The overwhelming pressure of the top-tier Alpha's presence acted like an invisible gravitational field, making it nearly impossible for the media reporters on both sides of the red carpet to breathe. Cameras shook violently in the gale. In the frame, Zhou Jiande lay limp on the ground, gasping for air with a deathly pale face, while the edges of the cowhide folder in his hands began to crack and splinter under the razor-sharp pressure of Huo Xingran's overflowing mental power.
"Huo Xingran, pull it back."
Just as the air in the entire venue reached the critical threshold of spontaneous combustion, a whisper—exceedingly faint, yet cold as an icy spring—drifted from the center of the oath platform.
Shen Qingzhou stepped forward slowly. There was not a trace of panic in his phoenix eyes, which were usually shielded by glasses. His gaze, as clear as the interweaving of moonlight and sunlight, fell inch by inch onto Huo Xingran's broad back, which was heaving violently with extreme fury.
Huo Xingran's teeth were clenched, the veins on his forehead bulging. His crimson beast-eyes remained locked onto Zhou Jiande in the distance, deaf to Shen Qingzhou's warning. In the instincts of a top-tier Alpha, any creature attempting to humiliate his Omega had to be shredded into pieces at that very moment.
"I said, pull it back."
Shen Qingzhou's voice deepened. His tone, made raspy by the debauchery of the night before, did not sound weak; instead, due to the absolute rationality belonging to a top-tier scientific leader, it carried a shocking, commanding power.
Under the horrified gazes of everyone present, this professor, who always maintained an absolute academic distance from others, took a step forward. He reached out with those long, fair fingers, cutting through the violent, blade-like currents of pheromones, and gripped Huo Xingran's scorching right wrist with absolute accuracy and fearlessness.
The moment the icy cold temperature touched his skin, Huo Xingran's entire body gave a violent jolt.
"Professor..." A hoarse, low growl escaped from the depths of the boy's throat, sounding almost aggrieved. He attempted to break free, but fearing that his uncontrolled mental power might hurt Shen Qingzhou, he could only freeze in place.
"Three years ago at the Beijing University hearing, I was able to use raw experimental data to get you, Zhou Jiande, permanently expelled." Shen Qingzhou didn't even turn his head, simply staring coldly into Huo Xingran's increasingly unfocused eyes. His cool, clear voice was carried to every corner of the seaside hall via the miniature microphone still clipped to his collar. "Three years later, at my wedding, I similarly have no need for an academic fraud to teach me how to conduct experiments with forged reports of 'lethal defects.' Zhou Jiande, the so-called 'genetic defect data' in your hands is nothing more than unfinished mouse centrifugation samples you stole years ago. The final clinical audit report for the first-generation autonomous blocker was jointly signed by the National Life Sciences Institute and the Huo Corporation a month ago. If you feel the Huo Corporation's legal team isn't fast enough, Laboratory 301 welcomes your lawsuit at any time."
These words were flawless, each syllable like a rigorous academic paper carrying undeniable authority, instantly shredding Zhou Jiande's mask of mutual destruction.
The reporters below immediately realized the shift, and the sound of shutters went wild again—only this time, Zhou Jiande had been reduced to a pathetic clown in every frame.
However, compared to the academic vindication below, the "taming of the wolf" on the oath platform had just entered its most breathtaking stage.
Zhou Jiande's crisis evaporated under Shen Qingzhou's few words, but Huo Xingran's mental power—which had gone completely berserk due to the combination of his rut and extreme rage—was like a wild horse that could not be easily reined in. The boy kept letting out suppressed, low gasps, and his sun-drenched orange pheromones began to fluctuate in an abnormal, self-destructive overload.
"Huo Xingran, look at me."
Shen Qingzhou held his wrist firmly. Because of the collision of their mental energies, the caramel-colored imprint left on the inside of his silk suit the night before began to throb with a faint heat.
Feeling the trace of that familiar possessiveness, Shen Qingzhou's long lashes fluttered. The tenderness hidden deep beneath his icy iceberg finally broke its dam before the entire world.
He didn't retreat. Instead, following the pull of their locked hands, he pro-actively leaned forward, exposing the fair, tender nape of his neck—which had been covered in red marks from last night's bullying, barely concealed by his blocker patch—directly into Huo Xingran's cold, tyrannical line of sight.
He tilted his head back, and in front of the countless camera flashes, he lifted his hands to gently cradle the boy's handsome face, which was distorted by pain.
The usually cold, haughty Omega, in this moment, under the witness of the sea breeze and the falling petals, slowly closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the boy's.
"The leash is in your hands, Student Huo."
Shen Qingzhou's voice was hoarse to the extreme, laced with a sticky, indulgent tremor. His scent of fir after the snow was released without reservation, transforming into the deepest, most inclusive pool of water, gently wrapping around the violent flames to extinguish them:
"Didn't you say last night... that I am your only lifetime appointment? Now, in front of everyone, recognize your master."
Boom.
The violent mental power that had been seconds away from flipping the entire beach upside down, upon touching this extreme gentleness mixed with a hint of mental counter-soothing, stopped in mid-air as if doused with a bucket of ice water.
The crimson glow in Huo Xingran's eyes began to fade at a visible speed under Shen Qingzhou's warm palms and nearby breathing. His usually flamboyant puppy eyes regained their focus in an instant. When he saw Shen Qingzhou before him—palefaced but with a determined gaze—the giant beast that had been trying to destroy everything a moment ago felt his eyes turn red with a sudden, overwhelming sense of vulnerability.
"Professor..."
The boy reached out with trembling hands, clutching Shen Qingzhou's waist tightly and burying his head deep into the crook of his shoulder. The violent scent of oranges instantly shifted back into sweet, syrupy orange candy, clinging stickily to Shen Qingzhou as if feeling confused and fawning, desperate to make up for his earlier loss of control.
The commotion below the stage came to a standstill.
Zhou Jiande had already been silently dragged away like a dead dog by the Huo Corporation's PR team and security guards. In the lenses of the reporters, all that remained was a beautiful, breathtaking scene destined to be recorded in the history of the Life Sciences Institute and the annals of elite marriages:
As countless golden orange petals drifted down in the sea breeze following the storm, the cool professor in his pure white bespoke suit held the tall, golden-haired Alpha—who was now crying like a giant dog—in a gentle embrace. His long, slender fingers stroked the nape of the boy's neck, soothing him with slow, rhythmic motions.
The sudden public accusation had ultimately, through this breathtaking "mental domestication," become the perfect catalyst for these newlyweds.