Chapter 2

Because of Ruan Tang's defiance, Ruan Ming's expression darkened at once. "Rumors aren't necessarily true. Besides, no matter how violent and capricious Duke Auston may be, there hasn't been a single whisper of him torturing the people around him leaking out of all of Imperial Star... Those Omegas who were scared mad were simply too timid themselves."

"You are a son of the Ruan Family, a partner acknowledged by the Empress and by the Duke himself. As long as you don't court death by deliberately provoking and enraging him, how could he possibly harm a single hair on your head?"

The implication behind these words was no different from saying that getting raped was your own fault for wearing too little — classic straight-alpha cancer rhetoric.

Ruan Tang stared at him coldly.

Ruan Ming let out a cold laugh of his own. "Besides, my son — the fact that you chose to come back today, chose to stand right here, shows that you yourself tacitly consent to this marriage, doesn't it? Otherwise, you would have run off with that young Alpha long ago..."

He was telling Ruan Tang, in plain terms, that he knew everything about Lu Yang's invitation to elope today — and that Ruan Tang had refused it.

Ruan Ming was deeply scheming and never a benevolent man. In his eyes, Ruan Tang — this Omega son who had never won his favor — was never some innocent, kind-hearted darling.

Quite the opposite: in his view, Ruan Tang was practically the very embodiment of a calculating, secretly ambitious Omega.

The moment Ruan Tang chose not to run off with that young man, everything Ruan Tang was showing right now — his dejection, his sarcasm, his unwillingness — was nothing more than a performance put on for Ruan Ming's benefit, a bargaining chip in their negotiation.

Someone as crafty and far-seeing as him would not so easily fall for Ruan Tang's act.

"Father, do you really think that on Imperial Star... if I wanted to elope, I could actually get away?" Ruan Tang looked down at his own toes, a cold laugh slipping from his lips.

Once the Ruan Family had put out the word that they would be forging a marriage alliance with Duke Auston, there was absolutely no way they would let their designated bride escape.

Ruan Tang knew this all too well.

Ruan Ming ignored the bait. Instead, he went straight to the point: "The Crown Prince has recently passed away. Duke Auston is now the only son of His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress. The royal family has made their promise — as long as you can bear a child with Duke Auston, that child will become the Emperor's first-in-line heir."

The Ruan Family was already a great and noble house, and had no wish to wade into these murky waters — to sell one's own son to a madman to this extent.

But the Empress Family had convinced the Emperor, offering terms so generous that Ruan Ming found himself unable to resist selling his son.

In the face of such immense entanglements of family interests and power, the personal happiness of an unfavored son counted for nothing.

Moreover, in his eyes, Ruan Tang's reputation was already so thoroughly ruined that he could never hope to find a decent Alpha.

Better to make full use of him — to squeeze every last drop of value from him for the family's benefit.

"Ruan Tang, you should be grateful," Ruan Ming said calmly.

He himself was deeply ambitious, and in his eyes Ruan Tang was no less so. He felt that the status of being the future father of the Crown Prince's heir should be more than enough to make Ruan Tang rein in his greed.

"If I have a child with Duke Auston in the future, that child will be first in line for the throne..." Ruan Tang stared steadily at him, then let out a sudden, cold laugh. "It does sound rather tempting, doesn't it?"

"But, my dear Father, don't forget — all of this is for the family's benefit. It's a transaction between you and the Empress Family. What does any of it have to do with me?"

Ruan Tang regarded him coldly. Having been hurt so many times, he had long since become impervious. "And on what grounds do you expect me to throw myself to the tiger, risk my life, and sacrifice my entire existence for something like this?"

Marrying a madman — how many normal people would willingly make that choice?

He had no grand spirit of self-sacrifice, and he bore not a shred of affection for the cold, heartless Ruan Family. If they expected him to sacrifice everything for this family without complaint...

Sorry. He couldn't do it.

If Ruan Ming wanted him to make sacrifices, he would have to pay the appropriate price.

Ruan Ming stared at him coldly, his face tinged slightly green with fury.

After a long moment, weighing the interests and entanglements at stake, he swallowed his disgust at Ruan Tang's insatiable greed and drew a deep breath, making a concession: "What do you want?"

Of his five Omega children, only Ruan Xi, Ruan Tang, and his eldest daughter — who had gone mad — had been born of his legal wife.

Ruan Xi was sitting on a wealth of valuable resources; a well-placed marriage alliance could bring considerable benefit to the family, so she couldn't be wasted. His eldest daughter was not only insane but had already been married twice and borne children — she couldn't be offered to Duke Auston either.

Besides, Ruan Tang had the finest appearance, the highest Pheromone compatibility with Auston, and was the most likely to make that madman take the initiative to claim him, mark him, and have children with him.

All things considered, Ruan Tang was, by every measure, the most suitable candidate among his sons for this marriage alliance.

Ruan Tang felt a twinge of bitter amusement at his father's concession.

Amusing, but not unexpected.

From his briefcase he produced a written agreement and pushed it directly in front of Ruan Ming. "This is what I want."

Having long since calculated Ruan Ming's intentions, Ruan Tang had predicted his father's bottom line and prepared to demand what rightfully belonged to his family — to sell himself at the best possible price.

Growing up in this kind of family, Ruan Tang believed neither in love nor in Alphas.

But as a member of the scarce Omega population, he knew the Imperial government and the Ruan Family would never allow him to remain single indefinitely. On top of that, the Suppressant was losing its effectiveness on him, making him realize that he probably had to enter a marriage and bind himself to an Alpha.

Which left him no choice but to make his move.

As for what kind of person his spouse turned out to be — madman, idiot, ugly, or disabled — Ruan Tang couldn't care less. All he cared about was that through this marriage, he could achieve his own goals.

"Ruan Tang, aren't you being just a bit too greedy?" Ruan Ming glanced at what Ruan Tang was demanding in the agreement, and his face immediately turned ashen.

Ruan Tang was not only asking for the vast majority of the Ruan Family's current liquid assets, but also demanding numerous fixed properties and planetary resources.

He still had so many other children — how could he possibly let Ruan Tang walk away with all of that?

"Greedy?" Ruan Tang's gaze was cold and deep as he fixed it on his father, enunciating every word. "Look carefully. These assets are all for establishing a foundation for Mother, and for Big Brother and Big Sister — I'm asking you to donate on their behalf. I'm not taking a single cent for myself..."

"Mother married you when your family had fallen on hard times and you were destitute. You had nothing then — she gave you all of her savings and everything Grandfather's family owned to help you build your empire from nothing. She endured untold hardships so that you could sit upon the fortune you command today..."

"And Big Brother — every time you went to war, it was he who charged at the front, fighting in a blaze of blood for you, for the Empire, taking on a hundred enemies single-handedly... Without him, where would Marshal Ruan Ming's legendary war achievements be today?"

"...And Big Sister — it was you who personally tore her away from the one she loved, forced her into a marriage for the family's benefit, and then when her husband's family fell, forced her to abort her child and divorce, severing all ties... It was you who drove her mad with your own hands and destroyed her entire life."

Hearing Ruan Tang mention his first wife, eldest son, and eldest daughter, Ruan Ming's face flickered between green and purple, turning uglier by the second.

He was a textbook straight-alpha cancers patient; in his eyes, Omegas were nothing more than accessories to Alphas — playthings. But his eldest son and eldest daughter were different. Ruan Tang's elder siblings were nearly twenty years older than all of Ruan Ming's subsequent children — they had truly been born when Ruan Ming had nothing.

Back then the family was poor, the house was small, and they couldn't afford servants. Both children had grown up right under Ruan Ming's nose, and his feelings for them ran deep.

When his eldest son and eldest daughter had met their respective fates one after another, Ruan Ming believed no one's heart ached more than his own — it was as if all five of his organs were on fire.

Unwilling to revisit the wretched state of his eldest son and eldest daughter, once he had confirmed they would never recover, Ruan Ming could no longer bear to visit them. Throughout the entire Ruan household, he refused to let anyone even mention the children's condition.

But Ruan Tang insisted on bringing them up, again and again and again, right to his face —

Trying to use their plight to win his sympathy. Such an unwelcome, unwelcome thing to do. How could he possibly grow fond of this son?

Ruan Tang read the hidden pain in his eyes and found it nothing but laughable. After the eldest son and eldest daughter's misfortunes, Ruan Ming had indeed provided them with the best medical care — but for a full twenty years, he had never once set foot in their wing to visit his so-called 'most beloved' children.

Why should such a man stand here pretending his fatherly love was as steadfast as a mountain?

Ruan Tang let out a cold laugh and pressed on, step by step: "Mother was your first wife. Given everything Big Brother and Big Sister sacrificed for the Ruan Family, what I'm asking for is nothing — really, even demanding half your fortune wouldn't be unreasonable."

"After all, you love them so much, don't you? You should be able to hand it over without batting an eye..."

"Besides, aren't you about to sell me off right now, to trade me for even greater family gain? Why be so stingy over a little thing like this?" Ruan Tang sneered.

A vein bulged on Ruan Ming's forehead. The memory of his brilliant eldest son and eldest daughter crashed against the sight of this defiant, unfilial Ruan Tang before him.

After a long, agonizing weighing of interests, he made his concession — signing the legally binding property transfer documents in accordance with Ruan Tang's demands.

He fixed Ruan Tang with a cold stare. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Thank you, Father. I will follow your orders and marry Duke Auston. But — I have one more requirement." Having won this tug-of-war, and seeing that his mother, eldest brother, and eldest sister would at last have some measure of security, the smile on Ruan Tang's face finally gained a touch of genuineness.

Ruan Ming, whose expression had already been far from pleasant, turned furious at these words. "You have yet another demand?"

As if scolding Ruan Tang for his outrageous greed.

Having taken so much already, and still wanting more.

"I want to take Mother, Big Brother, and Big Sister away from the Ruan Family." But this time Ruan Tang merely smiled — he did not reach for anything more.

Ruan Ming's face darkened even further than when Ruan Tang had been demanding money, as though Ruan Tang had committed some unforgivable treason. He slammed his palm on the desk, sending every object on it rattling. "They are my wife and children!"

That Ruan Tang would take them away from the Ruan Family — what kind of joke was this?

Did he want to slap Ruan Ming's face in front of all of Imperial Star?

"Mother hasn't been your wife for a long time. Your wife now is Lady Xia Ruzhi." Ruan Tang smiled coldly. "Big Brother and Big Sister are your children, yes — but in the twenty-some years since their misfortunes, have you looked after them for a single day? Have you gone to see them even once?"

"If that's the case, why insist on keeping them here?" He knew that Ruan Ming was only concerned with saving face.

Ruan Ming's complexion shifted between green and white.

Having obtained what he wanted, Ruan Tang had no more patience for this verbal sparring. He held up the property transfer documents in his hand. "You've already given what Mother and my siblings are owed. You have countless children and Omegas — but I have only this one mother, this one brother, this one sister..."

"I'll be leaving the Ruan Family soon, and I truly fear that once I'm gone and can no longer watch over them, something will happen — they'll be harmed in ways no one will ever trace back... Now that you've given the money, even if outsiders learn that Mother and my siblings are no longer at the Ruan estate, no one can fault you for anything." At this point, Ruan Tang spoke nothing but the plain truth.

He looked at Ruan Ming steadily. "To put my mind at ease, you might as well let our little family leave."

Hearing it laid out like this, and thinking it over carefully, Ruan Ming realized the situation was indeed as Ruan Tang described... He had already given over so much property — even if his first wife and her children left the Ruan estate, no one could accuse him of abandoning his original wife or failing the children who had sacrificed for the family. His reputation would remain untouched.

Ruan Ming no longer resisted Ruan Tang's insistence on taking his mother and siblings with him, merely letting out a derisive snort. "How could the Ruan Family ever stoop to something so sordid? Don't project your petty suspicions onto a gentleman..."

Though the words were dismissive, Ruan Tang understood immediately — the implication was agreement to let him take his mother and siblings away.

He turned a gentle gaze toward Ruan Ming, his eyes sincere, and answered softly: "Thank you, Father."

Ruan Tang cared nothing for being called a petty man by his own biological father. All he wanted was for the four of them — a complete family — to leave the Ruan estate behind and live their own lives.