Apex Predator - Chap 48

As Qu Moyu was too busy dealing with the whole mess outside and had no time to deal with Shen Dai, he arranged for a bodyguard to watch over him.

Shen Dai had effectively been put under a disguised form of house arrest. Although Qu Moyu had not technically restricted his freedom of movement, he was one: not allowed to go to the company, and two: not allowed to go home. With Qu Moyu’s mark on his body, the truth would be uncovered as soon as he ran into people he was acquainted with. Which was why, apart from the Qu residence, there was nowhere else he could go.

He spent half a day to pull his self-awareness out from extreme feelings of pain and humiliation and to face the fact that he had already fallen into a crisis. Calmly, he started to reflect on everything that had led up to his current situation, as well as how to tackle the present concerns one by one.

Though Qu Moyu’s words were hurtful, they were due to a misunderstanding and had been spoken in a fit of anger. Apart from this vicious accusation, Qu Moyu had already stated early on that he had no intention of giving the mark to him and was now only expressing it in a more harsh way.

Considering things from Qu Moyu’s perspective, these knee-jerk reactions were perfectly human.

He was the victim, but Qu Moyu was not the perpetrator; Qu Chengchen and Shen Qin were the ones behind it all.

Rather than sorrow and self-pity, what he needed now more than anything was calmness, calmness, and more calmness.

The most pressing matter was to prove his innocence and clear up the misunderstanding between them.

He purchased a brand-new phone, but the backup he downloaded from the cloud was incomplete. He hadn’t had time to check what work-related data was missing, and recovering all the messages was already taking a long time.

The leave given for heat was only seven days, and today was already day eight. The professor had already returned from South Africa. Shen Dai had no choice but to request a sick leave from him and Cheng Zimei.

His grandmother had texted him over the past few days out of concern as well. The reason she hadn’t been too alarmed that her grandson had disappeared for over a week was that she already knew he had gone into heat. And there was no doubt that Shen Qin was the one who had relayed that information to her.

Besides, in order to control Shen Qin’s extravagant spending habits, he provided him with only a weekly allowance of a thousand yuan for his day-to-day needs, along with extra money for other expenses. And yet not even once did this week did Shen Qin approach him for money.

This was evidence enough that Shen Qin had taken Qu Chengchen’s money and had plotted in advance to take his phone.

He gave his grandmother a call, making up a few excuses to pacify her. He explained that he had been falling behind on work due to his heat and would need to work overtime for the next few days to make up for it. As a result, it would be some time before he could come home to see her. His grandmother appeared to understand and urged him to take care of his body.

“And what about him?” he asked. The mere mention of Shen Qin evoked an inexplicable feeling of loathing within him. In the face of being used and betrayed by his own flesh and blood, he felt no pain, only a sense of revulsion.

This person, who had time and again brought disaster upon his family—his biological father, who had once betrayed his parents for the sake of ‘love’—was now naturally capable of selling out his child for his own interests.

And the thing that made him feel the most hopeless was that unbreakable bond of blood between them. Shen Qin was like a parasitic tumour which had latched itself onto his grandmother’s body. How was he going to remove it without causing irreparable harm?”

“Outside, watching television,” replied his grandmother, a smile in her voice, “He’s been taking really good care of me. Everything is fine at home, don’t worry.”

“….That’s good.” He still hadn’t thought about how he was going to confront Shen Qin – his sole concern had been for his grandmother.

“A-dai?”

“Yeah?”

His grandmother lowered her voice. “Shen Qin has been coming to me crying a few times. He said that you treat him coldly and don’t want to call him Dad. I know you can’t find it in your heart to forgive him, but it’s impossible to change the past. Life goes on. We all need to look forward. He’s already acknowledged his mistakes and turned over a new leaf. Could you…give him a chance to redeem himself?”

Drawing in a deep breath, he clenched his hand tightly into a fist.

Because he couldn’t bear to tell her, his grandmother was never going to know what this son who had already “acknowledged his mistakes and turned over a new leaf” had done to him.

Taking on the financial burden in the past and enduring this emotional burden now was the least he could do to repay his grandmother who had raised him with such great care. But how was he going to resolve this frustration and resentment in his heart?!

“I’ve already given him a chance by allowing him back into our home,” he replied, coldly. “There’s nothing more I can do.”

After an interval of silence, his grandmother let out a deep sigh.

Shen Dai had initially hoped to regain his composure as quickly as possible through work, but after sitting in front of the computer for several hours, he hadn’t managed to finish reading a single page of data. His mind was in disarray, and from time to time, the cold, menacing eyes of Qu Moyu would surface in his thoughts.

After the act of marking, Alphas and Omegas would experience an even deeper mutual attachment stemming from the physiological level. This meant that he cared even more about Qu Moyu now. In turn, Qu Moyu was also more susceptible to his emotional influence. What did it feel like to be misunderstood, humiliated, and blamed by one’s own Alpha? Like the suffocating sensation of being unable to breathe every second of every minute.

He tried to reach You Baiyue to get Qu Chengchen’s number, but You Baiyue didn’t reply to his message. He even thought about confronting Shen Qin face to face, but then again, to Qu Moyu, he and Shen Qin were one and the same: What his father did was also his doing. After all, how would any outsider know that he and his father no longer had any familial affection between each other to speak of?

For a while, he was at a loss as to how he was going to justify himself.

Over the next few days, he hardly went outside. Although he spent all of his waking hours sitting in front of his computer, his productivity was extremely low.

When Uncle Heng or Auntie Lan came to bring him his meals, they noticed that his expression had become peculiar and indifferent. At times, it appeared as if they were hesitant to say something to him, which made him even more reluctant to step out of his room.

He wanted so much to discuss things with Qu Moyu, but Qu Moyu would leave early and return late in the evening, or sometimes not even at all, so he kept being unable to find the chance.

Later he realised it was likely that Qu Moyu was intentionally avoiding him. Maybe because he was afraid of him releasing pheromones. With the bond from the mark, an Alpha would naturally be protective of his Omega. Pheromones could turn into a method of hijacking an Alpha’s emotions.

But already he was so anxious he couldn’t wait any longer. He didn’t want to remain trapped in this state of mind. He couldn’t keep pretending that he was ill and not leaving the house, either.

And so that evening, he sat in the living room waiting for Qu Moyu, no matter how late he returned he would keep waiting.

Uncle Heng and Auntie Lan each came on three separate occasions to dissuade him. The last time, Uncle Heng’s tone started to get a little curt. “You should already know that the young master has no wish at all to see you right now. Also, you shouldn’t provoke him when he’s already in a bad temper.”

Shen Dai responded calmly, “If there is a problem, we should solve it. What‘s the point in dragging things out? In any case, I can’t possibly shut myself indoors forever. I have a family, a job, and my own life to lead.

”It’s not possible for the young master to allow you to go to the company.” Uncle Heng continued, a grave look on his face, “He can’t let other people know that he marked you.”

Shen Dai pursed his lips together. He knew that in the eyes of people like Uncle Heng, he was already the guilty party, the “inferior Omega” who had tricked Qu Moyu into giving him his mark.

“Which is why I want to talk to him,” responded Shen Dai solemnly.

“Even if you want to talk, you still need to wait until the young master cools down. Do you have any idea of how much he’s lost because of you? Right now he’s so busy every day that…”

Just at that moment, Qu Moyu returned.

Shen Dai thought that he was already mentally prepared, but met with Qu Moyu’s icy gaze, his heart sank. Forcing himself to calm his emotions, he took two steps forward, then asked softly, “Moyu, can we talk?”

Apart from scanning Shen Dai’s face for a brief instant, Qu Moyu did not even slow his pace and walked right past him.

Shen Dai turned around. “You can’t not give me the chance to defend myself,” he said, raising his voice as he regarded Qu Moyu’s back.

Without even turning his head, Qu Moyu uttered a single word, “The study.”

Gritting his teeth, Shen Dai then followed him up the stairs.

Qu Moyu took off his suit jacket and tossed it on the table before taking a seat in his chair. Closing his eyes, he massaged the space between his eyebrows with his slender fingers.

Seeing how tired Qu Moyu was, Shen Dai couldn’t help but feel his heart ache a little. Even if he was still choking up with anger inside, just as before, he could not help but care about his Alpha.

“Hurry up and say it,” said Qu Moyu, impatiently.

Shen Dai paused to collect his thoughts before replying simply, “I had nothing to do with this. I have no knowledge of it.”

Qu Moyu’s eyes slowly opened. His gaze fell upon Shen Dai, carrying with it an unmistakable air of disdain.

“I know you don’t believe me, but just give me a few minutes to recount to you the whole sequence of events.”

“Who stands to gain from this?” demanded Qu Moyu, his voice filled with derision. “You’ve always wanted my mark, am I right?”

Shen Dai lowered his eyes. “Yes, all omegas want to be marked during their heat. It’s instinct.“

“And what about when you aren’t in heat?”

Shen Dai opened his mouth to speak, but it was as if something were caught in his throat.

At any given moment he had yearned to be marked by Qu Moyu, for Qu Moyu to like him, for Qu Moyu to see him as his only one. What was wrong about liking someone?

Why had this emotion transformed into something he was too ashamed to speak about?

His silence caused Qu Moyu’s eyes to darken.

”I…I also want it.” It felt like there was something inside him screaming out loud to break free of these intangible shackles. It had been bottled up for far too long and needed to be expressed to his heart’s desire. Though he knew clearly that now was not the right time to say it, still he blurted out, “Because I like you.”

At that moment, a great wave surged up within him.

He had mustered all his strength for this confession, but what he got in return was Qu Moyu’s contempt. He stared blankly at Qu Moyu, suddenly finding himself at a loss.

“You ‘like’ me,” sneered Qu Moyu, “Is that supposed to be new?”

Shen Dai felt a stab of pain come from his heart.

“Which omega around me doesn’t ‘like’ me?” remarked Qu Moyu, his wrinkled eyebrows revealing his annoyance. “What’s the big deal about ‘liking someone’? It’s only a fleeting and intangible emotion. To use it to manipulate me for financial gain is really stupid and greedy.”

Shen Dai’s body kept trembling. “You, you knew about it all along…”

“From the moment you asked for my WeChat.”

Qu Moyu had his cheek rested on one hand, a look of indifference written all over his face. “I’ve seen that look on the faces of countless Omegas. Did you think you hid it well?”

So, it turned out that Qu Moyu knew all along.

The secrets he thought he had so carefully guarded, his internal turmoil between wanting to get closer and forcing himself to keep his distance, how he felt trying hard to conceal his sadness and jealousy, had in fact all been plainly obvious yet worthless in Qu Moyu’s eyes.

So what had Qu Moyu’s attitude been this whole time? Reminding him both explicitly and implicitly not to have unrealistic fantasies about him, stating on multiple occasions that his future wife would have to be an S-class Omega – then there was You Baiyue’s necktie, his disappointment at being unable to marry You Baiyue, and that date which had turned into a dinner with You Baiyue.

Although Qu Moyu had known about his feelings early on, he hadn’t cared at all that he would feel disappointed or ashamed – because Qu Moyu didn’t give a damn about him.