Chapter 35

Chapter 35

On the day of the endorsement contract signing.

The celebration was held at the private club owned by Star Media itself.

Qiao Yuexun stood at the center of the crowd, holding a glass of champagne, a perfectly measured smile on his lips.

This was *his* night.

"Brother Qiao, congratulations!" A minor celebrity sidled up with a glass, his face plastered with a sycophantic grin. "The Aegis 7th-Gen Inhibitor—that's a top-tier luxury endorsement! So many people in the industry were gunning for it, but in the end, it landed in your hands."

Qiao Yuexun tilted his head slightly, smiling warmly. "Just lucky."

"That ain't luck, that's skill!" The minor celebrity waved his hands hastily.

The minor celebrity looked like he wanted to ask more, but Qiao Yuexun had already subtly shifted his gaze away. The guy took the hint and backed off, not forgetting to tack on a parting "Brother Qiao, take care of me down the road."

He'd heard variations of the same spiel all night.

People came to toast him, schmooze, and fish for info about his relationship with Wen Yanxu in roundabout ways.

The way everyone looked at him had shifted.

Qiao Yuexun took it all in stride.

Then, a woman in a black gown walked over with a glass in hand—Xie Xuan, one of Star Media's top-tier actresses, with a rock-solid standing in the industry.

"Yuexun, congratulations." Her voice was even, like she was addressing a peer.

Qiao Yuexun's demeanor shifted, a hint of seriousness creeping in. "Thank you, Sister Xuan."

"The Aegis endorsement isn't easy to snag." She took a sip of her drink. "I went after the 6th-Gen back in the day and didn't land it. The fact that you pulled it off says you've got the real goods."

She said it plainly, and something stirred in Qiao Yuexun's chest. His smile turned more genuine. "You're too kind, Sister Xuan. I've got a lot to learn—hope you'll show me the ropes."

She glanced at him, a hint of a smile curling at her lips. "At your age, I wasn't half as composed as you."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Qiao Yuexun stood still, watching her retreating figure, a swirl of complicated emotions rising in his chest.

He remembered when he'd first signed with Star Media—at the company's annual gala, watching this actress from across the room at the head table, surrounded by people, while he hadn't even rated the right to walk up and toast her.

Back then, he'd wondered when he'd ever get to that spot.

Now, he was finally inching closer.

He glanced down at the champagne glass in his hand, the amber liquid catching the light as it swirled.

Qiao Yuexun took a sip, feeling the bubbles pop on his tongue.

He thought of the hard times—when he didn't know where the next break would come from, only that he couldn't stop.

Because if he stopped, he'd have nothing.

And now, he was steadily closing in on that future he'd mapped out.

He lifted his head, taking in the clinking glasses and lively buzz of the banquet hall, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening a notch.

This was just the start.

Amid the clinking glasses, the man of the hour quietly slipped off to a corner.

Qiao Yuexun leaned against the wall, glass in hand, still wearing that picture-perfect smile.

He dropped his gaze, his lips barely twitching as he murmured.

"System."

"This mission," he said, voice dropping even lower, "is it done?"

Qiao Yuexun's lashes fluttered.

As if getting an answer, he went on, "And the points?"

"Got it."

He raised his head, looking back at the banquet hall. No one had a clue what was brewing in his head.

At the other end of the hall, Meng Linwan leaned against the bar, a drink in hand, untouched.

He was the undeniable center of gravity tonight—CEO of Star Media, with that eye-catching red hair and sharp, rugged features. Even just sitting there, he had a presence you couldn't ignore.

But right now, no one dared go near him.

Meng Linwan's short fuse was something people in the industry knew about.

He'd mellowed over the years, but that raw ferocity still seeped out now and then—like the unapologetic rum-soaked pheromones he gave off.

People in the entertainment world had sharp instincts—they knew who to cozy up to and who to leave the hell alone.

Meng Linwan didn't mind.

He was in a genuinely great mood tonight.

Because the 7th-Gen Inhibitor endorsement was something he'd pushed through on his own.

The Meng family was different from the Wens—not just in social rank, but in how they were wired internally.

The Wens had long since locked in Wen Yanxu as the sole heir—no suspense from the second he presented as a top-tier S-class alpha.

The Mengs, on the other hand, had more eligible heirs than you could count on one hand, and the infighting never stopped.

Even as an S-class alpha himself—the most promising pick—there was still a huge gap between being promising and actually getting the nod.

Star Media was his testing ground.

The Aegis 7th-Gen Inhibitor endorsement was enough to count as a feather in his cap.

At that thought, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Meng Linwan's mouth.

But that wasn't the only reason he was in a good mood.

He thought back to that afternoon a few days back when Qiao Yuexun had come to him on his own.

—

Meng Linwan was smoking in his office, squinting through the haze at this minor celebrity who had the nerve to claim he could propose a deal Meng Linwan couldn't refuse. He was genuinely curious.

"Come in," Meng Linwan said.

Qiao Yuexun walked in and sat down across from him.

He got straight to the point. "Mr. Meng, I want to secure the endorsement for Aegis's 7th-Gen Inhibitor."

Meng Linwan said nothing, just watched him.

An Omega with no connections, barely B-list at Star Gleam, asking for a top-tier luxury deal.

That took some nerve.

"Why should I?" Meng Linwan asked.

Qiao Yuexun paused for a few seconds, as if calculating his leverage.

When he spoke, his voice was unhurried. "That day on Jueying Island, Wen Yanxu went into his rut."

Meng Linwan's fingers holding the cigarette paused.

"Things were chaotic, and Wen Yanxu was in bad shape—he was at his breaking point."

He looked Meng Linwan in the eye and said, word by word, "Our compatibility is extremely high. I released my pheromones to help stabilize him."

The office fell silent for a few seconds.

As a fellow Alpha, he knew what a highly compatible Omega meant.

Meng Linwan's gaze lingered on his face for a long time, as if judging whether these words were true.

"And then?" he asked.

Qiao Yuexun lowered his eyes, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Then, his gaze on me shifted."

He didn't continue.

But the implication was clear to both of them.

Meng Linwan stubbed out the cigarette, still silent.

Qiao Yuexun pressed his advantage. "Later, when Wen Yanxu went to rescue his fiancé, he brought me along too."

That statement was also true, but coming from his mouth, it carried a different flavor.

Qiao Yuexun looked at him and added another line. "Luckily, Wen Yanxu found Wen Jueqian in time that day. Otherwise, I shudder to think what would have happened if Wen Jueqian had fallen into the hands of those two kidnappers and been taken away."

As he said this, there was sympathy in his eyes, and he even furrowed his brow slightly, as if he were genuinely relieved for Wen Jueqian.

But Meng Linwan's attention was on the content of his words, and he didn't notice the barely concealed glee hidden deep in his eyes.

Meng Linwan's brow furrowed slightly as he asked, "Was Wen Jueqian hurt?"

"Minor injuries, nothing serious," Qiao Yuexun said.

"Wen Yanxu kept him under his protection."

Meng Linwan didn't ask further, but the fresh cigarette he'd just taken out was already crushed in his grip.

Qiao Yuexun noticed.

The corner of his mouth curled up, as if he had everything under control.

Qiao Yuexun continued, his tone cool and businesslike. "The Aegis 7th-Gen Inhibitor endorsement is also a big opportunity for Star Gleam."

He paused, then added, as if letting him in on an unspoken secret:

"And if my relationship with Wen Yanxu progresses further, it will bring even greater benefits to you and to the company."

Meng Linwan studied him.

There was blatant ambition and calculation in his eyes, at odds with the pure Omega image he usually projected.

He turned the crumpled cigarette between his fingers before lighting it a moment later.

"You've been at Star Gleam for three years now."

Smoke veiled Meng Linwan's expression. "Over the past three years, your reputation has been solid—zero scandals, no bad press, and a solid track record. I looked at the viewership numbers for your last drama—the conversion rate blew past expectations."

As the smoke cleared, his gaze landed on Qiao Yuexun's face.

"It shows you've got what it takes to land the Aegis 7th-Gen Inhibitor endorsement."

Qiao Yuexun looked up sharply.

Meng Linwan stayed as cold as ever, his cigarette hand draped casually over the desk, as if he'd just said something trivial.

"Mr. Meng." Qiao Yuexun's voice held just the right note of surprise, as if he'd just been hit with amazing news and was momentarily speechless.

Meng Linwan raised a hand, signaling him to stop.

"You've done him a huge favor, so Wen Yanxu naturally owes you one." His voice was unhurried. "Aegis will need to come up with something more substantial."

He scoffed.

"Star Gleam will help you secure it."

Qiao Yuexun dropped his gaze, concealing the hunger churning beneath.

"Thank you, Mr. Meng."

Meng Linwan ground the cigarette into the ashtray, as if sealing the deal.

"The 7th-Gen Inhibitor endorsement will take both you and Star Gleam to the next level."

But only he knew there was something else he stood to gain beyond this.

The vibration of his comm device interrupted Meng Linwan's recollection, and he glanced down at the screen.

The banquet's laughter and chatter went on around him, but Meng Linwan's face slowly darkened.

He ended the call and walked over to Qiao Yuexun.

"Come with me."

The two of them filed into the adjoining lounge. The moment the door closed, the room fell silent.

Meng Linwan stayed standing, fixing Qiao Yuexun with an icy stare. "Wen Yanxu just reached out. They want to unilaterally cancel the endorsement contract."

Qiao Yuexun's expression soured in an instant.

"What?"

"Unilaterally terminating the contract." Meng Linwan repeated, every word carrying anger. "Your endorsement is gone."

Qiao Yuexun stood there, as if he hadn't quite processed it yet.

Meng Linwan stepped forward, with a menacing edge. "Didn't you say Wen Yanxu treated you differently?"

Qiao Yuexun finally forced out his voice: "Didn't it already work? Something must have gone wrong."

Qiao Yuexun's fingers curled into fists.

Meng Linwan didn't give him any more time.

He strode over and clamped a hand around Qiao Yuexun's neck. Qiao Yuexun stumbled back, forced onto the table behind him, an intimidating posture.

Meng Linwan's voice was right at his ear, sounding like it was squeezed from his throat. "You said Wen Yanxu was interested in you. You said the compatibility was high. You said the way he looked at you was different. Are these things real, or are you lying to me?"

Qiao Yuexun could barely breathe in his grip. The fury churning in Meng Linwan's eyes made his blood run cold.

"They're real." Qiao Yuexun forced out, his voice tight with fear. "President Wen's compatibility with me really is high. An omega's instincts never lie."

Qiao Yuexun felt the grip around his neck tightening, and it became hard to breathe.

He struggled, and only then did Meng Linwan let go and step back.

Qiao Yuexun gasped for air, the lingering suffocation making him nauseous.

Meng Linwan looked down at him.

"Wen Yanxu's decisions are final." His voice returned to calm, icy and bone-chilling. "Now, I want you to find a way to minimize the damage."

With that, he turned and walked out.

The door opened and shut, his footsteps fading down the corridor.

Qiao Yuexun was left alone in the room.

Lowering his voice, he gritted his teeth and asked, "System, what's going on here?"

As if the answer infuriated him, Qiao Yuexun grabbed the teacup from the table and hurled it to the floor.

"Wen Jueqian."

He gritted out the name.

The source of all this chaos.

The one who took everything that should have been his.

All of this was his—fate had destined it for him.

Qiao Yuexun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm.

When he opened his eyes again, the anger was gone.

"You shouldn't have gotten in my way. I won't let this go."

————

Wen Jueqian logged into an offshore securities account and transferred the funds he'd just prepared.

A few minutes later, the money was used to buy a batch of cryptocurrency through that account, then split into several transactions and converted through exchanges in different countries, before finally being funneled into an anonymous account.

The whole process was layered—even if traced, the trail would vanish in the complex web of cross-border financial transactions.

This money was the fee he paid to a dark web investigative team that specialized in covert matters.

After the kidnapping case, what troubled Wen Jueqian most was what the two Natural Law members had said about something that happened twenty years ago.

Wen Yanxu had said he'd investigate thoroughly, and Wen Jueqian believed that with his determination and ability, he'd eventually get to the truth.

But there was no telling how long that would take. In the futures he'd foreseen, crises kept coming one after another, like a beast snapping at his and Wen Yanxu's heels.

Wen Jueqian couldn't afford to wait around.

He'd also suggested they investigate together, but Wen Yanxu had rejected the idea without hesitation.

Wen Yanxu's intense protectiveness sometimes got on his nerves.

So Wen Jueqian decided to investigate secretly on his own.

Using 99's ability, he believed he could stay hidden in the shadows.

After receiving the payment, the other side quickly sent back an investigation report.

As rain drizzled outside the window, Wen Jueqian opened the report.

The first page of the report had two photos.

A laboratory building stood alone on Jueying Island.

The other photo was taken after the fire.

The building was scorched black, windows shattered, exterior walls peeled away, revealing twisted steel frames within.

The main text of the report read:

Twenty years ago, a fire broke out in that laboratory building.

The Federal Fire Department intervened and confirmed the cause as an accidental incident resulting from aging electrical wiring. Since the island was private property of Aegis, the fire caused no casualties, and the losses were borne by the company itself. The fire department archived the case and did not follow up further.

The next section detailed how the investigation team cross-referenced experimental project documents that had leaked from Aegis after their confidentiality lapsed in recent years. They discovered that the only project registered under that laboratory building's address twenty years ago was titled "Research on Induced High-Level Differentiation of Secondary Genders."

The project status was marked: Terminated.

Project outcome: Failed.

On paper, this was just one of Aegis's many failed projects—no different from the dozens of research topics cut every year.

But the investigation team dug deeper along another thread.

They pulled up the list of researchers employed at Aegis twenty years ago, screened each name for connections to the experiment, and finally narrowed it down to five people.

The registration status of those five individuals in the Federal Security Agency system: two deceased, three missing.

The deaths and disappearances were concentrated within two months after the fire.

At the end of the report, an official name appeared that Wen Jueqian hadn't expected to see.

The Federal Bioethics and Medical Oversight Committee.

Twenty years ago, the committee had launched an investigation into Aegis regarding illegal human experimentation.

Under some kind of pressure, the investigation was kept low-key, with no public record—only internal committee files.

In the end, though, the case never went anywhere.

The investigation team tracked down the staffer who'd handled the case back then.

Now retired, he hesitated for a long time when they questioned him, before finally telling them:

"We did find evidence of human experimentation there. But subsequent investigation showed that the project had never been formally approved by Aegis—from the facilities and funding to the staffing, it was all greenlit improperly by a handful of senior execs. The researchers who ran the experiments, the victims forced into them, and the execs involved—along with the backers they ratted out—had all either gone missing, fled, or died before we could step in."

"Every lead went cold, so the case was dropped."

Wen Jueqian's fingers froze on the screen.

His gaze slowly drifted down to the end of the report—to the list of people involved, provided by the retired staffer.

At the top of the list was the backer's name.

Wen Shisheng.

The second son of Wen Huaiyuan, the previous head of the Wen family, and Wen Shijun's second older brother.

What Wen Jueqian knew was that Wen Shisheng had died of a sudden illness, passing away young during a turbulent power transition in the Wen family. The ailing Wen Huaiyuan was so overcome with grief that he didn't even hold a funeral.

But this report said otherwise: after the illegal experiments were exposed twenty years ago, Wen Shisheng hadn't died—he'd changed his identity and fled into the Empire.

It seemed the Wen family wasn't entirely in the dark about the experiments back then—another faction within their ranks had been the backer.

Wen Jueqian's mind raced through all the classic stories of power struggles among wealthy families.

Now, twenty years later, Wen Shijun was in charge of the Wen family.

But the faction that wasn't aligned with Wen Shijun might not have dissolved with Wen Shisheng's escape. Maybe it was still there, just hiding deeper in the shadows.

If that was the case, then the obstacles Wen Yanxu had faced at Aegis, Ruijia's betrayal—it all made sense now.

The rain outside had let up.

Wen Jueqian could now piece together the rough outline of the illegal experiments from twenty years ago.

He had only one question left: had those experiments actually produced results?