AGMATSWHLMAR Chapter 45

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Yao’s disheveled state and suddenly sneered, coldly saying, “Zhou Yao, what madness are you spouting again?”

He didn’t know, nor did he want to know, what had happened between Ruan Xi and Zhou Yao, but he was extremely disgusted by Zhou Yao’s intermittent appearances to rant and rave in front of him.

It made him feel like throwing up.

Zhou Yao’s eyes involuntarily became bloodshot. Looking at Ruan Tang’s cold and distant demeanor, he felt as if his heart was being twisted.

He couldn’t help but recall his first encounter with Ruan Tang. At that time, his family had forced him into an engagement, but his heart belonged only to Ruan Xi. He had heard that Ruan Tang, Shen Mozhi’s former fiancé, had been constantly pestering Shen Mozhi, trying to sabotage the relationship between Ruan Xi and Shen Mozhi. Yet, Ruan Xi, being ‘kind,’ valued her relationship with this brother and didn’t want to believe he was a black-hearted lotus.

To preserve Ruan Xi’s innocent kindness and make her happy, and because the pheromone matching results showed a high compatibility between him and Ruan Tang, Zhou Yao thought, “Anyway, Ruan Xi doesn’t like me. As long as Ruan Xi is happy, it doesn’t matter whom I marry. Since Ruan Xi doesn’t want to lose Ruan Tang as a brother, and Ruan Tang is intent on interfering between Shen Mozhi and Ruan Xi, I’ll just marry Ruan Tang.”

Once Ruan Tang became his omega, he would naturally have no way to seduce his brother-in-law.

When he first met Ruan Tang, he was very impatient, thinking that Ruan Tang, who always targeted and bullied Ruan Xi, must be a vicious, gaudy, and mean omega. But when he actually met Ruan Tang, he found that Ruan Tang’s appearance was completely different from his imagination.

Not only did he lack any vulgar or shrewd air, but he was also upright and refined, with a quietness that made people forget their troubles at first sight.

At that time, Ruan Tang was holding a book and reading, the soft sunlight illuminating his face, making him look like an angel descended from heaven.

Zhou Yao was immediately stunned.

Even though he was unwilling to admit it then, looking back, he had to admit that he had fallen in love with Ruan Tang at first sight. He had been attracted to him from the very beginning.

At that time, he swore in his heart that even if this omega was a black-hearted lotus, the type he hated most, he would still marry him and change him.

In the beginning of their engagement, he and Ruan Tang had a very happy and beautiful time together. He had always believed that Ruan Tang would become his.

But the beautiful times were fleeting.

Zhou Yao couldn’t remember when things started to change… He only knew that by the time he realized and wanted to turn back, he and Ruan Tang could no longer go back.

And now, he knew he couldn’t expect Ruan Tang’s forgiveness, but seeing Ruan Tang subservient in front of that brutal monster, Zhou Yao couldn’t resign himself to it…

Ruan Tang was the most beautiful angel in the world and deserved the best of everything.

Even if it wasn’t him, even if he wasn’t worthy… Ruan Tang shouldn’t marry such a demonic alpha.

“I was wrong, I really know I was wrong… I dare not expect your forgiveness.” Zhou Yao composed himself, his eyes filled with pain. “But I’m begging you, let me make it up to you, let me help you, okay?”

He didn’t believe Ruan Tang had willingly accepted this marriage with Auston.

Ruan Tang looked at his remorseful and heartbroken appearance, sneered, and became even colder: “Make it up to me? Help me? Zhou Yao, what can you make up to me, what can you help me with?”

He was extremely disgusted with the person in front of him. When he was abandoned by everyone, when no one believed him as he was about to fall into the abyss, even after begging in every way, no one was willing to believe him or help him.

Now that he had finally climbed out of the mire, these people were appearing in front of him one by one, talking about making amends and helping him. What was the point?

“I… I don’t know how to make it up to you, but as long as you say it, I will do everything I can to help you achieve everything you want to achieve…” Zhou Yao took a deep breath. “Just say the word, even if it means offending the Empress’s family and Auston Duke at the cost of my life, I will definitely help you divorce him.”

He didn’t know what he could do for Ruan Tang, but he knew he couldn’t watch Ruan Tang live in humiliation beside that monstrous alpha any longer…

Even if it meant offending Auston and losing his own life, Zhou Yao vowed to save Ruan Tang.

“Help me divorce? I’m doing very well, Zhou Yao, what kind of joke are you telling?” Ruan Tang burst out laughing as if he had heard a joke.

First Wen Run, then Zhou Yao, all of them had been cold bystanders as he fell off a cliff. Now they were running to his face to say they regretted it and wanted to make amends?

And their so-called way of making amends was to self-righteously try to save him, help him divorce the husband who had been helping and protecting him since he fell into the lowest point of his life, who had given him everything, and helped him pick up his lost dignity. How ridiculous, how absurd.

Ruan Tang utterly loathed these self-righteous saviors and even felt a twisted…

Zhou Yao looked at Ruan Tang laughing wildly, but not only did he not blame him, but his guilt grew even stronger. He felt that everything was his fault.

It was all him, it was all of them who had driven Ruan Tang to this.

He looked at Ruan Tang sincerely and said with utmost seriousness, “… I’m serious, Ruan Tang, as long as you say it, I will definitely help you, even… even if you will no longer belong to me…”

He just wanted to save Ruan Tang now.

“… Zhou Yao, I really don’t know who gave you the confidence to think that I would be moved to tears because you helped me divorce Auston, that this is a way you can make amends to me?” Ruan Tang sneered.

Zhou Yao was stunned, the words he had prepared stuck in his throat: “Ruan Tang, I…”

“When all of you abandoned me, betrayed me, and stood on Ruan Xi’s side, only Auston has always stood by my side, immune to Ruan Xi’s tricks, pulling me out of despair countless times, giving me hope, and helping me pick up the dignity that you trampled on and lost…” Ruan Tang didn’t give him a chance to finish speaking, coldly interrupting him, word by word: “No matter what you think of Auston, in my eyes, he is the one who gave me hope and pulled me out of darkness and mire.”

He spoke firmly.

Ruan Tang knew that Auston was a madman, not the kind of alpha that any omega would ideally expect. He was very good to him, but that kind of goodness was not emotional. He might even just treat him like a pet like Simba, because he couldn’t see a trace of lust or the possessiveness of an alpha towards an omega in Auston’s eyes when he looked at him…

He just got along with him very peacefully and lovingly, as if treating his beloved toy. He didn’t even understand what emotions were.

But Ruan Tang didn’t care, because Auston had given him too much.

He didn’t love him, but he gave him much more than those who kept saying they cared about him and wanted to make amends…

Ruan Tang wanted to stay by his side forever.

Marrying Auston was a desperate and helpless move, but at this moment, choosing Auston was his own choice.

Even if Auston’s mind wasn’t clear, even if he might never love him.

Ruan Tang’s previous thoughts were vague. It wasn’t until this moment, when Zhou Yao once again said the words of persuading him to divorce, that Ruan Tang suddenly woke up.

He had fallen for Auston.

Zhou Yao didn’t expect Ruan Tang to say this. His entire mind ‘buzzed,’ and he was immediately stunned.

“Ruan Tang…”

A voice suddenly came from behind them. They both turned around and saw Wen Run standing there, not knowing how long he had been listening.

Wen Run looked at Ruan Tang and took a deep breath. He found it difficult to accept what Ruan Tang had just said, never knowing that Ruan Tang had always had such thoughts.

But on second thought, he felt that everything was so reasonable—

To them, Auston was a terrifying demon, but to Ruan Tang in that situation, Auston was precisely a ray of dawn that rescued him from darkness.

Affected by the suspension bridge effect, Auston was still Ruan Tang’s legitimate husband.

It was perfectly normal for Ruan Tang to fall in love with Auston.

It was all his fault. He had been neglecting these things and Ruan Tang’s feelings.

“And what were you doing then? You were all pushing me off the cliff, stepping me into the mud…” Ruan Tang saw Wen Run, but the coldness in his eyes didn’t fade. He continued, “Now, I’m doing very well, but you’re all acting like saviors, running up to me and telling me you want to save me, help me divorce. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”

Wen Run was speechless.

Zhou Yao, however, was stunned and opened his mouth with difficulty: “… Ruan Tang, you’re just temporarily overwhelmed by gratitude. He… he’s just a madman. You… how can you be happy with him?”

“You’re the ones who said I was a black-hearted lotus, plotting to harm Ruan Xi. Now you’re the ones who want to make amends to me, and your way of helping me is to have me divorce!” The negative emotions that Ruan Tang had been suppressing for a long time finally erupted. “But have any of you asked me what I want, what I don’t want? Don’t I have the right to make my own choices?”

His mother had taught him since he was a child that good people are rewarded, that one should be kind, tolerant, patient, and bide one’s time. Ruan Tang had always regarded this as the truth and had always done so…

He had tried his best to avoid, dodge, not fight, and not grab when facing other people’s sharpness and provocations, but these hateful people and troublesome things still came to his door again and again, clinging to him and refusing to let him go.

Now that he was finally about to hold back, these people appeared in front of him one after another to repent and say they were wrong…

The real reason for his mother’s dementia and the constant arrival of these troublesome people finally made Ruan Tang realize that good people are not actually rewarded.

It forced him to become sharp and edgy.

“I don’t need your amends, and I don’t accept your apologies.” Ruan Tang said word by word: “Those who abandon me, yesterday is gone and cannot be kept. If apologies were useful, what would we need laws for?”

He looked coldly at the two people in front of him: “I only hope that you will never appear in front of me again. You—disgust me.”

Ruan Tang had never had such an expression. His expression was extremely gloomy, as if countless negative black vortexes were gathering on him.

They had accused Ruan Tang of being a black-hearted lotus, vicious, and twisted countless times in the past.

But at this moment, Ruan Tang seemed to be truly twisting.

But they couldn’t say a word, and they didn’t even dare to have the slightest thought of blaming him. All that remained was boundless heartache.

Zhou Yao’s eyes were filled with bloodshot, and he felt a buzzing in his mind. Looking at Ruan Tang like this, he felt that he couldn’t breathe. He opened his mouth and advised, “Ruan Tang, don’t be like this, calm down. You won’t have a good ending with that madman. He… he is destined to die!”

He didn’t know if the future of this world would change, but he really couldn’t watch Ruan Tang be with someone who was destined to die and didn’t treat him well.

He even felt that Ruan Tang was suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

Zhou Yao felt that he was doing it out of good intentions, but he didn’t want such a sentence to stir up a hornet’s nest.

Ruan Tang, hearing him so confidently say that Auston was destined to die, immediately exploded. He took a big step forward and kicked Zhou Yao, who was kneeling on the ground.

“Xiao Tang…” Zhou Yao didn’t expect him to attack and was immediately stunned.

In his memory, Ruan Tang had always been a very gentle and detached person. Even when he and Ruan Xi had done so many excessive things to Ruan Tang, Ruan Tang had never laid a hand on them.

Ruan Tang didn’t know where the strength came from. He directly grabbed Zhou Yao’s collar, lifted him from the ground, forced him to look at himself, and squeezed out each word as if from his teeth: “Zhou Yao, shut your mouth! If I ever hear you say a word about Auston again, associating him with death, even if I don’t want this life, I will make you die first.”

He was usually more tolerant of others, but now he didn’t want to hear others say a word about Auston.

Ruan Tang knew that everyone in the Imperial Star believed that Auston was going to die, that he was destined to be a mad dog who would be killed by the cunning rabbit and cooked by the hunting dog by the emperor. No one thought he could live well. Even if the emperor didn’t kill him, he would eventually kill himself by going crazy like this.

But Ruan Tang didn’t want him to die. He wanted to protect him—

He wanted Auston to live well, to live with him.

“Ruan Tang, are you really sure you want to be with Auston Duke? Even if he will never love you, and your emotional investment in him may never be rewarded.” Wen Run was startled by Ruan Tang’s sudden outburst. His eyes darkened, and he immediately asked.

As someone who knew that Auston was actually the rebel leader Lucifer, he wasn’t worried that Auston would die and implicate Ruan Tang…

But he really understood the terror and ruthlessness of that Lucifer.

He was afraid that Ruan Tang’s current true feelings would ultimately be misplaced.

Ruan Tang had experienced so many emotional failures, and Wen Run really didn’t want to see him get hurt again.

“Whether he loves me or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s enough as long as I love him.” Ruan Tang immediately said coldly, word by word: “As long as Auston doesn’t want me, I will never divorce him in this lifetime and will always be his omega.”

Auston was so good to him, giving him stars if he wanted stars, the moon if he wanted the moon. Even knowing that Auston didn’t love him, Ruan Tang found it difficult not to be moved by such a person.

Ruan Tang wanted to walk with him for the rest of his life.

Hearing Ruan Tang’s resolute tone, Wen Run immediately fell silent and took a deep breath: “… Okay, I understand.”

He owed Ruan Tang. In this lifetime, no matter what Ruan Tang wanted, he would do his best to help him get it, even that ferocious rebel leader…

Deeply knowing what achievements Lucifer would have in the future, what bloody storms he would bring to the entire interstellar space, and that the crisis in the Imperial Star was temporarily difficult to resolve, Wen Run even felt that perhaps Ruan Tang becoming Auston’s omega was the best and safest thing for him.

Ruan Tang had no intention of getting tangled up in what Wen Run knew. He flung away Zhou Yao, whom he had kicked, and turned to leave.

Zhou Yao, however, was unwilling to give up and hugged Ruan Tang’s leg from behind, murmuring, “Xiao Tang…”

He really didn’t want to watch Ruan Tang’s life become a tragedy again.

Ruan Tang was about to kick him away.

“What are you doing?” Just then, Auston silently pushed his wheelchair and appeared behind them, looking at them expressionlessly.

Suddenly seeing Auston, Ruan Tang’s face turned pale, and he was startled. He immediately woke up from his previous violent emotions and looked nervously at Auston: “Master, I…”

He wasn’t afraid of Auston misunderstanding anything, but he was worried that Auston had heard what he had just said and seen his ferocious and twisted side.

Ruan Tang didn’t know what kind of omega Auston liked, but he had always been quite fond of him. Ruan Tang guessed that he should like kind, soft, uncontested, like the omega that his mother said he should be.

And because of his childhood shadows, he shouldn’t have a good impression of ruthless and cold omegas like the Empress…

“Zhou Shao, what are you doing? Could it be that you don’t want to be a proper person and want to be a dog?” Auston coldly swept a glance at Zhou Yao. Seeing Ruan Tang’s pale face, he felt that Ruan Tang had been bullied and entangled again. He immediately ridiculed Zhou Yao: “But even if you want to be a dog, you shouldn’t be hugging my omega’s leg, right?”

Auston had heard some of the recent rumors in the Imperial Star, knowing that this Zhou Yao was pestering Ruan Tang and regretting his mistakes due to his poor judgment.

Although he didn’t like Ruan Tang, he felt that this Zhou Yao was really too bad, with bad eyesight, a problematic IQ, and possibly violent tendencies. He was completely beyond what a simple and sweet omega like Ruan Tang could handle…

Therefore, Auston still felt that it was better to keep this thing away from Ruan Tang.

Without saying a word, Zhou Yao let go of Ruan Tang’s leg and walked directly to Auston, opening his mouth with a request: “Auston, please let Ruan Tang go.”

“If you really have a bit of affection for him, please let him go, I beg you…” Seeing that persuading Ruan Tang was hopeless, Zhou Yao directly chose to start with Auston.

This alpha was crazy, crippled, and disfigured. If he really liked Ruan Tang and had a bit of self-awareness, he should let go instead of dragging Ruan Tang down.