Apex Predator - Chap 1

The circumstances of one’s life are truly unpredictable.

For instance, Shen Dai had never imagined that he could one day be invited back into the house where he had once been thrown out like rubbish.

In his childhood mind’s eye, the house was a splendid palace, enormous and dazzling. There was an ostentatious spiral staircase, built without the slightest concern for wasted space. This was the first time he learnt that people could, in fact, put staircases within houses. As he stood in the house, looking up made him anxious that the massive crystal chandelier would come crashing down on him, while looking down made him afraid that he might dirty the pristine floors.

But here he was again twenty years later.

The villa occupied an exorbitantly expensive piece of land in a quiet neighbourhood amidst the hustle and bustle within the inner ring road. The neighbourhood was old, so the architectural style of the villa was already dated. Its external facade had been replaced by a faux stone veneer in a French style made popular in recent years. However, the garden was in dire need of upkeep. The dried-up fishpond, stone steps and greenery all showed traces of wear and discolouration from the elements. At first glance, the villa appeared imposing and extravagant, but really, it wasn’t worth a closer deliberation.

So perhaps the rumours circulating online were not entirely baseless after all. The company stock price had fallen and numbers didn’t lie. Could it be that the You family were really on the verge of decline?

Twice coming here, and twice not out of his own accord. Today, a bodyguard had invited him to get into the car.

As the house had made such a deep impression on him before, he was only able to have a faint recollection of the man that was his biological father. Only, surely he couldn’t have seemed as old back then as he did today?

This man had once been a high-profile heir to a large business conglomerate. He was an Alpha who possessed A-class pheromones. Handsome in his youth, he graduated from a prestigious university and married someone of equal social status. He had led a charmed existence, only to be mercilessly tossed out by the financial markets in the blink of an eye.

Once disillusionment has seeped into one’s body and spirit, it will engrave itself into the wrinkles that line the face and cannot be hidden.

Shen Dai stood in front of You Xinghai, silently sizing the man up as the latter did the same.

You Xinghai had a sullen expression on his face. Set against his oppressiveness as an Alpha and his authority as the family patriarch, Shen Dai’s composure unnerved him. He had already mentally prepared himself for Shen Dai to castigate him, to complain to him about his life’s misfortunes, or at the very least to show some hostility. But the young man in front of him was surprisingly calm and collected.

Not long after being forced to make this decision did a copy of this child’s particulars appear on his bureau: Shen Dai, 27 years old, Omega Male, Single, MSc in Chemical Engineering. Researcher in Rare Earths at the Xingzhou corporation, Household: Omega Father and Maternal Grandmother

The timid boy from twenty years ago had grown into an even-tempered man. Thinking about the boy’s life and what he was about to ask for, You Xinghai couldn’t help but have a bit of a guilty conscience.

Shen Dai looked around the room before pulling over a chair to sit on. He took out his mobile phone to reply to a few texts from work. You Xinghai furrowed his brow before clearing his throat.

Shen Dai looked up.

“President You, why are you looking for me?” he said, in a way that was neither self-effacing nor arrogant.

“…You’re all grown up now”

You Xinghai was accustomed to handling difficult situations in the business world, yet at this moment he could only resort to pleasantries to ease the awkwardness.

Shen Dai wanted to laugh, “President You, if you didn’t have a request to make, you wouldn’t have taken the trouble of looking for me. Just say what it is.”

In the movies, the deadbeat father would usually come looking for his long-lost illegitimate child when there were no other offspring. But this was not the case for the You family. If something had happened to the young master, it would already have been reported in the news.

You Xinghai’s face burned with humiliation. “This word ‘request’ is not quite right. I want to make a deal with you.”

“Go on.”

Shen Dai had consented to enter the car mainly out of curiosity. There were laws in this country and they really weren’t filming a movie after all. Had he shouted in the middle of the street, the bodyguard would not have dared lay a finger on him. His principal motive for coming was to find out what You Xinghai wanted, and perhaps get a bit of satisfaction from payback.

Tapping on a file in front of him, You Xinghai said, “You have a debt of seven million. This is not a small amount of money”

”That’s right. Does the President wish to pay it back for me?” The corners of Shen Dai’s mouth exposed a smile with a hint of disdain.

“I can help you to pay it back.”

Shen Dai’s pupils quickly narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

“My son was engaged to be married as part of an important strategic partnership. But he is now unable to go through with it. I need you to become part of the You family again, and get married in his place.”

The words that came out of his mouth were too contrived, too absurd, too much like the plot of a bad drama. Five seconds went by before Shen Dai asked, ”Are you being serious?”

“Someone in my position would not joke with you about something like this.”

”Why isn’t he able to go through with the marriage?”

A bit of gloominess registered for an instant across You Xinghai’s face. Seemingly embarrassed, he replied, “He was marked by another person.”

Shen Dai turned silent. It wasn’t that he was without apprehension; Getting married to a stranger sounded pretty terrible, but could it be any worse than bearing the burden of a massive debt?

Both he and his grandmother’s twilight years were suffocated by this weight without any hope in sight.

If he could pay a small price to help them crawl out of that hole, it could be worth a shot.

Shen Dai took a deep breath, “What would I be expected to do in this marriage?”

”That would depend on your future spouse. You would do whatever he asks you to do.”

Shen Dai’s eyelashes flickered. Looking up slowly, he said without much hesitation, “I want ten million.”

You Xinghai narrowed his eyes. Though not surprised, he was clearly annoyed.

If what You Xinghai said was indeed true, then he would definitely accede to this demand. It seemed the You family had in its grasp a strategic marriage alliance that could determine the fate of the family business, the price of which was his darling Omega son, You Baiyue. However, if You Baiyue had already been marked by someone else, it would no doubt be an embarrassment to both families.

While the mark itself could be washed off, there were no modern medical techniques to remove the bite mark scars on the glands. Which dignified family could accept such a humiliation? The marriage would have to be called off.

Shen Dai recalled You Baiyue’s exquisite face that was plastered all over social media. He clearly seemed to be quite an intelligent person. How could someone like him have made such a misstep?

The worst mistake for a young Omega was to allow themselves to be marked before marriage. Then again, to look at it from a different angle, what if You Baiyue had deliberately sabotaged his engagement? Maybe the other party was decrepit, or hideous, or deformed? What if he had creepy hobbies or violent tendencies? All these risks weren’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

He was their lifeline, so even if the shares of the family business had halved in value, surely they could still spare him the ten million.

As expected, You Xinghai simply replied, “Fine.”

Shen Dai instantly regretted not asking for more. Perhaps he had still been a little too meek. Although deep down he was incredulous about the whole matter, he still hoped that it was true. The most pressing matter in his life right now was to pay off the debt.

He stood up. “Then it’s settled then, I’ll leave the arrangements to you. I still have to go back to work so I’ll first be leaving.”

You Xinghai looked at him with astonishment. “You don’t have any other questions?”

“None, as long as you’re really going to pay me.”

“…Don’t you want to know who your future Alpha husband is?”

Shen Dai glanced at his phone. In that short span of time, he had already received a barrage of messages. Without turning back, he replied, “It doesn’t matter.”

He was so young but had to carry this enormous debt. Faced with an uncertain future, he had long given up any expectations of love and marriage. So what if the other party was so awful to the point where You Baiyue had to use extreme means of sabotage just to end the engagement? He was at peace with selling himself, just as long as he could get his childhood home back and provide his grandmother with a roof over her head.

“Whoever it is, it doesn’t matter.”

After leaving the You residence, he headed straight to the Research Institute. Even though their hours were flexible and there was no need to clock in, it was still a little unprofessional to be absent in the mornings.

Immediately upon graduating from university, he started working at the Xingzhou corporation. His academic advisor had been one of the Programme Directors at the Institute of Rare Earths, so he was able to undertake most of his postgraduate coursework at this laboratory.

Truth be told his salary was already considered high in relation to his peers. Still, when you compared it to seven million, clearing the debt felt like a hopeless and distant goal.

He had pondered seriously the ways he could improve his lot in life. The first was if money could simply fall from the sky, and the second was if he could obtain a patent.

Not only was his gender underrepresented in the workplace and the field of scientific research, but he didn’t exactly possess a brilliant mind either. He had toiled away for twenty years trying to accomplish the latter, never expecting that the former would become his reality.

From a young age, he had always believed in the mantra “Studying hard can change one’s destiny”. Well, this really was too ironic.

“Shixiong.”

“Good morning, Shixiong”

“Morning.”

As soon as he entered the institute, he was greeted by his juniors one after the other.

“What morning? You just did a bit of tidying and then you’ll go straight to lunch.”

A teasing voice came from behind him, “Shen Dai, you aren’t usually late.”

This was his university classmate Cheng Zimei. A Beta female, they were colleagues that shared similar goals and academic ideals.

”I had something to settle at the last minute. Did the professor already come in today?” Shen Dai changed into his lab coat and poured himself a glass of water.

“Not yet. The Wansheng mine just sent over a batch of materials. Would you like to have a look?”

Shen Dai looked at his watch. “How about in the afternoon? Let’s get lunch first.”

The Institute of Rare Earths had its own cafeteria, but today they decided to walk out a bit further to the main cafeteria of the company headquarters building. Both places procured ingredients collectively, so the food was all very good. But there was a bigger variety of dishes at the main cafeteria, and they often changed what they ate.

Having bought their lunches, the two of them started to chat while eating.

At this moment, there was a bit of a commotion coming from the main door of the cafeteria. Shen Dai turned his head to look. A group of people dressed in suits walked in with a hurried gait. People were usually more relaxed around lunchtime, so they didn’t appear to be here for a meal. More likely they were here for an inspection.

This cafeteria was massive. From where he was seated, Shen Dai could not get a clear view of the person’s face. But he still managed to make out the distinct outline of a tall and handsome silhouette.

“I wonder why the Crown Prince decided to come down to eat at the cafeteria today?”

Cheng Zimei held her chopsticks in her mouth and stretched out her neck to get a glimpse.

Shen Dai’s eyes silently followed the tall man who was being surrounded by that group of people, straining with some effort to get a better look at his face in the middle of the crowd until the man crossed the cafeteria and went into a private room.

From such a distance, he was unable to get a whiff of his pheromones, but Shen Dai still felt that his body was becoming a little restless.

She ended up answering her own question, “Maybe he’s just busy and invited his clients to a business lunch.”

Shen Dai had a rather keen sense of observation. He noticed that the ones that paid particular interest to the group of people who just walked in were mostly Omegas. It couldn’t be helped. Omegas had a biological instinct to gravitate toward the strongest; He himself was no exception. An S-class Alpha walking past creating a slight breeze and leaving behind a faint trace of pheromones in the air could make his thoughts run wild.

Moreover, as heir apparent to the Xingzhou corporation, Qu Moyu was an Alpha who radiated a glimmering aura from head to toe.