there, he could see what was going on outside in the yard. It was probably the delivery guy, so he closed the window and headed downstairs.

Su Xingze's phone buzzed. It was a text from Master Li.

Master Li: [I found Wang Ning, who used to work at the Su house. She said there's stuff she has to tell you, but she can't come to the villa.]

Xingchen: [Let's video call at seven. Talking online might be safer than meeting in person right now.]

Master Li: [Okay, Wang Ning feels the same way. I'll bring her to my place and video call you then.]

Master Li: [The cake shop's almost done with renovations. Once the smell airs out, we should be able to open around January.]

Xingchen: [Thank you. Please get the shelves and kitchen equipment the shop needs, and I'll transfer the money to your account.]

Master Li: [Don't be so formal with me. If it weren't for you and your mom, I don't know where I'd be right now.]

Xingchen: [Master Li, be careful with everything.]

Master Li: [Okay.]

Su Xingze went to ask Fu Yao how Ying Ying was doing.

Fu Yao video-called him: "The day I added him, he accepted right away. I figured he might be short on cash lately and wanted to borrow some from me, so I gave him three million and threw in a watch."

"He's been wearing the watch ever since and even sends me pics. From the tracker in it, he's in another province now and hasn't come back."

Su Xingze was shocked: "Three million?!"

"Three million for peace of mind is a steal." Fu Yao bragged: "Now I can track his whereabouts anytime, nipping problems in the bud."

Fu Yao: "Don't rush on your end, so he doesn't get suspicious. Besides, you just went through your heat and your body's still recovering. We'll figure out the next steps when we meet up."

"Okay." Su Xingze was already uncomfortable just sitting through the call. He really did need to rest properly for a while.

"So?" Fu Yao grinned slyly: "Was the heat as amazing as they say?"

Su Xingze shifted positions: "Painful but worth it."

"Then it must've been more pleasure than pain. I don't buy that you didn't enjoy it." Fu Yao's mind wandered: "Or is it that your Alpha can't..."

"No!" Su Xingze cut him off fast, his heart racing, because the door had just opened and Xiaolu was now standing right behind him.

If an Alpha with that big of an ego heard that, would he even survive in bed later?!

Fu Yao understood and immediately shut up. "You two go ahead, I'm off to have dinner with Huo Fuye."

Lu Xingwen set down the takeout and started unpacking it, asking casually, "What were you two talking about?"

Su Xingze helped unpack as well. "I was asking him how Ying Ying was doing. Fu Yao said Ying Ying went to another province and hasn't come back yet."

"Yang Xiu is about to be convicted soon, so he's afraid of being implicated, which is why he's been hiding out of the province."

"So fragrant." Su Xingze realized he was getting good at changing the subject. He tore off a piece for Xiaolu and took one for himself. "I've been craving this for so long! Finally getting to eat it!"

Lu Xingwen took a bite and commented, "Too bad there's not enough durian and too much cheese."

Su Xingze understood what he meant and clasped his hands together, pleading: "Exactly, it's not as good as yours. Can you make some for me another day?"

Alphas always needed to be coaxed.

"Sure, on Monday I'll make you some durian cheese pies with Musang King."

Su Xingze loved durian, especially Musang King. The Musang King already tasted great on its own—if made into durian pies, how fragrant would that be?!

"Xiaolu, I love you." He kissed the Alpha's lips, and his brow and eyes.

After Lu Xingwen snapped back to reality, he returned the kiss with just the right amount of force, not going deeper, afraid of hurting his Omega.

These past few days, Lu Xingwen had been inseparable from him, even wanting to follow him to the bathroom, but now Su Xingze only needed to catch up on sleep and eat.

"Isn't there anything going on at the company? You haven't been there in a long time." Su Xingze asked him.

Lu Xingwen said, "There's not much going on these few months. I estimate January and February next year will be busy. I can stay home with you the whole time."

"Xiaolu, you've been a bit off lately." Su Xingze was a perceptive person.

Xiaolu's recent state was strange—normal on the surface, yet like he was daydreaming; not abnormal, but hard to find fault with. It was as if he had fallen into some dream, intoxicated by it, unwilling to wake up.

"I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me." Lu Xingwen stood up: "I'm going to take a shower. You stay right here and wait for me to come back."

See, he says he's fine. Clearly, something's really off. But Su Xingze couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong.

The video call notification broke Su Xingze's train of thought. He answered, and Master Li and Wang Ning showed up on the screen.

Wang Ning said excitedly, "Xiaoze!"

Su Xingze: "Auntie Wang, it's been a while."

"Yeah, eighteen years. When I was with the Su family, I was only thirty-two. Now I'm fifty."

"Xiaoze, I chose to tell you this for one reason: it's been weighing on my heart, suffocating me. If I don't say it, I'll never be at peace for the rest of my life."

Wang Ning's eyes filled with tears as she recalled: "Back then, Miss Su was still alive, and you were five years old. That day, you were both out because something came up at the bakery. Su Ping came home drunk. I was making him hangover soup, and when I came out, I saw his briefcase had fallen and papers were scattered all over the floor. As I helped pick them up, I saw a photo inside—a woman who's now Su Ping's wife. She and Su Ping were both in high school uniforms, really young, holding each other and kissing."

"There was also a paternity test. I only glanced at it, but it said you and Su Ping weren't father and son. Underneath it was a share transfer agreement. Looks like because of that paternity test, Su Ping got a chunk of Su's Group's shares."

Su Xingze struggled to process it, his voice choked up: "Are you saying Su Ping had a first love, but he still married my mom, and my mom was pregnant with someone else's kid?"

"Miss Su was a good person," Wang Ning corrected. "I remember, when she married Su Ping, she was already in her third trimester."

"My mom was pregnant, and Su Ping had a first love—how could they still get married?"

Master Li finally spoke up, recalling things from over a decade ago: "Su Ping pursued your mother. He chased after her for several months."

"That's right." Wang Ning had been at the villa the whole time and remembered that day clearly. "On the day he proposed, he told your mother that without a marriage certificate, they couldn't register the child's household. Your mom hesitated but eventually agreed."

Over twenty years ago, without marriage, it really was impossible to register a child. The Civil Code was amended later.

"Su Ping proposed to my mom?" Su Xingze grew more shocked with each revelation.

Wang Ning: "Yeah. At the villa back then, Su Ping had set everything up and proposed to your mom, saying he didn't mind you being there and would take care of you both for the rest of his life."

Su Xingze choked up: "Then who's my biological father?"

"No one knows except your mom," Wang Ning said helplessly.

"I got kicked out back then, probably because I saw that photo of Su Ping and his first love. Later, that woman did become Su Ping's wife. I suspect it was all their scheme—all for Su's Group."

"Thanks, Auntie Wang. Let me process this on my own first. I'll hang up now." Su Xingze's mind was spinning, unable to think straight.

Wang Ning let out a deep sigh: "Alright. Don't blame your mom. She did it all for you."

"I understand, Auntie Wang, Uncle Li." Su Xingze hung up the video.

He wanted to curl up on the bed with his knees to his chest, but his legs and arms were too sore, so he could only lie flat on his back.

Su Ping wasn't his dad. Su Xingze inexplicably felt a sense of relief. But knowing the truth didn't bring the relief he'd imagined—instead, he felt even more trapped.

Right now, all he wanted was to cry in Xiaolu's arms and let it all out.

Su Xingze went to find Lu Xingwen, but noticed the bathroom light was off and no one was inside.

He knocked a few times, then leaned against the door and waited.

Lu Xingwen wasn't in the bathroom—he was in the hidden room.

Everything was unfolding exactly as he'd imagined. Chen Chen had come back, they lived together, he got through the heat cycle with him, and he said he loved him.

He'd dreamed of all this before, except the endings in his dreams were never good.

So the more things went the way he wanted, the more terrified Lu Xingwen became. He couldn't tell reality from dreams. He was afraid everything was fake, afraid that one day he'd wake up and it would all disappear.

And the meds weren't helping anymore.

He couldn't control his emotions anymore. Whenever he saw Chen Chen, he wanted to keep him close, to see him anytime, anywhere.

He even wanted to lock him up in the villa, so he could only ever see him and no one else.

==========Author's Note:==========

There will be a confinement arc later.

Su Xingze is about to learn the truth soon, and Lu Xingwen is about to crack.

I'll update at midnight from now on. I've been hitting a wall with writing.