Who was that pighead?

Xie Lin sank into the sofa, his cheeks faintly flushed, the reassuring scent of sandalwood lingering around his nose.

He reached out with two fingers, pinched the collar of Lu Ye's jacket, and tugged it up to cover the lower part of his face.

Then, without giving anything away, he took a deep breath-

Bliss!

In the past, whenever he was upset, he had mostly had to work through it slowly on his own.

Fu Yunxi was too busy, either on set or rushing to appearances. Even when he managed to squeeze in some time off, there was precious little he could spare for Xie Lin.

After all, he also had Fu Yingying to look after.

Xie Lin let out a long breath and pulled the jacket over his entire face. Curled up in the soft fabric, he gradually drifted off.

The faint sound of the door opening startled him awake. He hurriedly tossed the jacket aside and sat up.

Lu Ye walked in with a grim expression.

"Taken care of?"

"Yeah!"

At the sound of Xie Lin's voice, his tense jaw instantly relaxed. He took two quick steps over and perched on the arm of the sofa.

"I called the police."

"..."

Xie Lin's gaze wandered, a little guilty.

"Was-it really that serious?"

"Yes!"

Lu Ye sounded certain.

"Attempting to force himself on an unattached omega. That alone is enough to put him behind bars for a few days."

"It wasn't exactly..."

There had been no forcing. He had just had a stress response and couldn't help beating Fu Yunxi up the moment he saw him.

It wasn't anything else he was worried about, but if the police arrested him instead, wouldn't he be shooting himself in the foot?

"But we're still on the ship. When will the police get here?"

"They'll meet us on Shattered Star Island first thing tomorrow morning."

Lu Ye took a USB drive out of his pocket and gave it a shake.

"I made a copy of the ship's surveillance footage, in case someone gets desperate and lashes out-"

As he spoke, he reached out and gently squeezed Xie Lin's shoulder.

"Tired? Go to sleep. I'll stand guard out here. You'll be safe."

"Did you watch the footage?"

"I did."

Lu Ye glanced at him, his eyes smiling.

"Yue Lan can testify. Fu Yunxi was trying to harass you."

He paused, then couldn't resist reaching up to ruffle Xie Lin's hair.

"I trust my wife. He would never hit someone for no reason. It must have been Fu Yunxi's fault!"

Xie Lin smacked the large hand off his head.

"Who's your wife? Have you no shame?"

Before he had finished speaking, the tips of his ears had quietly turned red. He got up and strode toward the bedroom.

"Xie Lin!"

"Huh?"

Xie Lin turned to look at Lu Ye, who stood in the middle of the living room.

His hands were in his pockets, his sharp, upturned eyes now brimming with tenderness.

"I'll always be on your side!"

Xie Lin's pupils trembled slightly, and he froze where he stood.

"So-"

Lu Ye's lips curved, starlight shining in his eyes.

"Fall for me!"

Xie Lin fled into the bedroom, shut the door behind him, and slowly slid down with his back against it.

His heart was beating too fast.

As for leaving Fu Yunxi, the kidnapping had merely been the last straw.

They had known each other for ten years, dated for three, and been engaged for one.

He could no longer remember how many times Fu Yunxi had sided with his sister whenever Xie Lin and Fu Yingying had a disagreement.

On his eighteenth birthday, Fu Yunxi had given him a jade peace pendant.

The mutton-fat white jade was lustrous and translucent, warm to the touch. He had loved it so much that he couldn't bear to take it off even to shower.

Until one day, he saw a pair of mutton-fat white jade bangles on Fu Yingying's wrists.

The exact same material.

"My brother picked out the jade himself."

Fu Yingying waved her wrist, smiling with innocent delight.

"I heard there was a scrap left over, but I don't know what he did with it. I wanted a pair of earrings, too!"

Scraps, scraps, scraps!

He, Xie Lin, was not a scrap!

He wasn't!

Unsurprisingly, the two of them had a huge fight.

He smashed the peace pendant. The white jade broke in half and scattered across the floor, just like the self-respect he had been unable to pick back up all these years.

And, unsurprisingly, within a few days, Fu Yunxi had won him over again with tickets to a concert.

"Yingying is an omega and a girl. Let her have her way."

"I had your peace pendant made from that jade first. Her bangles were made from what was left."

"Don't be angry anymore. It's your favorite orchestra. Shall I go with you?"

He really was pathetic!

Xie Lin curled up on the bed and buried his face in the pillow.

Threads of sandalwood still lingered around him, like a pair of gentle yet domineering hands softly cradling his falling soul.

Always on your side!

Hah. An alpha's mouth told nothing but lies!

If he took it seriously, he would lose!

At first light, Xie Lin opened his eyes and looked out through the porthole.

Not far away, the outline of an irregularly shaped island had come into view-

They had reached Shattered Star Island, and the livestream started up again.

Several times as many viewers poured in as yesterday, their comments filling the screen like snowflakes.

[We get to see Lan's gorgeous face again! Mwah, mwah, mwah!]

[Baby Ning, what happened to you? Those dark circles are huge! Mommy's heart is breaking, sob-]

[Wait, who's that pighead? A new guest?]

[Tao Miaomiao looks so refreshed today. You can tell he slept well last night!]

[Why does President Lu have dark circles too? What was he doing with He Jianing?]

[Get lost, get lost, get lost! Stop trying to latch onto our President Lu. President Lu belongs to Tao Miaomiao. The Lu-Lin ship is locked in!]

[Just a passerby who came from the trending topics. Who successfully paired up with whom?]

It wasn't that Lu Ye hadn't slept well. He hadn't slept at all!

He had planned it all out so nicely: Xie Lin would sleep inside, and he would sleep outside, a little closer to the omega he loved, falling asleep to the sweet scent of his pheromones. How wonderful would that be?

But an S+ alpha's sense of smell rivaled a police dog's.

Once Xie Lin fell sound asleep, the pheromones he unconsciously released kept threading their way into Lu Ye's nose, leaving him burning all over, his blood racing!

His little brother had tormented him all night!

He had practically had to get up every half hour to take a half-hour cold shower.

The cold water pouring over him couldn't extinguish that fire. Instead, the more he doused it, the hotter it burned.

Then he turned to look at Xie Lin, whose pale skin glowed pink after a good night's sleep, and the stirring started all over again.

Lu Ye couldn't help sighing inwardly.

When would he finally get to hold his wife openly?

He wouldn't do anything else. Even a little bite on the neck would do!

Xie Lin came out onto the deck. When the sea breeze blew over him, he suddenly felt a chill around his neck.

As though some wild beast had set its sights on him, he couldn't help reaching up to touch the back of his neck.

Sporting two enormous dark circles, He Jianing stared at Fu Yunxi in shock, his voice cracking.

"Yunxi, your face-"

Why was it even more swollen than last night?

His original features were completely unrecognizable. Black and blue all over, he looked just like a paint palette knocked onto the floor.

Fu Yunxi gave a cold snort and said nothing.

He couldn't speak. The slightest movement at the corner of his mouth hurt, making his entire face twitch.

Xie Lin had been truly ruthless, beating him with deadly force and aiming his fists straight at his face. Every punch struck flesh, every blow hit his face.

He was an A-rank alpha, yet he had been beaten so badly he couldn't fight back at all. Who would believe it?

[??? That pighead is Fu Yunxi?]

[What happened last night? I demand a 24-hour livestream! I want to see! I want to see!]

[Looks like someone beat him up? Who did it? That's brutal!]

[The only people who could beat an A-rank alpha up like that would be Yue Lan or Lu Ye, right?]

[Hah. You know nothing about Wuying Rank!]