Chapter 30

As for the possibility that Ruan Xi hadn’t seduced Auston and it was all a misunderstanding, no one had even thought of that…

Not to mention Auston’s fearsome reputation throughout the Imperial Star, just considering the relationship between the Ruan brothers Ruan Xi and Ruan Tang, which was already irreconcilably hostile—what reason could Ruan Xi have to go speak alone with Ruan Tang’s husband, and with such a flirtatious look in his eyes?

“Shen Mozhi, you have to believe Xixi, you have to believe Xixi, this isn’t true, it can’t be true…” Xia Ruzhi grabbed Shen Mozhi’s hand, frantically defending the unconscious Ruan Xi.

Shen Mozhi’s face was ashen, but he instinctively shook off Xia Ruzhi’s hand and said nothing.

At this moment, with this ironic and amusing truth exposed, people not only sympathized with Ruan Tang, who had been utterly ruined by Ruan Xi, but even more so with Shen Mozhi, Ruan Xi’s fiancé.

Everyone looking at Shen Mozhi’s ugly expression could only think of four words: a green cloud covering his head.

Poor Shen Mozhi, such a promising young talent, the dream Alpha of countless Omegas on the Imperial Star, was cuckolded by Ruan Xi in such an embarrassing manner.

Moreover, the target of Ruan Xi’s attempted infidelity was Duke Auston, the Bluebeard Duke whose fearsome reputation was known throughout the Imperial Star, hated by both people and ghosts, and he had even rejected Ruan Xi.

Wasn’t this a blatant slap in the face to Shen Mozhi, Ruan Xi’s fiancé?

Such a pity, Shen Mozhi was truly too pitiable.

Sensing the sympathetic gazes of the crowd, Shen Mozhi became even more embarrassed, and he almost instinctively wanted to look at Ruan Tang.

But Ruan Tang didn’t spare him a single glance, showing neither sympathy nor satisfaction.

Watching Ruan Xi utterly disgraced, with likely no chance of recovery this time, Ruan Tang no longer wished to stay and watch their farce. He only said to the hostess, Lady Elena: “Lady, since things have been cleared up, I’m a bit tired and will take my leave. I won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Of course, of course, since you’re tired, please go and rest early. Do visit often in the future.” Lady Elena didn’t try to keep him, merely forcing a polite laugh.

Ruan Tang didn’t want to say more; he knew that even if he said nothing…

After this incident, Ruan Xi’s reputation was completely ruined. Even if they did nothing, Ruan Xi could no longer maintain a foothold in the Imperial Star’s aristocratic Omega social circle, which despised mistresses.

Ruan Tang stepped forward, exiting the farce, and took the initiative to push Auston’s wheelchair: “My Lord, let’s go.”

“Fine.” Auston looked at those still immersed in the drama and sneered, but he didn’t oppose Ruan Tang’s decision.

...

Auston had given Ruan Tang plenty of face in public, but once they were in the hovercar, just when Ruan Tang thought nothing was wrong, Auston suddenly swept everything off the coffee table with a loud crash.

Ruan Tang looked up at him in bewilderment.

“Tell me, have I been too lenient with you, so lenient that you’ve become unscrupulous and forgotten your place, daring to defy my will?” Auston grabbed his wrist, glaring at him fiercely, interrogating harshly.

This gave Ruan Tang a full taste of the Bluebeard Duke’s capriciousness and erratic temper.

Ruan Tang: “...”

Ruan Tang was dazed for a moment before belatedly realizing that Auston was probably angry because he had openly defied his wish to leave and insisted on staying, altering his decision.

Ruan Tang had thought that by agreeing to let him handle the matter, Auston had let it go. He hadn’t expected Auston’s reaction time to be so long, holding in this anger until now…

This madman’s way of thinking was indeed abnormal.

And he himself had indeed gotten carried away, daring to openly defy and even change Auston’s decision over and over again in front of everyone.

Miraculously, Auston had also compromised with him time and again…

Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Auston immediately pulled Ruan Tang closer, pinched his chin with one hand, forcing him to look up. His gaze was like a snake flicking its tongue, sinister and terrifying, full of oppressive pressure: “Speak! Why aren’t you talking? Who gave you such audacity?”

What he hated most was someone trying to manipulate, control him, or influence and change his decisions.

Although Ruan Tang meant no harm, at most being a bit spoiled, Auston still felt he needed to teach him a lesson so he wouldn’t dare do it again…

Faced with Auston’s tyranny, Ruan Tang didn’t move, letting Auston handle him however he wanted, like a kitten that had done something wrong and sensed its master’s anger, allowing itself to be kneaded and squished.

Confronted with such a terrifying and perversely capricious Auston, Ruan Tang should have been afraid, but for some reason—perhaps because of Auston’s excessive indulgence recently, or something else—Ruan Tang didn’t feel scared at all.

He stared at Auston, noticing that his eyes were bloodshot, almost bleeding red, and somehow his mind wandered, and he suddenly asked, “My Lord, your eyes are bloodshot. Are you tired? Let’s hurry back to rest…”

Ruan Tang didn’t know what was wrong with Auston; he just thought he might be very tired.

But Auston wouldn’t let him off, staring straight at him, even the veins on his forehead bulging, his gaze oppressive as he demanded, “Answer me, who gave you the guts?”

He didn’t believe that he, who could subdue even the most vicious thugs in prison, couldn’t control an Omega.

Ruan Tang, trapped with no way out, gave up and stared back at Auston: “...Of course, it was you, my Lord, who gave me the courage.”

Auston: “...”

This time, it was Auston who was left speechless.

This was exactly the effect he had wanted to achieve by bringing Ruan Tang out, but hearing it from Ruan Tang’s mouth made it seem utterly ridiculous.

He almost wanted to laugh.

But remembering that he was currently teaching Ruan Tang a lesson, he forced himself to put on a stern face, looking at Ruan Tang with a false smile and said fiercely, “I didn’t invite you here to tell me jokes.”

His tone was full of menace.

But Ruan Tang was not afraid at all, his gaze clear, and said, “I’m serious. Today, Ruan Xi failed to seduce you, and you almost got slandered by Xia Ruzhi and the others. You may not care about this matter, not care about your reputation, letting them pour dirty water on you, but I can’t bear it…”

“I had to sort things out and make it crystal clear.” Exposing Ruan Xi’s true face and ruining his reputation had been Ruan Tang’s wish since childhood.

Unfortunately, he had never been favored in the Ruan family, and no one had ever listened to him, giving him the power and opportunity to clarify things.

So, he had no choice but to swallow his teeth and endure in silence…

But now, times had changed. He had this power, and Ruan Xi had handed him the opportunity. With Auston backing him, even if he was a bit eager, he naturally wouldn’t let such a good chance slip by…

In the past, for some reason, whenever he fought with Ruan Xi, all favorable conditions and luck seemed to be on Ruan Xi’s side, as if Ruan Tang would never have the power to turn the tables.

But today, the tables had turned between him and Ruan Xi; he had finally won once.

Seeing himself defeat Ruan Xi today, as in countless dreams, and expose his true colors, Ruan Tang was exhilarated, the blood in his veins involuntarily boiling.

Even if it meant paying a certain price and incurring Auston’s anger and punishment, Ruan Tang felt it was worth it.

“What’s there to clarify? In life, as long as you’re happy, why care about others’ opinions? How they think of me, how they see me, that’s their business... I don’t care what they say behind my back, as long as they don’t say it to my face. If they do, I’ll just have people break their legs and cripple them.” Auston sneered, unable to understand why Ruan Tang cared about such things.

His whole way of doing things was exactly as he said: he only sought to follow his whims and act on his grudges freely.

Of course Ruan Tang knew how Auston generally operated, and how his reputation had become so infamous in the Imperial Star.

Knowing he couldn’t change Auston, he pursed his lips and said, “I know you don’t care about these things, my Lord, but I can’t help caring.”

For Auston, acting on impulse and being oneself was happiness; for him, distinguishing right from wrong and making things clear was true delight.

Auston gave him a deep look and immediately asked, “What? You’ve suffered a lot at the hands of that thing called Ruan Xi before?”

Auston thought Ruan Xi was vicious and insidious, smiling with a hidden blade, and though not very clever, in his eyes Ruan Tang was completely a naive sweetheart.

As Ruan Xi’s brother, Auston could tell at a glance that Ruan Tang was no match for him.

“...More or less.” Ruan Tang saw the mockery in Auston’s eyes and, not knowing how to argue that his misfortune was due to bad luck, not low intelligence, could only admit his inferiority.

Auston stared at him and suddenly asked, “That Shen Mozhi?”

Ruan Tang looked at him, puzzled: “...?”

“I saw your reaction to him when you met. You knew each other before?” Auston’s expression darkened, recalling the look Ruan Tang and Shen Mozhi had exchanged, feeling inexplicably displeased.

Ruan Tang was speechless, not expecting Auston to be so uninformed about his past, not even knowing a bit of news.

Seeing Ruan Tang silent, Auston urged, “Why aren’t you talking?”

“He’s my ex-fiancé, cough—stolen from me by Ruan Xi.” Ruan Tang had to explain his relationship with Shen Mozhi.

Auston murmured Ruan Tang’s words, his tone cold: “Ex-fiancé?”

“...Well, although he’s my ex-fiancé, it seems he knew Ruan Xi from childhood and confused me with Ruan Xi, which is why he got engaged to me. The person he’s always loved is Ruan Xi; you can tell from the way he looked just now.” Ruan Tang, seeing Auston’s gaze, suddenly remembered that he was his husband and his survival instinct kicked in: “Although I was engaged to him, I’m not familiar with him. At best, I was just the vicious cannon fodder in his and Ruan Xi’s story.”

Hearing this, Auston sneered, “Why explain so much? Afraid I’ll misunderstand?”

“...I just talk too much and wanted to say it.” Ruan Tang was speechless, so he just said that.

Auston didn’t dwell on the topic. He looked at Ruan Tang seriously for a while and then said, “That Shen Mozhi has pretty lousy taste.”

Although he didn’t like Omegas, no matter how he looked at it, he felt Ruan Tang was incomparably better than that Ruan Xi…

“I think so too.” Ruan Tang gave a dry laugh.

Auston gave him a deep look, then averted his gaze and warned him, “This time, since you let me watch a good show, I’ll let it go. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Next time you defy and go against my will like this, I’ll punish you.” He tapped Ruan Tang’s nose lightly.

As an Alpha, he would never allow an Omega to get the upper hand.

Ruan Tang: “...”

To teach Ruan Tang a lesson and make him remember, Auston didn’t say a word to Ruan Tang after returning, nor did he go to sniff him as usual.

...

Ruan Tang didn’t get his usual sniffer, feeling a bit strange, as if something was missing. But he quickly adjusted and slept soundly through the night.

Early the next morning, when Ruan Tang opened his personal terminal, he saw that Ruan Ming, Zhou Yao, Wen Run, and a series of Ruan Xi’s ‘flower protectors’ had made a series of calls and sent a flood of messages.

Ruan Tang could guess what they would say and do without even thinking. He ignored all the messages, turned off his personal terminal, and went out to visit his mother and siblings.

After moving them out of the Ruan family home, Ruan Tang had arranged for them to stay in a five-star nursing facility in the Imperial Star.

Although they were all mentally confused and didn’t recognize Ruan Tang, he still visited them regularly and talked to them…

Even if they no longer knew anything, in Ruan Tang’s heart, they would always be his blood relatives.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a whole day had passed.

Ruan Tang returned to the ducal palace in the evening.

“Aren’t you being too sensitive? I only said a few words to you yesterday, and you actually ran away from home and didn’t answer your calls?” Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, Auston appeared before him with a flustered expression, accusing him reproachfully.

He had planned to teach Ruan Tang a lesson by ignoring him for a morning.

But when he decided to look for Ruan Tang, he found that Ruan Tang wasn’t home, hadn’t been back all day, and on top of that, wasn’t answering calls…

If this wasn’t what Vincent called ‘running away from home’, what was it?

Auston simply found Ruan Tang too much; indeed, he couldn’t be spoiled, because in an instant he had become spoiled and petulant.

Ruan Tang belatedly opened his personal terminal, which he had turned off out of irritation, and found that Auston had also called him countless times today.

Ruan Tang was speechless: “...”