After spending so much time with He Qingye, Pei Yumian knew that when He Qingye apologized, he truly meant it. He already understood that he had done something wrong.
But when a person was terrified to the extreme, reason was always the first thing to disappear.
Pei Yumian knew he ought to say, “It’s okay,” and tell He Qingye to return to his room and rest. After all, He Qingye had not truly done anything wrong. He had merely experienced the most normal physiological response an alpha could have.
The abnormal one was Pei Yumian. He knew that very clearly.
But Pei Yumian did not want to say “It’s okay.” He did not even want to respond to He Qingye. Right now, he only wanted to sit quietly on the floor for a while and recover, even though he had nearly bitten his lower lip until it bled.
There was no sound at all from outside the door anymore. He Qingye had probably left after receiving no response.
Pei Yumian could not tell whether he felt disappointed or relieved. He finally released his abused lower lip, tilted sideways, and gently leaned his body against the door.
Such improper behavior would already have been enough to earn punishment for an omega of the Pei family.
The Pei family was an extremely conservative clan. Even after humanity evolved into the three secondary genders of alpha, beta, and omega, they continued to follow etiquette from the old human era, extending those rules into strict discipline for all three secondary genders.
Every member of the Pei family was like a marionette controlled by the clan. But even puppets had different ranks.
Alphas, destined to become family leaders, naturally occupied the highest rank. The entire family’s resources tilted toward them.
Betas were raised to serve as assistants to alphas.
As for omegas, they had only one purpose left: arranged marriage.
The Pei family’s omegas were famous for being gentle, obedient, and proper, and each marriage partner they secured was more powerful than the last.
Whether those omegas lived happily, or whether their alphas treated them well, was never a factor the Pei family considered.
That was why, when the Pei family announced Pei Yumian’s availability for marriage after he turned eighteen, he had planned to end his own life.
He did not want to marry a strange alpha, nor did he want to experience something as terrifying as being marked.
What Pei Yumian had not expected was for He Qingye to come personally and propose. More accurately, He Qingye had come to buy Pei Yumian.
The He and Pei families were two clans with almost no dealings. The He family had always looked down on the Pei family’s way of doing things, and the two families rarely even met.
But the He family was far more powerful than the Pei family. Every head of the He family seemed to possess the Midas touch, expanding their business empire until it became larger and stronger with each generation.
The Pei family, by contrast, clung conservatively to its small patch of family business. If not for the many marriage alliances propping it up, it might have gone bankrupt long ago.
And the He family’s new head, He Qingye, was even more capable than the previous generations. He was already an alpha far beyond the Pei family’s reach.
Yet this decisive, sharp-edged He Qingye had actually spent one hundred million Blue Star coins and overridden every objection to secure a marriage with Pei Yumian.
When Pei Yumian learned this, a faint hope had quietly appeared in his heart, because he had heard stories about He Qingye from other people.
He Qingye had been a child doted on by his parents. Surely he would not treat an omega too badly. Perhaps he and He Qingye might even live happily together.
Even though, during their first formal meeting before marriage, all Pei Yumian felt from He Qingye was coldness and obsession.
Still, in order to escape the Pei family, Pei Yumian married He Qingye. Then, on their wedding night, everything between them ended in complete unhappiness.
For an ordinary omega, it had only been a normal wedding night. An alpha and omega were supposed to have sex.
But Pei Yumian was too afraid. His mind was filled with the instructional videos he had been forced to watch since childhood: grotesque bodies and expressions, and terrifying sexual organs.
Everything in those videos overlapped with the scene before him. Pei Yumian had wanted to discuss it with He Qingye, but he could not force a single word out.
With no other choice, Pei Yumian could only imitate what he had seen in the videos, forcing himself to open his body and trembling as he accepted He Qingye’s temporary mark.
Their naturally compatible alpha and omega bodies produced no spark of passion at all. Pei Yumian bit his lower lip tightly and did not dare make a sound.
It was not until He Qingye noticed the blood on Pei Yumian’s lower lip that he forcibly pried Pei Yumian’s teeth away from it.
Beneath the ornate crystal chandelier, Pei Yumian felt He Qingye’s gaze turn assessing and distant.
Then Pei Yumian heard He Qingye ask:
“You don’t want this?”
Pei Yumian’s entire body went rigid. As an omega, how could he refuse intimacy with He Qingye?
Before he could summon the courage to lie, He Qingye withdrew and left.
The next time Pei Yumian saw him, He Qingye was lying motionless in a hospital bed while Pei Yumian numbly signed papers to save his life.
From that one and only intimate encounter, Pei Yumian became pregnant with He Qingye’s child—and escaped the Pei family’s control.
As Qin You had put it, Pei Yumian was now an omega of the He family. If the Pei family dared say one word too many, they could forget about receiving that hundred million.
So no matter how unbearable their wedding night had been, no matter how cold He Qingye had been before losing his memory, Pei Yumian would forgive him.
But some things could not be put down simply because Pei Yumian wanted to let them go. Since childhood, he had been forced to accept so-called omega education.
Pei Yumian did not know how other omegas accepted it. He had felt only overwhelming fear, enough that even dreaming about it could frighten him awake.
Leaning his face against the door, Pei Yumian looked desolate. It was not that he did not know something was wrong with him. During the three years He Qingye was unconscious, however, he had never needed to confront the problem.
Now things were different. He Qingye was awake. How could a normal alpha accept an omega who could not tolerate intimate contact?
Most importantly, Pei Yumian knew he did not like He Qingye, nor did he intend to continue living with him as a married couple.
At that thought, Pei Yumian clenched his fists and climbed to his feet.
Rather than let He Qingye discover it later, it would be better to explain everything early.
Pei Yumian opened the door and had just lifted a foot to step outside when he walked straight into a solid embrace.
Along with He Qingye himself came a faint, almost imperceptible scent of absinthe.
Before Pei Yumian could think about it, he heard He Qingye say:
“Wife~ I was wrong. I already punished myself by standing here for forty minutes. If you’re still angry, I’ll punish myself by standing another hour, okay?”
Pei Yumian tipped his head back to look at He Qingye and discovered that He Qingye was not joking. He genuinely thought this was a reasonable solution.
Pei Yumian immediately became furious.
“He Qingye, get back and rest right now! Don’t you know you can’t stand for long periods yet?”
After saying that, Pei Yumian grabbed He Qingye by the arm and dragged him into his own room.
Only after He Qingye was lying on the bed did Pei Yumian realize what he had done.
His expression froze. Why had he brought He Qingye into his room? Worse, he had put He Qingye on his bed.
Pei Yumian saw He Qingye put on a guilty expression.
“Sorry, Wife. I know you don’t like me getting on your bed. I’ll get down right now.”
He Qingye started to turn over and climb off.
Things had already reached this point. How could Pei Yumian let him keep tossing himself around? He reached out and pressed He Qingye back down.
“Forget it, forget it. Lie down for now. I happen to have something to tell you.”
He Qingye looked full of anticipation.
“Go ahead, Wife!”
Pei Yumian retreated half a step. Instead of looking at He Qingye, his empty gaze fell on the fringe hanging from the bedspread.
“He Qingye, I’m not a normal omega. Xiaopang was also a child we only had by accident. I may never be able to complete a final mark with you.”
This was not what Pei Yumian had originally meant to say. But under He Qingye’s burning gaze, he could not bring himself to say that he wanted to leave.
For a strong, healthy alpha in the prime of his life, however, those words amounted to a marriage in name only. He Qingye probably would not be able to accept it.
“It doesn’t matter!”
He Qingye abruptly leaned forward and took Pei Yumian’s hand.
“Even if all we can ever do is hold hands and hug, it doesn’t matter.”
“I like you as a person, not your secondary gender, Pei Yumian.”
The light in He Qingye’s eyes was almost hot enough to burn Pei Yumian. He tried to pull his hand away, but He Qingye gripped it tightly and refused to let go.
Pei Yumian could only continue speaking to him like this.
“Do you even know what you’re saying?”
He Qingye’s expression was resolute. He tugged Pei Yumian one step closer.
“Of course I do. It just means we’ll have a platonic relationship for life. That’s not a big deal.”
Pei Yumian was stunned by how matter-of-fact He Qingye sounded.
Even with amnesia, He Qingye remained an extremely powerful alpha.
For an alpha like him, ability and possessiveness usually rose together. Especially toward omegas, an alpha’s possessiveness was instinctive. Yet He Qingye was saying that never satisfying that desire was no big deal.
As for He Qingye’s claims that he liked him, Pei Yumian did not take them seriously.
After all, He Qingye had not recovered his memories. Once he did in the future, none of these words would count.
After thinking it through, Pei Yumian relaxed. Then something about his hand felt wrong. Looking down, he saw that He Qingye had started pestering him again.
He Qingye forcefully pushed apart Pei Yumian’s fingers and threaded his own between them. The moment their fingers interlocked, Pei Yumian saw a satisfied smile appear on He Qingye’s face.
He Qingye seemed to notice Pei Yumian looking. He raised their joined hands and shook them with complete self-righteousness.
“I’m not doing anything else. Just holding hands.”
This time, Pei Yumian did not refuse. He sat sideways on the edge of the bed and allowed He Qingye to hold his hand.
Just as He Qingye said, it was only holding hands. Pei Yumian was not so stingy that even that was forbidden.
After ten minutes or so, Pei Yumian felt as though his hand had become He Qingye’s toy. It was numb and aching, almost no longer his own. Frowning, he pulled it free.
“All right. You’ve rested enough. Hurry back to your room.”
He Qingye flopped backward shamelessly.
“Wife, did you forget you still owe me a reward?”
Of course Pei Yumian had not forgotten.
“What reward do you want?”
With a wicked smile, He Qingye wrapped his arms around Pei Yumian from behind.
“Wife, tonight I want to sleep with you.
