Chapter 4 Severing Ties

​The crystal afternoon sun beat down upon the veranda of the Imperial Club, a sanctuary of wealth and power where every whisper carried the weight of a contract and every glance was a transaction. This was the stage Jin Yaotian had chosen: a place where the social elite gathered to witness, judge, and feast upon the mistakes of others. It was the perfect setting to deliver a public execution of her former fiancé.

​Armed with the stolen notebook's contents and the cold, unshakeable confidence of her Enigma core, Yaotian had worked through the night. Her private legal counsel, a shrewd Beta attorney named Lin who had always been loyal to her late father, was already positioned off-site, prepared to fire off the formal notices the moment Yaotian gave the signal. The game was set.

​Li Zhenyu arrived precisely on time, striding onto the veranda with the arrogant, proprietorial air of a dominant Alpha who believed his mere presence could quell dissent. He was immaculate in an Italian suit, his handsome features set in a mask of controlled irritation. He radiated his powerful, sandalwood-laced Alpha pheromones, intending to subtly remind Yaotian of her place.

​He approached the secluded table where Yaotian sat, already sipping jasmine tea. "There you are, Yao-Yao," he murmured, his voice low, a masterful blend of authority and false concern. "I must say, your behavior yesterday was entirely unacceptable. Director Xu was nearly hysterical. Running out of the hospital like that? It's highly disruptive, and frankly, it makes you look unstable. We need to present a united front before the wedding."

​Yaotian simply lifted her gaze, those dark, newly fathomless eyes meeting his without a flicker of deference. His dominant Alpha pheromones washed over her, and she felt-nothing. No biological urge to submit, no flutter of attraction, no weakness. It was a marvelous, chilling vacuum. She sipped her tea, letting the silence stretch, forcing him to stand awkwardly beside her chair like a recalcitrant subordinate.

​"Please, Zhenyu," she finally said, her voice cool and utterly detached, pulling out the chair opposite her with a slight gesture. "Do sit. There is no need for theatrics. This conversation will be brief, and you may find it requires all your focus."

​Zhenyu, instinctively ruffled by her refusal to be dominated by his scent or his tone, sat down heavily. "Focus on what, exactly? Focus on how you intend to apologize to my family for the unnecessary delay you've caused?"

​

​He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, his eyes glinting with proprietary desire. He attempted the soft, manipulative Alpha approach-a subtle blend of emotional blackmail and territorial scenting.

​"Look, darling," he began, attempting to take her hand across the table. "I know you're stressed. You're a fragile Omega, and planning a wedding is hard. Just be a good girl, sign the final agreement today, and let me take care of the details. I will even convince my father to loosen the control on your grandfather's old assets, once we are married. But you must trust me. Show the world you are my loyal bride."

​This was the core of his scheme: use pity and dominance to force her to sign away the assets before she could realize the full extent of the transfer, ensuring their complete control before the wedding.

​Yaotian allowed him to clasp her hand for a fleeting second, just long enough to feel the cold, calculating greed emanating from his palm. She withdrew her hand slowly, carefully wiping her fingers with a fresh napkin as if cleansing herself of contamination.

​"I appreciate your deep concern for my fragility, Zhenyu," Yaotian replied, her eyes glittering with cold amusement. "However, I find I am no longer susceptible to such charmingly outdated notions. And you seem to have fundamentally misunderstood the purpose of this meeting."

​She then delivered the execution.

​"The wedding, Zhenyu," Yaotian announced, her voice rising just enough to carry clearly across the quiet, prestigious veranda, drawing the attention of several nearby elite patrons, "is off. The engagement is terminated, effective immediately."

​The words landed not with a crash, but with a silent, devastating shockwave. Zhenyu's face, usually so controlled, went utterly white. The Dominant Alpha stared at her as if she had just slapped him across the face with a raw fish.

​"W-what did you say?" he stammered, the elegant sandalwood scent he projected spiking uncontrollably with raw, disbelieving rage.

​

​Yaotian met his gaze and delivered the final, sharp cutting remarks designed to destroy his Alpha pride publicly.

​"I said, the engagement is terminated," she repeated, her tone becoming razor-sharp, leaving no room for argument. "And please, control your pheromones, Zhenyu. They are quite irritating this afternoon. While you are indeed a Dominant Alpha, I find your scent has lost its novelty. Perhaps it is because I have learned that the highest form of dominance is not physical, but financial."

​She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "You presumed my weakness, didn't you? You thought I was too much of a 'fragile Omega' to read the fine print. You thought I would simply hand over my grandfather's ancestral assets-those valuable, unlisted holdings-without checking the transfer terms."

​She then brought out the true weapon: the knowledge stolen from the notebook. "The terms of separation, Zhenyu, are quite clear, as are the stipulations concerning fraudulent misrepresentation in the engagement contract. I have already notified the notary, Mr. Gao. Your attempts to expedite the transfer of those unlisted assets-assets that are legally immune until the ten-year clause is met-constitutes a breach of the agreement."

​She watched the color drain from his face as he realized she knew the hidden, confidential details he and Director Xu had tried so hard to conceal.

​"You had ample time to be honest, Zhenyu," Yaotian continued, her voice dripping with cold contempt. "Instead, you chose greed. You chose lies. You chose betrayal. Do you truly think a man who values my inheritance over my life is worthy of my hand? You are not a king, Zhenyu. You are merely a common thief in an expensive suit."

​Zhenyu's Alpha fury finally erupted, uncontrolled and dangerous. He slammed his fist onto the table, making the teacups rattle. His face was distorted by rage and humiliation.

​"You insolent Omega!" he roared, his pheromones aggressively targeting her, intending to crush her will. "You cannot do this! You are bound to me! You will face the consequences of insulting the Li family-"

​Yaotian didn't flinch. She simply tilted her head, giving him a look of absolute, profound pity. "There are no consequences for me, Zhenyu. Only for you. The legal notices demanding the immediate and full transfer of my separate inheritance rights-the rights you tried to steal-have already been filed. The terms ensure that any attempt to delay or obstruct the transfer will result in a massive financial penalty, one that would deeply embarrass your family's subsidiary company. A company, I might add, that is already reeling from your recent 'negligence'."

​The final blow landed hard. Zhenyu realized the full depth of his mistake. She hadn't just broken the engagement; she had trapped him. He was now facing the financial consequences of his greed, publicly shamed by the very Omega he had planned to discard. The whispers and glances from the nearby patrons, now fully alerted to the drama, were like invisible daggers.

​Yaotian rose slowly, radiating the untouchable cold of her Enigma aura. "Consider this a lesson, Zhenyu," she concluded, her voice low and chilling. "Never underestimate the woman you intend to betray. Your Alpha dominance is useless against a mind that is already immune to your scent and vastly superior to your schemes."

​She paused, then delivered the final, absolute demand. "The ancestral assets will be transferred back to my full, sole control by end of business today. I expect immediate confirmation. Goodbye, Li Zhenyu. May your future be as empty as your promises."

​Yaotian left him sitting there, a powerful Alpha reduced to a powerless, sputtering, publicly humiliated man. His sandalwood scent, once proud, now smelled of pure desperation. She walked away, minimizing the scandal for herself-the jilted, strong heiress demanding her rights-while maximizing the damage to his reputation.

​The initial gambit was successful. The engagement was severed, and the demand for her inheritance was made public and legally backed. The next battle, she knew, would be far more dangerous, for this betrayal would surely bring the wrath of the true power in the Li family: his older brother, the cold, Dominant Alpha CEO, Li Zihang. But Yaotian was ready. Her smile, forged in the depths of betrayal, was cold and keen, promising absolute retribution