Wang Yuan’s phone call could be considered an unexpected joy. Although the truth was still shrouded in layers of fog, there was now another clue.

Moreover, Tao Fengche had a vague premonition: he was now very close to it.

He soaked in the cold water for a long time, his body temperature steadily dropping, and his blood flow speeding up. Eventually, he even felt a faint illusion of warmth.

He knew that his brain had made a wrong judgment due to prolonged exposure to cold, but he remained still. Only after making sure he had completely calmed down did he stand up and drain the water from the bathtub.

He wrapped himself in a robe, walked barefoot to his desk, and sat down. He took a blank sheet of paper, pen in hand, and began writing and sketching, trying to organize his thoughts.

…If he went over everything that had happened recently from the beginning, it wasn’t hard to see that everything seemed to revolve around “artificial pheromones.”

Tao Fengche squinted slightly and wrote these two words in the center of the paper, then began to deduce.

The secrecy surrounding artificial pheromones was extremely high. Even he had only stumbled upon the ghost-like production line by chance. After taking a sample to Jing Ning, the latter had told him about the existence of this drug. It was clear that very few people knew about it.

Although artificial pheromones were merely a disguise and couldn’t truly change the second gender of the person injected, the price was still high enough. Just the ability to make a beta appear as an omega or alpha in the eyes of others was enough to attract countless people. This was evident from the enormous profits it had brought to the Tao family in the past.

However, the three genders in the ABO system had long formed a stable triangular structure, which was the foundation of social development and harmony. The emergence of artificial pheromones, in a sense, had already affected the roots of society.

For this reason, Tao Fengche could fully understand why Tao Zhixing and the others had intentionally kept him in the dark about this matter. When artificial pheromones were developed, he had just been born, and when they were discontinued, he was only sixteen. Tao Zhixing was healthy and strong, so this wasn’t something Tao Fengche needed to know about.

But Sui Yuesheng wasn’t Tao Fengche.

When Tao Zhixing rescued Sui Yuesheng from the warehouse, the latter was almost an adult. Later, he was specially trained by Tao Zhixing as a backup plan for Tao Fengche, making him a highly trusted confidant with top-level clearance.

Moreover, Sui Yuesheng was acquainted with Jing Ning. His inexplicable pheromone disappearance and the highly effective marking inhibitors he took, far better than any available on the market, were definitely Jing Ning’s work.

Sui Yuesheng had access to artificial pheromones.

…But if viewed from this angle, Zhao Jiayang was also suspicious.

After all, when Tao Zhixing was alive, Zhao Jiayang was undoubtedly the “second-in-command.” After Tao Zhixing passed away, even though he became less involved due to Chu Yin’s death, he was still Master Zhao, a figure of great influence.

Tao Fengche wrote Zhao Jiayang’s name on the paper, put a question mark beside it, thought for a moment, and then decisively crossed it out.

——It couldn’t be Zhao Jiayang. Tao Fengche was sure of it.

He remembered the heated argument between Tao Zhixing and Zhao Jiayang when Chu Yin was gravely ill. The study was a mess, and both men had the same exhausted and dejected expressions, with deep pain hidden in their eyes.

He also remembered Zhao Jiayang’s bloodshot eyes on the day of Chu Yin’s burial, almost swallowing his black pupils. When Tao Fengche saw him that day, he even thought Zhao Jiayang’s eyes were filled with blood. Later, when he and Tao Zhixing went to pay their respects to Chu Yin, they noticed faint dark spots on the coffin lid that were still moist. At first, Tao Fengche thought the coffin had grown mold, but he soon realized they were tear stains.

It had been over two years since Chu Yin’s death. Although Zhao Jiayang seemed to live a self indulgent life, mingling with various young and soft omegas, many of his lovers bore some resemblance to Chu Yin. He was merely searching for the shadow of his lost love in others, seeking some small, weak solace.

Zhao Jiayang hadn’t always been like this. Tao Fengche still remembered his youthful and spirited self.

Artificial pheromones took away Chu Yin, Zhao Jiayang’s one true love, and half his life, turning him into the walking corpse he was now. He had once fiercely argued with Tao Zhixing, forcing him to abandon the profits and shut down the entire production line.

How could he touch that again, let alone help bring it back?

Just the emotional torment would be enough to drown Zhao Jiayang in sorrow.

But while Zhao Jiayang had no motive, Sui Yuesheng did.

The pen moved to Sui Yuesheng’s name again, hovering in mid-air before circling the name and adding several question marks.

——Sui Yuesheng had always presented himself as a beta. He had never accepted his second gender and had never wanted to be an omega dependent on others.

Tao Fengche had never understood why Sui Yuesheng resisted being an omega, but after hearing from Xu Song about the suffering and blood-soaked past Sui Yuesheng had endured, he finally got it—this gender had brought him too much disaster and harm.

Even after countless acts of revenge, even after those who inflicted the harm were long gone, the old scars hadn’t healed. They still bled and might accompany Sui Yuesheng for the rest of his life.

If Tao Fengche were in Sui Yuesheng’s shoes…

Tao Fengche was born an alpha and had grown up smoothly, without ever facing significant setbacks. It was hard for him to empathize with this situation, but frowning, he tried to put himself in Sui Yuesheng’s position and figured that he too might not want to continue being an omega.

But Sui Yuesheng was too stubborn and proud. He resisted his second gender but didn’t want to go to the opposite extreme—he had no desire to become an alpha who suppressed others with pheromones.

He was too proud. He prided himself on being stronger than alphas, even as a beta without pheromones, and he enjoyed proving it—as evidenced by his confrontation with Elder Sun at Tao Zhixing’s funeral.

Driven by just the dissatisfaction with his second gender, Sui Yuesheng was very likely to support the re-emergence of artificial pheromones. What’s more, artificial pheromones could indeed benefit him.

Tao Fengche had experienced Sui Yuesheng’s marksmanship and combat skills firsthand. During his studies in the Western Continent, Sui Yuesheng definitely didn’t live a sheltered academic life. After inheriting the Tao family and donning the family ring, he ruthlessly took control of both the legal and illegal sides of the business.

Though Tao Fengche didn’t socialize much, Sui Yuesheng wasn’t a cloistered noble omega. Word of others’ evaluations of Sui Yuesheng reached his ears—”a poisoned poppy.” His face was as beautiful as his methods were cruel.

If not for that, Sui Yuesheng wouldn’t have been able to keep the hyenas in the company and the gang at bay, let alone contend with the Red Gang.

And Sui Yuesheng was ruthless not just to others but to himself.

Tao Fengche bit the inside of his cheek and twirled the pen in his hand.

If Sui Yuesheng could suppress his pheromones and make himself appear as a beta by taking marking inhibitors and sleeping with countless alphas, then he could definitely restart the artificial pheromone production line and use Liu Tianlei’s death to clear suspicion from himself.

After all, a man like Liu Tianlei, so steeped in sin, would cause no guilt if killed. Besides, Liu Tianlei wasn’t very smart. Tao Fengche had tricked him into spilling everything out of arrogance, and when his life was threatened, he had no qualms about confessing.

A little skillful, greedy, foolish, yet arrogant—he was the perfect pawn, and discarding him when necessary wouldn’t hurt. There were plenty of replacements.

Artificial pheromones were a hormone-like drug that reacted with specific target cells in the body, activating genes to make betas produce pheromones similar to alphas or omegas. But if reversed, it would inhibit those target cells, freezing the genes that produce pheromones in alphas or omegas, making them appear like betas.

Its reverse effect was surely something Sui Yuesheng dreamed of—if it could be developed, he wouldn’t need to keep sleeping with those alphas.

At this thought, Tao Fengche dragged the pen heavily across the paper, almost tearing it.

Before he realized he had romantic feelings for Sui Yuesheng, he already had a strange sense of possessiveness toward him—when he discovered Sui Yuesheng had slept with Jiang Jingyun and mistakenly thought Sui Yuesheng was ignoring him, Tao Fengche had been so blinded by rage that he said particularly hurtful things.

Even after realizing that Sui Yuesheng hadn’t ignored him and had only slept with those alphas out of necessity, Tao Fengche couldn’t help feeling irritated by every alpha who appeared around Sui Yuesheng.

Once he realized he liked Sui Yuesheng, he saw every alpha near him as an enemy, perpetually soaked in jealousy and unable to escape it, marinating in it until fully saturated.

So far, through constant observation, Tao Fengche had concluded that Assistant Zhou wasn’t a threat and was cleared of suspicion. The playboy with the rose scent only appeared that one night when Sui Yuesheng was drunk, and Tao Fengche had been too focused on taking care of Sui Yuesheng to get a good look at his face or identity. But Jiang Jingyun, an alpha with a close relationship with Sui Yuesheng, who even sparked engagement rumors, was a rising star in Jingpu’s political arena.

This meant that Jiang Jingyun was essentially living under the public eye, with every word and action scrutinized under a magnifying glass.

Tao Fengche had saved every report involving Jiang Jingyun and Sui Yuesheng’s appearances together—whether from newspapers, magazines, TV, or online media. Even candid shots posted by random people on social media had been collected, watched over and over, until Tao Fengche reached a conclusion: there was no love between them.

Tao Fengche liked Sui Yuesheng. He had seen the expression on Tao Zhixing’s face when visiting a grave, and he had also observed Zhao Jiayang and Chu Yin interacting. He understood how someone behaves when they like another person; however, when Jiang Jingyun exchanged glances with Sui Yuesheng, there was definitely no hint of emotions related to love in his eyes.

They shared a bed, tangled up in each other, but it was solely about interests and sex—there was absolutely no love involved.

Upon realizing this, Tao Fengche felt a whirlwind of emotions. He didn’t know whether to feel upset about Sui Yuesheng’s casual sexual encounters or to be angry at Jiang Jingyun and the other Alphas for being so quick to seize the opportunity, or to feel a strange joy that there was no love between Sui Yuesheng and them, which left him a chance to pursue Sui Yuesheng.

Yet, in that moment, the more he thought about it, the more alarmed he felt. Although the results from Wang Yuan’s side were still pending, he sensed he had vaguely touched upon the truth—Sui Yuesheng was such a proud person. He might sell his body for temporary interests, but he would never sell himself for a lifetime.

He would never resign himself to being beneath others; he was the type of person who must stand at the pinnacle of the world.

Unknowingly, a once-blank piece of paper had been filled with Tao Fengche’s scrawled symbols and various incomprehensible writings. He squinted and studied it for a while, suddenly realizing something very sad.

—His previous anger and despair all stemmed from deception. If Sui Yuesheng had chosen not to hide the truth but instead to lay everything bare before him, he would have been able to understand and accept it.