Damn it, I'm surrounded by insane Alphas!

Shi Ran stared at Lu Lin's departing figure, frozen in place.

What a coincidence...!

He frantically grabbed the documents on the table. "Mr. Gu, um... I'll go back and prepare the meeting materials!"

"That portion," Gu Chen's deep voice rang out, "is mine."

Shi Ran gave an awkward laugh, dropped the contract, and ran away.

Gu Chen watched his retreating figure, a faint smile still lingering on his lips.

Lu Lin just asked him if he was free, and he saw it, but deliberately didn't reply.

He wanted Lu Lin to barge into the office and witness firsthand how dependent Shi Ran was on him after being marked.

Twenty minutes later, in the project conference room.

Most of the core members of Speed ​​Heart have arrived, and even Gu Chen has made an unprecedented appearance.

Lu Lin announced the resumption of bidding for the B7 plot. Judging from his words, the matter has only been temporarily eased, and whether it can be won in the end depends on this bidding process.

Anyone with eyes could see that Lu Lin was not in a good mood today; his overall demeanor was extremely low.

Shi Ran also noticed this, and he thought that after the meeting ended, he would find Lu Lin and question him properly.

Unexpectedly, after the meeting ended and everyone left one after another, Gu Chen lingered and did not leave.

Gu Chen glanced at Shi Ran, who was dawdling over packing, and deliberately asked him, "What? You really can't live without me?"

Shi Ran rolled her eyes at him, muttered "narcissist" under her breath, and quickly left.

This scene was witnessed by Lu Lin without missing a single detail.

He only turned to Gu Chen after the conference room door closed again.

"I never thought you were this kind of person."

Gu Chen slowly adjusted his cuffs without looking up: "What kind of person?"

He paused, then looked up. "I don't believe it. Your favorite Omega goes into heat in front of you and begs you to mark him. You can refuse."

"So you finally admit you like him?"

"I've never denied it, but there's no need to prove it to you." Gu Chen didn't want to get entangled with him on this and cut straight to the point, "I'll handle the Yu family's affairs. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices."

Lu Lin scoffed, "This was originally my project! What do you mean by 'unnecessary sacrifice'? Aren't you just trying to steal the credit and prove to everyone that you're better than me?"

Gu Chen looked up at Lu Lin. Even though Lu Lin was in a high position, Gu Chen's eyes carried a condescending warning.

"The success or failure of your project is nothing more than a few percentage points of profit on the financial report to me. I don't care at all. I care even less about the opinions of those old folks in the Gu family. What I care about is Shi Ran."

Lu Lin was stunned by his words, never expecting Gu Chen to be so blunt.

Gu Chen looked at him calmly, "I don't care if you provoke Yu Siran or Wang Cheng, but not Shi Ran. Whether you're just lusting after her or have real feelings for her, Shi Ran is not someone you can touch."

Lu Lin was stunned for a moment, then sneered, "Then let me tell you, I not only have feelings for Shi Ran, I'm serious about it."

Gu Chen frowned slightly, looking sympathetic. "That's a pity."

"What's a pity?"

"Unfortunately, you're no longer qualified to like him." Gu Chen slowly stood up, looked directly at Lu Lin, and continued, "From the moment you chose to have an ambiguous relationship with Yu Siran, you were no longer worthy of saying you liked him."

Lu Lin was speechless at his words. "What do you know? You can't compare to what Shi Ran and I have been through in your entire life!"

Faced with Lu Lin's agitation, Gu Chen's reaction was frighteningly calm: "Is that so? But now I'm the one who marked him."

"So what? He was genuinely happy when he was with me! He's only with you for the money!"

"But I marked him."

These words completely ignited Lu Lin's anger. "You motherfucker...! What else can you say besides that?!"

Seeing his out-of-control state, Gu Chen left only a word of advice tinged with pity:

"Lu Lin, be more mature. The process doesn't matter; the result is everything."

After saying that, he didn't linger and turned to leave the conference room.

Lu Lin was left alone, tormented repeatedly by the words "I marked him".

In the afternoon, Lu Lin went to the hospital to pick up his mother and take her home.

Lu's mother's attitude softened considerably, and she even invited him to stay for dinner.

When Gu Jingwei saw him arrive in the living room, she leaned over and whispered, "Brother, you're back. By the way, how are things going between you and Assistant Shi?"

Lu Lin turned his face away, deliberately bringing up the very thing he shouldn't have: "Nothing much."

"Brother, your progress isn't good!"

Gu Jingwei continued enthusiastically, "I called my older brother this morning, and guess what?!"

Lu Lin's heart skipped a beat for no reason, and he had a bad feeling.

Gu Jingwei couldn't wait to reveal the answer: "The person who answered the phone was Shi Ran! He sounded like he had just woken up! Do you think the two of them might...?"

Lu Lin's face was already quite pale when a sound came from the entrance hall.

The person who walked in was Gu Chen, and coincidentally, Shi Ran was with him.

Gu Jingwei immediately jumped up, her voice full of teasing: "Wow! Big brother's back? Oh my, he really does take our Assistant Shi with him everywhere he goes?"

Gu Chen glanced at her indifferently, ignoring her teasing.

He took off his coat and handed it to the maid, then very naturally took Shi Ran's coat and handed it over as well.

Lu Lin sat on the opposite sofa, quietly watching everything without getting up.

He suddenly remembered that two months ago, Gu Chen brought Shi Ran back, and he was sitting here. Everything seemed unchanged.

But it seems that he and Shi Ran can never go back.

Dinner began in this extremely eerie atmosphere.

Halfway through the meal, the old master of the Gu family wiped the corner of his mouth and suddenly looked up at Lu Lin.

"I heard your racing project isn't going too well?"

Upon hearing this, the people at the table reacted in various ways.

Lu Lin tightened his grip on the chopsticks.

After he and Yu Siran broke up, B7 was originally put on hold, but for some reason, a new announcement was suddenly issued early yesterday morning, saying that it would be put out to tender soon.

He was about to answer, "There is a small problem..." when his mother laughed and said, "How could that be, Dad? The project is progressing smoothly, and we have already acquired the most important B7 plot."

The old man's gaze lingered on her face for two seconds.

Having navigated the ups and downs of the business world for decades, he could see through everything, but he didn't ask any more questions. He simply nodded and said, "That's good. Let's eat."

Lu Lin couldn't eat anything else until dinner was over, when his mother called him to the study.

The study door closed, and the polite smile that had been on Lu's mother's face all night finally came off.

"I know what you want to ask. The Yu family has already said that all our previous misunderstandings are wiped clean."

Lu Lin frowned slightly. "What are the conditions?"

He knew all too well that these so-called family ties were nothing more than an exchange of interests.

"How can you call it a condition? Just get along well with Siran and hold the engagement party as soon as possible."

She took a step closer and grasped her son's cold hand. "Mom knows you're unwilling, but this is the best outcome right now. Only if the project succeeds can you gain a foothold and win the old man's favor. Do you understand?"

Lu Lin closed his eyes.

He knew it; the Yu family's conditions were indeed as described.

Yu Siran, the one who drugged Shi Ran and wanted to ruin him.

He felt like strangling her at that moment, how could he possibly get engaged to someone like that?

Wouldn't that be rubbing salt into Shi Ran's wounds, or even becoming an accomplice?

He gently shook off his mother's hand. "I will not get engaged to Yu Siran. Absolutely not."

Lu's mother frowned immediately: "Don't be willful! Siran is a gentle and considerate child..."

"All I can say is that you still don't understand him at all."

Lu Lin took out his phone, quickly pulled up a few photos, and handed them to her.

The screen displayed blurry but chaotic scenes from the party, and the protagonist was none other than Yu Siran, whom she described as gentle and considerate.

"This... the Yu family actually..."

Lu's mother was shocked, angry, and even more troubled.

On the one hand, I'm angry that the Yu family's children are indeed indecent; on the other hand, the current predicament really requires the Yu family's support.

"I won't get engaged to Yu Siran, but I must complete this project."

"If you don't rely on the Yu family, what other options do you have?" Madam Lu's expression suddenly changed, her voice trembling slightly. "Xiao Lin, do you mean to..."

Lu Lin did not answer, but turned around and walked straight out, leaving the old house.

(Mr. Lu, please step back a moment, the rest of us are about to be carried up. By the way, I've been really into Sniper Butterfly lately, I love the kind of character who's a sweet, silly little dog. Should we arrange one for Ranran?)