How Could a Scumbag Alpha Possibly Love His Wife? - Chapter 73

Ever since that phone call from Cheng Jiajian, Cheng Wan had been in a poor mood. She had already been struggling with the summer heat and had little appetite, and now with the stress, she could barely eat anything. In just a few days, she looked noticeably thinner.

Aunt Pei often sighed and spoke quietly to Bai Juntang.

“How can a pregnant woman lose weight so close to her due date, Juntang? What’s really going on?”

Every time she asked, Bai Juntang stayed silent, her expression cold and stern.

The truth was, she hadn’t expected Cheng Jiajian and his wife to still be capable of causing this much trouble. She had thought that after bankruptcy, they wouldn’t be able to stir up much. But they had somehow managed to hit her where it hurt most.

Initially, Bai Juntang had intended to leave them a way out. She didn’t want things to become too extreme. In business, she’d seen plenty of dramatic reversals—thirty years up, thirty years down. She didn’t think it necessary to push the Cheng family to the edge, assuming they’d slink away quietly.

She hadn’t expected them to strike back like this.

She had someone look into their whereabouts. Early that morning, she received confirmation: Cheng Jiajian and Xu He were no longer in Nanhai. After everything collapsed, they couldn’t return there. Instead, they were now hiding in a rented apartment in a small town about fifty or sixty kilometers outside the city.

It turned out they didn’t dare come into the city. If they did, they’d be arrested almost immediately. So they stayed low and made no sudden moves.

Today, Cheng Wan took some medication—digestive medicine prescribed by the doctor Bai Juntang brought in. Lately, Cheng Wan hadn’t been able to eat and was burning up with heat. Even though the doctor strongly advised against medication during pregnancy, Bai Juntang still thought the mother’s condition came first.

After taking the medicine, Cheng Wan felt a bit better. She managed to eat half a bowl of rice.

That alone was a relief for Bai Juntang.

Cheng Wan had a few bites of rice and some chicken with mushrooms before she had to stop. Even drinking two sips of water made her feel like throwing up. Her face turned pale from the nausea.

Bai Juntang had no choice but to carry her back to bed and tuck her in.

“It’s too hot…” Cheng Wan gripped the edge of the blanket and whispered, “Can I not use a quilt?”

“No,” Bai Juntang said, shaking her head gently. She looked down at her and explained, “It’s better to cover up a bit during a nap. You don’t want to catch a cold.”

Cheng Wan didn’t respond, but her eyes showed her discomfort.

Still, Bai Juntang covered her with a light blanket and sat by her side, holding her hand. She released a calming wave of her pheromones to help Cheng Wan fall asleep faster.

These days, Cheng Wan couldn’t eat properly, was burning up, had trouble sleeping at night, and couldn’t stay awake during the day.

Even Aunt Pei said she had never seen a pregnancy this difficult. She believed this baby would surely be a handful.

Bai Juntang didn’t say much, but she silently agreed.

Sui Sui was definitely going to be a difficult child. Otherwise, why would Cheng Wan be suffering so much?

Cheng Wan soon drifted off, the scent of Bai Juntang’s pheromones comforting her. Bai Juntang sat quietly at her bedside, watching her breathing slow and settle.

When footsteps sounded at the door, Bai Juntang turned her head.

Aunt Pei was standing just outside, with Li Chen behind her. He must have just come in without anyone noticing. Bai Juntang immediately understood they had something to report. She gently let go of Cheng Wan’s hand, tucked the blanket around her, and quietly stepped out.

No one said anything until she softly closed the door behind her.

“President Bai,” Li Chen said, “everything’s ready.”

Bai Juntang gave a small nod and replied, “I’ll go change. Wait for me downstairs.”

She went upstairs, changed her clothes, and headed out with Li Chen. Aunt Pei, confused and concerned, asked from the doorway, “Will you be back for dinner?”

“I should be,” Bai Juntang said. “If I’m not, I’ll call.”

Aunt Pei still looked uneasy. She had seen how dark Bai Juntang’s expression had been these past few days and felt this trip wasn’t going to be a simple one.

“If Wanwan wakes up and asks where you went, what should I tell her?” she asked.

Bai Juntang paused at the door. After a moment, she said, “Just tell her I had something to take care of. Don’t tell her anything else.”

Aunt Pei watched her leave, then looked back at the tightly closed bedroom door. A deep worry settled in her chest.

In the car, Li Chen updated Bai Juntang on the situation.

“Our people are already watching outside the rental place. It’s a run-down area, mostly old buildings. We contacted the landlord. He said Cheng Jiajian rented the apartment a week ago. Since it’s a quiet neighborhood filled with elderly or vacant units, no one noticed them moving in.”

Bai Juntang listened quietly as she reviewed the photos on the tablet in her hand.

In the pictures, Cheng Jiajian looked nothing like his former self. He wore cheap street clothes—a loose white T-shirt, gray shorts, black cloth shoes, and a sunhat. He looked worn down and pitiful.

She swiped to the next photos. Xu He was there too. Unlike Cheng Jiajian, she seemed to dress more decently, but the signs of aging were obvious. Even in the blurry images, she looked like she had aged more than ten years since the last time Bai Juntang saw her.

Li Chen continued explaining as he drove, while Bai Juntang listened in silence. The sixty-kilometer drive felt unusually heavy.

Once they left the city limits, the scenery began to change. After crossing the fourth ring, they picked up speed, but it still took over an hour to arrive. Li Chen pulled up near the entrance of a small residential area.

As soon as Bai Juntang stepped out of the car, she caught a foul smell in the air, a mix of mildew and uncollected trash from the old neighborhood. She instinctively frowned.

There was barely any security at the entrance. As they walked in, a few men casually approached them. One of them handed Li Chen a cigarette and quietly said, “They’re upstairs. Haven’t gone anywhere.”

Bai Juntang understood these were people Li Chen had arranged in advance. She didn’t say anything, only followed their gaze.

Beside a dim staircase, two men were sitting in the shade, smoking and playing cards. They glanced at her and Li Chen, then went back to their game.

When Li Chen approached, the men finally stubbed out their cigarettes and quietly said, “Fourth floor, Room 401.”

Li Chen looked at Bai Juntang, then led her up the stairs.

The apartment building Cheng Jiajian had rented was in poor condition. As soon as they stepped inside, a strong, unpleasant smell hit them. The narrow hallway was dark even in the middle of the day, and the entire place felt run-down and depressing.

When they reached the door to 401, one of the men motioned for Bai Juntang and Li Chen to step aside and wait upstairs, just in case. Once everyone was in place, he knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Hey, I’m from 301 downstairs,” he called out. “Your bathroom’s leaking. It’s dripping into my place.”

A few seconds later, the door opened.

Cheng Jiajian looked at the man suspiciously. He seemed familiar—someone he had seen around the building before—so he opened the door wider and said, “There’s no leak. You must be mistaken.”

Before he could finish, the man and a group of others barged in.

Bai Juntang remained outside, listening calmly to the shouts of surprise and anger from inside. She heard a man yelling, a woman screaming. About ten minutes later, one of the men came out and said, “It’s done, boss.”

Everything had gone exactly as planned.

Bai Juntang glanced at Li Chen. She had to admit, her assistant had a way of getting things done. He seemed to know people from every background.

Li Chen gave a small cough and smiled. “President Bai, after you.”

As Bai Juntang stepped into the dingy apartment, she saw two people tied up on the floor in what looked like the living room—Cheng Jiajian and Xu He.

The moment Cheng Jiajian saw her, his eyes filled with rage. Even though he was being held down, he still struggled to get up. But at his age, even as an alpha, he couldn’t match the strength of the younger men restraining him. He was breathing heavily, pinned to the ground.

If looks could kill, Bai Juntang would have been struck down by now.

She pulled over a chair and sat down, glancing around the cramped, dirty room. It looked barely fifty square meters. Small, crowded, and dark—not a single ray of sunlight could reach inside.

“It wasn’t easy finding you,” she said coldly. “I thought losing everything would keep you down. But I guess you’re tougher than I gave you credit for.”

She looked down at him with disdain and asked, “Did you ever imagine this would happen when you tried to set me up?”

Cheng Jiajian’s face turned red with anger. Gritting his teeth, he lifted his head and glared at her.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the one who destroyed me. And now you dare show up here?”

“If you hadn’t called Cheng Wan, maybe I wouldn’t have,” Bai Juntang replied. The thought of Cheng Wan unable to eat or sleep these past few days only fueled her anger. She stared at him, eyes dark. “If you had even a bit of sense, you wouldn’t have made so many terrible decisions.”

Like investing blindly in that five-star hotel.

Or threatening Cheng Wan with a phone call.

Every choice had been a mistake.

Cheng Jiajian exploded with rage. “Cheng Wan is the girl I raised for more than ten years. And you—you got her to turn against me in less than six months!”

Just mentioning it made him furious.

“She’s nothing but an Omega. Adopting her from the orphanage was the biggest mistake of my life!” he shouted. “She’s a thankless brat. Raising her wasn’t even as good as raising a dog!”

Smack.

The slap was sharp and sudden, cutting off his shouting.

Bai Juntang lowered her hand and glared at him. “Cheng Wan is doing just fine. You have no right to insult her. You were the one who failed to do your homework before investing. Now you want to blame someone else for your downfall? You’ve only got yourself to blame.”

Cheng Jiajian let out a harsh laugh, his lip bleeding. He looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and said, “You’re angry? Over a parentless Omega? Don’t tell me… you’ve actually fallen for her?”

“Shut up!” Bai Juntang snapped. She grabbed a nearby ashtray and threw it at him. It hit him with a loud thud, making him grunt in pain.

“People like you don’t deserve to be parents,” she said coldly. “I have enough evidence to keep both of you in prison for the rest of your lives. Sixty years. Seventy. You’ll never get out.”

Cheng Jiajian didn’t respond. He lay on the floor, breathing in the dust, the stench of the filthy ground filling his nose. Maybe this was what the rest of his life would be, surrounded by dirt and darkness.

Still, he lifted his head, blood at the corner of his mouth, and stared up at Bai Juntang with defiance.

“You… will… regret… this.”

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