Chengli pulled the borrowed car—from his older sister—to a stop right in front of the school gates.
"We're here," Chengli announced, looking back at the small passenger in the rear.
"Thank you, Dad! I'm going now!" his daughter shouted excitedly, her eyes bright with the energy of a new school day with her friends.
"Call me if anything happens, okay? Anything at all," Chengli reminded her, his voice full of fatherly concern.
"Yes!" she chirped, throwing the door open and racing toward her group of friends waiting by the entrance. "Bye, Dad!" she yelled over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd of students heading through the gates.
Chengli sighed, a small smile playing on his lips as he reached for the gear shift. But before he could pull away, the back door suddenly opened and clicked shut. An old man slid into the rear seat with an ease.
"I'm sorry, sir, but this isn't a—" Chengli's voice died in his throat as he glanced at the rearview mirror. His blood ran cold as he recognized the face staring back at him. "Ch-Chairman..." he stammered, freezing in his seat, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.
"Relax. I'm not here to take you or threaten you," the Chairman said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "I've come to you simply to relay a message to my son. Since you are the only one I know who is currently aware of his hiding place, you are the most appropriate messenger."
"What is the message you wanted me to relay, Chairman?" Chengli asked, his voice trembling with caution.
"I want you to tell my son that he is now engaged," the Chairman stated flatly.
"Engaged?" Chengli's eyes widened in total shock. "To whom, Chairman?"
The Chairman didn't answer. Without another word, he opened the door and stepped out, disappearing into the morning crowd and leaving Chengli alone in the car, stunned by the weight of the news.
"Young Master..." Chengli whispered, staring blankly ahead. "I think you're in a very tight spot again."
____________________
The morning after the birthday dinner, a strange, suffocating heaviness settled over the clinic, as if the air itself was thick with impending trouble. Qixian sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes glazed over as he stared blankly at a random spot on the wall, his mind still slightly foggy from sleep.
Suddenly, his phone shattered the silence with a loud ring. He glanced at the screen, saw Chengli's name, and let out a groan before sliding the bar to answer.
"What is it? It's barely ten in the morning, I just woke up, and I'm honestly too lazy to even consider standing up," Qixian muttered, his voice thick with sleep. "What could possibly be so urgent?"
"The Chairman..." Chengli's voice trailed off, sounding very, very hesitant.
"What now? What is wrong with my father this time?" Qixian's eyes sharpened as he grew wary. "Did he try to have you abducted again? Did he send his thugs to your house?"
"No, nothing like that. But he met me this morning and relayed some news... news that is honestly quite shocking," Chengli said, choosing his words with extreme care.
"Shocking news? How so? Did he finally decide to retire to a deserted island?" Qixian asked.
"He told me... that you are engaged," Chengli said as if he's rapping right now.
Qixian froze. "So he's just deciding the entire course of my life now? And worse engaged? Without even a courtesy call to ask if I agree, or if I even like the person?" He felt a wave of frustration rise to his face. "To whom, exactly?"
"That... he didn't tell me. He just dropped the bomb and walked away," Chengli admitted.
"Desperate? He's using every low-handed tactic in the book, including shackling me to a total stranger just to get me under his thumb again," Qixian said, his voice rising in frustration. "Does he really think I'd go crawling back just to find out who my fiancé is? He's delusional."
"Wait, Young Master," Chengli said, his tone shifting as he thought of something. "Isn't there a major gala happening at the end of this month?"
"Yeah, the Masquerade Gala made for the high society... why?" Qixian paused, his eyes narrowing. "Wait. You think that's why he's doing this? He's probably planning to announce a fake engagement just to save face. He wants to drag me back so they can pretend the rumors I spread aren't true. How incredibly shameless."
"Aren't you the shameless one here, sir?" Chengli murmured under his breath. "You're the one who started the rumor that the eldest young master is only favored because he's an illegitimate orphan."
"What? At least I didn't lie! Every word of that was technically true!" Qixian reasoned.
"But calling him an orphan while he lives in your house is a bit much, don't you think?" Chengli pointed out.
"Whose side are you on now? Are you starting to feel bad for them?" Qixian snapped.
"No, no, I'm firmly on your side! I'm just saying..." Chengli's voice started to fade before clearing his throat. "By the way, are you planning to go? To the gala at the end of the month?"
"You're asking me that at this early of the month, when the gala will happen at the end of this month?" Qixian asked suspiciously then answered, "Absolutely not. Why would I walk straight into the snake's den? Besides, Gu Yichen and Lu Sihan will definitely be there. They'd recognize me in a heartbeat."
"It's a masquerade, Young Master. Everyone will be in expensive clothes and masks. Would they really be able to pick you out with that crowd?" Chengli asked.
"I don't know about Sihan... but Yichen might," Qixian replied, his jaw tightening.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because that always man spends half his day pestering me about not being an Alpha! He's so obsessed with my scent and my height. It's frustrating enough that he'd probably recognize my silhouette from a mile away, that damn bastard won't budge." Qixian said, huffing at the memory of Yichen's mocking smirk.
"What if my older sister asks you to go in her place? What will you do then?" Chengli asked, his voice taking on a suspicious, hopeful lilt.
"Miss Yanlan knows better than to ask that of me," Qixian said firmly.
"Well, I guess so... then I suppose I have no choice but to be the one to go and suffer through all those boring speeches alone," Chengli said, his voice dripping with forced self-pity, hoping to bait a reaction.
Qixian paused, his eyes narrowing as he realized the trap. "Wait. Are you only asking me all these questions because you don't want to go and you're trying to guilt-trip me into taking your place?"
"Hehe... sorry, Young Master," Chengli said with a sheepish grin.
"Humph. Traitor. I'm hanging up now," Qixian said, feeling utterly betrayed.
"Wait—!" Chengli tried to say, but he was cut off by the sharp beep as Qixian ended the call—that is really Qixian, likes cutting off people mid conversation.
__________________
"What is so important that you had to summon me here this early?" Yichen asked, his voice cold and devoid of even a shred of politeness. He stood in the middle of the study, radiating a tension that made the air feel thin.
"Gu Yichen! Have you no respect for your parents?!" the Chairman of the Gu family barked, his face reddening as he slammed a hand on his mahogany desk.
"Honey, please..." Madam Gu reached out, resting a steadying hand on her husband's arm. She turned to her son, her gaze pleading. "Yichen... please, just sit down and listen to us."
Yichen remained standing, his silence heavy and suffocating. He didn't speak, but the sharp line of his jaw and the hardness in his eyes made it clear exactly how annoyed he was.
"I called you here because I wanted to share some wonderful news with you," Madam Gu said, trying to inject a note of warmth into the cold room.
"Wonderful news? For once?" Yichen raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What is it?"
"You are engaged," Yichen's father stated flatly, his voice brook no room for argument.
"Engaged?" Yichen's fingers clawed into his skin as his voice dropped to a dangerous low. "You call that 'great news'?"
"Yes! You've been engaged to the second son of the Zhou family!" Madam Gu exclaimed happily, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere brewing in front of her.
Yichen let out a sharp, mocking scoff. "The second son of the Zhou family? Isn't he an Alpha? Why would you pair me with another Alpha?"
"Yes, he is, but you're an Enigma, Yichen," Madam Gu said softly, leaning in. "So, in reality, it's perfectly fine..."
"Fine?! You think that's fine?!" Yichen snapped, his composure finally fracturing. "You are the ones who forced me to hide my identity, to pretend I'm just an S-tier Alpha because Enigmas are hunted and exploited! And now you want to risk revealing everything just to tie me to a stranger I've never even met?!"
"It is more than fine. Your status as an Enigma has nothing to do with the contract, it won't be revealed to the public," his father said firmly, his eyes like flint.
"Good enough?" Yichen's lips curled into a bitter smirk. "Is that how desperate you are to dispose of me? To sell me off like a prize in an auction to the highest bidder?" He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Yichen... it's not like that. The second son—" Madam Gu began, but Yichen cut her off with a roar.
"Did you even think to ask for my permission?! Did you even bother to ask for my opinion before you signed my life away?!"
"Enough!" his father yelled back, his own Alpha presence flaring in a suffocating wave.
"What? You want me to stop?" Yichen asked, his voice turning very cold as his own pheromones began to clash with his father's. "You know perfectly well that I already like someone else! Why do you keep insisting on deciding every single detail of my life? When do I finally get to decide something for myself?!"
"Are you still hung up on that guy then? You already have the second son, yet you're still hung up with that guy? The one from that small clinic?" Madam Gu snapped, her patience finally wearing thin. "He will do nothing but drag our family name through the mud! At least the Zhou family's second son can strengthen our position. For once in your life, Yichen, think about this family!"
"What about me?! Did you ever think about me?!" Yichen's voice cracked, his eyes brimming with frustrated tears he refused to let fall. "Did you ever ask if I actually wanted to handle the company? Did you ever, for one single moment, let me live for myself?!"
"Yichen, please, aren't you happy that the one you're engaged with is—" Madam Gu tried to ease the tension, desperate to stop the pheromone war before it tore the room apart.
"Fine. Control me however you want," Yichen spat, turning on his heel. "Since that's the only thing you've ever been good at." He stormed out of the study, the heavy doors slamming shut behind him like a gavel.