2:10 AM.
The shattered solid wood door panels lay strewn across the hallway and marble floor. Beyond the stench—now forcibly purified by the scent of scorching orange candy—a world-ending silence hung in the air.
Huo Xingran held Shen Qingzhou tightly in his arms, his head buried deep in the crook of the professor's neck. His tall body was still shivering slightly from the lingering terror of the moments before. Under the balcony railing, the black shadow had long since stopped making a sound, leaving only the syringe with its eerie green glow reflecting harshly under the dim night lamp.
Tap, tap, tap.
A steady, rhythmic sound of footsteps—so cold they felt as if they could chip ice—came abruptly from the chaotic hallway.
Huo Xingran went stiff. His intuition told him that the person approaching was, in a sense, even more dangerous than the international spy lying on the floor.
Sure enough, seconds later, Huo Xingchen's tall, imposing figure appeared by the broken doorframe. He had clearly been jolted from his sleep by the thunderous crash. He wore only a deep black silk robe, and his usually meticulously groomed black hair was slightly disheveled, which only served to emphasize the unquestionable authority and killing intent on his mature, handsome face.
Beside Huo Xingchen, Lu Yu stood with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. A stray lock of hair covered the emotions in his amber eyes, but the thick folder and the cold-gleaming red pen in his hands were like an ominous omen.
Huo Xingchen's gaze swept the room. When he saw the shadow on the floor and the syringe, his eyes narrowed slightly before he coldly spat out two words: "Lin, come in and take him. Lock down the entire villa. Notify the legal department and the Haicheng police; tell them the 'core evidence' from that overseas company has delivered itself to our doorstep."
"Yes, Sir!" Lin's trembling voice came from outside, wiping sweat from his brow. Several heavily armed Huo Corporation bodyguards flashed into the room, efficiently bundling up the shadow and the syringe.
Only when the four of them were left in the room did Huo Xingchen turn around, his deep, cold eyes locking onto Huo Xingran, who was still using Shen Qingzhou as a human pillow.
"Brother… I, I acted in self-defense. If I hadn't come, the Professor would have been…" Huo Xingran swallowed, attempting a weak defense while pulling Shen Qingzhou tighter into his arms.
"Self-defense?" Huo Xingchen sneered, gesturing to the door smashed to pieces by sheer force. "At 1:55 AM, you were crouched at the door of the master bedroom with lock-picking tools. Huo Xingran, if I remember correctly, ten minutes ago, your designated location was the guest room on the first floor. Your 'Midnight Capture Plan' in that twenty-page proposal was quite spectacular."
Boom. Huo Xingran felt the "wolf cub's cunning" in his brain crumble into dust. He never imagined that his hidden clause—camouflaged with mental power and tucked behind the cowhide binding—had been seen through by his brother all along!
"In light of the applicant Huo Xingran ignoring the Ultimate Restrictive Clauses, committing an unauthorized night raid, and violently destroying public property…"
Dr. Lu Yu stepped forward at the perfect moment, leisurely flipping to the last page of his file. He unscrewed the red pen, a playful, spectator-like glint in his amber eyes, his cool voice devoid of emotion:
"More severely, due to your mental power secondary overload, Professor Shen, who is currently in a vulnerable state, was subjected to intense mental interference. After a joint re-evaluation by the medical team and CEO Huo, the three-month observation period is officially extended to—one year."
"O-one year?!"
The large golden retriever let out a mournful howl on the spot. Tears welled up in his puppy eyes: "Dr. Lu! Brother Lu! This is personal vendetta! This is a life sentence! If I can't hold the Professor for a year, I might as well go to a temple and become a monk!"
"Sign it, Professor Shen." Lu Yu remained unmoved, elegantly offering the pen and file to the bedside.
Shen Qingzhou had recovered his strength under the relentless soothing of Huo Xingran's sun-drenched pheromones. He leaned against the headboard, looking at the large dog who was so frantic he looked ready to scratch the walls, then down at that terrifying "one-year" deadline.
He remembered the crimson eyes of the wolf cub who had charged in regardless of the danger to protect him, and the mental imprint currently scorching the inside of his robe—a testament to the boy's lingering fear and attachment.
Shen Qingzhou's phoenix eyes flickered behind his lenses, a flash of rare, indulgently cold amusement passing through them.
He took the red pen from Lu Yu. Under Huo Xingran's despair-filled gaze, he didn't sign the [Approved] column. Instead, he drew a straight, hardcore red line through the number "one year" and wrote a new number beside it:
[One month].
"Professor Shen?" Lu Yu raised a brow.
Shen Qingzhou set the pen down, his raspy voice carrying a textured, magnetic pull: "In view of Student Huo's 'self-defense' tonight, which indeed protected the core manuscript of the blocker and secured a decisive trump card in the international corporate war, the merits and demerits cancel each other out. The research observation period is shortened to one month."
Shen Qingzhou turned his head slightly to look at the golden retriever beside him, who had flown from hell to heaven in an instant, his eyes bright as two little suns. His lips curled:
"But within that month, unauthorized behavior such as climbing through windows or picking locks remains strictly prohibited. Student Huo, do you understand?"
"Understood! Professor! I'll be the watchdog on the first floor tonight! I'll bite anyone who comes near!" Huo Xingran had come fully back to life. If not for his brother's murderous glare, he would have pinned Shen Qingzhou to the bed and kissed him until he couldn't breathe.
Huo Xingchen massaged his temples, feeling a headache coming on from this couple. He snorted and pulled Lu Yu toward the door: "His dividends remain forfeited for the month. Lu Yu, let's go sleep."
As the shattered door was finally pulled shut, silence returned to the master bedroom.
Huo Xingran climbed off the bed obediently. Though reluctant, he began using his mental power to smooth out the imprint on Shen Qingzhou's robe, fiber by fiber, with earnest devotion.
However, the coda of this breathtaking wedding night drifted slightly off-script in the warmth of their mutual gaze.
When Huo Xingran's fingertips touched Shen Qingzhou's palm, and their pheromones reached an unprecedented, hundred-percent resonant synchronization after their brush with death…
Rules? Restrictions? One month of separate sleeping?
Shen Qingzhou looked at the boy who was mumbling to himself while meticulously helping him regulate his body with mental energy. Beneath his lenses, his phoenix eyes finally brimmed with an uncontrollable, all-encompassing tenderness.
The leash had indeed been placed in his hands. But from this moment on, the highest authorization for this wild, wicked wolf had long since ceased to be dictated by any worldly clause…