---

---

“You’ll definitely like him. After a while, I’ll take him home.”

“…”

I didn’t hear the rest because my heart was pounding wildly as I knelt on the ground.

I never expected this cold, aloof academic genius of an alpha to turn out to be so lovesick.

We had only been together for two years, not yet graduated, not yet working, and he was already thinking about marriage.

How could that work?

What if he found out I was a beta…

Cold sweat ran down my back, and at that moment, Lu Ci knocked gently on the door:

“Baby, can we sleep together tonight? I learned a new position yesterday…”

Why is this lovesick alpha’s brain always filled with marriage or getting into bed?!

Just thinking about how I pretended to have heat cycles for the past two years, and Lu Ci’s sensitive periods, made my legs go weak.

Before marriage, he already wanted to mark me permanently. If we got married, I might never be able to get out of bed again!

But I’m a beta with ambitions, dreams, and goals!

With that thought, I quickly put on a distressed look.

Opening the door, I put on a sorrowful face: “Ah Ci, my sister is getting married, but the scumbag ran off. I’m afraid I need to go home for a while.”

Lu Ci was very concerned, eager to go with me.

I hurriedly refused: “No, my sister doesn’t want to see any alphas right now!”

Lu Ci had no choice but to compromise, giving me a sad look.

Suppressing my reluctance and emotions, I quickly packed my things.

And I ran… for three years.

During that time, I changed my phone number, my name, and even used my savings to create the illusion that I was still living in City A.

I spent three years living cautiously in City B.

Now, Lu Ci had me cornered.

Just thinking about Lu Ci’s craziness from those two years made my legs weak again.

---

The cocktail party was originally organized by several publishing houses together.

But somehow, those prominent figures from the business world caught wind of it and insisted on taking over the event.

As a result, the party was now filled with outstanding professionals from the publishing world as well as several high-profile business moguls.

I could hear Lu Ci’s deep breathing behind me, mixed with the chatter of several people nearby.

I was trembling with fear.

Lu Ci, however, misunderstood my reaction. He pressed his lips gently against the back of my neck:

“Trembling so much? Did you miss me?”

“In these three years, did you ever think of me? Of course not, you little liar. If you had missed me, you wouldn’t have left me.”

Before I could answer, he anxiously sniffed my skin:

“I can’t smell it… Why can’t I smell it…”

I didn’t know how to confess the truth to Lu Ci.

After all, I was just a beta. No matter how much an alpha like him tried, he would never be able to smell my pheromones.

As for the pheromones back then, they were merely a spray I used to fake it.

Now that I had left Lu Ci for so long, I no longer used the spray.

But I couldn’t tell him that.

Lu Ci didn’t like being deceived.

Still, some things can’t be hidden forever.

With a quiet sigh, I reached out and gently stroked Lu Ci’s hair:

“Let’s talk about this calmly—”

“Qiu Shui!”

Before I could finish, the door of the small stall burst open.

My older brother stood in the doorway in a black suit, his face dark as he looked at me and then at Lu Ci behind me.

Alphas get especially hostile when they meet, especially when they see such an intimate scene between Lu Ci and me.

Without a word, my brother grabbed me out of Lu Ci’s arms.

Lu Ci’s expression shifted: “Who are you?”

My brother sneered, his tone full of arrogance as if he didn’t care about Lu Ci at all: “None of your business.”

I glanced at Lu Ci, worried that he might throw a punch.

Not because I feared he’d hurt my brother, but because I worried this alpha wouldn’t be able to beat my brother and would cry to me about it.

Just thinking about how the harder Lu Ci cried, the stronger he was in bed, I quickly broke free from my brother and hugged Lu Ci.

My brother was confused: “Qiu Shui, what are you doing? He’s an alpha, you can’t smell—”

“Brother!”

I hurriedly cut him off before he could finish.

But Lu Ci had already caught the underlying meaning.

First, he suppressed the anger in his eyes, then calmly took my hand and greeted my brother:

“Hello, brother.”

Then, with a calm expression, he looked at me: “You have something to tell me, don’t you?”

Lu Ci’s other hand slowly pressed against the back of my neck.

My heart was racing.

Three years of being gone, the beta secret exposed…

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how furious Lu Ci would be next.

Especially with my brother stirring things up.

“Who are you? Why are you calling me brother?

“My little brother never mentioned he had a long-distance boyfriend.”

I turned to look at Lu Ci’s faintly smiling expression:

“Oh? Brother didn’t know Qiu Shui had a boyfriend?”

---

When Lu Ci dragged me by the neck back to his apartment, my mind was filled with thoughts of, “Oh no, the lovesick alpha has turned into a violent one.”

But a lovesick alpha is still a lovesick alpha.

Lu Ci coldly tossed me onto the bed, his hands pressing down on either side of me.

His face was dark, but his eyes were full of that familiar obsession.

“You’re a beta? Then how did you have a heat cycle back then?”

Cautiously, I nodded, then shook my head, carefully observing Lu Ci’s expression as I explained:

“I liked you, but I heard you alphas prefer omegas.”

“I lost my mind for a moment and pretended to be an omega to get closer to you.”

Lu Ci responded with a cold “Oh,” making it unclear whether he believed me or not.

But there was no way I could let him know my real reason for approaching him.

After all, during those two years with him, I once lied about being sick to avoid intimacy, only to be caught by Lu Ci.

He punished me harshly for two days straight.

Since then, I hadn’t dared to lie again.

If Lu Ci ever found out that I approached him to escape bullying, I’d probably be stuck in bed for the next two weeks.