The Stand-In Doesn't Want a Crematorium Ending

Blurb:

Unemployed Su An and Fang Chengfeng, a member of parliament, have a marriage that epitomizes the pairing of a poor Alpha and a rich, beautiful Omega. The public has always loved to gossip about them.

Many people predicted that a couple from such wildly different social classes wouldn't last three months before falling apart.

Three years later, however, the two were still together.

But Su An knew that his marriage to Fang Chengfeng, a heaven-blessed son born with a silver spoon in his mouth, was nothing more than a transaction that served their mutual interests.

As a public official, Fang Chengfeng needed a stable marriage in order to advance his career.

Meanwhile, Su An had suffered an injury to his gland and needed the soothing effect of highly compatible Omega pheromones.

They hit it off at a matchmaking banquet and got married that very day.

People said that the higher the compatibility between an Alpha and an Omega's pheromones, the more stable their marriage would be.

For a time, Su An believed that too.

But three years later, he realized that he and his Omega partner, whose pheromones were nearly 100% compatible with his, were drifting farther and farther apart.

He had fallen for the Omega, cold as frost and snow, who remained terrifyingly rational and calm at all times.

But they were incompatible in personality, had different habits, and held opposing values... Their many conflicts kept growing, like a snowball rolling downhill.

The final straw that broke their marriage was when he accidentally overheard a phone call between Fang Chengfeng and a doctor friend:

"I'm pregnant... The election is coming up. I can't have a baby at such a critical moment..."

"He's not suitable to be my child's father... His genes, his intelligence, none of it is suitable..."

"I should have listened to you from the start. I shouldn't have picked a substitute just because he resembled him a little. I should have married the person I truly love. Even if there was little hope, I should at least have fought for myself, whatever the cost..."

Su An didn't hear the rest. He quietly walked out of the upscale apartment where he'd lived for three years.

Wearing a sleeveless undershirt and loose shorts, the man looked only a little more presentable than a vagrant. He stood by the sun-drenched road, silent for a long, long time.

The next morning, Su An got up as usual and made a lavish breakfast. Before Fang Chengfeng woke, he left a divorce agreement and slipped away with just a few belongings.

Just as he'd moved in: alone and with nothing to his name.

Now alone once more, Su An decided to return to his old line of work.

If he had failed to find happiness for himself, then he'd work hard to help other people find it.

But before long, his ex-husband Fang Chengfeng came looking for him.

The Omega, who had always seemed unmoved by everything and calmer and more rational than a robot, had red eyes for once. He clung to Su An and wouldn't let go. "An'an, darling, come back with me, okay?"

Su An lowered the brim of his hat and took a step back, his voice as cold as the Omega's usually was. "No. I'm only a substitute. You should find the original and take him home."

◤Content Warnings◢:

1. Both leads are each other's first and only partners. There is no original. The recipient has always loved the giver.

2. My take on a futuristic interstellar setting, with plenty of original worldbuilding.

3. Includes pregnancy and childbirth, which are fairly important, but won't take up much of the story.

4. The author is an amateur who loves writing anyway, with kindergarten-level skills. Thanks in advance for your patience, dear readers! [Kneels]

Theme: Love yourself before you love someone else.