After the Corporate Slave Beta and the Top Alpha Married - Chapter 1
It was already eight o’clock in the evening. Skyscrapers stood like giant monoliths in the dark. Lights flickered from certain floors, piercing through the gloom like the eyes of unknown, terrifying creatures lurking in the night.
Inside the office, the intermittent clacking of keyboards filled the air. The glow of computer screens reflected onto dull, listless faces, and the occasional low-voiced conversation provided the only sign of life in the heavy atmosphere.
One by one, the overtime workers departed until only a few remained.
“Ah!”
A clear voice let out a long, resentful sigh. Ji Yu, buried in his work, subconsciously looked up. Upon seeing a delicate, handsome face, he immediately withdrew his gaze.
It was a male Omega from his team. Ji Yu’s relationship with him was average; he wasn’t the type to strike up a conversation just because someone sighed.
To be precise, Ji Yu’s relationship with everyone in the company was “average.”
Just as he looked away, the phone on his desk buzzed twice. The screen lit up automatically, displaying incoming messages.
Ji Hexuan: “Are you still not coming home this week?” Ji Hexuan: “What, do you really think that measly salary of yours can pay back all the money the family has spent on you over the years?” Ji Hexuan: “There’s a cocktail party tomorrow. You’d better come back and attend it properly.” Ji Hexuan: “I know you’ll see these messages. If I don’t see you tomorrow, you just wait.”
The messages came one after another. Ji Yu watched them but did not click open the chat, nor did he reply.
The Omega who had sighed earlier walked over and called out with a smile: “Ji Yu.”
He received no response.
Suspicious, he leaned in closer, trying to glimpse the contents of Ji Yu’s phone. “Ji Yu? What are you looking at?”
If an attractive Omega initiated a conversation, most Betas would feel nervous, secretly delighted, and listen intently to whatever they had to say.
But Ji Yu simply clicked his screen off quickly. His tone was somewhat flat. “What is it?”
He asked the question, yet he knew exactly why Jiang Yibai was approaching him.
Jiang Yibai looked at the darkened phone with curiosity. “Your partner?”
Ji Yu didn’t care to elaborate and simply shook his head. “My brother.”
“Oh,” Jiang Yibai murmured. He then spoke with a look of expectation, “I still have a PPT to finish for a client presentation this Monday. Ji Yu, could you help me make it?”
“I really can’t finish it on my own.”
He reached out, grabbing Ji Yu’s arm and giving it a gentle, swaying tug. “I made plans with friends for the weekend, so I really don’t have time for overtime. Please, I’m begging you.”
Ji Yu shifted his arm to the side, avoiding Jiang Yibai’s touch. “I still have my own work to do here.”
Feeling his hand grasp empty air, Jiang Yibai sneered inwardly. He used to be particularly incensed by Ji Yu’s attitude here he was, an Omega acting cute to a Beta, and instead of being ecstatic, Ji Yu acted as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.
But he no longer felt annoyed by Ji Yu’s behavior because he knew…
Before Ji Yu could finish his sentence, Jiang Yibai once again lightly gripped Ji Yu’s forearm. The Omega’s fingers rested against Ji Yu’s white sleeve; his skin appeared even more dazzlingly white than the fabric. “Ji Yu, help me, please?”
“I really can’t find the time. You can work on the PPT at home over the weekend, as long as you send it to me before Monday.”
Ji Yu’s brows furrowed imperceptibly. He moved his hand away again. The Omega was well-versed in the art of acting spoiled; he pursued relentlessly, even attempting to wrap his arms around Ji Yu’s.
His phone was still buzzing. Ji Yu turned the device face-down on the desk. His internal irritation grew, but Jiang Yibai persisted.
He understood that if he didn’t agree, the soft-pedaling and pestering wouldn’t stop. Helplessly, Ji Yu nodded, accepting work that wasn’t his.
“Ji Yu! You’re the best!”
A bright, eye-catching smile instantly spread across the Omega’s face. “I knew you’d say yes!”
Every time he has to pretend to refuse, just to enjoy me acting cute for a bit longer. A mere Beta, hmph.
If it weren’t for the fact that Ji Yu had a decent physique, Jiang Yibai wouldn’t deign to have even slight physical contact with a Beta.
Ji Yu stood up to pack his things and prepare for off-duty. He stood tall and straight; his shirt and trousers outlined his silhouette. Jiang Yibai had felt the arm beneath that shirt—it was firm and possessed a sense of hidden strength.
Jiang Yibai bid him goodbye with a grin. As he watched Ji Yu turn to leave, he noticed how the shirt tucked into the waistband emphasized a narrow waist, and how the trousers were pulled taut over well-toned glutes. Though he hadn’t seen the body beneath the clothes, Jiang Yibai could tell at a glance that Ji Yu worked out. He definitely had abs—maybe even a full six-pack.
What a pity he was a Beta.
Considering he had a good body and was relatively honest, Jiang Yibai didn’t mind giving him small “treats” like holding his hand occasionally.
Alpha, Beta, Omega—these were the natural class distinctions that no one living in this society could escape. Everyone would differentiate as they neared adulthood, growing a gland at the back of the neck that determined their second gender.
Alphas were naturally strong, born leaders. Omegas were beautiful, gentle, and in an era of low birth rates, they were treasures to be cherished. Both Alphas and Omegas possessed pheromones; likewise, they were few in number—making them a perfect match.
An Alpha’s pheromones could mark an Omega. Once a permanent mark was made, an Alpha’s rut and an Omega’s heat could only be soothed by one another, binding them together forever.
Only Betas had nothing. They were the ordinary masses that made up the vast majority of society.
It wasn’t that Betas weren’t dissatisfied. In events significant enough to be called historical, Beta organizations had staged large-scale riots. However, facts proved that whether in terms of physical fitness, stamina, talent, or intellect, Betas fell far short of Alphas.
Society was invisibly divided into tiers, and the second genders of Alpha, Omega, and Beta provided a vivid manifestation of that hierarchy. Fortunately, as times progressed, the former groups took on more social responsibilities and paid higher taxes, which served to appease the Betas.
Leaving the company, a summer night breeze blew. Ji Yu carried his suit jacket over his arm; he didn’t wear it, choosing instead to walk slowly through the breeze.
His phone rang. The name displayed on the screen was Ji Hexuan.
Ji Yu didn’t answer. He had nothing to say to Ji Hexuan. He didn’t hang up either, simply muting the phone and letting it vibrate on its own.
He arrived home at a reasonable hour, just past nine. It was a one-bedroom apartment he rented near the company. The price was slightly on the higher side, but it saved him a significant amount of commute time.
The living room wasn’t large. The most prominent feature was a treadmill on the balcony. In contrast, the floor of the inner living room was covered in a shaggy rug—a soft surface that let one’s feet sink right in.
Beside the sofa stood a Swiss cheese plant. Its large leaves were a vibrant green without a hint of yellowing, clearly well-tended.
While the treadmill and dumbbells were cold and hard, the living room decor was soft and comfortable. The motion-sensor light near the door turned on automatically, illuminating this small world with a warm, amber glow.
Ji Yu placed his keys on the shoe cabinet by the door. As he pulled out his phone, he froze at the new message.
Ji Bohan: “I expect to see you at home tomorrow at noon.” Ji Bohan: “Or would you prefer I come and catch you myself again?”
Ji Hexuan and Ji Bohan—one Omega, one Alpha—were his two older brothers.
And he, the youngest Beta, was just as “superfluous” as his name implied.
Ji Yu pursed his lips and tapped out a reply, character by character: “I won’t be coming home. Where is the cocktail party?”
The other side quickly sent over the time and address. Clearly, they didn’t care whether he actually came home or not.
Ji Yu stood in the foyer, quietly holding his phone for a moment. Eventually, he set it down, changed his shoes, and walked to the balcony. He picked up the dumbbells from the floor. His life was dull to the point of boredom; he could only find a release through sweat.
Despite his reluctance, Ji Yu had no choice but to show up on time at the party venue the following day.
He wore a suit and stood tall. His height of 178cm was enough to carry the outfit well, but his clean-cut face remained expressionless, his brow slightly knit.
Two people stopped in front of him. Suppressing his irritation, Ji Yu greeted them dutifully. “Brothers.”
Ji Hexuan spoke with a sarcastic lilt, “Is this ‘Brother’ you’re calling meant for me or the Eldest Brother?”
“You won’t reply to my messages but insist on the Eldest Brother hunting you down, don’t you? You’ve really got guts, Ji Yu.”
He was slightly shorter, but his face was full of arrogance. Ji Hexuan was an Omega who had been pampered since childhood. Even if he disliked his younger brother, he would never accept Ji Yu ignoring him.
He was the one allowed to ignore others; a mere Beta like Ji Yu had no right to be cold toward him.
Ji Yu didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Ji Bohan spoke up: “Let’s go in.”
Ji Bohan was an Alpha and the eldest brother. Once he spoke, Ji Hexuan stopped picking on Ji Yu and walked in, clutching Ji Bohan’s arm.
Ji Yu followed behind the two of them. They didn’t look like siblings; they looked like a superior and a subordinate.
The party was boring. Ji Yu was forced to follow Ji Bohan, listening to them exchange pleasantries and small talk with various people. The Ji family’s status was clearly not quite high enough for this event; most of the time, they were met with cold shoulders despite their warm smiles.
Ji Yu knew very well why they had brought him along.
Ji Hexuan was already engaged. Though Ji Yu was a Beta, he could still be used for a political marriage with a Beta from another family to establish cooperation and mutual benefit.
He was eventually forced into a conversation with another Beta. The person standing before him seemed small, about 170cm, with a shallow dimple when he smiled. His personality was much cuter than Ji Yu’s.
Ji Yu felt nothing in his heart. While his mouth moved, his mind wandered. He simply smiled along with the other’s words and occasionally clinked glasses, making them appear to be having a pleasant chat.
The conversation came to an abrupt halt with the arrival of a waiter. The waiter whispered a few words into the ear of the person opposite him. The other Beta’s surprise and delight were impossible to hide; his smile was much more genuine than the one he had given Ji Yu.
“Me?” “You mean that person is looking for me?”
He didn’t even have time to say “excuse me” to Ji Yu before he hurriedly followed the waiter up to the second floor.
Ji Yu didn’t care about being ditched. Instead, he felt a sense of relief. But after only a moment of peace, he was snatched away by Ji Bohan for another disguised blind date.
This was the third time.
Ji Yu watched with a stiff smile as the person in front of him joyfully headed to the second floor after a waiter whispered in their ear. He began to feel genuine curiosity about who exactly was on that second floor.
If he hadn’t just returned to A-City and were he not completely disinterested in the party itself, he would have started to suspect that the other party was intentionally messing with him.
Ji Bohan and Ji Hexuan walked over at that moment. Ji Bohan’s expression was extremely grim. “The person talking to you was called to the second floor again?”
Ji Yu nodded, his expression innocent.
Ji Hexuan lowered his voice. “I was wondering why no one dares to talk to us anymore. When did you offend the one up there?”
“You’re dead meat, Ji Yu.”
Ji Yu asked, “Who is on the second floor?”
Ji Bohan’s expression shifted repeatedly. As an Alpha, his voice held a deep sense of wariness and dread when he mentioned the name: “The one from the Shang family Shang Yuanzhou.”
Ji Yu froze, his expression blank. Who?
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
kimm8009
The first chapter is wrong novel?