Chapter 86 - Confession

When Stalvern saw Zhong Yan coming over from the distance, he thought he had come to see him. Just as the questions and scoldings he had kept bubbling inside of him this whole day were about to come out, Zhong Yan casually said to the bodyguard as if he did not see him, “I’m leaving now.”

“Yes, Sir Zhong,” the young guard responded. Then, he glared viciously at Stalvern again while he guarded Zhong Yan vigilantly. His posture almost made it seem like he was worried Stalvern would pounce over to attack Zhong Yan at any moment.

Stalvern was pissed but he would never do something like chasing after someone for a tussle. One of the Yate family’s juniors, a man about the age of thirty or so, was accompanying him. He had silver eyes, a definite sign of their ancestry. Held back by that junior, he followed behind them, yelling, “Zhong Yan! Do you not dare to speak with me anymore? You tricked my grandson seven years ago, and now you’re here to trick me seven years later?!”

Such level of ridicule was simply nothing to Zhong Yan. While Intron was thinking so, Zhong Yan suddenly stopped.

Intron was shocked. What’s going on?

Zhong Yan turned around and looked coldly at Stalvern for a moment before he ordered, “Intron, contact security and tell them to change the permissions on the council’s entrance. Sir Stalvern Yate is no longer allowed to enter from tomorrow onwards.”

The one thing he hated most in his life was to be accused of tricking Adrian. He could only bear with it before, but now that the situation was set, he had no reason to continue enduring it.

Intron quickly accepted the order while Stalvern was in disbelief. “Have you gone mad?! Do you really think you can change the permissions to the entrance however you please?”

“Perhaps not in the past, but now…” Zhong Yan smiled to Stalvern, “I really do have that right. If you do not believe me, why don’t you try and see if you can enter tomorrow? But I shall advise you against the idea. Things are busy enough these days and if you insist on adding to the chaos, I may have to ask the police to take the necessary measures to deal with you. I have no contempt nor grievances towards you. If you stay at home and focus on your retirement, then I will not come seeking trouble with you either. For what reason do we have to trouble each other in such a way?”

It had been many years since anyone dared to speak to him in such an uppity tone. Stalvern felt extremely offended, but his reason told him that what Zhong Yan said was true.

During the day, after the emergency transition plans were launched in several areas, the police department arrested Pearson in a thunderous affair. The identity of the people involved in this huge case was a little sensitive, but the police department acted quickly. Even Stalvern thought it was odd. He tried to enquire about the news and finally received one vague response. Someone that they cannot afford to provoke was suppressing the information.

Who could be someone with so much power just hours after the Federation entered the “Post-AI era” that even the police department would not dare to provoke them? Was it the Supreme Commander of the Navi Military Command and its troops? Or…

The emergency transition plan’s executors were Vahl and Zhong Yan, so all the work must be carried around the two of them. In just a single day, the peak of the Federation’s power had changed. Everyone in the council knew that the position of President, vacant for over hundreds of years, may now fall on one of the two.

And this was the reason why Zhong Yan could so easily ask for the permissions on the council’s entrance to be changed. In this society where the weak were trampled, and the powerful revered, nobody would dare to help Stalvern who had given the rejection vote when it came to provoking Zhong Yan who was likely to become the President.

Stalvern’s complexion turned green and pale. Finally, his spirits fell. When Zhong Yan saw that he finally understood the current situation, he didn’t want to continue getting caught up with him anymore. After turning around and walking for a few steps, he could faintly hear Stalvern speaking to the young man beside him. “Ford, let’s go…”

Zhong Yan’s footsteps paused. Then, he continued to leave in a quick stride as if he did not hear anything.

In this whole entire world, only he and “Butterfly” knew this fact. After “Butterfly” entered its sleep, he was the only one left. At that time, the name of his original partner was…Ford Yate.

To tell the truth, the only reason why Zhong Yan remembered this name was credited to his good memory. After all, after so many years, he could still easily say the full name of Adrian’s birth father when asked. Not even the author could do so without backtracking. But Zhong Yan had never paid attention to this person. This was the first time he had any sort of contact with him. The reason why Stalvern could get that man to stay by his side must be the fact that he was the closest blood-related member of his family…Zhong Yan thought with an agitated mind, the upper social circle of the Capital really was too small.

Adrian could keenly sense that Zhong Yan who had returned before daybreak was not in good spirits.

Even though Zhong Yan was still as gentle as ever when he spoke to him, he got ready for bed before either of them were able to say much. After all, he still had to get up early to continue his work tomorrow. But Adrian was still able to catch hints of hesitation and irritation on Zhong Yan’s face several times that day.

He perceived that Zhong Yan was different from his usual mood, and Adrian actually felt a little happy about that. One had to understand that the incident that broke them apart seven years ago had not been paved over yet. Zhong Yan had struggled with himself for half a year while Adrian who lived under the same roof as him knew nothing of it. But now, he could easily see through Zhong Yan’s emotions. This showed him that Zhong Yan was now completely unguarded before him.

But why was Zhong Yan in such low spirits right now? Adrian was puzzled.

The voices of the anti-AI are now the norm so those who voted ‘no’ in the meeting naturally lost their competitive power. On the other hand, all the people voting in favor were mostly Pearson’s men, and now that their leader was in prison, their reputation fell with him. Zhong Yan was the initiator of the impeachment bill, and the one to give the final winning vote. His partner was also the Supreme Commander of the Navi Military Command. Even if the Supreme Commander’s true partner for President was Vahl and not Zhong Yan, the public had no way of knowing this. They all felt that Zhong Yan was the one with the Navi Military Command’s backing. Even if he was a little young, he was still a strong candidate to become the president.

For Zhong Yan, that should have been a very ideal situation.

It wasn’t Adrian’s style to leave a problem hanging when he found one. So, after the two of them got in bed after their shower, Adrian was determined to ask Zhong Yan what was bothering him before he laid down to sleep.

“Xiao Yan…”

“Ade…”

The two of them spoke at the same time. After a second, both of them said at the same time, “You go first.”

“Is something bothering you today?” Adrian asked. “You seemed pretty unhappy since you came back. Are things not going well on your end?”

Zhong Yan looked at Adrian, feeling surprised. He shook his head. “No, but I…do have something to tell you.”

Adrian had been leaning back on his pillow, but hearing that, he sat up to show that he was listening seriously.

But Zhong Yan kept on hesitating. There was a look of struggle in his eyes but Adrian did not urge him. However, the doubts in his heart grew stronger and stronger. What is it that makes it so difficult for Zhong Yan to speak about?

“You…” Zhong Yan seemed to have made a determination as he took a deep breath. He asked, “Can your salary be credited to my account in the future? To my private account. The one you don’t have permission to access.”

“Sure,” Adrian readily agreed. Right in front of Zhong Yan, he logged into the system of the Navi Military Command’s headquarters and changed his payment account to Zhong Yan’s private account. After he was done, he asked with a smile, “My salary is my only source of income now. What am I going to use in the future? Will you be giving me an allowance every month?”

Zhong Yan looked still at him without any amusement on his face. The smile on Adrian’s lips gradually dissipated as well. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s something I need to confess to you about. You never asked me this in the past and I never mentioned it, but I’m ready to tell you now. It’s not like I suddenly feel…guilty or whatever. It’s just…I found out today that the risk of that matter getting exposed was too great, and I can’t bear the consequences. I’d rather tell you now and maybe you…won’t be as angry…” The more he said, the less confidence he had, almost as if he was making an extravagant request.

Adrian was finally getting a little worried and he became even more confused. Quickly, he probed, “So what is it?”

“I’m not even…your actual optimal marriage partner.” When he said that, Zhong Yan felt his heart empty out. He didn’t even dare to look at Adrian and kept his gaze down, forcing himself to continue. “I had no other choice at that time. I haven’t been able to contact you for seven years, and in the final two, I couldn’t even find any news about you. When I made that list to lure you to the school, I became worried that you would not talk to me when we met. That was why I went to ‘Butterfly’ and had you changed as my optimal marriage partner instead. I even had it arranged so that it would be announced during the celebration, that way we would have something to talk about…”

There had never been any optimal marriage partner. When you look back to it now, it may look like a romantic coincidence, but this was all part of his deliberate arrangements. What would Adrian think of him? He always hated these things. Now that he found out that someone was pulling the strings for this marriage to begin with, would he still want to continue?

A crystalline droplet fell onto the blanket, staining it with a wet spot. Adrian was so surprised that Zhong Yan was crying that he couldn’t even be bothered to ask questions anymore. He quickly cupped Zhong Yan’s face, and when he saw the redness at the corners of his eyes and those tears, his heart felt so pained that he quickly held him tight to coax him better.

“Shh, it’s okay. Don’t cry, Xiao Yan.” Adrian pressed him to his chest and said, “Don’t cry…Just seeing you cry makes my heart break…”

With a sobbing voice, Zhong Yan anxiously said, “I’m sorry, Ade. Don’t be angry. You can have whatever you want, just please don’t divorce me. It’ll also be very difficult to divorce in the future if one of the partners is unwilling. You’ll need to file a divorce lawsuit and the cost is very high. And you’ve also given me your salary…”

Once a person has owned the ocean, they can no longer bear the desert. He knew he had become a bad person again. He would use whatever means he could just to keep Adrian by his side, as well as this marriage. But this method was also full of loopholes. Adrian still had a lot of valuable property and no matter how bad of shape he was in, he still had many rich friends…

But just as Zhong Yan’s words were becoming more and more desperate, Adrian caught his jaw and forced Zhong Yan to look at him, interrupting him. “You can fill me in on this knowledge that I’ll never have to use later.”

His silver irises glowed with fury underneath the dim light. “What do you mean you ‘changed’ me as your optimal marriage partner?! Aren’t I clearly your optimal marriage partner? That thing dares to say I’m not?! What kind of garbage system does the AI use to determine that? I’ve always believed its existence was a mistake, but I never thought it was a fool as well.”

Zhong Yan was dazed as he watched him spit out a chain of insults towards AI. The development of this conversation seemed to be different than what he was expecting.