Chapter 37: Shao Ye, we're done.

At her words, a cold shiver shot up Shao Ye’s spine, sending an instant wave of sweat flooding his body. His eyes went wide with disbelief. He stared at his sister, unable to process what she'd just said.

“Are you out of your damn mind?” he bellowed, voice shaking with a mixture of fury and panic. "He’s Lu Zhanxing!"

His anger and anxiety nearly made his words stutter as he couldn't stand the thought of his sister even considering hurting Lu Zhanxing.

“Ah Lan, I’ve promised to sever ties with him—you don’t have to try and hold onto him,” he continued, each word more tense than the last. “And he's the Supreme Commander of the Alliance Military! You think you can just use your pheromones to scare him off?”

He scoffed, barely able to keep his tone civil. "Doesn't that sound like some naive fantasy to you? Completely unrealistic?"

Shao Ye forced himself to stay calm, but his agitation was far too evident.

Shao Lan, however, wasn’t fazed by his rant. She slowly lowered her head, her once bright eyes darkening with a mixture of sadness and something else—something sharper. Her expression shifted, taking on a cold, almost chilling edge. She swirled her glass of red wine, the liquid spinning into a little vortex that reminded her of the entrance to hell.

“Brother... you still can’t let him go, can you?” Her voice was soft, but the words hit Shao Ye like a hammer.

“I…” Shao Ye was momentarily stunned, silenced by the weight of her accusation. He couldn’t find a single response.

He knew better than to argue with her now. He couldn’t afford that. His mind raced, figuring out how to placate her, to use smooth words to calm her down.

Right now, the situation was critical. He had to make her happy, keep her in line. He had to do whatever it took to get her to agree to let him meet with Lu Zhanxing.

If he could get that meeting, he could pass on the critical weakness of the rebellion’s third-generation mechas to Lu Zhanxing. That was Shao Ye’s secret plan, the one thing he was counting on.

Months ago, when he was forced by Boss Bai into the weapons manufacturing business, Lu Zhanxing’s words had shone like a light in Shao Ye’s dark world, inspiring him to think differently.

Shao Ye understood the brutal nature of war and didn’t want his creations to be used as tools of destruction. When he helped replicate the mechas, he secretly left a flaw in the system—a flaw only he knew about.

He hoped that one day, when these mechas were used in an invasion, he could trigger that flaw and bring the entire system down. That way, the mechas would become useless piles of scrap metal.

Without the mecha units and heavy artillery, the rebellion wouldn’t stand a chance against the Alliance Military.

Lu Zhanxing had been right. Shao Ye’s heart had always yearned for freedom and peace.

Even if his sister held him in a prison of love, he never truly considered staying by her side.

All the attention and cooperation he'd given her in recent days?

That had been nothing but a distraction, a ploy to keep her from seeing his true intentions—everything he did had been to create an opportunity for his plan to unfold.

Shao Lan stood there, her face full of grievance, tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment.

He could hear her soft, desperate tone, the kind that made his gut twist. Her voice cracked, barely holding herself together as she pleaded, "Brother, all I want is to keep you by my side—I'm your family, not him."

Her eyes were clouded with a mix of frustration and hurt, the kind that would make any man falter, but not him. Not this time.

"Then what about Lu Zhanxing?" she shot back, her eyes hardening. "If he wasn’t drawn to you by some pheromone match, would he even look your way?"

Her words struck, but he didn't flinch. He already knew where she was going with this. She was obsessed. "You're marked by him. That's why you're all twisted up, thinking you need him."

The tears were starting to fall, slow and steady, but the way she fought it—it was like she was playing some game of guilt, trying to drown him in her own misery.

"Brother, you can’t just throw me away for him," she gasped, her voice trembling. She was crumbling in front of him, but he’d seen it all before. This wasn’t just about love. This was about control.

He let out a sigh, leaning back, his patience thinning. His sister was no fool—she knew the difference between family and obsession. She wasn't fighting for his love; she was fighting to keep him locked in her world, where he was just hers.

He couldn’t explain this to her anymore. Not that she'd ever get it. So, he did what he always did when he wanted to end things without making a scene. He pretended to give in.

He gently brushed her hair aside, the touch soft but the gesture sharp with an edge of finality. "Alright, Ah Lan, if you're that worried, you can come with me."

Her eyes flickered, surprise painted all over her face. She stammered, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her voice shaking, "What...?"

He fixed his gaze on her, calm but with an undercurrent of something more—something firm, something unyielding. "I know you feel insecure. I know you're worried I’ll just leave with him the moment we meet." He leaned closer, lowering his voice like he was trying to calm a nervous animal. "But Ah Lan... you’re the one that matters to me. I won’t just walk away from you."

His words landed with weight, each one chosen carefully, wrapping around her like chains, making it impossible for her to resist. "So, when I go see Lu Zhanxing, you’ll be with me. And when it’s done, we’ll come back together. How about that?"

The sincerity in his voice was like a dagger wrapped in velvet, sharp but impossible to reject.

She stared at him, her emerald eyes wide, too stunned to speak. And then, as if a dam broke, the tears fell—this time, real, no pretense, no games. She was crushed with happiness, with a joy that almost seemed dangerous in its intensity.

"Okay, okay..." she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion, a smile on her face that was as sweet as it was painful. "Thank you, brother... I’m so happy you chose me..." Her voice caught on the edge of a sob, her smile cutting through him like a blade, both gentle and sharp. "I’m so happy…"

Shao Lan clung to Shao Ye like her life depended on it, burying her face in his chest as her sobs tore through the silence.

Shao Ye froze, his hand halfway out to return her embrace before stopping dead in midair. His emotions churned—guilt stabbing deep, confusion twisting tight. But no matter how much it hurt, he knew this had to be done. His heart weighed heavy, yet he steeled himself. Even if it meant crushing her expectations, there was no other way.

Not long after, Shao Lan led him to meet Lu Zhanxing.

The Alliance military wasn’t stupid; they knew exactly what kind of power Shao Lan, an Enigma, wielded over Alphas. There was no way in hell they’d let Lu Zhanxing show up to this little rendezvous without backup.

The meeting was set in a sterile conference room, making the whole thing feel absurdly formal—like this wasn’t just some Omega trying to meet their Alpha. The weight of it all pressed on Shao Ye’s chest, sharp and suffocating.

Lu Zhanxing didn’t come alone. His special ops squad flanked him, their presence a blatant reminder of past ghosts. Shao Ye’s gaze darted between their faces, every one of them twisting the knife of guilt deeper. Yas, who should’ve been their best man, was gone, and Shao Ye couldn’t bear to meet their eyes.

Then there was Lu Zhanxing himself, sitting across the table. His expression was a fortress of cold indifference, his gaze sharp enough to cut through steel. There wasn’t an ounce of warmth, no sign of recognition in those icy depths. To him, Shao Ye might as well have been a stranger.

No greeting. No acknowledgment. Just a silent wall of hostility radiating across the room, a clear stay-the-fuck-away vibe.

Shao Ye had imagined this moment a thousand times—reunions filled with fiery passion or tearful confessions.

But this?

This cold, barren battlefield?

He never saw it coming.

When Lu Zhanxing finally spoke, his words weren’t even for Shao Ye. He aimed them past him, straight at Shao Lan.

“Commander Shao,” he began, his voice a low rumble laced with authority, “I’ve made my position clear.”

He leaned forward, his tone cutting like a blade. “Not one inch of Alliance territory is negotiable. If you want peace, then pull your rebel scum out of the Eighth Galaxy and pay for the damages. Otherwise? Save the speeches—we’ll settle this on the battlefield.”

The finality in his voice was deafening. He pushed back his chair, rising like he’d already decided this conversation wasn’t worth his time. Not once did his eyes so much as flick toward Shao Ye.

Shao Ye stood there, frozen, his mind blank, his mouth opening and closing like he’d been punched in the gut.

Nothing came out.

“Commander Lu, wait!” Shao Lan’s voice cracked like a whip, slicing through the tension. She stepped forward, her tone firm.

“This isn’t about politics,” she said. “This is personal.”

Lu Zhanxing stood with his back to them, his voice slicing through the tension like a frostbitten gale from the depths of a winter hell.

"I don’t think I have anything personal to discuss with the rebel army."

The words were ice-cold, sharp as a blade, and laced with disdain.

"Zhanxing!" Shao Ye’s voice cracked as he shot to his feet, the sudden movement sending a dizzying rush to his head. He staggered, almost toppling over, until Shao Lan was at his side, steadying him with an arm. Only then did he regain some semblance of balance, though his hands gripped the edge of the table like a drowning man clinging to driftwood.

His body quivered—just barely, but enough to betray the turmoil clawing at his insides. The trembling wasn’t physical weakness; it was raw, unfiltered despair bleeding from a soul that had been gutted.

In a voice so hoarse it sounded like it was scraping his throat raw, Shao Ye choked out, "Do you remember... what you promised me back then?" His words were jagged, each one cutting deep as though it hurt to let them out.

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, his voice cracking under the weight of his grief. "You swore to me... no matter what mistakes I made, you’d stay by my side. You’d face the consequences with me."

His breath hitched. "Did you forget that, Zhanxing?"

But Lu Zhanxing didn’t even bother to turn around. Instead, he let out a dry, mocking laugh.

"Oh, Ah Ye, don’t tell me you’re still this naive." His tone dripped with cruelty, devoid of even the faintest trace of warmth.

The words hit Shao Ye like an avalanche, burying him alive in suffocating cold. He froze, his mind blank, unable to process the venom in Lu Zhanxing’s voice.

Lu Zhanxing finally continued, his words laced with brutal finality. "You and I… there was always a gap between us, a chasm we could never bridge. Back then, I was willing to entertain the idea of closing it. After all, you’re an exceptional Omega."

"But now? You’ve turned that gap into an abyss. A bottomless void neither of us can cross."

There was a cruel pause, a moment of silence so heavy it pressed down on everyone in the room. Then Lu Zhanxing delivered the killing blow.

"Ah Ye, it’s over. We’re done."

His voice was merciless, his words slicing clean and deep. But he wasn’t finished yet.

"Oh, and by the way—O'Dell Imperial Academy contacted me recently. Turns out, my pheromone compatibility matched with another Omega. Not as high as ours, sure, but close enough. And she’s nobility. No gland defects. Perfect for the family name."

Lu Zhanxing’s lips curled into a ghost of a smirk, cruel and cold. "The Lus are already planning the wedding."

"So do yourself a favor, Ah Ye. Accept reality. And don’t ever show up in front of me again."

With that, Lu Zhanxing strode out of the room, each step precise and unhurried, as though the exchange had left him utterly unbothered. Not a single glance back. Not an ounce of regret.

The rest of the squad lingered for only a moment, their pitying gazes landing on Shao Ye like daggers before they followed their commander out.

Every word Lu Zhanxing had spoken was a poisoned arrow, each one burying itself deeper into Shao Ye’s chest, leaving his heart shredded, his soul hollow.

Shao Ye stood there, numb, vision blurred by tears he couldn’t stop. His lips parted slightly as if to speak, but no sound came out. Breathing felt impossible, the air too thick, too cold.

A single tear traced a slow path down his cheek, falling onto the table where it shattered into nothing—just like him. Just like everything he had once believed in.

And then there was Shao Ye's fiery, reckless heart—always burning, always too much.

Two lifetimes. Two goddamn lifetimes. And for the first time, he actually let himself feel something real for someone—let himself like someone, deep down, no holding back.

And what did he get for it? This. This cold, empty, soul-crushing mess.

All that careful, guarded love he’d been holding onto? Shattered. Scattered. Blown away into the freezing air like it was nothing.

Shao Ye stood there, numb, realizing something he didn’t think was possible. Turns out, when heartbreak cuts deep enough, you can actually hear your own heart crack open and break into pieces.