An Untimely Marriage

In October in the capital, the autumn rain fell cold.

Beneath the main building of the Gu family estate, a windowless underground medical room was hidden. All sides were blast-proof walls.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant. The temperature was very low.

Gu Xingzhou closed his eyes, naked from the waist up, gripping the edges of the metal medical bed.

His knuckles turned white from the excessive force.

"Young Master Gu, bear with it. This time the nerve blocker concentration has increased by twenty percent."

The private doctor in sterile clothing stood by the bed, holding a syringe filled with ice-blue liquid. His voice was flat.

Gu Xingzhou didn't speak. He gritted his teeth.

The thick, long steel needle pierced the skin on the back of his neck, plunging directly into what was originally a top-level Alpha gland.

"Ah..."

As the ice-blue liquid was pushed in, a muffled cry of pain escaped Gu Xingzhou's throat.

It hurt terribly.

Like someone thrust a red-hot steel pipe into his spinal cord and then stirred violently.

Cold sweat rolled down his pale forehead, hitting the metal sheet.

His back spasmed violently. The muscle lines hidden beneath his cold, fair skin stood out clearly. It was a body full of explosive power.

And between his beautiful shoulder blades lay an ugly cross-shaped old surgical scar.

It was a mark from when he was fifteen.

The ten-minute injection felt like a century walking on knife edges.

The doctor withdrew the needle. Gu Xingzhou was soaked through, like he had just been pulled out of water, weakly collapsed on the bed, gasping for air.

"The medicine has taken effect," the doctor reported mechanically while tidying the instruments. "For the next thirty days, your Alpha pheromones will be completely cut off. Any instrument will only detect you as an ordinary Omega with underdeveloped glands."

Gu Xingzhou struggled to sit up.

He didn't look at the doctor or at the blood-stained needle.

From the sterile tray beside him, he picked up a thin camouflage patch with a faint jasmine scent.

Tearing it open, he pressed it onto the still-bleeding gland on the back of his neck.

The cool touch suppressed some of the pain.

The aggressive, cold bitter orange leaf pheromones inside him were completely sealed within a shell called "fragile Omega."

For ten full years.

From fifteen to twenty-five. A monthly injection of high-concentration nerve blockers had become a curse he couldn't escape.

He was an S-level Alpha.

But in the profit-driven Gu family of the capital, in the eyes of his father Gu Weiyuan, an S-level Alpha who could lose control at any moment due to genetic defects was worthless.

On the contrary, a beautiful, obedient Omega who could be used for marriage with top elites was priceless.

So Gu Xingzhou became the Gu family's reclusive, "sickly Omega" young master with a rare gland disease.

"Put on your clothes. The Chairman is waiting for you in the study on the second floor." The doctor finished speaking and left the basement.

Gu Xingzhou slowly stood up.

His legs were still weak. The nerve blocker caused intense nausea and dizziness.

He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the physical reactions.

Picking up the soft white cashmere sweater nearby, he pulled it on.

The clothing effectively concealed the muscle lines on his upper body, making him appear slender, thin, with a touch of endearing fragility.

Gu Xingzhou walked to the floor-to-ceiling mirror.

In the mirror was a handsome face with cold, fair skin and gentle eyebrows and eyes. Having just endured severe pain, his lips were pale, exuding the pitiful charm typical of an Omega.

Who would have thought that under this exterior lurked a fierce beast ready to tear everything apart?

Gu Xingzhou looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes very calm, like dead water.

He skillfully adjusted his muscles to make his gaze softer and more timid.

Only after confirming that he met the standard of an "obedient Omega" from head to toe did he turn and leave the basement.

The study door on the second floor was half open.

Gu Xingzhou lightly knocked.

"Enter." A dignified male voice came from inside.

Gu Xingzhou pushed the door open, lowered his head, and walked in meekly.

Behind a huge rosewood desk sat the supreme ruler of the Gu Group, his father, Gu Weiyuan.

"Father, you wanted to see me." Gu Xingzhou's voice was very soft, with the gentle tone characteristic of an Omega.

Gu Weiyuan put down his cigar and coldly scrutinized him.

Like appraising an expensive commodity.

"The injection just now, the doctor said you cooperated well." Gu Weiyuan's tone lacked paternal concern. "Over the past few years, your disguise has become increasingly perfect. As long as no one sniffs right at your gland, even a top-level Alpha can't see through it."

"Yes, thanks to Father's guidance." Gu Xingzhou replied obediently, flawlessly.

Gu Weiyuan smiled coldly in satisfaction.

He stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked out at the bleak autumn rain.

"Xingzhou, nurture a child for a thousand days to use him for one. I spent ten whole years transforming you into a perfect Omega."

Gu Weiyuan turned around, staring at Gu Xingzhou.

"Now, it's time for you to repay the family."

Gu Xingzhou's eyelashes trembled slightly. He still kept his head down.

"As Father decides."

"Very good."

Gu Weiyuan walked back to the desk, picked up a document stamped with the military's top-secret red seal, and threw it on the table.

"This is the military industrial order the Gu family will secure next month. Worth thirty billion. It will elevate the Gu Group's status in the capital by three levels."

Gu Xingzhou stood quietly, waiting for the trump card to be revealed.

There's no free lunch. For the Gu family to swallow such a large military order, they had to offer political capital.

"Those old foxes in the military command won't let go without a profit," Gu Weiyuan said. "They demand absolute loyalty from the Gu family."

Gu Weiyuan stared at him.

"So, I have betrothed you to the Shen family."

The Shen family.

Gu Xingzhou's dead heart couldn't help but beat once.

The top military aristocrat family in the capital. Holding heavy troops.

But that wasn't the most devastating part.

"On the eighth of next month, the day after the military election ends," Gu Weiyuan announced, "you will officially marry the eldest grandson of the Shen family's main branch, the commander of the First Special Operations Division, Shen Zhaoyan."

Shen Zhaoyan.

Gu Xingzhou bit his tongue hard until he tasted blood in his mouth to suppress the storm in his eyes.

Everyone in the capital knew Shen Zhaoyan.

Twenty-eight years old. Top-level S-class Alpha.

Entered Special Forces at eighteen, made a name in border battles at twenty-two, became commander of the First Special Operations Division at twenty-five. Awarded the rank of Major General.

This was a man forged through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Nicknamed "Cold-faced Yan Wang."

He was cold-blooded, iron-fisted. Despised weak traditional Omegas.

Once, an Omega arranged by the Shen family for a matchmaking meeting tried to seduce him with pheromones; he threw her out a third-floor window, breaking her leg.

Now, Gu Weiyuan wanted him, a disguised Omega, to become the partner of this terrifying top Alpha.

This wasn't an alliance marriage.

This was stuffing a bomb into a lion's mouth.

Once Shen Zhaoyan detected his Alpha identity, once he realized he was a "monster" modified through illegal genetic engineering...

Without Gu Weiyuan lifting a finger, Shen Zhaoyan's special forces would tear him apart in a second.

"What? Scared?" Gu Weiyuan noticed his tension. "Don't worry. As long as you obediently play the role of Omega wife, a conceited soldier like Shen Zhaoyan won't bother digging into your background."

"Moreover, I need you to use this identity to spy on the First Special Operations Division's armament deployment plan."

Gu Weiyuan walked up to him and patted his thin shoulder.

"Xingzhou, this body of yours won't last many years anyway. Before you die, make one last contribution to the Gu family."

Blatant exploitation. Cruel death sentence.

Gu Xingzhou slowly raised his head.

His pretentiously innocent black eyes showed no ripples, only absolute obedience.

"Yes, Father." Gu Xingzhou's voice was very light, like an easily broken feather. "I will perfectly complete this marriage."

Gu Weiyuan laughed. Waved his hand.

Gu Xingzhou quietly withdrew from the study, gently closing the heavy mahogany door.

The moment the door shut.

The meekness and timidity on his face vanished instantly.

Under the dim wall lamp in the corridor.

His eyes turned cold and sharp, like a blade that had just tasted blood.

Shen Zhaoyan.

He silently recited the name.

That was an untouchable taboo. But this wasn't just a dead end.

It was also an exciting survival game.

A top-level Alpha becoming the "wife" of another violent top-level Alpha.

Once exposed, eternal damnation.

But in these ten dark years of his life, Gu Xingzhou had never lacked gambling with death.

Gu Xingzhou slowly walked back to his bedroom.

He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the autumn rain outside.

He gave a cold smile devoid of warmth.

"Major General Shen," he murmured, his voice carrying the wildness suppressed for ten years.

"I hope you won't let me die too quickly."

As his voice faded, hurried footsteps of military boots suddenly came from outside. "Bang!" The blast door was violently kicked open. The Gu family butler stood coldly at the door: "Young Master Gu, the adjutant of Major General Shen is already waiting for you at the military guesthouse. Now, please go for the 'goods inspection.'"