Zou Yuqing woke up in the early hours of the morning. Being an Alpha, his stamina recovered quickly, and the pain radiating from his body soon made him fully alert.
At this moment, the room remained dead silent. After finishing, Wei Mingjue pulled up his pants and left, leaving a fainting Zou Yuqing alone in this cold and gloomy prison cell. Even though it was July, the breeze filtering through the window made him shiver uncontrollably. Outside, pitch black darkness enveloped everything, mirroring his mood at that moment: hollow, numb, and devoid of any color.
He did not understand why fate was treating him this way. His world had no color to begin with, and now it was even grayer. Why should he pay the price for the mess Zou Yuyang made, being forcefully taken by Wei Mingjue, an Alpha just like him? He felt humiliated, resentful, aggrieved, and helpless.
Before dawn broke, and before the people sent by Wei Mingjue could arrive, Zou Yuqing picked up his torn outfit, casually threw it on, and strode out the door. The door was not locked; the location was simply too remote, and it took him a long time of walking to finally reach the highway, where he flagged down a truck heading into the city.
The truck driver was a kind person. Upon seeing his miserable state, the driver quickly let him sit in the back cargo area and even gave him a blanket originally used to cover the goods, looking exceptionally sympathetic toward an Alpha who clearly appeared to have been violated.
Yes, he was an Alpha. How could something like this happen to him? Zou Yuqing wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, his fists clenched so hard they turned white. He held back the tears welling up in his eyes, but the next moment, feeling the strange sensation of liquid spilling from behind, his tears suddenly slipped down, and his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
After the truck arrived at the urban warehouse, the driver let him off. Zou Yuqing had no money on him, so he could only wrap himself in the blanket and walk home from the warehouse. Fortunately, it was still early, and there were very few people on the street, otherwise, they certainly would have been frightened by him: an Alpha covered entirely in the pheromones of another Alpha, with bloody bite marks on his gland.
So painful. Zou Yuqing walked numbly. The night wind brushed against his cheeks, drying his tears and carrying away his sobs into the unknowing night.
He did not know how long he walked. As the sky began to grow faintly bright, Zou Yuqing finally stepped into the familiar apartment building hallway and pushed open the door. The bowl of noodles he had left on the table before leaving remained untouched, having long since bloated and congealed into a clump, while his mother was quietly sleeping soundly on the sofa, looking utterly exhausted.
Zou Yuqing draped the blanket he had carried along over his mother, then walked back to his room to grab a set of clothes before heading toward the bathroom. The cracked mirror reflected the deep and shallow marks and bite marks all over his body, making them look even more ferocious, while his gland and the area between his legs were in an even more disastrous state.
“Ha…” How miserable could this get? Zou Yuqing smiled bitterly and sighed, his lips twitching as he pressed them together. He swallowed hard to force down this sorrow, comforting himself that it would be fine. He was not an Omega; it was just this one night, and he would not get pregnant, so it did not matter.
Turning on the shower, the water splashed against the yellowed tile floor, sending droplets flying. Zou Yuqing squatted down tremblingly to clean himself. Clenching his teeth to endure the sharp pain, he watched red liquid mix with white liquid and flow out together, feeling like utter trash.
After cleaning up, he changed into a washed-out blue pajama set, applied ointment to his gland to reduce inflammation, and finally lay flat on his bed, staring with hollow eyes until the sky grew completely bright.
At nine o’clock in the morning, the atmosphere inside the manager’s office of Shuangming Pharmaceutical Company was frozen. Wei Mingjue sat on the leather chair with a cold face, staring at the expressionless person standing before his desk, his eyes bloodshot. “So, you grabbed the wrong person, and today you even let him escape.” This was not a question. Crossing his arms in front of himself, he spoke through clenched teeth.
“Yes, I am sorry, Mr. Wei. During the investigation, we failed to find out that Zou Yushen had another son.” The man still wore little expression, standing straight and tall.
“Xia Fan, you have followed me for so many years. This must be your first time making such a mistake.” Wei Mingjue pressed his lips together as he looked at Xia Fan. Early this morning, when Xia Fan told him that the wrong person had been captured yesterday and that the person had escaped, his heart had sunk.
The young man’s gaze and expression from last night had lingered in his mind, and whenever he thought of them, he felt an irrepressible excitement. In truth, he should not have handled the person who got his brother pregnant in that manner, but for some reason, he had impulsively clashed and suppressed him last night, remaining excited the entire night.
“Mr. Wei, you should not have treated him that way either. Even if he was not Zou Yuyang, you…”
“Are you reprimanding me right now?” Wei Mingjue was already irritated, and Xia Fan’s words only gave him a worse headache. He knew he should not have, but he had done it anyway. “First, tell me about yesterday’s person. I do not want you using that tone with me again.”
A trace of apology and resentment finally appeared on Xia Fan’s cold face as he spoke: “Zou Yuqing, twenty-two years old, illegitimate son of Zou Yushen, majoring in business administration at the business school, entering his senior year. Currently lives with his mother in Weimin Community, and usually frequently goes to Venery to clean up Zou Yuyang’s messes.”
“So yesterday he was going there to take the blame for Zou Yuyang.” Wei Mingjue let out a cold chuckle. “Where is Zou Yuqing now?” he asked, looking back at Xia Fan.
“He should be at home, but we found out he recently works part-time at a supermarket near Weimin Community. At this hour, he should be at the supermarket.” Xia Fan reported the information he found to Wei Mingjue, then asked, “Mr. Wei, do you need me to bring Zou Yuyang over?”
“Not yet. What is Wei Mingyu doing right now?” Thinking of his younger brother, Wei Mingjue’s gaze darkened further.
He knew Wei Mingyu had been spoiled rotten by his family and possessed a massive temper. Ever since turning adult, he hung out at bars with a bunch of riffraff every day, lacking any self-awareness as an Omega. At first, seeing that nothing was wrong, he let him be since no one dared to provoke the apple of the Wei family’s eye. Who could have imagined that such a huge incident would break out now, turning the entire household upside down?
“He is still in the hospital, but he made several phone calls to Zou Yuyang early yesterday morning.”
“Still calling Zou Yuyang?” Wei Mingjue felt like he was losing his mind, veins throbbing on his forehead. He had no idea what his younger brother was thinking, but now he realized that it was his excessive pampering that had turned Wei Mingyu into this state. “Check the logs and see what they talked about.”
“Yes.” Xia Fan bowed respectfully, then turned and walked out of the office.
Wei Mingjue slumped back into his chair, suddenly thinking of Zou Yuqing again. Never before had anyone made him feel so satisfied. That pair of stubborn eyes and that unyielding expression were like a captured prisoner unwilling to admit defeat, or even more like his prey; subsequently, that trembling body and those sobs had awakened his hunting instincts, making him want to tear him apart and see his submissive expression.
Yet that Alpha had merely endured it with suppressed silence, never once begging for mercy, which satisfied him to no end.
It was simply irresistible. Wei Mingjue stood up, straightened his clothes, and headed toward the parking lot, preparing to go see this pitiable Alpha once again.