The Overworked Beta and the Paranoid Alpha 67

Chapter 67: Who Is It?

“Shh—” Romeo put his index finger to his lips in a silencing gesture. “I can’t reveal his identity. It’s a classified file.”

“Tell me,” Romeo said, pulling off the bath towel around his waist, lifting a corner of the blanket on the bed, and slipping in like an eel.

“Hey, what are you doing? Get away!”

“I’m not doing anything,” Romeo’s muffled voice came from under the blanket.

Wen En lifted the part of the blanket that was covering him and saw Romeo’s fluffy golden head resting on his chest, his ear pressed against Wen En’s left rib, as if listening to something.

“Shh,” Romeo said. “I’m listening to your heartbeat.”

“What’s there to listen to?” Wen En touched the golden head and said with some confusion.

“It sounds good,” Romeo said. “It’s a strong, powerful, and rhythmic heartbeat. I can also hear the echo of your lungs breathing.”

“Oh?” Wen En smiled, and a few muffled echoes came from his chest. “Dr. Romeo, have you diagnosed any symptoms?”

“No illness, no pain, very healthy,” Romeo repeated in a low voice, “A very healthy heart.”

I want to live in his heart, listen to that strong and rhythmic heartbeat, soak in the warm blood, and sleep here, never to wake up. In an instant, Romeo had such an absurd and strange thought. Romeo was startled by himself. He subconsciously looked up, and the sound of his heartbeat instantly disappeared. Only Wen En was looking at him with confused eyes.

“Tell me who the killer is, Wen En. You know I hate suspense,” Romeo said, squeezing Wen En’s shoulder.

“No,” Wen En smiled, playfully touching Romeo’s nose. “Just think of it as a bedtime story. Just listen to it.”

“Bad guy,” Romeo protested with dissatisfaction. His nose was pinched, and when he spoke, a strange, goblin-like voice came from his throat.

Wen En said, “Before we talk about this serial killer, Romeo, I have a question for you.”

“What?” Romeo suddenly had a bad feeling. The last time he had this feeling was in high school when his science teacher caught him folding paper airplanes in class and asked to talk to him after class.

Wen En said, “A serious question: do you think a person becomes a heinous serial killer because of his evil nature, or because of the influence of his family and society in his later life?”

The hand that was squeezing Wen En’s shoulder stopped. “Wen En, how do you expect a quasi-criminal who almost went to prison to answer you?” Romeo said with a troubled expression.

“Of course, answer truthfully,” Wen En said.

Romeo thought for a moment and said, “Then the influence of the latter is definitely greater.”

“After all, there are all kinds of social laws in this world, and the nature of people, or living beings, is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. No matter how evil a person’s nature is, before committing a crime, he has to consider whether he has the ability to bear the consequences of violating social laws. If the harm outweighs the benefit, he will naturally give up committing the crime.”

Romeo said, “Of course, all of this is based on the premise that this person’s intelligence is normal and he has basic judgment.”

“Oh? So you’re that rational?” Wen En sneered. “It seems that in your eyes, the illegal and criminal things you’ve done are more beneficial than harmful.”

“Hmph, of course. You don’t know how much money it makes…” before he could finish, Romeo saw Wen En staring at him with a blank expression. Romeo’s eyes darted around, and he quickly changed his tune, “No, I mean, I was blinded by money at that time and lost my basic judgment, so I fell into the abyss of crime. Wen En, do you know? After getting along with you these days, I have deeply realized my mistakes…”

“Alright,” Wen En interrupted him and said, “Cut the crap.”

Romeo smiled. He lifted the blanket, reached out, and placed his hand on Wen En’s knee, massaging his leg with a light touch. “I’m telling the truth. What should I say so that you can trust me?”

Wen En looked up at Romeo’s extremely deceptive blue eyes and said, “When I first saw your file, there was a question that lingered in my mind, which was…”

Wen En raised his hand, his fingertips gently scraping Romeo’s chin. Wen En said, “You’ve already been admitted to the most prestigious Saint Rhodesacri University in the Interstellar Federation Empire. As a male Alpha, you already have a brighter future than most people. Why did you have to ruin your future? With your intelligence, you had no need to participate in cheating at all.”

Seeing Wen En getting closer and closer, his thighs kneeling between Romeo’s legs, his face also getting closer, and even his nose almost touching the bridge of Romeo’s nose, his voice was calm and steady, but with a kind of bewitchment, as if he were trying to find some invisible truth. He put his arms around Romeo’s shoulders and whispered:

“Clever Romeo, tell me, why did you do that?”

Why did you destroy yourself?

Did it do you any good?

Or, you couldn’t accept the you who was bathed in sunlight?

Did you have to retreat to the shadows, watching the disordered chaos and division, was that your familiar territory, and only then could you feel at ease?

Romeo felt that Wen En wanted to ask him these questions, but he didn’t want to answer them now. Because he himself didn’t understand these doubts at all. Or, he didn’t want to understand these doubts.

Romeo grabbed Wen En’s hand and said, “Aren’t we talking about a serial killer’s confidential file? Why are we talking about me again?”

He leaned in close to Wen En’s ear and whispered, “Hmm? Wen En, why do you always go off-topic?”

“Alright, let’s get back to the serial killer,” Wen En shrugged, but in his heart, he thought, Damn it, this kid is really tight-lipped.

“According to the background investigation, this serial killer was born into a wealthy family. His father was an entrepreneur, and his mother was a full-time housewife. But after a few years, the marriage ended in divorce,” Wen En said.

“Normal. You know, the divorce rate in the interstellar empire is frighteningly high,” Romeo commented.

Wen En continued, “The custody of this killer was given to his entrepreneur father. His father was a playboy. After his first marriage failed, his father had several more marriages and brought the killer many half-siblings. Despite this, the killer still lived a life far beyond the level of most people. He went to the most expensive private school in the main city and had a private nanny and driver to serve him every day.”

“Hmph,” hearing this, Romeo just felt like laughing. “It sounds like living in a luxury prison.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps his real life was not as comfortable as I’ve described,” Wen En said. “In any case, he was still a normal person at that time and did not show a vicious side. Until he encountered an accident.”

“What accident?” Romeo’s eyelids twitched. He had a guess in his heart. He seemed to have a faint idea of who Wen En was talking about.

“A fire made him a severely burned disabled person. Later, he disappeared from people’s sight. When he reappeared, he had become a serial killer, committing cruel crimes, but he was at large due to insufficient evidence.”

“So, you and Della want to catch him?” Romeo sneered. “You haven’t even finished this mission, and you want to catch a new criminal? You really love your work.”

“No, no, no,” hearing this, Wen En waved his hands repeatedly and said, “I still have to finish the rest of my vacation after this mission. I don’t have time to take on a new case.”

“So, you’re asking me,” Romeo looked at Wen En meaningfully and said, “Why did this person end up as a serial killer?”

Wen En did not respond, but just lay lazily on the pillow, looking at him in silence.

“Let me think, how should I put it,” Romeo’s fingers, with a not-too-light, not-too-heavy force, massaged the muscles on Wen En’s leg. “I feel that this file is missing a lot of information.”

“For example?”

“For example, the killer’s detailed interpersonal relationships, and how other family members evaluated him.”

“What do you think other family members would evaluate him as?” Wen En asked curiously.

“I think?” Romeo said. “Wait, shouldn’t you go and investigate on the spot and ask the person involved? My guess is not accurate.”

“Just say what you think,” Wen En directly kicked Romeo in the thigh bone.

“For reference only. If there are any errors, don’t blame me,” Romeo grimaced in pain. After all, the force was not small.

“First is the killer’s entrepreneur father,” Romeo held up an index finger and said, “You know, people who can be entrepreneurs are not gentle sheep. The fact that this father frequently changed his intimate partners further proves the point—this person is a strong, self-centered, and extremely controlling person.”

“What if he also cheated?”

“That would further confirm my guess,” Romeo said. “Once he can’t get the satisfaction of his self-confidence from his partner, he will go and find someone who is more submissive to him.”

“You know so much?” Wen En frowned. “Dr. Romeo, have you cheated a lot in the past?”

“That’s not true!” Romeo patted the back of Wen En’s thigh. “Tell me who I’ve cheated on? No, why are you turning the question back on me? Aren’t we talking about that serial killer?”

“Then I’m sorry,” Wen En leaned in close to Romeo’s ear and whispered, “Please continue.”