The Alien Prince Has Fallen for Me

Chapter 11: Inheritance and the Chip

The first rays of morning sunlight struggled to pierce the thick frost clinging to the master bedroom's window lattice, casting cold, faint patches of light across the room. The villa's heating system seemed to have partially resumed operation, but the chill remained bone-deep, as if the touch of death from the previous night had not yet fully faded.

Loli had dressed with care, wearing a bright, colorful outfit as she pushed open the villa's reinforced, unusually heavy front door. Her face carried an expression of anticipation, tinged with a barely perceptible ruthlessness, as she prepared to "inspect" the "results" of her father Roger and Yu Man's efforts.

Yet, the sight that greeted her left her momentarily frozen.

In the great hall, a fire crackled in the fireplace, its orange-red flames driving back the cold from a small area. Fu Yuan sat before the hearth, wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, his hair disheveled and dark circles heavy under his eyes. In one hand, he held an iron poker, skewered with several charred pieces of meat, while he drank from a glass beer bottle with a dazed expression.

Hearing the door open, he slowly turned his head, his gaze vacant as he looked at Loli, as if he didn't recognize her.

Alarm bells rang in Loli's mind. *Damn it! Fu Yuan isn't dead? Then the inheritance...* Her hand instinctively reached for her pants pocket, where a fine needle coated in deadly poison was hidden. If Fu Yuan was alive, he was the primary heir to the inheritance—he had to be eliminated!

Fu Yuan seemed to read her thoughts. He staggered to his feet, clutching the beer bottle, and shuffled toward her, his voice hoarse and drifting: "You're here? I sat all night, thinking a lot..." He let out a drunken burp, and his eyes suddenly sharpened with resolve. "Mei Guo is more important than money! I can't live without her! I've decided to renounce my inheritance rights!"

These words struck Loli like music, instantly dispelling the murderous intent in her eyes, replaced by overwhelming joy! "Great! I'll contact a lawyer for you right away!" She couldn't pull out her communicator fast enough, quickly dialing a video call. On the screen appeared a lawyer in a suit and tie. "Fu Yuan wants to renounce the inheritance," she said, turning the communicator toward him. "I'll let him tell you!"

Fu Yuan faced the screen, his expression solemn, and spoke each word deliberately: "I, Fu Yuan, hereby solemnly declare that I renounce all inheritance rights to the estate of Ms. Mei Guo."

The lawyer confirmed and recorded it on the other end: "Alright, the legal effect takes effect immediately."

A grin spread across Loli's face, as if the hundreds of billions in inheritance had already fallen into her pocket.

*Good thing I gave up the inheritance in time, or I'd have fallen victim to Loli's poison!* Fu Yuan felt as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from his shoulders, a near-manic joy spreading across his face. He threw the beer bottle to the ground and shouted, "Perfect! I'm cleared of suspicion!" With that, he paid Loli no more mind and dashed toward the master bedroom on the second floor like a whirlwind. "Baby! I can come in now! Xing Hun, open the door!"

Loli watched his retreating figure, her ecstasy instantly replaced by a pang of dread. *Damn it! Why is Xing Hun sleeping in the master bedroom too? He couldn't have frozen to death, could he?!* She assumed Yue Yao and Xing Hun had both turned into ice sculptures, and she couldn't wait to follow, eager to see for herself.

At the master bedroom door, Fu Yuan was pounding on the still-icy surface: "Xing Hun! Open up! Let me in! I've renounced the inheritance! Baby, can I come in now?"

Fearing that delay might bring unforeseen changes, Loli didn't wait for a response. Using the backup password privileges she knew, she impatiently opened the door.

With a click, the door swung open.

A wave of cold, even more biting than in the hall, rushed out, making Loli shiver. But the sight inside left her dumbfounded, quickly replaced by a surge of fury!

There, on the large bed, Xing Hun and Yue Yao were sleeping together in the same blanket! Both had rosy cheeks and steady breaths, as if they had merely fallen asleep in each other's arms on an ordinary cold morning, utterly out of place in the icebox-like surroundings!

"Mei Guo isn't dead!" Loli nearly ground her teeth to dust. "And she's slept with my beloved Xing Hun!"

Fu Yuan saw it too, and it hit him like a thunderbolt. Heartbroken, he pointed at them: "You... how can you sleep together?!"

Yue Yao was startled awake, opening her eyes groggily. The first thing she felt was the reassuring warmth of a solid chest pressed against her side. She realized she was curled up entirely in Xing Hun's arms, her hand even resting unconsciously on his firm pectoral muscles! Fragments of last night's memories flooded back—the biting cold, Xing Hun's warm embrace, his low, soothing voice...

Her face flushed crimson in an instant, as red as a cooked shrimp. Mortified, she tried to bury her face in the blanket, but Xing Hun held her possessively, refusing to let her move.

"It's cold out there; you'll catch a chill if you get up," he said, looking down at her with a tender, unyielding gaze.

Feeling his steady body heat and the texture of his muscles beneath her hand, Yue Yao's heart raced. She could only blush and stammer a weak defense: "We were just huddling together for warmth..." Remembering the danger of the night before, her tone grew serious. "The air conditioning malfunctioned last night; we almost froze to death! I suspect someone tampered with it on purpose."

Fu Yuan was skeptical. "Really just for warmth?" He still couldn't accept what he'd seen.

"Yes!" Yue Yao answered firmly, trying to make her eyes look sincere.

Fu Yuan stared at her flushed cheeks and evasive gaze, his heart still uneasy, but he grabbed a thick coat from the wardrobe and handed it over. "Baby, I almost thought I'd lost you! Here, put this on."

Yue Yao gave him a grateful look, took the coat, and slipped it on before finally extricating herself from Xing Hun's warm but embarrassing embrace, stepping onto the cold floor.

The three of them gathered in the still-chilly hall, where the fireplace offered some warmth. Xing Hun recounted the previous night in detail: "The smart home assistant Xiao Zhi said the system was infected by a virus; he lost all control. The air conditioning was set to minus twenty degrees, and all the doors and windows were locked. We were essentially trapped in a giant freezer."

Fu Yuan recalled his own experience and nodded. "Yeah! I suddenly felt cold too when I was in the hall last night. Good thing I was grilling meat and drinking beer by the fireplace; that's how I made it through." He emphasized "hall" and "grilling meat," hinting that he hadn't entered the master bedroom.

Loli's eyes darted around, and she quickly tried to shift the focus, feigning surprise. "Could the virus have been planted by radical groups opposed to implanting knowledge chips?" She shot a meaningful glance at Fu Yuan.

Fu Yuan's expression flickered. Unwilling to take the blame, he quickly denied it: "You can't make guesses without evidence."

But Xing Hun turned his suspicious gaze on Fu Yuan, his tone direct: "What about you? Did you do it?"

Fu Yuan looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, retorting indignantly: "It wasn't me! I just renounced the inheritance; I'm the least suspicious now!"

Xing Hun's eyes then shifted to Loli, assessing her. "Then it was you. You're the second in line. If Mei Guo and Fu Yuan had frozen to death in the master bedroom, you'd be the biggest beneficiary."

Loli's heart skipped a beat, but she immediately put on a look of grievance, crying out as if wronged: "Unfair! I came early this morning to bring food for Mom's pets!" She held up the large bag she'd been carrying. "If I'd known they'd frozen to death, would I have prepared so much meat and insects?" The excuse sounded reasonable enough.

Xing Hun raised an eyebrow, dropping the matter, and reached out to take the bag. "Oh, meat? Perfect. After a long night, some grilled meat would be just the thing to recharge." He looked at Yue Yao, his tone natural. "Come on, let's grill some meat."

"Okay!" Yue Yao was starving, and she nodded eagerly.

Fu Yuan chased after Xing Hun, pressing: "A long night? You two really didn't do anything?" He was still fixated on what he'd seen.

Xing Hun skillfully set up a grill by the fireplace, deliberately flashing a mischievous, ambiguous grin. "Guess."