Inferior Sincerity - Chapter 2

Fu Chen disliked noisy environments. As he watched the dense crowd swarming around Shen Yuqing, he frowned. He retreated to the balcony alone to pass the time on his phone.

With nothing better to do, he opened WeChat. His screen was flooded with messages; some were sent yesterday, some a few days ago, and others a week prior. Fu Chen began replying to them one by one.

Halfway through his replies, a round head suddenly entered his field of vision.

Fu Chen lifted his eyelids to look at the person in front of him. It appeared to be an Omega who looked excessively thin and weak, with a somewhat pale complexion. However, there was no doubt that this Omega possessed an exceptionally beautiful face.

His thin eyelids drooped slightly, revealing a tiny red mole. It was a detail that remained hidden when his eyes were open, becoming visible only when he looked down.

Long, thick eyelashes trembled gently with every blink. Below them was a straight, delicate nose, followed by lips featuring a distinct labial tubercle. Because his skin was so fair and thin, the faint outline of his veins was visible beneath the surface.

This person was a full head shorter than him. Fu Chen could easily see the top of his dark hair and his fair neck. His frame was so slender that his clothes looked move than a little oversized, making him look like a child who had secretly put on an adult’s clothing.

“Um,” the Omega spoke. His voice was clear and cool. He seemed introverted, as if it had taken a great deal of courage just to approach. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the restroom is?”

There were many guests today. Fu Chen did not know which family this young master belonged to, and he found it strange that the boy had come to him for directions.

“Do I look like a waiter?” Fu Chen crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, looking down at the Omega. He could not shake the feeling that the boy looked familiar.

“No,” the Omega shook his head. “But you look like a good person.”

In all his years, this was the first time Fu Chen had been given a “good person card.” Finding the Omega’s words amusing, he arched an eyebrow. “I look like a good person? How did you determine that?”

“Because you are handsome.” The Omega took one glance at the Alpha before shyly lowering his gaze.

From Fu Chen’s angle, he could clearly see the red mole on the Omega’s eyelid again.

“Your views on good and evil are quite simple.” Fu Chen scanned the Omega from head to toe. Deciding the boy was harmless—just an ordinary Omega—he returned his attention to his phone. Without looking up again, he pointed the way. “The restroom is at the end of the hall after you exit and turn right.”

“Thank you.” The Omega smiled, revealing two dimples. He looked pure, harmless, and incredibly obedient.

Fu Chen stared at the dimples for a few seconds before casually replying, “You are welcome,” and looking back down at his phone.

Wen Yu quietly peeled back a slit in the scent-blocking patch on the nape of his neck. Steeling his resolve, he feigned a trip and lunged toward Fu Chen. Fu Chen instinctively caught him.

“What is—” Before Fu Chen could finish the sentence, his expression suddenly shifted.

Fu Chen shoved the Omega away. He had caught the scent of an unfamiliar pheromone. Even though it was his first time smelling it, he could tell instantly that the compatibility between this pheromone and his own was exceptionally high.

The moment Fu Chen inhaled the scent, his internal pheromones began to crash wildly. His body temperature skyrocketed, and his eyes turned a burning red.

Wen Yu ripped the blocking patch completely off. His nape had been coated with an estrus-inducing drug; even a small amount would cause an Alpha and Omega’s pheromones to descend into chaos.

He moved to support Fu Chen, but Fu Chen realized then that this Omega’s innocence was only skin-deep.

Fu Chen grabbed him by the throat. “Speak! Who sent you?”

Wen Yu’s eyes were misty. Looking at Fu Chen, he said, “You misunderstood, I just accidentally fell.”

Fu Chen glared fiercely at the Omega, his chest heaving violently. The chaotic pheromones gave him a splitting headache. He soon released his grip and clutched his own head, letting out a pained groan.

The Omega’s pheromone scent was now fully exposed to the air, drifting into Fu Chen’s nasal cavity.

In moments, Fu Chen’s gaze became fixated on Wen Yu as if he were entranced. Like a man suffering in a fire who suddenly sees a clear spring, he wanted to plunge into the water immediately to extinguish the searing flames.

The last of Fu Chen’s sanity was incinerated.

Wen Yu trembled all over from the pain when Fu Chen bit into the nape of his neck. As the Alpha’s pheromones were aggressively injected into his bloodstream, Wen Yu’s body went limp. He slumped against the Alpha, unable to stand.

It worked.

That was Wen Yu’s last thought in Fu Chen’s arms. He let out a pained cry before his vision went black and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he was met with the familiar sight of a white ceiling. But this time, Wen Yu was not in an empty ward; several people were present.

The back of his neck throbbed with pain. An Alpha in a frenzy certainly did not hold back.

“Oh, he is awake, he is awake!” Shen Yazhi said with surprise. Her delighted expression might have fooled someone into thinking she actually cared about him.

Wen Yu scanned the room. Aside from Shen Yazhi, his father in name only, Zhou Yuanyang, was also there. Members of the Fu family were present as well: Fu Chengze, Shen Wanjun, and Shen Yuqing.

Wen Yu looked at Shen Yuqing, who was staring back at him with a deep, unreadable gaze. The moment their eyes met, Wen Yu quickly looked away.

“The incident has already happened, and since everyone is here today, let us discuss how to handle it,” Fu Chengze said.

Fu Chengze continued, “My thought is this: so many people saw Fu Chen mark Wen Yu, so the Fu family will certainly take responsibility. Furthermore, Wen Yu is Fu Chen’s fated match. I very much hope the Zhou family will agree to the engagement between Wen Yu and Fu Chen.”

Zhou Yuanyang and Shen Yazhi were secretly overjoyed, yet they maintained a facade of calm restraint.

“We might need to consider this, as it concerns the child’s lifelong happiness,” Zhou Yuanyang said.

“Understood.” Fu Chengze gave a polite smile and stood up. “Consider it carefully. Let me know your decision once you have decided. Everything is negotiable.”

“Of course, President Fu.” Zhou Yuanyang stood to shake hands. Both men wore polite smiles, but the moment Fu Chengze turned away, his expression hardened and his eyes grew dark.

The Zhou family contacted Fu Chengze soon after. They agreed to the engagement, but they also subtly made an outrageous demand. They wanted a piece of land in the east of the city and sincerely hoped the Fu family would bridge the gap in the Zhou family’s broken capital chain.

Fu Chengze was so angered by the message from his assistant that he laughed. The land in the east would be worth nine figures by next year once the subway and surrounding facilities were completed. The Zhou family was currently on the brink of bankruptcy. For the Fu family to provide a capital chain was a thankless, lopsided effort.

The Zhou family certainly had the nerve to ask.

Fu Chengze had originally intended to hand over a few profitable projects to help the Zhou family’s turnover after the engagement. The alliance alone would have been enough to save them. Those projects were meant to be compensation for sending their son to the Fu family. He had not expected them to put such an explicit price tag on the boy.

The Zhou family had grasped Fu Chengze’s weakness: Fu Chen’s health was more important than anything. Fu Chengze had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill and pretend it tasted sweet.

When the Fu family sent Butler Chen to collect Wen Yu, he was in a high-end ward at A-City First Hospital.

The Zhou family had kept their word in one regard: they provided a good treatment environment for Cheng Xiaoling. She suffered from uremia and required long-term dialysis to survive. A kidney transplant required a matching donor and a massive surgery fee. Such a disease was almost impossible to cure; one could only spend money to keep her alive.

Regardless, Wen Yu could not stand by and watch Cheng Xiaoling die. She was his only family.

Cheng Xiaoling’s husband, Wang Cheng, had been Zhou Yuanyang’s driver and had died saving him. Before he died, Wang Cheng hoped Zhou Yuanyang would treat his wife and son well. Cheng Xiaoling was mute and disabled. Surviving in society with a child was incredibly difficult for her.

The Zhou family gave her a job and allowed her to live on the estate with her son. Usually, they did not give her heavy labor, essentially supporting her and her son to fulfill Wang Cheng’s dying wish.

However, Cheng Xiaoling’s biological son later drowned. Around that time, Wen Yu was brought back to the Zhou family and placed among the servants. Seeing Wen Yu—who was a similar age and had a very similar personality to her late son—the heartbroken Cheng Xiaoling took him in and cared for him as if he were her own.

It was only because of Cheng Xiaoling’s care that Wen Yu’s life at the Zhou family was not so unbearable. To Wen Yu, she was more of a mother than anyone else.

Wen Xiaohui, a Beta, had taken drugs to promote the development of a reproductive cavity years ago. She had risked her life to give birth to Wen Yu, only for him to be an inferior Omega. After her dream of climbing the social ladder shattered, she was kicked out by the Zhou family. She vented all her resentment on the young Wen Yu. Even though he was very small then, he still remembered the sting of the clothes hanger and the poisonous words of his biological mother.

A person like Wen Yu was destined to repay even a drop of kindness with a fountain of gratitude, let alone the genuine maternal love Cheng Xiaoling had given him. He knew her history; perhaps she viewed him as a replacement for her son, but the love was real.

“I will definitely save you,” Wen Yu said to the unconscious woman on the bed. He then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Mom.”

It was the first time Wen Yu had used that title. Only while she slept did he dare to pour his feelings of filial love onto this woman of tragic fate.

Upon leaving the hospital, Wen Yu saw an expensive luxury car waiting at the entrance. He got in, and after an hour’s drive, a massive structure came into view.

Looking through the window, he saw a manor-style villa. The grand main building was designed in a vintage European style. It was four stories high with rows of windows facing the front. The lush green lawn was meticulously trimmed, with a fountain standing at the center of the courtyard.

Wen Yu exited the car, carrying his backpack and a single suitcase. He had very few belongings; this was his entire life’s worth of possessions.

In front of this colossal building, he looked so tiny. He followed Butler Chen toward it, walking toward the destiny he was fated to face.