Chapter 28 - Divorce

"After my mother died, my relationship with my father became very strained, to the point where I moved out of the house." Ning Wan let out a laugh. "Back then, I was always childish and foolish, maybe it was because puberty hit along with gender differentiation. I was always doing rebellious things, deliberately trying to provoke my father. Looking back now, part of it was out of spite, but more of it was actually to get his attention but my father never bothered to look at me, and whatever needed to be communicated was done through his secretary... After my mother died, no one ever went to the parent-teacher meetings for me again."

As he spoke of these things now, it was like reopening old wounds, but there wasn't much pain on his face. It seemed that time had sealed those memories, so talking about them was like talking about someone else's affairs, calm and indifferent.

"I was eleven years old, during the summer vacation after graduating from elementary school, Luo Xiao and I decided to go swimming at Weiming River— Weiming River is a river in my hometown, R City. We went swimming there partly out of curiosity and partly out of rebellion because my father had warned me over the phone not to swim near the river."

Shen Shuyun's heart tightened. He felt like he had heard about Weiming River somewhere before...

"I prided myself on being a good swimmer, so I went into the river to swim. But I got carried away and swam out of the shallow area, reaching the middle of the river. Sometimes, things just happen by chance, my calf cramped in the water, and I couldn't shout for help with all that water rushing into my mouth and nose... I was so scared then, I really thought I was going to die in that river." Ning Wan paused for a moment before continuing, "But someone swam towards me, lifted me out of the water, and dragged me to the shore. He saved me."

"At that time, my mouth and nose were full of water, and my mind was not very clear. I tried hard to see that person clearly, but I couldn't. I couldn't even say a single word, not even to ask his name." Ning Wan's eyes showed a few strands of indescribable tenderness, as if the memory of that past should be gentle. "But when he bent down, I smelled the scent of his pheromones... His pheromones smelled like jasmine. He was an omega."

Shen Shuyun's face suddenly turned pale. He clutched his clothes, his palms full of cold sweat. He stared at Ning Wan, feeling the blood in his veins gradually turning cold.

"What... what are you trying to say?"

At this moment, what Shen Shuyun really wanted to say was not this. Actually, he wanted to shout at Ning Wan, to beg him to stop, to stop talking, to please stop.

"I started frantically looking for an omega with jasmine-scented pheromones. I searched for many, many years... because from that day on, I couldn't forget him. With each passing year, my feelings for him grew deeper. I thought I couldn't live without him. I even posted so many missing person notices but couldn't find an omega with jasmine-scented pheromones, because there are so few purebred omegas in this world... Until, I met you in that car accident."

"But I've never saved a drowning boy!"

"Yes, you never did." Ning Wan looked at him, his pupils like a rolling ink sea, dark and deep, reflecting no one's shadow. "It's me. I made a mistake."

Shen Shuyun was trembling all over. It felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him from head to toe, a hole had been punched in his chest, and the wind was howling through it, making his heart pound. He stared at Ning Wan with wide eyes, disbelief written all over his face. It took a long time before he found his voice, hoarse and shaky, from his throat that tasted like blood, "So, Ning Wan, are you saying that you liked me only because my pheromones smelled like jasmine and you mistook me for the person you had been looking for all these years?"

His eyes turned as red as blood at the corners, veins stood out in his eyes, and his gaze was burning and intense, causing Ning Wan to feel a scorching pain all over his body— he had never seen Shen Shuyun so out of control, so heartbroken.

Ning Wan gritted his teeth and forced the words through them, each word like a heavy stone, smashing Shen Shuyun's heart to pieces: "Yes."

Shen Shuyun suddenly stood up. He wanted to take a few steps forward and grab Ning Wan by the collar to loudly question him if all their past feelings were fake. But he tripped over the table leg and fell to the ground in embarrassment. He was shaking all over, his mind in chaos, pain radiating from his chest to his limbs, so intense that he didn't even have the strength to stand up.

So this is how it was...

What Ning Wan had said to him before, things he couldn't understand at the time, now all made sense.

Ning Wan had said he fell in love at first sight, not during the car accident, but many years ago by the river.

But what kind of love at first sight was this?

What he saw was not him, and who he had fallen for was not him either.

Shen Shuyun suddenly remembered their wedding night. He had asked Ning Wan if he was happy, and Ning Wan had said it was achieving what he desired. So this was what he meant.

It was all wrong, from the very beginning.

Shen Shuyun lay pale on the ground, which scared Ning Wan. Ning Wan hurried over to help him up, but Shen Shuyun slapped his hand away with a crisp sound. Shen Shuyun just sat there on the cold floor, the crystal chandelier above the dining table casting an orange-red glow on his face. His eyes were full of glittering tears, and he struggled to lift his head to ask Ning Wan, "So you're here to correct this mistake?"

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If you're angry, you can hit me to vent."

"Ning Wan, I learned martial arts from my father to protect myself and the people I love," Shen Shuyun choked up, his voice still gentle despite his deep sorrow, "not to vent my anger."

Ning Wan's breathing became heavier. He was silent for a few seconds before turning around to open the briefcase he had brought home. He took out a few thin sheets of paper and placed them on the dining table.

"Shen Shuyun, let's get a divorce." Ning Wan felt a sharp pain in his chest. He squatted down, intending to wipe Shen Shuyun's tears, but there were no tears. His eyes were red, but no tears fell. "This villa is yours, and half of my shares and real estate are also yours. I've already had the lawyer write everything up; it's on the second page of the agreement. If you're not satisfied, you can let me know, and I'll do my best to meet your demands."

Shen Shuyun laughed mockingly. Did Ning Wan think he cared about these things? Did Ning Wan think he married him for these?

Even if Ning Wan was still the penniless young man he once was, he would have still married him.

He was a complete joke! All these years, it had been nothing but his wishful thinking... He had thought Ning Wan had just fallen out of love, but Ning Wan had never loved him at all. Not even him, Shen Shuyun. Before Ning Wan found the boy who saved him, any omega in the world could have married Ning Wan—as long as his pheromones smelled like jasmine.

Ning Wan's passionate gaze, sincere love, and sweet confessions were never meant for him.

He wasn't even worthy of being a substitute. Ning Wan had just mistaken him for someone else and transferred those feelings onto him. Now that Ning Wan had found the omega he truly liked, he could take back those feelings as easily as he gave them, without a moment's hesitation.

It was that simple, without any chance of redemption, because he had lost from the very beginning.

Their three-year marriage, all the sweetness of the past, became the most laughable memories in the world when the bloody truth was revealed.

Shen Shuyun took a deep breath, then slowly stood up. His vision blurred, but he managed to sit back at the table, his voice hoarse, "Do you have a pen?"

Ning Wan handed him a pen.

Shen Shuyun used all his strength to remove the cap, but he still couldn't control the trembling of his wrist as he wrote those three most familiar words, crooked and ugly, like a scar.

Ning Wan couldn't bear to watch anymore. His lungs felt stuffed with cotton, and the realization that 'he would lose Brother Yun forever' made it hard for him to breathe. As Shen Shuyun signed the divorce agreement, Ning Wan turned around to leave almost as if fleeing.

"Ning Wan." Shen Shuyun called him.

"Yes?"

"I don't want the house..." Shen Shuyun's voice carried a trembling sob, "Could I have one more night? Just to pack my things... I won't stay long... I'll leave tomorrow, just let me stay tonight."

His voice was as soft as a handful of ash, floating lightly into the dark corners where no light reached.

Ning Wan agreed and then quickly walked away from this now broken home.

Shen Shuyun watched Ning Wan's departing figure and, with a voice only he could hear, gave his final blessing to the alpha he had shared over a thousand nights with.

"May you truly get what you wish for this time."

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T/N: I really wanna give the gong a strong punch, strong enough to send him to the underworld.