The Honest Man Was Targeted by His Ex-Boyfriend's Alpha Brother - Chapter 11

“Come on, kill me! I’d rather die!”

Cold air flooded his nasal passages, and a bitter ache that stretched from his body to his soul overwhelmed all his other senses.

Perhaps it was because he had rushed back to work before fully recovering from his recent illness, but as Chen Wang crouched by the roadside like a stone bollard, his body grew heavier and his eyelids began to fight him. The blast of a car horn suddenly jolted him awake like a clap of thunder.

The car window rolled down to reveal Li Yingzhuo’s face, which was twisted in a look of suspicious scrutiny. He frowned, but quickly broke into a smile.

“Dr. Chen, do you have such elegant taste? Are you camping out here at two or three in the morning?”

Chen Wang looked up at him with cheeks flushed from an unnatural feverish glow. He stared blankly and remained silent. It seemed he was so ill that he could not even recognize who was speaking.

“Ah,” he finally managed to mutter.

It took a full thirty seconds before he staggered to his feet. His thin frame was wrapped in a coat, which in turn was coated in a layer of biting ice and snow. He looked like a piece of fruit encased in a frozen sugar shell, a human candied hawthorn. Such a delicious existence wandering outside in the middle of the night was highly dangerous.

Li Yingzhuo’s smile deepened, and his glasses fogged up. He narrowed his long, thin eyes, stepped out of the car, and held a gentleman’s handkerchief out to Chen Wang.

“Wipe yourself up,” he commanded.

Chen Wang hated bothering others. He sniffed and waved his hand, though his speech remained slurred. “Lawyer Li, I am fine.”

Li Yingzhuo did not know why Chen Wang had nowhere to go in the middle of the night, but even before he had added Chen Wang as a contact, he had been well aware of the doctor’s destitute state.

“You are truly a stubborn Beta. You really do not have to work this hard,” Li Yingzhuo said as he firmly supported the swaying man. His expression turned serious. “The temperature is dropping and you have a fever. If you sleep outside tonight, you will die! In this state, you would be better off finding an Alpha husband who accepts Betas. At least you would have company when you are suffering.”

Li Yingzhuo’s words were becoming increasingly outrageous. Even with his sluggish brain, Chen Wang began to feel annoyed.

Li Yingzhuo continued, “Why not come to my place? Only I and Niannian are home.”

At the mention of the child’s name, Chen Wang’s expression flickered with a moment of daze. That was the first patient who had ever shown him sincere gratitude. The fish tank wind chime had been the first honorary banner of his career, and it held extraordinary significance. However, Hua Yunlian had destroyed it without a second thought.

Chen Wang’s eyes turned visibly red. Snapping back to reality, he still stammered a refusal.

“Do you not want to see Niannian?” Li Yingzhuo struck while the iron was hot. “Do you not have a younger sister, Dr. Chen? If she knew her brother was wandering the streets with a fever in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, I imagine she would be too heartbroken to sleep.”

Unable to win the argument, Chen Wang nodded and took the handkerchief to blow his nose. He rubbed it haphazardly against his face. Perhaps it was because he was so sick, but he felt even dizzier now. His fragile body swayed slightly before falling into Li Yingzhuo’s arms like a feather. The man looked up, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a wide grin.

One hour later, his fingertips twitched.

Hua Yunlian let out a groan of pain and struggled to prop himself up. He looked as if he had been fished out of water, drenched in sweat. Having just endured a pain akin to being flayed alive, his already pale, handsome face was now completely bloodless.

He looked down at himself. It was a human body, and he had not yet shifted into his animal form. Remembering the physical altercation with Chen Wang earlier, Hua Yunlian, whose patience had run dry, felt annoyed again. He climbed up to take a shower. He had been in so much pain, yet instead of comforting him, Chen Wang had hit and scolded him. It was a complete reversal of the natural order.

As the warm water surged over his body, his mind gradually cleared. Ordinary Alphas had a rut once a month, but Hua Yunlian was different. The Hua family had built their fortune on pharmaceuticals. His father was the Director-General of the Federation’s Advanced Bio-Laboratory, where strange experiments were endless.

Hua Yunlian was the illegitimate son of his father and a Slavic dancer, and he was also his father’s greatest experimental subject. He was an S-grade Alpha who reverted to his ancestral state for a few days every month. He turned into a leopard, making him a monster that was neither fully human nor fully beast.

Coming out of the bathroom, Hua Yunlian stepped barefoot onto the soft carpet and ignored the mess on the floor. He grabbed his phone to call Chen Wang. If the man crawled back obediently right now and brought some late-night snacks, the young Master Hua might decide to be magnanimous and forgive him.

He dialed twenty or thirty times, but there was no response. Hua Yunlian sat in the empty house and scowled at his phone. “Has he actually lost his mind? He is a lowly plaything. If he does not want to pick up, then he should never pick up again.”

The next day, an eye-catching, bright-colored supercar stopped at the main entrance of Bo’ai Children’s Hospital.

A young, cold, and handsome man took off his sunglasses. His trench coat fluttered around his long legs as he walked to the nurse’s station. He tapped the counter with the arm of his glasses.

“Hello. Which consultation room is Dr. Chen in?”

The listless nurse looked up and her eyes instantly lit up. “We have many doctors named Chen here. Which one are you looking for?”

“The one with the sourest face, the worst temper, and zero redeeming qualities other than his face,” he replied.

Hearing that last description, the nurse was finally able to confirm the identity. “You must be talking about Dr. Chen Wang. He skipped work today.”

“That is strange. Dr. Chen is our model worker. This has never happened before.”

The tapping of Hua Yunlian’s finger on the counter stopped. A flash of memory hit him of throwing Chen Wang out the previous night. The man had been staggering, looking both angry and miserable. He had been acting more aggressive than even Hua Yunlian himself.

“Sir? Is something wrong?” the nurse asked.

“Nothing,” Hua Yunlian thanked her quietly, turned, and left.

As he stepped down the stairs, his leather shoes crunched on a bit of accumulated snow. Only then did he realize it had snowed last night. The stunned expression on his face lasted only a second before he sat back in his car and sped toward the office without looking back.

It was not until the day’s meetings and schedule ended that he looked out from the top-floor CEO’s office. Beneath the night sky, traffic flowed incessantly. Hua Yunlian called Assistant Lu over. He pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Go and check the attendance records of the taxi companies.”

Assistant Lu hesitated while looking at Chen Wang’s file, then nodded and left. He returned shortly after. “President Hua, Chen Wang has gone missing from work.”

A soft feather brushed against his face repeatedly, creating bursts of itchiness. Chen Wang was very ticklish and moved instinctively. His dangerous high fever had broken, but he still had a low-grade fever, and every joint in his body ached with the dull throb of inflammation.

“Mm,” he muttered as he slowly opened his eyes.

A dim, suggestive red and black palette filled his vision. Chen Wang realized he was not lying in a bed. Instead, like a prisoner, his hands were suspended from a rack and his feet were bound. Because he had been unconscious for so long, his body hung in a weightless posture. His thin wrists had long been rubbed raw and bloody. With the slightest movement, the surrounding iron chains let out a metallic clatter.

Li Yingzhuo, the man who had rescued him the night before, was standing in front of him. He stared at him without blinking, his smile stretched so wide it looked like it might tear the corners of his mouth.

“You are awake?” he asked.

A small leather whip with a feather at the tip stroked Chen Wang’s face. Chen Wang’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Lawyer Li? No, Li Yingzhuo! You drugged me! What did you do to me!”

He was ill, his breath was hot, and his lips were parched. Even his questioning voice sounded fierce, showing a hardened attitude that refused to submit to anyone. His black eyes were brighter than gemstones, capable of making any bounty hunter in the world die for him.

Li Yingzhuo disliked anyone more assertive than himself. He clicked his tongue and said, “A mere Beta, and you dare speak to me with such severity!”

The whip fell, and a red welt appeared on Chen Wang’s pale face. Chen Wang’s head was whipped to the side, and he faintly heard the sound of crying. He followed the sound and saw a cage in the corner not far away. It was a dog crate meant for a medium-sized breed. His young patient, Niannian, was locked inside, weeping helplessly as he looked at him.

“Brother Chen Wang!”

“Daddy!” Niannian grabbed the iron bars, begging for mercy. “Please do not hit Brother Chen Wang. Do not do this to him! Please, no!”

Li Yingzhuo was Niannian’s father. Chen Wang’s ears were ringing. He glared at Li Yingzhuo as everything clicked into place. Amidst his shock, he could not help but explode with rage.

“You beast! Do you have any humanity left? No wonder I always smelled alcohol when you brought Niannian in. You are an abusive, alcoholic father! Why would you lock up your own son? He is just a child!”

Another vicious lash of the whip fell, harder than the last. Li Yingzhuo was clearly enraged.

“What do you know! If you want to blame someone, blame his mother. She was a piece of trash with an insatiable appetite. She gave birth to this useless little hybrid and ran off with another Alpha. If the mother does not love the child, then I, the father, have even less need to love him!”

Chen Wang looked at the poor child. It was as if he were seeing a pure land surrounded by ruins. Ignoring the stinging pain, he gritted his teeth. “I advise you to let me go immediately. Otherwise, you will not be able to handle the consequences.”

Hearing this, Li Yingzhuo burst into laughter. “I am a partner at a top law firm in the Central City. I have handled matters for countless high-ranking officials and wealthy tycoons. What legal loophole do I not know? This is merely my small family matter. Who can touch me?”

“Then what about me?” Chen Wang asked hoarsely. His body could not hold out much longer, and his weighted wrists began to drip blood. “Why do this to me? What do you want?”

Seeing him act a bit more obedient, Li Yingzhuo looked down with satisfaction. “Do I need a reason to treat you like this? You are my fiancé.”

Chen Wang felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He shuddered violently, feeling a chill go through his heart as if he had been doused in ice water.

“That gambler father of yours sold you to me for a two hundred thousand dollar dowry a long time ago,” Li Yingzhuo revealed.

A phone screen lit up, showing the chat logs between Li Yingzhuo and Chen’s father. The father’s fawning words reflected in Chen Wang’s trembling dark eyes. A lump formed in his throat, and he fought back tears. In this room, there were actually two children who had been treated as worthless by their fathers.

Chen Wang let out a self-deprecating laugh, as if he had expected this all along.

“You can still laugh?” Li Yingzhuo put his phone away. “If you want to leave, give me two hundred thousand right now and I will let you go.”

One after another, they all used the same threats against him. Chen Wang closed his eyes and asked, “Why did you not tell me sooner?”

“Dr. Chen is so upright and conservative. How could you accept my little hobbies?” Li Yingzhuo yanked back a curtain.

Behind it were two more cages with people inside. They were completely naked, wearing collars around their necks like crawling livestock, relying entirely on their owner for food or rewards. They had no human dignity left. Chen Wang’s pupils shook, and his breathing became increasingly erratic.

“You… this is illegal imprisonment,” Chen Wang whispered.

Li Yingzhuo admired his expression obsessively. His voice was tender as he replied, “Dr. Chen, do not put it so harshly. This is just my personal little interest. Besides, they are here willingly. As long as they play games with me, they have endless luxury goods to wear. They are even afraid they will not get to be my dogs.”

Even though Chen Wang was a Beta, his tendency to stand up for justice despite his situation made Li Yingzhuo incredibly excited. He loved Chen Wang’s clean, resilient soul.

“If we get married, I will get rid of all these people,” Li Yingzhuo promised. He grew more and more manic while stroking Chen Wang’s face. “I know your family is unhappy and your life is hard. Come to me. I have plenty of money.”

A low growl erupted. Chen Wang used all his strength to lunge forward, but he just missed the man’s ear. He was panting, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a feral cat with its fur standing on end. If he had managed to land a bite, that ear would definitely have come off.

“If I have to live a life with my hands and feet bound, relying on someone’s charity and mercy every day, how is that different from being the walking dead?” Chen Wang asked.

Li Yingzhuo was stunned by his words. Chen Wang struggled and screamed, “Come on, kill me! I would rather die!”

“This is exactly what I want from you,” Li Yingzhuo whispered. He stared at him blankly, completely entranced, as if he were in a world of his own. “Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang, stay with me forever!”

He stood before Chen Wang, unbuckling his belt and exposing his limp member, playing with it as he grew deathly excited. Chen Wang felt like his eyes were being burned at the sight and snapped his head away. He realized the man was impotent, which explained why he needed so many twisted tricks.

Li Yingzhuo shouted, “Wait for me! Wait for this Crown Prince to stand up, and I will take care of you immediately! I want to make you my concubine. No, my Empress!”

Chen Wang grew even more terrified. He did not know that Li Yingzhuo’s ancestors were aristocrats of the Old Federation who had enjoyed countless privileges, and that the habits of centuries ago were still ingrained in his bones. Keeping slaves was one of them.

“Alright, it is up!” Li Yingzhuo’s saliva was practically running as he approached Chen Wang. “Here I come, my Empress!”

Terrified to the extreme, Chen Wang’s brain began to whirl with a loud hum. He suddenly lost his voice and prayed for someone to save him.

There was a loud bang. The sound made Chen Wang’s hearing go completely numb.

“My Empress!” Li Yingzhuo screamed at the top of his lungs. A line of blood slowly trickled from his temple, and he collapsed in front of him, his eyes wide in a death stare.

He had been shot dead. The dark muzzle of the gun was still smoking. The Federation Special Police swarmed in. A chaotic mix of voices and footsteps echoed. In a daze, Chen Wang saw a familiar figure rushing toward him in a panic. He was so tired that he just wanted to sleep.

The moment his restraints were removed, Chen Wang’s wrists and ankles were covered in blood. He had lost sensation from the pain and collapsed like a person without bones. A warm embrace caught him firmly.

Chen Wang was delirious with fever. In his hazy dream, he was once again the teenager who had been kicked out of his home into the wind and snow with nowhere to go. The boy had cried as he walked to the old zoo. In the middle of the night, he had crawled into the nest of a wild beast, curling up against the burning warmth of a small leopard. They huddled together, and slowly his fever broke as he fell asleep.