CHAPTER 1

The Price of Dignity

In the financial district of Shanghai, the name Li Tingxiao was not spoken lightly.

The towering glass headquarters of L.T. Cosmetics cut into the grey winter sky like a blade — cold, flawless, untouchable — much like the man who owned it.

Inside the top floor office, pheromones were strictly suppressed by the latest inhibitor system. In a world divided into Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, control was power — and Li Tingxiao had built his empire on absolute control.

He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, black suit immaculate, voice calm enough to freeze a room.

“Reject the proposal,” he said.

His assistant, Zhou Kairui, a sharp Beta who had worked with him for seven years, didn’t even blink.

“President Li, the Cheng family is offering a marriage alliance. Their Omega son—”

“I am not interested in marriage,” Tingxiao replied, tone flat.

Not now.

Not ever.

Marriage meant emotional variables.

Omegas meant pheromonal dependency.

Both were liabilities.

And Li Tingxiao did not allow weaknesses in his life.

A soft knock interrupted them.

The door opened just enough for a small boy to peek in.

“Uncle…”

The cold atmosphere shattered.

Li Tingxiao turned instantly, the ice in his eyes melting into something almost human.

“Chenchen,” he said quietly.

The child ran toward him, schoolbag bouncing, inhibitor patch slightly crooked on his collar — applied by clumsy little hands.

His nephew.

The only family he had left after the accident that took his younger brother and sister-in-law.

Tingxiao adjusted the child’s collar with rare gentleness.

“Did you eat?”

Zhou Kairui looked away.

In the entire company, only this child had ever seen their president smile.

Across the city, in a decaying apartment that smelled of stale smoke and spilled alcohol, Song Yuxin was kneeling on the floor, gathering broken glass with bare hands.

“Dad… stop gambling. Please.”

His voice was soft, bright by nature, the kind that usually carried laughter.

Tonight it trembled.

His father didn’t even look at him.

“You think I want this life?” the man snapped. “If I win once, everything will change.”

Yuxin had heard those words for ten years.

He stood, pressing a tissue to the small cut on his palm, and forced a smile.

“It’s okay. I’ll take more shifts at the café.”

That was Song Yuxin.

Poor.

Exhausted.

But still smiling like the world had never been cruel to him.

A rare male Omega who lived like a Beta — suppressing his scent with the cheapest inhibitors, hiding his designation just to survive in a society where Omegas were seen as resources rather than people.

His phone rang.

An unknown number.

“Hello?”

A calm, emotionless voice answered:

“Song Yuxin. Your father owes us three million yuan.”

The room went silent.

“W-who is this?”

“Come to the address I send you. Tomorrow morning. Eight o’clock.”

The line disconnected.

His father’s face had gone pale.

“Yuxin…” the man whispered, eyes full of something unfamiliar.

Fear.

That night, Yuxin couldn’t sleep.

Not because of the debt.

But because for the first time in his life, his father avoided his gaze.

The next morning, he stood in front of a building so luxurious it didn’t feel real.

Black marble.

Gold insignia.

Silent guards.

L.T. Capital.

He swallowed.

Inside, the air was rich with the faint scent of high-grade Alpha pheromones — controlled, expensive, suffocating.

At the end of the hall, a man in a dark suit waited.

Zhou Kairui.

“Mr. Song,” he said politely, though his eyes carried the efficiency of someone used to dealing with debtors. “Please come with me.”

The office doors opened.

And for the first time —

Song Yuxin saw Li Tingxiao.

Tall.

Cold.

Perfectly composed.

A man who looked less like a human and more like a law of nature.

Their eyes met.

For a fraction of a second—

Tingxiao’s control faltered.

Because beneath layers of cheap suppressant…

there it was.

A scent.

Soft.

Warm.

Like rain falling on white jasmine.

His Alpha instincts — buried for years under discipline — moved.

Song Yuxin lowered his head immediately.

“I… I’m here about my father’s debt.”

His voice was steady.

Dignified.

Not begging.

Not broken.

And that —

more than the scent —

caught Li Tingxiao’s attention.

Zhou Kairui placed the contract on the table.

“Three million yuan,” he said.

“Repayment has been arranged.”

Yuxin blinked.

“Arranged?”

Li Tingxiao finally spoke.

His voice was deep, calm, absolute.

“You will live in my residence,” he said.

“You will take care of my child.”

A pause.

“And in return — the debt will be cleared.”

The words were simple.

But they stripped the air from the room.

Yuxin’s fingers tightened.

“So…” he asked softly, lifting his eyes for the first time,

“I’ve been sold?”

Silence.

Two men stood on opposite sides of a contract.

One who had never been able to choose.

One who had never needed to.

Li Tingxiao looked at him — really looked this time.

At the worn coat.

The injured hand.

The eyes that still refused to kneel.

“No,” he said.

But his next words were colder than any cruelty.

“You were chosen.”

Outside the window, snow began to fall over Shanghai.

And in that silent office —

the deal that would change three lives forever

was signed.

LI TINGXIAO

SONG YUXIN

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