Apex Predator - Chap 34

Under Cheng Zimei’s penetrating gaze, Shen Dai knew he couldn’t lie or hide the truth from her any longer. Besides, what worried him at this moment was not so much that his relationship with Qu Moyu had been uncovered, but that Shen Qin had been trying to pry out information from her.

Seeing his stiff expression, Cheng Zimei offered him an easy way out. “Is that why you both signed a confidentiality agreement? So has it already been a while since you got together?”

He didn’t quite know how to answer. What exactly counted as “getting together” anyway? Even though they had already tied the knot, it didn’t seem to be the kind of “getting together” she had in mind.

Taking his silence for agreement, she exclaimed in astonishment, “So when did this all start? It couldn’t have been three years ago, right…”

“No,” replied Shen Dai, letting out a deep sigh. “Zimei, I’m going to tell you all there is to know. Once you’ve heard everything, you’ll understand why I had to lie to you and keep it a secret.” At this point, concealing things any further would have been meaningless.

Cheng Zimei could not help but straighten her back and sit up attentively. Judging from his demeanour, she could infer that what he was about to reveal next was not going to be a juicy love story fit for gossip. After all, no one would be this solemn when discussing their romantic life with their best friend.

“So far the only thing you know is that I come from a single-parent family, since my Alpha father abandoned both me and my dad when I was little. But I didn’t tell you who he was.” Shen Dai had an instinctive sense of loathing towards the name he was about to mention, causing his eyebrows to wrinkle slightly. “His name is You Xinghai.”

Cheng Zimei’s jaw immediately dropped. “You mean, the chairman of Chuanghai Mining Industries, You Baiyue’s father?”

He nodded, “The money I used to pay off the debt and buy the house was all from him. He needed me to…replace You Baiyue and form an alliance in marriage with Qu Moyu.”

Perhaps it was due to bottling up his sadness and confusion for such a long time, but despite his initial intention to stay quiet, now that the seal had been torn open, he couldn’t help but pour out everything that had transpired over the past half a year.

Although he hid many of the specifics related to his interactions with Qu Moyu, seeing her expression go from shock to excitement to a furrowed brow, he could tell that his sentiments had been accurately conveyed to her. Finally, when he was done speaking, the two of them fell into a shared silence.

Quite some time passed before Cheng Zimei – usually a nonstop talker – said unhurriedly, “Give me a moment to process this.”

Shen Dai checked his mobile phone. “Lunch time’s almost over, let’s go back.”

Earlier at noon, Cheng Zimei had adamantly pulled him over to the commercial plaza across the company for lunch, wanting to avoid eating at the cafeteria alongside their junior colleagues so she could ‘interrogate’ him alone.

“No rush, we can be a bit late.” Cheng Zimei beckoned at the waiter and called out, “Bring me a bottle of wine, please!”

“It’s still working hours, are you seriously planning on drinking?” Shen Dai sighed, “Come on, let’s head back.”

Cheng Zimei fixed her gaze on him without blinking. “You know when I told you to give pursuing the Crown Prince a shot? I was only talking shit for fun. I knew you wouldn’t have the nerve. It was obvious that Zhou Lan was a much better match for you. I never, ever imagined that you and the Crown Prince would… goddamn!

Holding her head in both her hands, she exclaimed, “The person sitting across from me is actually Xingzhou’s Crown Princess! You actually hooked up with Qu Moyu! That’s Qu Moyu we’re talking about! Fuck, it’s as if you’ve become a familiar stranger.”

“It’s only an agreement, once the merger between Xingzhou and Chuanghai is complete, we’ll have to divorce.” replied Shen Dai, forcing a smile.

“But you both have already slept together. This relationship has already gone past being just an agreement. Ah, no wonder you asked me about how to land a top Alpha the other day!”

Still seeming to be in a state of disbelief, Cheng Zimei added, “A-Dai, I have to confess something to you. I’ve only been talking big this whole time. I’ve dated two Alphas before, but really I have no clue about how to land an S-class Alpha. It’s as if they belong to a whole different species compared to us. The only top alpha I’ve really had any contact with was Professor Yu from the University of Science and Technology. But he was so old already? Apart from that, I’ve hardly spoken to any top Alphas…” All of a sudden, she stared directly at Shen Dai and asked, “How do you even manage to interact with the Crown Prince? Weren’t you scared?”

“I was pretty scared at the beginning.” But he thought about it again, and then with a hint of despondency, he confessed, “In fact, I’m still scared now.”

“It’s only right to be scared. Who can stay calm when talking with a top Alpha? Accompanying one’s sovereign is like accompanying a tiger after all! But then again, who can resist the charm of a top Alpha either?” sighed Cheng Zimei while shaking her head. As she looked at Shen Dai, there even seemed to be a bit of sympathy in her eyes. “Everyday when the Crown Prince makes the rounds of the company, who knows how many sexual fantasies he provokes? For you to like him is perfectly normal.”

“Too bad he doesn’t like me back.”

“Little brother, sleeping with him is like hitting the jackpot. The more times you do it, the more you’ll earn.” Patting his hand, she added, “I’ll support whatever decision you make, whether you really want to go after him or keep things the way they are. I just have one bit of advice for you: Never have any expectations from him. I know you too well. I just don’t want you to get in too deep and end up getting hurt.”

“I understand,” replied Shen Dai, while in fact having no idea of what it was he understood. And even if he understood, he still liked him, he still couldn’t stop that heart of his from wanting to be close to Qu Moyu, from wanting to receive the same affection in return.

How could one possibly like someone without having any expectations?

“Although, you shouldn’t lose heart,” Cheng Zimei added, comforting him. “No matter how impressive top Alphas are, they’re still human. Just let me do some research; there are many examples of ordinary people that succeeded in winning over Top Alphas. Since you have such a golden opportunity now, it’d be a pity not to seize it. Trust me, I’ll work hard to help you. If you really become the Crown Princess, I’ll also be able to soar to great heights alongside you!”

Without giving Shen Dai a chance to respond, she firmly grasped his hands, then said with seriousness and determination, “You’ll need to keep a level head, just like how we carry out our scientific research: maintaining realistic expectations without compromising our efforts!”

Shen Dai could not help but laugh, “Okay then. Although, right now, there’s something else that worries me even more.”

“It’s your Dad, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Thank goodness he didn’t manage to get any information out of you that time. But his curiosity about it is not purely innocent.”

If she hadn’t been his longtime friend, and wasn’t already aware of the trivial problems within his family, he would simply have been too embarrassed to bring up such a family scandal to anyone.

“He must have fallen on hard times on his own, otherwise he wouldn’t have come back. Now that he doesn’t have the money to sustain his extravagant spending, I’m genuinely afraid he might have something up his sleeve.”

“Then, what are you going to do? It wouldn’t be difficult for him to uncover the identity of the Crown Prince if he really wanted to. Didn’t he even track you from the company to the hospital back then?”

His brows twisted into a deep frown. “I’ll keep an eye on him for now,” he replied.

Due to his cautiousness, he would promptly send his grandmother a message via WeChat every day after leaving work to check if Shen Qin was at home or not. Thankfully, Shen Qin was still attentive in his care of his grandmother and never left the house for extended periods without a valid reason.

As the year drew to a close, the holiday season approached. Because he had been so busy clearing work these past few days before the end of the year, he planned to wait until the New Year period to have a good talk with Shen Qin.

By the time he got back to the Qu Residence, it was almost eleven. He had been working overtime often recently, and so he hadn’t had much opportunity to see Qu Moyu this week.

As soon as he stepped inside, Uncle Heng informed him, “The young master is in the study waiting for you. He needs to talk to you about something.”

“Should I head to the study?” asked Shen Dai. He could not help but glance upwards. In fact he couldn’t see the third floor from this angle, but that did not prevent him from looking up at it in his mind’s eye. To him, the third floor occupied a special existence because he had never been up there before — this was Qu Moyu’s private domain, a place he had never been permitted to enter.

“Yes, the young master should still be awake at this time. You better hurry.”

Shen Dai went back to his room to put down his things, then followed the stairs up to the next floor. Despite it being clearly such a short distance, it felt as if he were venturing into uncharted territory. Should he be glad? At the very least, it meant he was getting a little closer to Qu Moyu.

Standing at the door of Qu Moyu’s study, he lightly gave it a knock.

“Come in.”

As he pushed open the door, he was greeted by the sight of Qu Moyu sitting at his desk, already dressed in pyjamas, with several documents arranged in front of him. The backlight of the computer cast a metallic layer of blue-grey light on his face, turning his skin translucent and icy-cold. Combined with his flawless features that seemed to have been painstakingly carved, he appeared so stunning that he was almost unreal.

“Back so late? Working overtime again?” asked Qu Moyu, glancing up and scanning him briefly.

“Yeah, there’s been a lot to handle before the Lunar new year,” replied Shen Dai. Walking over to him, he gently murmured, “But you’ve been working overtime too? Aren’t you a little tired?”

Hearing this, Qu Moyu put down his pen and raised his head. “I’m still alright. Once this hectic period is over I’ll be able to rest.”

Shen Dai smiled. “Uncle Heng said there was something you needed to tell me?”

“Go back home with me for the New year.”

Shen Dai was stunned.

My grandfather has been doing a little better recently. When the whole family comes together to celebrate the New Year, he’d like to meet the wife of his grandson.

“Okay. Is there anything I need to prepare?”

“There’s no need to be nervous. All you need to do is to play your part well.”

As Qu Moyu had said before, his grandfather had no wish to see the two brothers engaged in conflict. Which was why the reason given for their marriage was that they were genuinely in love – at least this was the act that they would have to put on in front of Qu Moyu’s grandfather.

Shen Dai nodded his head: “I will.”

“We’ll stay at the house till the second day of the new year, and on day three, I’ll take you to South Africa. I’ve not gone to see that mine yet, so it’s just as well that we can go and inspect it together.” Just as Qu Moyu took a hold of his hand, Shen Dai conveniently went around the desk and sat himself on Qu Moyu’s lap.

“Alright.” said Shen Dai, then added hesitantly, ”But if we go together, won’t others find out?”

I’ll take care of the arrangements. We’ll carry out a secret inspection and let Professor Liu choose one or two others to bring along.

Qu Moyu lifted his hand and tore off Shen Dai’s pheromone blocking patch, then sniffed at the back of his neck. This had already become a routine protocol each time the two of them were alone together.

Thinking about how the Professor was going to find out about their relationship, Shen Dai could not help but feel a little embarrassed. What was the Professor going to think of him after that?

Qu Moyu drew that delicate scent of the epiphyllum into his breath, feeling that his exhaustion from the entire day had been alleviated. Holding on to Shen Dai’s slender waist, he whispered, “Professor Liu wants to cultivate you. That’s a good thing. And after this, he’ll think even more highly of you. Be it your professional standing, your thesis, your degree, or the topics you choose to research in the future, I’m here to support you.”

Shen Dai’s eyes widened. He looked at Qu Moyu, momentarily stunned, not knowing at all what to say.

Qu Moyu, on the other hand, smiled and looked at him, patiently awaiting his reply.

Shen Dai opened his mouth and unexpectedly began to stammer, “W-Why… why are you doing this, y-you don’t have to be so good to me.”

“But of course. You’re my wife,” replied Qu Moyu, with a slight smile.

He felt as if his heart had been seized completely in Qu Moyu’s grip; that scorching, enthusiastic, pounding heart, followed his every word and action, his every frown and every smile. This had been one of many such fleeting moments between them, because in spite of his utmost self restraint towards Qu Moyu’s kindness and tenderness, he found himself succumbing deeper and deeper.

Although Qu Moyu had bluntly declared that he would only marry the S-class omega capable of bearing an S-class heir for him – just for the sake of this one phrase filled with flirtatious undertones: “you’re my wife”, Shen Dai willingly surrendered his wholehearted affection.

When it came to Qu Moyu, he lacked any ability to resist whatsoever.