Once he was in the car, Gong Zheng's craving for a cigarette returned. He silently cursed Zhao Zhouming. The bastard had lit one for him, then taken it away after barely a few drags and forced himself on him again.
He shifted his feet impatiently to get Gong Si's attention. “Hey. Got a cigarette? Give me one.”
Gong Si paused and looked at him for several seconds, then sounded almost aggrieved. “I'm still in school. Why would I have cigarettes?”
He was actually still in fucking school?
Gong Zheng hadn't expected that answer. He stared for a moment, swore under his breath, and muttered, “What kind of gangster doesn't smoke?”
“Why does being a gangster mean you have to smoke?” Gong Si asked, with devastating logic.
Gong Zheng had nothing to say to that. He shut his eyes to rest, though he still managed a curt reply. “Fuck off.”
Silence followed. After a while, Gong Si gave a seemingly casual sigh. “You're the only person who treats me like this.”
Gong Zheng didn't answer.
The car fell quiet.
Following Gong Shiwen's instructions, the driver sped all the way to the company.
As the car slowed to a stop, Gong Zheng opened his eyes. They had arrived. He turned and found Gong Si watching him at his leisure.
“Why are you staring at me instead of getting out?” He raised an eyebrow and reached for the door.
A strong hand caught his wrist and pulled him back.
Before Gong Zheng could speak, Gong Si lifted a finger to his lips, then shook his head. “I'll go first. Wait a little before you come up.”
Gong Zheng frowned at him for a few seconds, then laughed. “So Gong Shiwen didn't send you. You sneaked over here yourself?”
His grin widened. “Does your dad know you've slipped away, brat?”
The blunt accusation seemed to embarrass Gong Si. He cleared his throat and tried to look serious. “I had something to do nearby. I happened to see Uncle Wang and caught a ride.”
Uncle Wang was the chauffeur who regularly drove Gong Zheng.
“Bullshit.”
Gong Zheng took his feet off Gong Si and leaned back, apparently unwilling to waste his breath on such a flimsy lie.
Gong Si had probably never met an Omega with such a foul mouth. He knew Gong Zheng had been born an Alpha and forcibly altered, but Omega was still the first label he attached to him. In his mind, Omegas were supposed to be gentle and dependent, people who needed protection. Gong Zheng was as forceful as any Alpha.
Whatever had been done to his body, his temperament remained unchanged.
His refusal to submit only sharpened Gong Si's urge to control him.
“Do you know what an Alpha thinks when someone has a temper like yours...?” Gong Si began, only to be cut off.
Gong Zheng clicked his tongue and waved him away. “Are you leaving or not? Then get the hell out. Stop wasting my time.”
Gong Si got out and went through the rear entrance. Gong Zheng stayed in the car, keeping an eye on the time. After a short wait, he told the chauffeur to drive up. People emerged to meet them, and a bodyguard opened his door with a respectful invitation to step out. Only then did Gong Zheng go to see Gong Shiwen.
The building was imposing and magnificent, all the trappings of wealth on display. Gong Zheng knew how many lives, how much blood and labor, lay beneath its foundations.
His own family was among them.
Seven years earlier, he had been a seventeen-year-old high school student: a handsome Alpha with an ordinary, happy family. They weren't immensely rich, but they were comfortable. His parents loved him. There was nothing to distinguish them from countless other households. He should have grown up happy in that love, eventually married an Omega wife from a similar background, and lived out a quiet life worth remembering.
Instead, fate had played a vicious joke. Back then, he had truly wondered whether he had committed some unforgivable evil in a previous life to deserve it. One careless turn of fortune, and everything he might have become was rewritten.
His father was an honest small businessman. The business gave them a little more comfort than the average well-off family, nothing extravagant. Then his partner cheated him and disappeared with every penny the factory had. Only after asking around did his father discover the man had a criminal record and had already spent several years in prison. By then, he and the money were long gone. Gong Zheng's father reported it to the police, but no news ever came.
At first, apart from a few complaints, his mother said very little. She understood how hard things were for her husband. Understanding, however, didn't mean she could simply put it behind her, or that she was prepared to endure hardship indefinitely without complaint. She was practical. With her husband penniless, she wasn't willing to spend her best years waiting for him to rebuild his fortunes.
Their quarrels grew worse. Anything could set them off. Gong Zheng could hardly study in a home like that. Day after day, he watched his parents fight over trivial things, and a suspicion began to take shape: their family was on the verge of falling apart.
The final eruption came when his father returned from a long day of work and discovered his mother was having an affair. She had found a wealthy man. The discovery dealt a crushing blow to his father's pride. His mother said she had to think of their son, and of herself. High school was a crucial time; all this turmoil was affecting Gong Zheng's studies. She could give him better resources and a better environment. She said she finally saw her husband for what he was. She said she wouldn't live in hardship anymore.
His father said nothing. He picked up his coat and dragged his exhausted body back into the cold night.
Gong Zheng didn't see him for days. His mother was often absent too. He knew she was staying with her new wealthy lover; frequently, she didn't come home at all. The chilly, empty house was his alone. He thought his parents must have divorced. Then, one unremarkable afternoon, he returned to find his father there after a fortnight's absence, dressed in designer clothes. The outfit looked so out of place among their possessions that Gong Zheng almost failed to recognize him.
His father happily pulled him into an embrace and said he'd made a fortune. Neither Gong Zheng nor his mother would have to suffer again. Gong Zheng listened in bewilderment. What could his father possibly have done in just fifteen days to make so much money and transform himself like this? Finally, he asked exactly that.
His father fell silent for a moment. Then he said only that he'd done a little business. The evasive answer strengthened Gong Zheng's suspicion. Nothing but gambling could bring in money so quickly.
Perhaps his father had already contacted his mother. When she came home, she saw the designer clothes and the BMW parked downstairs. Gong Zheng expected her to ask where the money had come from, just as he had. She didn't. Money was all she could see. She cast aside her new lover and returned to her old life with his father as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
But Gong Zheng knew something in their family had changed.
Happiness never lasted. His father barely had time to enjoy being rich before his bets grew larger and his greed swallowed him whole. He lost everything. That day, he didn't come home. His mother waited late into the night, but he never appeared. What came instead was a knock on the door the following morning.
Debt collectors.
They said his father had lost three million yuan. With interest compounding, if they failed to repay it that month, they would owe 3.7 million the next.
His mother's vision went black, and she fainted.