After Getting Pregnant, I Fought for a Divorce from My Alpha - Chapter 28
“Does your hand hurt a lot?” Shen Xiao looked at An Xiangdi curled up like a little quail, hugging his jacket tightly. His heart ached.
“No… I just don’t want to go to the hospital.” Seeing that the car was about to reach the exit, An Xiangdi grabbed Shen Xiao’s arm. “There are reporters outside. If we stir up another trending topic, the production team…”
Hearing An Xiangdi’s concern, Liu Qing gradually slowed the car down, waiting for Shen Xiao to decide.
Shen Xiao pressed his lips together tightly. After a while, he tapped the driver’s seat lightly. “Turn back.”
Liu Qing immediately turned the steering wheel and made a U-turn. The reporters staking out outside saw the car circling around and were completely confused.
At the same time, Director Wang Xingxiu was furiously scolding the props team on set. They were being chewed out like dogs.
The head of the props team looked wronged. “We really checked it. There was absolutely nothing wrong. Director Wang, maybe we should check the surveillance footage?”
“You, go pull up the surveillance.”
“Yes.” The staff member pointed out by Wang Xingxiu ran off to the monitoring room.
Ying Chong was icing his bruised jaw, An Xiao was applying a hot towel to her temple, and the atmosphere of the entire production crew was terribly tense.
No one expected Shen Xiao and An Xiangdi to come back. While Shen Xiao called the private doctor he’d hired before to come to the set, he also asked Yao Honglang to do a simple treatment on An Xiangdi’s wound first.
By the time he finished his calls, the bleeding on An Xiangdi’s hand had stopped. Soon after, the sweet scent of his pheromones also dissipated.
“Director Wang! The surveillance footage is ready. Do you want to take a look?” The staff member who went to retrieve the footage came running back.
An Xiangdi was about to stand, but Shen Xiao held him down. “Sit here. I’ll go check it.”
“…I want to see too.” It was just a hand injury. He didn’t want to make such a fuss about it.
Unusually, Shen Xiao didn’t agree. He released a bit of his pheromones. “Be good.”
An Xiangdi’s legs went weak, and he stayed seated.
Liu Qing handed over the washed bayberries. “Mr. An, please sit for a bit. Mr. Shen is just worried about you. What if you stress the baby…”
“Stress the baby? What am I, some concubine in the imperial harem?” An Xiangdi snapped back, but didn’t stand again.
For Omegas who had been marked, they instinctively couldn’t disobey the commands of an Alpha enforced with pheromones.
While Shen Xiao followed Director Wang to the surveillance room, Wei Yi cautiously moved next to An Xiangdi.
“That hand… it’s definitely going to swell by tomorrow.”
An Xiangdi casually waved it. The bleeding had stopped, but the area around the wound was already swollen. By tomorrow, it would likely be bruised as well.
“Hey, when Shen Xiao gets angry, he’s scary. But why is Director Wang so afraid of him?” Wei Yi pondered. “I’m an Alpha too, so why isn’t anyone scared of me?”
Hearing that, An Xiangdi froze slightly. Lately, he’d started to notice some odd things. From Royal Film being acquired by Yisheng Entertainment, to Shen Xiao terminating his contract and starting a studio, to Yao Honglang randomly being assigned as his agent…
All of it seemed connected. But thinking too hard about it made the whole situation feel unreal.
“Probably just pheromonal suppression,” An Xiangdi said, though he mentally made a note to look into it later.
“Dizi, I smelled your pheromones just now,” Wei Yi grinned proudly. “Sweet, like sugar water. You really are an Omega.”
“What did you say?” An Xiangdi blinked, startled.
“You said I couldn’t smell your pheromones before, right? But I just did!” Wei Yi looked smug—as an Alpha, being able to detect an Omega’s pheromones was basically proof of his virility.
“No, I mean… the scent. What did it smell like?”
“Huh? Sugar water. Haven’t you had it before? When I was a kid and didn’t want to take medicine, my mom used to make it for me. Just white sugar and water.” Wei Yi scratched his nose. “Wait, you’re asking me what your own pheromones smell like? Unless… I got it wrong?”
For a second, An Xiangdi’s heart tightened—he thought Wei Yi had noticed something. But when he heard the rest, he realized he’d overestimated Wei Yi’s intelligence.
“If you’re not sure, just ask again.” The brief moment of suppression from Shen Xiao’s pheromones had left An Xiangdi a bit disoriented. But Wei Yi’s cluelessness helped lighten the mood.
Wei Yi sniffed again, but couldn’t smell anything. “Huh? Why is it gone? Can you control your pheromones like that?”
“You’re just not trained enough,” An Xiangdi bluffed.
“No way!” Wei Yi didn’t buy it this time.
“I used a suppressor spray,” An Xiangdi said calmly. He never planned to let people know about his pheromone deficiency. He wanted this “I used a suppressor” narrative ingrained in everyone’s mind. And who better to spread it than gossip-king Wei Yi? By evening, the entire crew would probably believe it.
“Suppressor spray can do that…?”
Suppressors were a relatively unfamiliar concept to Alphas. They were often used by Omegas who didn’t want to expose their pheromones.
But compared to a deficiency, they were fundamentally different. Even with suppressors, an Omega would still release pheromones during heat, and Alphas could detect them. But An Xiangdi’s scent could only be picked up by Shen Xiao in most cases—unless it stabilized.
An Xiangdi didn’t reply again and focused on eating bayberries.
Not long after, Shen Xiao and the others returned from the surveillance room. Judging by their expressions, there weren’t any big findings.
“How did it go?” Wei Yi jumped up, eager for gossip.
“The camera was covered,” Shen Xiao answered, directing his words only to An Xiangdi.
If someone had tampered with the table, this was expected. An Xiangdi wasn’t surprised.
Rather than who did it, he now cared more about why.
Was it to hurt An Xiao?
Or… someone else?
“What happened today on set is something I deeply regret,” Director Wang spoke up. “We’ve checked the surveillance and confirmed it wasn’t just an accident.” He looked at Ying Chong’s bruised jaw, An Xiao’s red face, and An Xiangdi’s injured hand. “Until we can confirm the set is safe, filming will be suspended. Any thoughts?”
No one objected. No one wanted more accidents—it was bad for themselves and a bad omen for the production.
“Since there are no objections, I’ll contact the police later to investigate this matter thoroughly. Please rest in your hotel rooms and try not to wander.”
“Director Wang, wouldn’t calling the police make things worse?” an actor asked nervously. “If this blows up, won’t it hurt the production?”
“No need to worry,” Director Wang reassured. “It’ll be handled by a friend of mine in plainclothes.”
That calmed everyone. Having the police involved was the most efficient solution.
“Then everyone just—” Director Wang’s sentence was interrupted by a phone ringing.
Everyone turned toward An Xiangdi, who pulled out his phone with his uninjured hand. The caller ID showed it was his father.
His expression shifted. He stood up. “Sorry, you all continue. I’ll take this outside.”
Outside the set, he took a deep breath and wrestled with himself before finally answering.
“Hello, Dad.”
“An An! Is it true that you’re pregnant?”
“…Yes.” An Xiangdi braced himself for a verbal onslaught.
“How could you not tell Dad something so important? What if something went wrong? Is Shen Xiao taking good care of you? Omegas rely on Alphas during pregnancy—he’s not still as busy as before, is he? If he is, I need to talk to him!” An Hongxian rambled on nonstop, not giving An Xiangdi a chance to speak.
He sighed silently, leaning against the wall, letting his dad rant.
After five full minutes, An Hongxian finally slowed down, catching his breath.
“An An, why don’t you come home this weekend? Or better yet, today? Dad hasn’t seen you in so long.”
An Xiangdi had been spoiled since he was young. His parents were both Betas, and he was their precious Omega. Their kindness and warmth also taught him to be filial. Truthfully, he hadn’t gone home since the New Year.
“Dad, I’m filming with the crew lately. It might still be a while.” He tried not to sound too reluctant. With his hand injured, if his dad saw, he’d be nagged to death.
“What about Shen Xiao? Didn’t I see online that he’s there with you too?” His dad seemed ready to scold Shen Xiao instead.
“He…” An Xiangdi was about to say Shen Xiao was busy, but suddenly caught a whiff of that familiar brandy-scented pheromone.
“I’ll take it,” Shen Xiao had somehow appeared beside him.
An Xiangdi hesitated, then handed over the phone.
“Dad,” Shen Xiao greeted.
No one knew what An Hongxian said on the other end, but Shen Xiao kept replying with “Mm,” then took advantage of a pause to express his thoughts quickly.
“Dad, can we come back tomorrow? I’m not too busy with filming right now.”
“Great, great. I’ll cook. Just come back early,” An Hongxian agreed immediately.
“How about dinner? Let him sleep in tomorrow morning.” Shen Xiao said as he held An Xiangdi’s hand, his expression darkening at the sight of the wound.
“That’s fine. Just don’t call tomorrow and cancel again.” An Hongxian was clearly worried they’d flake.
“We won’t, Dad. Dizi is a little tired today, so I’ll hang up now.” Shen Xiao said and hung up after a couple of polite responses.
“Wait, going home tomorrow? If my dad sees this injury, he’ll come charging to the set!” An Xiangdi panicked.
“He won’t. I’ll handle it.” Shen Xiao bent down and kissed him gently. “Let’s lay low for a few days… and go fishing.”
“What… do you mean?” An Xiangdi froze. After a moment, he asked suspiciously, “You found something out? Was today aimed at you? Or me?”
“Maybe,” Shen Xiao replied vaguely. He wasn’t sure either. But no matter who was behind it—
They were going to pay.