The Honest Man Was Targeted by His Ex-Boyfriend's Alpha Brother - Chapter 18

The banquet ended, and Hua Jingchen’s expression remained as composed as ever. He maintained a gentle, polite smile from start to finish. He got into his car and closed the door in one smooth motion, not forgetting to wave goodbye to the various guests.

The Omega beside him was perceptive. Even though he was upset himself, Ye Chengrou immediately began releasing soothing pheromones. He noticed that the sound of Jingchen closing the car door today was slightly louder than usual. Having spent every day with him, any subtle change in Hua Jingchen could not escape his eyes.

Ye Chengrou said sourly, “Are you still thinking about that first love of yours?”

“No,” Hua Jingchen replied. He drove in silence as the fake, warm expression on his face gradually dissolved.

He was indeed thinking of Chen Wang. They had known each other since high school and remained in close contact all the way through graduate school. He had witnessed the growth of this academically brilliant Beta. To call them childhood sweethearts was no exaggeration.

Hua Jingchen came from a good background with an illustrious family pedigree on both sides. He felt there was nothing wrong with his past disdain for Chen Wang during their time together. The man was undeniably poor; who would have respected him back then? At the very least, when classmates bullied Chen Wang, Hua Jingchen had stepped in to help and had supported him financially in high school. A gentleman should be judged by his actions, not his hidden thoughts. Why should anyone call him a hypocrite?

In the past, Hua Jingchen had not bothered to touch Chen Wang, never expecting that his illegitimate younger brother would beat him to it.

“The hot springs, huh.”

The more Hua Jingchen thought about it, the more vivid the images in his mind became. Chen Wang’s dazed, emotional expression felt almost tangible, and the heat of his cold voice gasping seemed to brush against his ear. Then, the man on top of him looked up, and Hua Yunlian smiled at him sinisterly.

Hua Jingchen was nearly driven mad by his own imagination. The car’s speed increased. Ye Chengrou was panicked at first, but he soon snorted inwardly. The eldest young master of the Hua family would never be willing to crash the car and kill himself. Reassured, he took out a cushion to touch up his makeup.

“Did you not look down on that low-born Beta from the start? Your brother was born to a dancer, so they are a perfect match for each other.” He pulled a limited-edition lipstick from his exquisite handbag. “Besides, he is just a Beta. Is he as satisfying as—”

Before he could finish the sentence, a sudden brake nearly sent Ye Chengrou into the windshield. He screamed as a long streak of lipstick ruined his perfect makeup. Hua Jingchen got out of the car and gentlemanly opened the door for him.

“Get out.”

“What?” Ye Chengrou’s face turned pale.

Hua Jingchen adjusted his glasses. The smile at the corners of his lips was cold and thin. His demeanor remained elegant and composed. “Get out.”

Ye Chengrou was left crying in the middle of nowhere in the suburbs, and all his credit cards were deactivated simultaneously. His tear-filled eyes were full of resentment.

“Chen Wang,” he hissed, his nails digging deep into his palms, oblivious to the pain. “I only regret that I was not ruthless enough!”

Half an hour earlier, two interns from an unknown school had found Chen Wang. They frantically asked him for help retrieving some items from the cold storage, claiming they would be scolded by their mentor and fail to graduate if they did not finish the task. Chen Wang had been in their shoes before. Seeing the two youngsters on the verge of tears, he agreed.

“Where are the things you need to get?”

He walked into the chilled warehouse and looked at the surrounding shelves. He failed to notice the two interns backing out and slamming the door shut, locking it from the outside. By the time Chen Wang hammered on the door and shouted, they were long gone.

He gnashed his teeth in anger. “Damn it.”

Being locked in this place meant he might freeze to death. He knew exactly whom he had just offended! Suddenly, a man’s weak, light chuckle erupted from behind the shelves.

“I did not think you knew how to use profanity, Brother.”

Chen Wang’s heart skipped a beat. Rounding the shelves, he first saw a pair of long legs in suit trousers ending in exquisite, flamboyant red-bottomed leather shoes. Looking up, he saw an even more striking mixed-race face. Chen Wang had just been mocked about his privacy in public and had walked away after snapping at the man. He had no desire to deal with him now. However, Hua Yunlian’s face was pale and his lips were bloodless. He clearly looked unwell.

“Why are you here?” Chen Wang asked.

“It was hot. I was looking for a place to cool down,” Hua Yunlian said casually.

The man was clearly suffering. Chen Wang frowned; Hua Yunlian’s rut seemed more intense than that of other Alphas, resembling a type of rejection reaction. He stepped forward to feel the man’s forehead, but the body temperature was normal.

“The door is locked from the outside. The priority is to get out,” Chen Wang said. He took out his phone, but there was no signal. He paced anxiously. Finally, in one corner, a bar of signal returned. A message from Shen An popped up in the loading bar.

Senior, I came to the seminar! The small cakes are delicious! [Image]

Shen An was here too? Chen Wang was overjoyed. He quickly typed a distress message and sent it through the weak signal, unsure if it would be received. As a materialist, he found himself praying fervently. He turned back to look at the half-dead Hua Yunlian. Chen Wang fell silent for a moment, thinking about how strange the man had been lately.

“What exactly is wrong with you?”

Hua Yunlian managed to stand up by leaning against the shelves. He looked as if he had just woken up, his footsteps unsteady and his eyes slightly unfocused. He was trying his best to control himself, but his anxious pheromones still permeated the air.

“Are you worried about me, Brother?”

Chen Wang knew communication was impossible. He rubbed his arms under his thin jacket, his nose feeling icy cold. “Forget it. Let us not talk about this.”

During the twenty minutes they waited for rescue, the thinly clad Chen Wang held up at first. Gradually, however, his body temperature began to drop and his teeth started to chatter. Someone must have tampered with the controls, as the temperature in the cold storage continued to fall.

In contrast, Hua Yunlian looked like a Slavic beauty carved from ice and snow. His translucent amber eyes silently watched the man pacing by the door, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

“How do you feel, seeing your ex-boyfriend with his fiancé?” he asked, purely to break the silence.

Chen Wang was nearly freezing to death and did not bother to answer. Ever since seeing Chen Wang talking to that hypocrite, a hidden fire had been burning within Hua Yunlian. His heart felt as if it had suffered a low-temperature burn, followed by a delayed, unpleasant sting of pain.

Aside from his biological father, Hua Jingchen was the person he hated most. From childhood, Hua Jingchen had used his status as the legitimate eldest son to suppress him. It was not just childish verbal or physical insults, but an invisible bullying led by the entire Hua family, facilitated by Hua Jingchen’s gentlemanly facade.

Even the air seemed to tell a young Hua Yunlian that a healthy family, loving parents, a friendly social circle, and material and spiritual wealth were things only Hua Jingchen deserved. Meanwhile, he was a lowly illegitimate son. Anything he liked or desired would always be out of reach. If Hua Yunlian had not been an S-class Alpha, or if his personality had been more submissive, he likely would have died a suspicious death many times over.

“Is it very cold?” Hua Yunlian asked.

“Obviously,” Chen Wang said, shooting him a strange look.

“Should I take off my clothes for you?” The young master asked. His eyes shimmered with an obvious, different intent.

Chen Wang waved his hand impatiently, his breath visible in the air. “Tsk, you are just a kid. Why are you taking off your clothes? Just keep them on.”

“A kid?” Hua Yunlian weighed the word. A faint gloom appeared on his handsome face. He took off his jacket and walked toward him. “If we do it, it will not be cold anymore.”

The startled Chen Wang pressed his hand against the man’s chest. The memories of the hot springs from a few days ago instantly rushed back. His body actually began to feel hot.

“Can you stop talking nonsense and wait for rescue?”

Hua Yunlian saw the chattering teeth and the frozen, red nose. If this continued, Chen Wang would truly suffer from the cold.

“Besides doing that, I have another way to keep you warm.” Staring at that bewildered face, he asked without emotion, “Are you afraid of me?”

The two sentences seemed entirely disconnected. Chen Wang was so cold that he did not notice the tone of self-abandonment in the man’s voice. He replied stubbornly, “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Hua Yunlian whispered “Good” and gripped Chen Wang’s cold hand with his hot palm. He finally stopped enduring. Chen Wang watched with confusion as the man crouched down, but his expression soon turned to shock. He suspected he was so cold that he was hallucinating; he did not want to believe what he was seeing. A low growl erupted from a beast’s throat, followed by a wave of heat that did not belong to a human.

The wicked young master who had been standing there a moment ago vanished. In his place was a giant leopard. Amber eyes, filled only with coldness and predatory intent, stared at him from inches away. Biological instinct made Chen Wang’s legs go weak, and he collapsed to the floor. His pupils shook violently with fear. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

An ordinary leopard is about one meter long, but the beast before him was at least three meters. Its fur patterns were exotic, its body was massive and powerful, and its fangs were exceptionally long. Its muscles were so strong they looked like those of a prehistoric predator. A single swipe of its paw would likely crush Chen Wang to pieces.

His mind went blank, and he shook like a leaf. The leopard approached him, bringing a wave of heat, its thick, furry tail hooked upward and swaying slightly. Chen Wang’s back slammed against the frost-covered iron door, and he raised his hands to shield himself, screaming, “Do not come near me!”

Humans cannot resist biological instincts formed over tens of thousands of years. Chen Wang’s face was deathly pale, and he could barely breathe. He could not connect Hua Yunlian to this monster. The leopard’s scarlet, barbed tongue flicked out, licking its fangs. It raised a paw larger than a basketball, attempting to get closer to the tiny human. Chen Wang did not dare to look. He closed his eyes and screamed incoherently.

“Do not come near me! Get away! Get away!”

The leopard stopped in its tracks, its upright tail slowly drooping. In its fierce, pale-gold eyes was the reflection of Chen Wang’s trembling, frail body. It was the same reaction he had seen from the Omegas who had fled in terror after seeing only a glimpse of him. They were all afraid of him. They all thought he was a monster. They were all the same.

At that moment, the sound of voices came from outside the heavy iron door. Shen An had arrived with a rescue team, and they began working to open the door. The beast let out a low, displeased growl and turned away from Chen Wang.

Chen Wang did not dare look at the beast again. He was so terrified that he was on the verge of losing consciousness. When the iron door finally opened and Shen An helped him up, asking how he was, Chen Wang felt as if he had been reborn.

Shen An was frightened. “Senior, your face looks terrible!”

Assistant Lu and Mary rushed toward the man behind the shelves. “President Hua!”

Chen Wang’s attempt to look back was cut short. His lips were pale and trembling as he grabbed Shen An’s arm. “Let us go, quickly!”

Through the gaps in the stored goods, a pair of ghostly amber eyes watched everything. Hua Yunlian witnessed Chen Wang’s fleeing figure, and the pain of abandonment and betrayal returned. He knew it. The nature of this Beta was lowly and cowardly.