Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Lu Yao isn’t here, we can go in and wait for him."

Ever since Lu Yao was taken away by Fu Yanhuai during his presentation, Guan Qinglu and Lu Qianxing had lost all contact with him. While his being in heat could explain the first few days, Fu Yanhuai had already reappeared at the company, yet Lu Yao still showed no intention of reaching out. This left Guan Qinglu with a growing sense of unease.

Lu Qianxing spoke urgently, "He presented. We’re his family. Of course we’d be worried when we can’t reach him."

They didn’t know if Lu Yao had said anything to Fu Yanhuai. That day, Fu Yanhuai’s attitude had noticeably cooled when he left. Upon hearing about it, Lu Zhongguang was furious when he returned home. He uncharacteristically lost his temper, and Guan Qinglu even had a huge argument with him.

The atmosphere at home had been tense, with Guan Qinglu constantly fretting over how Lu Yao could have presented. Lu Qianxing had reached his breaking point.

The house manager replied politely but dismissively, "Neither Mr. Fu nor Mr. Lu have returned yet. When Mr. Lu comes home, I’ll inform him that you and Mrs. Lu visited."

Lu Qianxing’s expression immediately darkened. "Lu Yao is my brother. Do I need his permission in advance just to see him?"

Lu Yao happened to walk up just in time to hear this and fell silent.

Xia Shiyue, standing beside Lu Yao, spoke up first in surprise, "Of course. This isn’t your house—you can’t just barge in whenever you want."

Lu Qianxing turned sharply, and Guan Qinglu stared at Lu Yao, unable to look away. "You really did present as an omega… two decades later than your brother…"

If Lu Yao had presented earlier, maybe her circumstances could have changed. Perhaps she wouldn’t be in this situation now…

Lu Yao could vaguely sense Guan Qinglu’s thoughts, but the way she now maintained a strained socialite facade wasn’t something that could be altered simply by the gender of her child’s presentation.

Guan Qinglu’s hopes should never have been pinned on someone else in the first place.

Lu Qianxing didn’t recognize Xia Shiyue. Xia Shiyue disliked attending those stuffy parties, preferring instead to throw himself into starting businesses, losing money, starting again, and losing money again—a cycle he never tired of.

Lu Qianxing found Xia Shiyue vaguely familiar but couldn’t quite place him. He asked warily, "Who are you? This is our family matter—it has nothing to do with you."

Xia Shiyue had already begun to sneer. Lu Yao cut Lu Qianxing off, "Why did you come looking for me?"

Lu Qianxing held back from continuing and carefully studied Lu Yao for a moment. "I… didn’t you present? Mom and I came to see how you’re holding up."

After Lu Yao was taken away by Fu Yanhuai, Lu Qianxing had thought it over carefully and concluded that Lu Yao must have been on the verge of presentation when he first arrived at the Lu family. Now, Lu Qianxing wasn’t sure how much Lu Yao remembered about that day, so he wanted to feel him out.

Lu Yao replied calmly, "I’m fine. You can go back."

Surprisingly, it was Guan Qinglu who reacted first with displeasure. Her voice was shrill as she snapped, "Is this how you treat your family? We came all this way to see you, and you’re telling us to leave?"

This time, before the house manager or Xia Shiyue could react, Lu Yao shot back, "Really? Locking me in a guest room while I was presenting—did you really not know about that, Mom?"

Lu Qianxing hadn’t expected Lu Yao to remember everything. Unusually, he felt a pang of guilt.

Xia Shiyue was hearing about this for the first time. After a stunned pause, he snapped, "How dare you two come here and accuse Lu Yao?"

Lu Qianxing, flustered and angry, retorted, "Even if that happened, you should at least give us a chance to explain! What are you trying to do now—cut ties with us?"

"Yes."

Lu Yao’s answer stunned everyone. "I’ll pay back every cent the Lu family spent raising me, Mom."

Guan Qinglu was so shocked she forgot to argue, just listening as Lu Yao continued, "I’m not your burden. But if I’m really the reason you’ve had it so hard, then let me go."

Severing the tangled threads of love and resentment in family ties was agonizing. Lu Yao’s face was pale, but his voice never faltered.

He couldn’t force someone to love him—not even if that person was his mother.

Perhaps everything else could be achieved through effort or money, but love couldn’t. Guan Qinglu had never loved him, and no amount of coercion would change that.

Besides, Lu Yao had never wanted to force anything.

It wasn’t until Lu Yao and the others had gone inside that Lu Qianxing finally came to his senses. "What did he mean by that?"

Disbelief quickly turned to anger. Lu Qianxing raised his voice at Guan Qinglu, "Mom, did you hear that?"

The bleak look on Guan Qinglu’s face startled him, and he finally sensed that something was wrong—a twinge of fear creeping in.

Hesitantly, he asked, "You…?"

Guan Qinglu gripped Lu Qianxing’s hand tightly, stubbornly insisting, "Of course we’ll be better off without him. Xiao Xing, forget about him. Let’s go home."

The house manager waited until the two had left before turning back inside. Xia Shiyue was saying something to Lu Yao, who managed a faint smile in response.

The house manager poured each of them a cup of herbal tea. Unsure how to comfort him, Xia Shiyue said quietly, "Actually, this might be for the best. Now that you’ve presented as an omega, the Lu family might start demanding more and more from you."

"I know." Lu Yao lowered his eyes. "You’re right."

Xia Shiyue sighed. "I’ll pass on the tea. Isn’t Fu Yanhuai coming back soon? You should rest. Come to the shop tomorrow—we’ll meet the employees. We’ll all be working together going forward."

Lu Yao replied gently, "Okay."

Truthfully, Lu Yao had no idea if Fu Yanhuai was returning soon. Lu Yao was acutely aware of the gap in status between them and didn’t dare—nor could he—ask about such things.

The house manager knew better than to comment on the Lu family’s affairs, so he brought up something else to distract Lu Yao. "Mr. Lu, Mr. Fu asked you to move your belongings into his bedroom. Would you like to do that now, or after dinner?"

Lu Yao had almost forgotten. He checked the time. "Let’s move things first. I don’t have much, so it shouldn’t take long—right before dinner."

The house manager agreed. "Very well."

Fu Yanhuai’s bedroom connected to a large dressing room. Lu Yao found an empty cabinet to store his clothes.

He really didn’t own much. What filled the closet were the clothes Fu Yanhuai had asked Kevin to make for him.

Lu Yao looked up at the packed wardrobe—his clothes placed alongside Fu Yanhuai’s—and felt an odd intimacy.

The house manager approached and asked, "Is this everything?"

Lu Yao hesitated. He had left behind his old jackets and pajamas, remembering that Fu Yanhuai didn’t seem to like them.

He didn’t mention those. "Yes, this is all."

The house manager nodded. "Alright. I’ll have dinner ready. Come downstairs when you’re done."

Leaving the dressing room, Lu Yao entered Fu Yanhuai’s bedroom. Though he had visited often, he wasn’t familiar with it. Every visit had been during Fu Yanhuai’s rut, leaving him too preoccupied to notice the room’s furnishings.

Lu Yao thought silently, *The only part I recognized well was this bed.*

Now, there was an extra blanket on the bed, and Lu Yao found it strangely out of place.

Would he really be living in this room with Fu Yanhuai from now on?

It seemed unreal. But this was his long-held dream finally coming true. Carefully, he closed the door and headed downstairs.

Dinner was just Lu Yao alone. He wanted to message Fu Yanhuai to ask when he’d be home but worried about disturbing his work.

So instead, he turned on the projector in the living room and put on a random movie to watch. Outside, the sky had darkened. Lu Yao stretched out on the sofa and, before he knew it, fell asleep.

Fu Yanhuai returned home late at night. The muted movie was still playing, and Lu Yao was fast asleep with his head resting on his arm.

The lamp by the sofa was still on—clearly, Lu Yao had been waiting for him to come back.

The feeling of someone waiting for him was rather unfamiliar yet comforting. Lu Yao seemed a little cold, curling up and burying his face in his arms.

Fu Yanhuai took off his coat and draped it over Lu Yao. The sweet scent of Silver Fir with caramel notes filled the air, and Lu Yao blinked awake groggily.

"*Yanhuai...*"

Fu Yanhuai leaned down and kissed Lu Yao’s lips. "How long have you been waiting?"

The scene was so much like that of a couple deeply in love for years. A slow swell of contentment rose in Lu Yao’s heart, and he gazed at Fu Yanhuai with unthinking fondness. "Not long."

Fu Yanhuai suddenly said, "Put your arms up."

Puzzled, Lu Yao raised both hands. Fu Yanhuai bent down, slipped his hands under Lu Yao’s thighs, and lifted him up. He shifted him slightly for better balance, and Lu Yao, blushing, slowly buried his face against Fu Yanhuai’s neck.

As Fu Yanhuai carried him upstairs, he asked, "Did Guan Qinglu come by today?"

Lu Yao stiffened in his arms, worried that Fu Yanhuai might be displeased. He answered nervously, "She didn’t do anything. She left quickly."

Fu Yanhuai lowered Lu Yao onto the bed and met his uneasy gaze. After a moment of thought, he said, "The Lu family acted very strangely on the day of your differentiation, so I did some digging."

Lu Yao stared at him blankly.

"Ji Qian Group’s newly developed special injection for rut periods will be fully released next month. This injection might solve my issue with pheromone resistance."

Lu Yao’s eyes widened, and Fu Yanhuai continued, "So Shen Tai took advantage of this collaboration to bring Shen Jinyan along and sound me out. Shen Jinyan promised Lu Qianxing access to banquets and resources in exchange for keeping you separated from me for two days—preventing you from returning to the Fu family with me."

Before Lu Yao could react, Fu Yanhuai added, "The Shen family overstepped, so I’ve terminated my cooperation with them."

Fu Yanhuai’s tone was casual, but the decision would undoubtedly cause major waves in the business world.

Perhaps Lu Yao was a small factor in it, but Fu Yanhuai was more concerned with the challenge to his authority. He was using this incident to warn anyone with ulterior motives—despite his relative youth compared to those scheming old-timers, he remained the Fu family’s sole S-class heir. His dignity and status were not to be trifled with. No matter the approach, Fu Yanhuai would not tolerate repeated attempts to test his limits.

Lu Yao clearly couldn’t process all this information at once. Fu Yanhuai brushed his fingers along Lu Yao’s cheek and said, "As for your family situation, handle it as you see fit. I won’t interfere further."

Lu Yao said softly, "Oh… okay. I understand."

"There’s one more thing."

Fu Yanhuai asked with slight puzzlement, "Did you know Shen Jinyan back in university? Why did you drop out?"

Lu Yao instantly fisted the sheets beneath him. "W-we didn’t really know each other, but..."

He struggled to speak. "He reported to the school that I was engaging in... compromising arrangements off-campus. He even posted pictures on the forum. So... I had to leave school."