His rut came early, and now he wasn't picky?

Luo Ming, standing behind Chen Bei, had remained silent, his eyes deep and unreadable.

For once, he wasn't keeping up his persona. His expression was unusually serious, his brows knitted in thought.

Feeling a chill on the back of his neck, Chen Bei abruptly turned around. "What are you staring at? Never seen an omega before?"

"Sorry." Luo Ming pressed his lips together, his Adam's apple slowly bobbing. The next second, he awkwardly looked away and muttered, "...Never seen one with such high compatibility."

Chen Bei pricked up his ears. "What did you say?" Was he insulting me?

Didn't want to give me that special contribution award?

Had anyone ever fought you to the death before?

Luo Ming's wicked, domineering smile looked somewhat forced. "I said I'll contact the department's finance team in a bit and get you registered first."

Old Luo Third and Old Luo Fourth exchanged another look. See that? He delivered the promised benefits on the spot.

His closeness with the old man's special representative had shot right up.

Better to make him one of their own than an enemy.

What a clever move!

Luo Chen had clearly thought of this too. He narrowed his eyes and glared over, only to discover that Luo Ming had already turned and swiftly fled the scene, leaving only a hurried retreating figure behind.

"Strange. It looks like his rut's acting up?"

Meng Han murmured this, and Luo Chen sneered coldly beside him. "How is that possible? He just had a suppressant injection and sprayed on pheromone blocker. He isn't sensitive to omega pheromones at all."

Meng Han ducked his head. "I was just saying."

Couldn't you fucking just listen, then?

Seeing the "quail" about to flee, Luo Chen immediately stepped forward and clamped his chin, forcing him to look up. "Just saying?"

"Are you really that casual about everything?"

"You say whatever you like, and let anyone bite your gland too?"

[Holy shit, holy shit! The iconic scene is here! Love this part?]

[No, seriously, why are we doing this again? If an alpha actually treated me like that in real life, I'd honestly want to punch him!]

[Hey, those few steps Luo Ming ran really did look like he was burning with lust. Could he be...]

The already petite, delicate omega was pressed by one question after another. The cedar scent, invisibly radiating an intense sense of oppression, made his chest tight and his breathing shallow. Not only did his eyes redden, but his knees began to weaken too, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

Meng Han felt a little desperate. Was he going to be humiliated again? In front of everyone and the cameras, no less?

He might as well die...

Luo Chen took in every expression on the omega's face, and the nameless anger inside him burned hotter. Was he that unwilling? That...

Huh?

What had just flashed past?

Could it be...

With lightning speed, he grabbed the steel needle that was about to plunge into his major artery and roared in disbelief, "Assistant Chen, are you trying to murder me?!"

"Hardly. You won't die." Chen Bei was expressionless. "Just treating your period-ah, no, your pheromone imbalance."

Luo Chen glared. "My fucking pheromones aren't imbalanced!"

He ran swiftly into the villa, then bounded into the elevator.

He encountered Steward Wu and the servants along the way, but before he could even curve his lips to maintain his persona, Luo Ming plunged straight into his bedroom and slammed the door shut.

An unprecedented agitation pounded against his sensitive nerves like clamoring drums, intensely rhythmic and growing faster and faster.

He braced one hand against the desk and couldn't help letting out a muffled groan.

"Ngh-"

"How could this..."

Luo Ming drew a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm as he pulled a suppressant out of the drawer, swiftly injecting it into a vein that had already begun to bulge slightly.

Then he slowly slid down against the wall. A few minutes later, the wildly clamoring factors inside his body gradually settled.

As his reason returned, Luo Ming began reviewing what had happened.

He'd clearly already used a suppressant. Why had he still lost control?

Were Qin Yufan's pheromones too enticing?

NO!

The timing didn't fit.

He had already reapplied his blocker patch afterward.

Besides,

He wasn't interested in that cloyingly sweet peach scent at all.

So there was only one possible truth.

His rut had come early, and now he wasn't picky!

As soon as Chen Bei reached the sinks in the shared bathroom, Meng Han came over to him. "Thank you for helping me out."

"You're welcome." Chen Bei lowered his eyes slightly and reached out to turn on the faucet. The light made his slender, well-proportioned hands look even fairer and more translucent. "It's my duty as a supervisor."

Old Luo didn't want to watch his own grandson act out domineering CEO fiction on-screen. After all, they were here to be reformed.

Chen Bei muttered inwardly, completely failing to notice that Meng Han, standing beside him with slightly flushed cheeks, was staring at his profile in a daze.

So fucking good-looking.

Far better than that so-called top-tier omega, Qin Yufan.

Delicate features, cool, fair skin, a tall frame, and perfect proportions.

Even rarer,

Assistant Chen lacked that innate softness omegas had.

Though lean and aloof, he exuded a ruthlessness that was impossible to ignore...

This was something he lacked and envied.

Suddenly, Meng Han's gaze stopped somewhere, and he asked in confusion, "Assistant Chen, your blocker patch seems..."

At this, Assistant Chen reached up to feel the back of his neck. "Hm? When did it start peeling up?"

"I'll go back and put it on again."

He walked out of the shared bathroom without much concern and headed upstairs.

Meng Han followed close behind, saying nervously, "Assistant Chen, you need to be extremely careful. Don't let your pheromones leak and send certain alphas into a frenzy!"

"It's fine." Chen Bei smiled. "Most people can't smell my pheromones."

Meng Han froze. "Can't smell them? What do you mean..."

He was just about to ask more when a low, sinister voice suddenly came from behind him. "Who were those certain alphas you mentioned?"

"Assistant Chen, I'll go back and rest first. Let's talk later."

Fear appeared on Meng Han's face, and he shot away as though his soles had been greased.

"You-" Luo Chen was about to chase him, but caught sight of Chen Bei reaching into his pocket out of the corner of his eye. He warily stopped in his tracks. "What? You're going to stab me again?!"

Chen Bei casually pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Come downstairs to eat in half an hour."

With that, he turned and went upstairs.

Comments flew across the livestream.

[I'm dying. Just how scared is CEO Chen of that big steel needle?!]

[Apparently, special suppressants hurt way more than regular ones. He's probably had plenty of shots. Why else would he be so traumatized?!]

[Suddenly feeling a little sorry for the domineering CEO. One little assistant has him completely under his thumb!]

Luo Chen's fists gradually clenched. "Assistant Chen, sooner or later, I'll..."

Following behind, Qin Yufan saw Luo Chen's chest heaving with anger and took the opportunity to approach and comfort him. "Luo Chen, since your executive assistant isn't working out, why not just fire him?"

Luo Chen raised his proud, aloof head, his gaze fixed firmly on Chen Bei. "I'd have fired him ages ago if I could."

"You can't fire him?" Qin Yufan frowned briefly. "Then replace him and transfer him to another department?"

Luo Chen abruptly turned, his gaze icy. "Are you a spy sent by Second Brother?"

"Trying to help him steal my man?!"

[Haha, even after all this, he still doesn't want anyone stealing Assistant Chen away?]

[Is this domineering CEO the perfect example of saying one thing while his body says another?]