Evil Love Appears chapter 17

Fu Xiaoyu didn’t run away; running away wasn’t his style.

He made an effort to sit up straight, gathered all his strength to fortify his defenses, and then stared at Xu Jiale, saying, “So, is this your expertise?”

He was very skilled at using questions, probably because they were the most aggressive sentence structure: “How much do you know about me? Besides being your disliked colleague and the fact that you accidentally saw my dad slap me, you actually know nothing else. Do you really understand my family as much as you think you do? Haven’t you been told that arrogance is the enemy of academia?”

“Am I arrogant?” Xu Jiale asked with a smile, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Fu Xiaoyu, I’ll say it again, prove me wrong. Before their marriage, your father was infatuated with your step mother, right?”

Xu Jiale had clearly guessed the answer but didn’t directly use the term “lover.” This little bit of consideration made Fu Xiaoyu even more ashamed.

Fu Xiaoyu remained silent and after a few seconds of contemplation, he grabbed a glass of Rémy Martin and downed it.

He lowered his head and muttered after a long while, “She… she wasn’t married at that time.”

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He shouldn’t have defended Tang Ning or Fu Jing. However, before he could gather himself, Xu Jiale’s next words came, leaving him no time to catch his breath.

“When you grew up, your father couldn’t really control you anymore. You could even stand up to him or call security to have him forcibly removed. But you care deeply about your stepmother. You’ve been watching her almost constantly, secretly paying attention to her expressions. You even lowered your head to apologize to Fu Jing for her, not to appease your father, but to prevent her from being unhappy. Why? Fu Xiaoyu?”

This… this wasn’t an assessment.

These were questions.

Fu Xiaoyu’s hand holding the glass suddenly trembled slightly.

Before this conversation, he had his own risk management in place. Xu Jiale had guessed about Fu Jing and his class differences, and although it was painful, it was fine. He was even convinced that Xu Jiale had seen through all of this in the elevator that day.

As the fiery liquor churned in his stomach, he finally realized how gentle the previous questionnaire had been.

What was truly terrifying was Xu Jiale’s words at this moment.

At this point in the confrontation, he felt like he was on a small boat in the midst of a storm.

“Fu Jing may appear to have a bad temper and dominate conversations, but in your family, she’s actually the absolute power center. Her economic and social status means she doesn’t need to assert her authority through temper tantrums. So, she must be gentle and dignified, which suits her temperament and class.”

Fu Xiaoyu silently downed another glass.

By now, he couldn’t even tell whether Xu Jiale was sharing his judgment with him or taking this opportunity to scrutinize him more closely.

Due to this fear, he numbly drank his alcohol.

“Fu Xiaoyu, I’ve conducted research on some blended families. While it’s common for many children not to get along with their stepfathers or stepmothers, there are unique cases. Children brought into the family by high-marrying omegas sometimes develop attachments stemming from admiration for the alpha who holds dominant power in the family. In severe cases, they might even see omegas related to them by blood as rivals for affection. What about you? Are you attached to that stepmother?”

Fu Xiaoyu suddenly raised his head, and in that moment, he couldn’t help but bite his own lip.

He wanted to get angry, but when he heard his own voice, it sounded so weak, “Xu Jiale, are you crazy? My… My sexual orientation is an attraction for male alphas.”

“That day, you kept watching your stepmother, and only when she hugged Fu Jing did you turn away from that scene. Fu Xiaoyu, I’ve been watching you. She didn’t care about the fact that you were being beaten; she only cared about comforting Fu Jing. You felt very disappointed, didn’t you?.”

Fu Xiaoyu’s fingers trembled as he downed three more glasses of alcohol. This time, it wasn’t even for the sake of a bet with Xu Jiale.

He just felt too hurt.

He needed to drink.

Xu Jiale guessed correctly again, but his expression remained calm, his gaze deep and focused as he said, “What I’m about to say next may make you very uncomfortable. Are you sure you want me to continue?”

“Go on,” he said, his eyes red, looking at Xu Jiale.

In his extreme fear, he had strangely become eager.

He wanted to hear more.

“From childhood, she has been the center of power in your family. She was the first alpha you encountered in your life who held a high position. You had to admire her, respect her, and yearn for her protection. Because you knew that only when she liked you, you would be safe and able to live a prosperous life.”

“Young children can’t distinguish between love, admiration, family affection, security, and desire. You believed she would protect you too, but once you had conflicts with Fu Jing, she chose to protect Fu Jing. She probably never gave you wholehearted care because she gave all her affection to your father. Actually, this was the first emotional setback you experienced from childhood to adulthood, right?”

Xu Jiale’s speech quickened slightly, his excitement concealed and restrained.

Voyeuristic desire, seemingly distasteful, but in essence, almost as addictive as sex.

And in front of him, Fu Xiaoyu was like an enticing glass of clear water.

This was an extremely contradictory rhetoric.

But he actually didn’t have the heart to be too explicit in his words.

As an alpha, he understood the immense pressure a female alpha from such a family would face when she chose to marry an omega third party who was of much lower class. Yet, she had still made that decision decisively.

People made irrational choices in reality because they pursued more instinctive and intense pleasures.

He didn’t bother with moral judgments on emotional relationships, but he was well aware that the alpha and omega in that family must have had hidden and even somewhat pathological desires.

How did Fu Xiaoyu interpret such a relationship?

“Fu Xiaoyu, many people are afraid to fill out the sexual psychology section of the questionnaire for various reasons, but I believe you didn’t fill it out because of your family.”

Xu Jiale extinguished his cigarette and said softly, “A person’s entire enlightenment and imagination about intimate relationships always come from their family, from how their parents interact, show affection, and handle sex and love. Fu Xiaoyu, how do you understand sex? You’re clearly a perfectionist who insists on doing what’s right, so for you, immoral desires should be judged. But your father got all of your stepmother’s favor precisely because of this. Have you ever been puzzled by it? Or… jealous?”

Fu Xiaoyu suddenly stood up.

His face turned pale, and he looked at Xu Jiale with trembling fingers.

For a moment, Xu Jiale almost thought this omega was about to cry.

But Fu Xiaoyu didn’t say anything. He turned and rushed out of the bespoke shop.

He didn’t even bother to put on his down jacket and left wearing only a sweater.

Xu Jiale was also startled and jumped up from his seat, then followed him outside.

It was snowing lightly outside, and Fu Xiaoyu hadn’t run far. He was squatting by the side of the street’s drainage ditch, vomiting painfully, wearing a soft white sweater, making him very conspicuous.

He had eaten very little that evening, and most of what he vomited was alcohol. After a few retches, he began to dry heave.

Xu Jiale walked over and crouched down, wanting to see his face with concern, but Fu Xiaoyu pushed him away somewhat roughly.

“Are you still feeling sick?” Xu Jiale whispered, “Xiaoyu?”

However, Fu Xiaoyu, after vomiting, turned his head away and remained resolutely unapproachable. His hands trembled continuously, haphazardly covering his face, as if he were both covering his face and mouth.

It was too painful.

Fu Xiaoyu felt like his head and stomach were spinning, and what was even more painful was that he was vomiting in such a wretched state in front of Xu Jiale.

Xu Jiale beside him had been pushed away by him all along and finally left in silence.

He just squatted in the icy snow, suddenly wanting to cry. His mind was muddled, but in that moment, he recalled the past.

When he was eight years old, the brother of the omega Tang Ning was dating at the time found out about Fu Jing’s involvement on the side with Tang Ning and came to their house to convince Fu Jing to leave.

Those people were well-dressed and spoke politely, not using any foul language. However, the phrase “someone like you won’t be able to marry into the Tang family” infuriated Fu Jing. He scratched the omega’s brother’s face until it bled, but he was also punched, his eye sockets turned dark, and cold tea was even splashed on his face.

Of course, Fu Jing wasn’t someone to mess with. He went to the school where that omega was teaching, bursting into the classroom and scolding loudly.

This incident spread throughout the small town that very night, and Tang Ning lost face. She came to their house that night and broke up with him.

She even brought a bag of cash and must have been determined when she came. She put the money down, said, “We shouldn’t meet again,” and turned to leave.

Fu Jing threw himself at her, hugging Tang Ning as if his life depended on it. Their embrace sometimes looked like a fight, and sometimes like a struggle.

Little Fu Xiaoyu stood against the wall, shivering and watching it all.

As they hugged, Fu Jing’s hand quietly slipped into the alpha’s shirt.

His father cried in front of him, stroking her while pleading, “Sister, I know I was wrong, please, please don’t leave me.”

Tang Ning pushed for a long time, but in the end, she couldn’t help but push Fu Jing onto the bed.

The next thing Fu Jing did was shout at him, “You go out and play for a while, Xiaoyu. Dad needs to talk to Auntie.”

Fu Jing thought he was still a child who didn’t understand anything.

Fu Xiaoyu would always remember that night. He had escaped through the door and sat blankly on a bench outside the small house, looking at the tightly closed door.

Behind that door was an extremely embarrassing adult world—restraint, jealousy, poverty, pleasing, and also, sex.

Desire, like a river in the night, rushed turbulently.

That was his enlightenment.

That night, before leaving, Tang Ning saw him outside the small house and bent down to touch his cheek.

The female alpha smelled of gardenia, and he felt a little anxious and scared. He asked quietly, “Auntie, are you going to leave us?”

He hadn’t grown up yet, but he had already implicitly understood the cruelty of life.

Without Tang Ning, he and his father were just “those people.”

Tang Ning’s expression was complex and apologetic. After a while, she finally hugged him and whispered softly, “No. Auntie will take your dad and you home.”

That night, Fu Jing lay on the bed all night, looking very weak. He wanted to get on the bed and sleep beside his father, but he was pushed away by Fu Jing, who said, “Don’t squeeze me, it hurts.”

He was a little worried, but then he was gently pulled into Fu Jing’s arms. His father’s voice was a bit hoarse, but it was calm with a hint of excitement, “Xiaoyu, Dad can give you a better life from now on.”

His father had miraculously emerged victorious against the other omega.

……

He couldn’t help but sniffle, and when he looked up again, he found Xu Jiale crouching in front of him.

The alpha handed him a bottle of mineral water, then offered a set of travel-sized dental supplies he had bought from 7-11.

Fu Xiaoyu squatted by the drainage ditch, brushing his teeth, while Xu Jiale quietly watched by the side.

He’s quite amusing. After vomiting, he won’t let anyone get close, probably because he’s afraid of having bad breath.

Xu Jiale couldn’t help thinking this way.

He had never really liked strong-willed people.

But for some reason, seeing Fu Xiaoyu squatting there, red-eyed, covering his face and not allowing him to approach, made his heart skip a beat.

After rinsing his mouth, Fu Xiaoyu tightly clutched the bottle of mineral water, still lowering his head. After a long time, he said softly, “So embarrassing.”

He had a slightly nasal tone when he spoke.

“Yes,” Xu Jiale said.

“He had called her sister…”

Fu Xiaoyu muttered again.

He was probably really drunk, and he even spoke incoherently, but Xu Jiale could understand him.

He couldn’t help but smile slightly and said softly, “Fu Xiaoyu, your dad is probably better at acting cute than you.”

Fu Xiaoyu raised his head, his round cat-like eyes no longer as sharp as they used to be because of the alcohol. A snowflake fell on the tip of his nose and quietly melted.

“Yes,” he said, imitating Xu Jiale’s tone.