The elevator was descending.

When it reached the first basement level, it let out a ‘ding’.

Lin Zhu and Yan Ruoyun walked out of the elevator one after the other.

The man had already changed into a clean casual suit. His white silk shirt faintly reflected a silvery sheen under the lights, its hem tucked into dark gray trousers and cinched by a two-finger-wide belt that accentuated an exaggerated curve.

His waist was incredibly slender and his legs were exceptionally long. His lithe figure could rival a runway model’s.

It made Lin Zhu wonder if he usually ate too little.

But Yan Ruoyun wasn’t morbidly thin; he looked perfectly proportioned. This loose casual suit wasn’t as formal as his previous attire; instead, it softened his intimidating aura of authority, making him look even more languid and noble.

The man walked in front with one hand in his pocket, while Lin Zhu trailed half a step behind him, carrying two paper bags filled with dirty clothes.

Because of Yan Ruoyun’s unusual reaction earlier, Lin Zhu assumed he didn’t like others touching his worn clothes, so he didn’t offer to help pack them again, simply grabbing them on their way out after checking out.

The two headed toward the underground parking lot.

According to Yan Ruoyun—
To thank Lin Zhu for taking the trouble to blow-dry his hair, he decided to drop Lin Zhu off on his way home, since there wouldn’t be a next time anyway.

The System expressed its doubts about this.

But It didn’t say anything, only secretly sending a Tom and Jerry meme: [Oh, poor Tom, played in the palm of his hand.jpg]

Yan Ruoyun had driven himself tonight in a red Ferrari. The car’s lines were sleek, its color bright and vibrant, exuding a strong sense of style.

The original novel mentioned that he had received a high-pressure education since childhood, and his hobbies were unlike those of an ordinary Omega. Outside of work, he preferred recreational activities that offered intense thrills.

Like skydiving, car racing, and the like.

Yan Ruoyun even held professional licenses for them.

This stood in stark contrast to his aloof and delicate appearance. The intense contrast made people unconsciously harbor a strong desire to explore him further.

Lin Zhu was no exception.

For the first eighteen years of his life, his social circle had been very simple, mostly consisting of teachers and classmates. He had never met an older man like Yan Ruoyun, whose every move exuded an inexplicable magnetism.

The headlights flashed.
The car unlocked.

Yan Ruoyun got into the driver’s seat first, and Lin Zhu followed, sitting in the passenger seat. Before buckling his seatbelt, he placed the two paper bags in his hands onto the back seat.

Before starting the car, Yan Ruoyun asked, “Where do you live?”

When the System generated Lin Zhu’s physical data, it also inputted the memories of the “scumbag ex-husband” character, automatically filling in all the details. Thus, he fluidly rattled off an address.

It wasn’t the Lin family’s residence.
Instead, it was an ultra-expensive luxury residential area in the city center.

The scumbag ex-husband’s background was dishonorable. He had never stepped through the doors of the Lin family estate, having always lived alone outside, with a nanny taking care of his daily needs.

Ultimately, it was all a messy debt left by the previous generation.

His mother, Qin Sinuan, was his father Lin Cheng’s first love. Unfortunately, their social statuses were mismatched, and the Lin family ruthlessly tore the couple apart.

Years later, the two reunited.

Qin Sinuan was still single, but Lin Cheng was already married to another Omega of equal social standing and had a son, Lin Xiujie…

The two had loved passionately back then and parted unwillingly. Reunited after a long separation, under the influence of alcohol, they rolled into bed together, which later evolved into an affair.

Qin Sinuan was an Omega who put love above all else. With the establishment of a lifelong mark, her possessiveness toward Lin Cheng grew stronger. She began demanding that Lin Cheng divorce his wife and give her a proper status.

Lin Cheng was no longer the young man who would give up his inheritance rights for love, so he didn’t agree.

Just as he wanted to end the relationship, Qin Sinuan got pregnant. She pinned her hopes on this embryo, used the excuse of taking a vacation to leave Beidu, and gave birth to the child in secret before returning, naming him ‘Lin Zhu’.

—Meaning: to pursue happiness.

However, such a twisted way of pursuing happiness was destined for a bad end. Even when her relationship with Lin Cheng became public knowledge, Lin Cheng didn’t relent, only setting her and the child up in a separate residence outside.

Qin Sinuan wasn’t an Omega who cared about money. Under Lin Cheng’s gradual alienation, she became depressed and irritable, ultimately choosing to end her own life when Lin Zhu was ten.

Lin Cheng felt extremely guilty about this, but it was to no avail. Because the scandal had been so ugly during those years, the Lin family and his wife’s side were highly repulsed by Qin Sinuan and her son. Therefore, he didn’t bring Lin Zhu back to the main house, only compensating him financially.

Because of this, Lin Zhu grew up with a twisted and dark heart, harboring intense malice toward Lin Xiujie. On one hand, he indulged himself and willingly degraded into depravity; on the other hand, he constantly compared himself to his elite half-brother…

One could easily imagine that his mind would only become increasingly distorted.

And his extremely high pheromone compatibility with Yan Ruoyun was a turning point in his degenerate life—the only turning point that allowed him to stand above Lin Xiujie and gain a sense of satisfaction.

Possessing all the character’s memories, Lin Zhu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: No matter the reason, harboring such intentions to hurt others was ultimately wrong.

How innocent was Yan Ruoyun?

Thinking of this, Lin Zhu wanted to sigh again.

He now had to play the role of this gloomy teenager who relied on pheromone compatibility to recklessly hurt Yan Ruoyun.

Under these circumstances, Yan Ruoyun actually wanted to give it a try with him??

Lin Zhu couldn’t resist glancing at the man’s side profile. Only when the Ferrari drove out of the underground parking lot did he say in an incredulous tone,
“…I might not be as good as you think?”

After a long moment.

Yan Ruoyun suddenly let out a laugh. He casually rolled down the window a crack, and the howling wind instantly rushed into the car, carrying his voice so it sounded both near and far,
“With your performance tonight, just how good do you expect me to think you are?”

Lin Zhu’s face instantly flushed red.

—Right.
Being late, getting a nosebleed, suddenly going into a rut, and even biting the guy until he cried from the pain… The entire night, it seemed he had been doing nothing but stupid things, acting exactly like a single-celled golden retriever goofball.

At this moment, Yan Ruoyun called out, “Lin Zhu.”

Lin Zhu turned his head to look at the man’s side profile as he kept his eyes on the road. The city’s neon lights flashed quickly over him through the crack in the window, outlining his faint silhouette.

“I don’t think you’re incredibly good. I have plenty of terrible habits myself…” Yan Ruoyun said candidly. “If, while getting along, we find that we’re incompatible, we’ll just split up amicably. What do you think?”

He was indeed very frank, laying the ugly truth out from the start: “Even if you agree to try seeing me, I have a condition—until we completely formalize our relationship, I don’t plan to tell others about us, nor will I break off my engagement early. Can you accept that?”

Had it been any other Alpha, he would never have said such things. Without a doubt, no Alpha would agree to such a ‘humiliating and sovereignty-forfeiting’ treaty.

But Lin Zhu… was truly so silly and cute that it made him want to take a bold leap and try.

It was just that Yan Ruoyun’s encounter with him wasn’t purely accidental. Between the two of them lay all sorts of entanglements between the Yan and Lin families, as well as his own illness… If they went public too early, this fragile relationship would inevitably face a lot of unnecessary external pressure.

This wasn’t what Yan Ruoyun wanted.
He preferred to let things develop naturally with Lin Zhu.

Just as Yan Ruoyun thought, Lin Zhu didn’t feel his dignity as an Alpha was insulted in the slightest. Instead, he harbored an intense sense of guilt towards the man.

He was bound to the ‘Ex-Husband Roleplay System’. His purpose for approaching Yan Ruoyun was impure to begin with, which made him feel like an emotional con artist.

—Scumbag Ex-Husband.
These few words contained a dual meaning.

‘Scumbag’ needed no further explanation, while ‘Ex-Husband’ meant… he and Yan Ruoyun would never have a future together; they were destined to end in tragedy.

Right then, the System sensed its host’s tangled, rollercoaster-like thoughts and couldn’t help popping up to console him:
“Hasn’t the Host read the original book? The character you’re playing is just a tool meant to push the protagonist’s awakening. The protagonist’s true love is Lin Xiujie!”

“Once you successfully complete the final ‘divorce’ plot point, you can log off. The protagonist will pull himself together with Lin Xiujie’s companionship and successfully cure the genetic disease that has plagued him for half his life. In the ending, the two will break free from the control of pheromones and become a truly connected, loving couple.”

“Isn’t this a good thing?”
The System asked in confusion.

Lin Zhu: “……Yeah.”

Seeing its host’s mood rapidly plummeting like a parabola despite its consolation, the System hurriedly added, sweating bullets:
“Ahem… Host, you have to think about it this way: once all the key plot points are completed, you’ll be able to resurrect and return to your original world, and this book world will also successfully avert its crisis. It’s killing two birds with one stone! A win-win!”

“Compared to the loss of having a doomed romance with you, at least the protagonist won’t completely disappear due to the collapse of the book world, right?”

“Between both dying and both living, of course you’d choose both living!”

It was nearly ten o’clock at night.
Traffic on the road wasn’t congested, and the red Ferrari roared past swiftly and steadily like a phantom.

The GPS indicated there were about twenty minutes left until they reached their destination.

Twenty minutes later.
The car arrived at the destination, parking outside the residential community’s main gate.

An AI female voice chimed in right on cue: “You have arrived at ‘Century Tianheng’, this navigation has ended.”

Inside the dim car, Yan Ruoyun’s hands remained resting on the steering wheel. He sat quietly for a few seconds before asking, “Little mute, have you made up your mind?”

Lin Zhu had been silent the whole way, spending most of his time staring at the rapidly retreating blur outside the window, lost in thought. Occasionally, he would cast a secretive, complicated glance at the man.

He had to admit, the System made a lot of sense.

The light from a streetlamp slanted in through the crack in the window, falling perfectly over Yan Ruoyun’s eyes and illuminating the deep grayish-green hidden within them until it shone brightly.

How should he describe it?

Lin Zhu stared straight into that grayish-green, opened his mouth, and asked, “What if you find out in the end… that everything between us was an absolute mistake?”

He asked again, “What if you and I are destined to not make it to the end?”

Yan Ruoyun merely turned his head back, looking directly into Lin Zhu’s eyes, and replied casually, “Does that matter?”

The grayish-green hue became bright and radiant with his carefree smile… It held more vitality than the fresh buds of spring, was more vibrant than the thick shade of midsummer, and overwhelmed Lin Zhu with an unstoppable force.

Yan Ruoyun simply said:
“Lin Zhu, I never take out loans on the future.”
“—What I want, is this very moment.”