Chapter 3
The first post was a blurry, secretly recorded video. I was carrying Ethan out of the apartment building, with him huddled in my arms, his face buried in the crook of my neck.
He'd been sedated, so he was completely limp, like he had no bones at all.
I was so desperate to get him to the hospital that after I tore off the suppressant patch from my neck, I forgot to reapply it, so my scent leaked out.
The comments section blew up.
[Who's carrying Ethan? Mr. Johnson's a Beta, he shouldn't have that kind of scent.]
[With that intensity, it's gotta be a top Alpha.]
[Damn, is Ethan caught cheating for real?]
The whole thing sparked sixteen different fanfic stories.
The wildest one was: [Ethan was forcefully matched with a mysterious Alpha.
[Vivian rushed to the scene, but as a Beta, he was completely overpowered, left standing there, bitter and helpless, watching as his beloved was carried away right before her eyes.]
I dialed the PR department, my face completely blank.
"Mr. Johnson, should we put out a statement?" the PR director asked, cautious.
"Yes. Ethan has presented," I replied.
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.
"H-he presented? But Mr. Cooper already," the PR director stammered.
"He had a second presentation at thirty. SSS-level Alpha."
There was a ten-second silence.
She whispered urgently to someone nearby. "Scrap all the 'Ethan cheating' drafts, switch to the 'Ethan just presented' story."
After I hung up, Ethan was already awake, leaning against the hospital bed, his phone screen showing the trending topics.
His eyes were red and a little teary.
"Honey," he said softly.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"They're saying I can't do that couple's variety show with you anymore."
I froze for a second.
Right, we'd already signed the contract for a couple's variety show next month.
The whole hook was that we were the only Beta couple in the entertainment industry.
Now, there isn't even a single Beta left between us.
Now, we're both Alphas.
That whole selling point is totally ruined.
Three days later, Ethan was discharged from the hospital.
He was picking up self-control crazy fast.
The doctor put a special inhibitor collar on him, an SSS-level exclusive. Only seven exist in the whole world, and Ethan was the sixth to get one.
He glanced down at the metal collar around his neck.
"I feel like I'm wearing a dog collar," he muttered.
"Count your blessings. Without that thing, you'd have every Omega within a third of a mile going into heat just by walking down the street," I said.
Ethan went quiet for a moment, then murmured, "But I only want you."
I pretended not to hear him.
But my heart betrayed me and skipped a beat.
The couple's variety show was called Home Sweet Home.
Each couple stayed in a house provided by the show for seven days, with their entire week streamed live.
Hidden cameras covered every corner, and there was no script, just genuine reactions from the participants.
The first three seasons were packed with legendary moments.
Couples got into screaming matches over chores and started throwing stuff, blew up over a single text and moved into separate rooms, and one couple even straight-up announced their divorce on day three, live on camera.
The show was also nicknamed the "Marriage Lie Detector."
When we first got the offer, Ethan and I both thought it was a piece of cake.
We were a Beta couple, steady, drama-free, never even argued.
The only catch was, we signed the contract as a "Beta couple."
And now?
Two Alphas, one of them SSS-level. Go figure.
When the production team got the update, the director went quiet for a long time.
"Mr. Johnson, are you sure you two won't cause any trouble with this setup?" he finally asked.
"We can pay extra," I replied.
"Deal."
Filming began.
The first day's task was to decorate the rooms.
There were two bedrooms: a master bedroom and a guest bedroom.
The director's cue card read: "Please decide on your own where to sleep."
That was the first trap the production team set.
Putting two Alphas in one room? The clash of Alpha energy is just the tip of the iceberg, if their emotions set off a chain reaction, the whole house could turn into a disaster zone.
"I'll take the guest room," I was the first to speak up.
Ethan paused, his expression falling for a moment.
He quickly recovered, putting on a smile and nodding.
"Alright, I'll take the master bedroom," he said, trying to sound casual.
The live chat exploded.
[Why are they splitting up?]
[Two Alphas in one room? That's a recipe for chaos.]
[Come on, they're married. Three years and still going strong.]
[See? Told you, turning into an Alpha always messes things up.]
[Ethan's smiling, but you can totally see the sadness in his eyes.]
I walked into the guest room, closed the door behind me, and took a deep breath.
It wasn't that I didn't want to share a room with him. He just messes with me too much. I'd barely been in the living room for ten minutes, and my heartbeat was already out of whack.
The inhibitor collar could keep him from actively releasing his scent, but it couldn't do anything about the scent that just leaked out on its own.
If I got any closer, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from responding to him.
Alphas aren't supposed to feel that way about each other.
I did not dare think any further about it.
The first day passed without incident.
The second day passed without incident.
On the third day, my gut feeling was spot on.
The task card said: "Couple's Chemistry Challenge. The husband lets out his scent in a closed room. The wife goes in blindfolded and has to find him by feeling it out. Three minutes on the clock."
Ethan read the rules, his ears turning red.
"Do I really have to let my scent out?" Ethan asked, sounding nervous.
"Nope," the director was ruthless.
"He's got the inhibitor collar on," I tried to make excuses for him.
"He can take it off," the director replied.
We locked eyes.
Ethan looked at me, panic all over his face, like he was begging for help. Meanwhile, my eyes were saying, "Hey, you totally brought this on yourself."
Let the challenge begin.
With three blindfolds over my eyes, I stepped into the challenge room, and the scent of sunset hit me like a tidal wave.
It felt warm, and endless.