“I’ve already ordered a few dishes; take a look and see if there’s anything else you’d like.” Wang Chang pushed the menu across the table.
Yi Chi immediately pushed it back toward the edge of the table. “Nothing else.”
Her face had been dark since the moment she walked in. Wang Chang was well aware that the Omega before him was repulsed by this meeting.
Yet, she had come anyway.
“Oh, what a shame. I really wanted to get to know your tastes,” Wang Chang said, his expression one of exaggerated disappointment.
Yi Chi could only manage a stiff, awkward smile.
“How old are you this year?”
“Eighteen.”
Wang Chang swallowed hard. “Eighteen. Truly a beautiful age.”
The sound of his gulp was jarringly clear in the silence of the private room. Yi Chi took a sip of water to suppress the rising nausea in her gut.
“You know, you’re very pretty. I thought your mother was stunning the first time I met her, but back then, I already imagined her daughter would be even more exquisite.” A hint of fanaticism flickered in his eyes.
“Thank you,” Yi Chi replied mechanically.
“I secured the Nanhu district project last year. It’s being developed into a resort—the future returns will be immeasurable. If your father’s company becomes the primary supplier for the construction materials, his business will reach heights he’s never dreamed of.”
“That sounds impressive.” Yi Chi continued to eat mechanically. The food was actually quite good; if she had the chance, she’d love to bring Sheng Mian and the others here.
Wang Chang felt as though he were talking to a block of wood.
“So, you understand what needs to be done, right?” He reached out, his hand sliding toward hers.
Yi Chi tried to pull back, but for a moment, she couldn’t move.
A thick, fleshy hand clamped down firmly over hers. The greasy sweat from his palm pressed disgustingly against the back of her hand. At the same time, the faint, heavy scent of leather began to fill the room—Wang Chang’s pheromones.
Yi Chi wrenched her hand away and hid it under the table, frantically wiping her skin. The smell of leather was so pungent it gave her a headache.
When an Alpha directed pheromones at an Omega, there were only two possible intents: suppression or solicitation.
“Let Brother have a taste of your scent, okay?” Wang Chang coaxed.
Brother? He was old enough to be called “Uncle” and then some. Yi Chi fought the urge to roll her eyes.
“My mom is here to pick me up. I have to go.” Yi Chi pretended to check her phone and stood up to leave.
Wang Chang saw through the lie instantly. Chen Lian would never call her away early. He grabbed her arm. “Don’t go yet.”
A large hand began to stroke her arm suggestively. As Wang Chang drew closer, the leather scent intensified. Yi Chi bit her lip, struggling to keep her own pheromones from fluctuating and fighting the lightheadedness creeping over her.
She lunged for the door.
She threw the door open, the rush of fresh air clearing her head slightly. But Wang Chang grabbed her by both shoulders, attempting to pull her back inside.
Just then, the door to the neighboring suite opened. A young, striking Alpha stepped out and looked at them with an odd expression.
A beautiful Omega, clearly resistant and distressed, was being physically restrained by a much older Alpha in a controlling posture.
Nothing about the scene looked right.
“What’s up, Ye-ge?” Seeing Cheng Liye standing frozen at the door, Mao Jing and a few other friends stepped out behind him.
Under the scrutiny of so many people, Wang Chang awkwardly withdrew his hands. He made a show of saying to Yi Chi: “Be careful where you walk. Good thing I caught you before you fell.”
Cheng Liye’s cold gaze swept slowly across Wang Chang’s embarrassed face. He recognized Yi Chi, she was the Omega who was always with Sheng Mian.
The people who dined at this establishment weren’t ordinary citizens. Wang Chang didn’t dare provoke an Alpha who clearly looked like trouble.
Pale and trembling, Yi Chi took the opportunity to bolt.
Behind her, Wang Chang’s face darkened as he glared at the brats who had ruined his fun.
Chen Lian wasn’t there, so Yi Chi hailed a taxi home.
Chen Lian was sitting in the living room eating fruit. She turned, surprised to hear Yi Chi coming through the front door. “Back so soon? How did the chat go?”
“Disgusting,” Yi Chi spat, her brow furrowed.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Chen Lian sat up straight.
“He’s disgusting! He tried to use his pheromones to suppress me!”
Chen Lian waved it off dismissively. “I thought something serious happened.”
Looking at her mother’s indifferent expression, Yi Chi felt as though she had been plunged into an ice cellar.
“He put his hands all over me! If it weren’t for the people in the next room, I might not have made it back at all!” Yi Chi’s voice rose with emotion.
“It was just a little touch. Is it worth all this drama? You know our family needs his help. If you make CEO Wang happy, won’t our family’s situation improve?” Chen Lian looked at Yi Chi with disappointment, as if she were a piece of “rotten wood” that couldn’t be carved.
“Make him happy?” Yi Chi let out a harsh, uncontrollable laugh. She pointed at herself. “You want me to sleep with him? That’s how you want me to please him, isn’t it?”
Yi Chi had held onto a shred of comfort—the idea that even if her parents forced the meeting, they just wanted her to know “successful” people. At worst, it was gold-digging, but at its core, she wanted to believe they wished for her to have a good life.
“Don’t make it sound so ugly. CEO Wang has excellent prospects. If you marry into that family, you’ll be dripping in gold and silver.” Chen Lian walked over and pulled Yi Chi down onto the sofa.
“You know how your father’s business is,” she said coaxingly. “Calling it a ‘company’ is a stretch; it’s basically just a factory. CEO Wang likes you. Just think of it as helping the family, okay?”
Yi Chi slowly withdrew her hand. “So, you’re selling your daughter. I’ve had enough of these revolting meetings. You call it ‘matchmaking,’ but I’m just a piece of merchandise being appraised from head to toe.”
“If you hadn’t refused the last three times, would your father’s business be in this sorry state?”
“Don’t you dare pin that on me! Did I make the company fail? What right do you have to demand I sell myself? Am I your daughter, or just a commodity to be traded?” Yi Chi stood up abruptly, her face twisted with pain.
“Your father and I have provided for you your whole life! What’s wrong with asking for a little return now? Is this how you show your filial piety?” Chen Lian slammed her hand on the table and hissed.
Yi Chi’s lips trembled. Looking around the house she had grown up in, the world seemed to spin. It felt as if the very walls were growing claws, lunging for her.
She had to run. Every drop of blood in her body was screaming for her to escape.
As agony and powerlessness flooded over her like a tide, she turned to leave, fighting back the tears.
Smash! A glass shattered at her feet, shards flying in every direction. Yi Chi felt a sharp sting at her bare ankle as a thin gash opened up, and crimson blood began to seep out.
“Stop right there!” Chen Lian roared. “Have you no upbringing? An elder is still speaking!”
“What’s all the shouting about?” An impatient voice drifted down. Yi Jianzhong peered over the railing, his brow furrowed with displeasure as he looked at the mother and daughter below.
“Dad,” Yi Chi turned around. Tears traced paths down her face, her voice trembling with a fragile, helpless cadence.
“She’s resenting us for treating her like a commodity,” Chen Lian mocked disdainfully.
“Your mother is doing this for the sake of this family,” Yi Jianzhong said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he walked toward them.
Yi Chi shook her head. “No. Mom told me to ‘please’ CEO Wang.” Those words were difficult for her to utter, but their implication was painfully clear.
Yi Jianzhong sighed. “Pleasing CEO Wang won’t cost you a limb. He has already promised not to mark you.”
A sudden crack of thunder roared outside. Yi Chi stared at her father in disbelief, wondering if she had misheard him. The sky opened up, and rain began to lash down with sudden, violent intensity.
The parents before her felt like total strangers, monsters ready to devour her whole.
Yi Chi’s heart ached as if scorched by the lightning. Her throat felt parched, as though seared by fire; she couldn’t find the words. With eyes clouded by tears, she turned and bolted out the front door.
The torrential rain soaked her instantly. On the nearly deserted road, there were only the roars of passing cars and the heavy splash of water against the pavement.
“That child running out in this downpour,” Chen Lian grumbled, watching the rain beat against the window.
“She’ll be back tomorrow. Her schoolbag and things are all here; she can’t skip school forever,” Yi Jianzhong replied, devoid of any concern.
Yi Chi huddled under the eaves of a closed shop, momentarily with nowhere to go.
In her room, Sheng Mian was leaning against her headboard reviewing history, a mountain of constitutional law and famous historical events that she treated like a storybook.
Her phone vibrated incessantly against the duvet. “Hello? Yi Chi, what’s up?”
Continuous, heavy rain static filled the receiver, interspersed with a low, broken voice. “Sheng Mian, I had a fight with my parents. Can I stay at your place for the night?”
Zhao Manwen was practicing yoga downstairs when she saw Sheng Mian rushing down the stairs in her pajamas. “Where are you going? It’s pouring out there!” Zhao Manwen stopped her.
“My classmate had a fight at home and has nowhere to go. I’m going to pick her up.”
“I’ll call the driver to take you,” Zhao Manwen said, reaching for her phone.
“It’s fine, I’ll drive myself.” Sheng Mian knew Yi Chi’s personality; she must have waited in the rain until she had no other choice. By the time a driver got ready, Yi Chi would be frozen through.
“How do you know how to drive?” In Zhao Manwen’s memory, Sheng Mian had never even taken her driver’s test.
“Don’t worry, I can handle it. I’m heading out.” Sheng Mian had actually earned her license back in her freshman year of university in her previous life, though she hadn’t driven much since.
Sheng Mian drove with extreme caution. Fortunately, the roads were mostly empty, and the trip was relatively smooth, though Sheng Mian was sweating from nerves.
In the distance, her headlights swept over a girl crouching under an overhang. Sheng Mian parked, grabbed an umbrella, and hurried over, splashing through puddles that soaked her shoes through.
“Yi Chi!”
Sheng Mian approached against the light, shielding Yi Chi’s shoulders and tilting the umbrella to ensure she stayed dry, even though she was already drenched to the bone.
Sheng Mian felt as though she were holding a block of ice. Yi Chi was shivering uncontrollably, her bloodless lips pulling into a guilty smile. “I’m so sorry for troubling you.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
Once in the car, Sheng Mian immediately blasted the heater.
“You’re finally back! I was worried sick,” Zhao Manwen met them at the door, spotting the bedraggled Yi Chi. “How did you get so soaked?”
Zhao Manwen grabbed two bath towels to dry the girls. “Quick, go upstairs and take a hot shower.”
Sheng Mian pulled clean pajamas and a change of clothes from her closet, leading Yi Chi to the guest room. “These are all clean; they’ll have to do for now.”
“Thank you.”
Sheng Mian returned to her own room to shower, washing away the tension and the chill. Zhao Manwen knocked and entered with a tray.
“Drink some ginger tea to ward off the cold. Take this cup to your classmate.”
“Thanks, Auntie.”
Sheng Mian brought the tea over to drink with Yi Chi. “My mom made some ginger soup to help us warm up.”
Yi Chi had just finished drying her hair. The relief of being out of frozen, clinging clothes was immense.
Sheng Mian didn’t pry into the family drama. “Tomorrow is Sunday. Want to go out for a bit? It might help clear your head.”
Yi Chi nodded. “Okay.”
“Then get some sleep. Goodnight.” Sheng Mian switched off the light as she left.
In the darkness, Yi Chi’s eyes remained open. The rain continued to fall outside, and a bright flash of lightning illuminated half the room for a split second, revealing the damp tracks of tears on her face.