Chapter 30: Romeo’s Dream Memory: Cat and Sheep
People came and went, passing through this room.
These people were of different genders and identities. Sixty percent were Alphas and Omegas, and forty percent were Betas.
But Romeo saw two strange commonalities in them.
One was that they all came in pairs and left alone.
The other was that when they came, their faces were filled with hesitation, loss, and resentment, but when they left, they looked relieved.
Oh, it’s probably because this is the divorce litigation department of the Capital Star courthouse, Romeo thought, playing with the toy his father had bought him, a plush alligator.
A staff member saw him, probably thinking he had gotten lost from his guardian, and came over to ask if he needed help.
“I’m waiting for my dad,” Romeo’s voice was clear and childish. “He said he’ll be out soon.”
“Alright,” the staff member sighed, lovingly stroking his fluffy golden head, and chatted with him idly.
“How old are you?”
“Umm… ten.”
“What’s this?”
“My alligator. My dad bought it for me.”
“Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?”
Romeo shook his head like a rattle drum.
“I’ll wait here with you for your dad, okay?”
Romeo nodded.
The big and small one had a heated discussion about the alligator toy. Just as they were getting excited, Romeo’s eyes suddenly looked in one direction.
“Dad!” Romeo shouted, grabbing the alligator toy and throwing himself into the arms of an Omega man not far away. The Omega stroked his little head and waved a file in his hand.
“It’s done. Let’s go home,” the Omega said with a relaxed and joyful smile.
“Mmm, mmm,” Romeo also laughed happily.
At ten years old, he didn’t understand what marriage was, or what divorce was. He only knew that he was happy to be with his dad forever.
As for his other father, Romeo didn’t have a very deep impression of him. In his memory, he was either out working or arguing with his dad. Once, his father had inexplicably brought home a strange Omega. His dad was both angry and furious, and had cried and argued with his father for three days. Finally, his dad had said to him, “I want a divorce!”
“What does that mean?” Romeo asked curiously.
“It means I’m going to be separated from your father forever,” his dad said. “I don’t want to see him ever again.”
“What about me?” Romeo was anxious.
“You’re my child. Of course I’m taking you with me,” his dad lowered his head and stroked Romeo’s head.
Romeo breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then let’s get a divorce,” Romeo said, holding his dad’s hand. “Wherever dad goes, I’ll go.”
Wherever dad goes, I’ll go. This was the biggest obsession in young Romeo’s heart. But reality was far crueler than he had imagined.
Life after the divorce was not as smooth as his dad had imagined. Without the protection of an Alpha, he was just an ordinary Omega with a decent appearance but no work skills and a mediocre education. In addition, he had undergone a mark removal surgery, and the regular heat cycles made his job search difficult.
Just think, why would a boss choose a stable Beta from a large pool of candidates over a divorced Omega with a child and an unstable condition?
The invisible pressure swept over the Omega the moment after the divorce. The child support paid by his ex-husband was only enough for the child. But what about him? What should he do in the future?
“I can’t even convince myself,” his dad said sadly, collapsing to the ground.
Romeo didn’t know what to do. He ran to the kitchen, poured a glass of water for his dad, and brought it to him. When he returned, he saw that tears were streaming down his dad’s cheeks.
“I want to be alone,” his dad said. “Can you leave me alone?”
Romeo felt bad. He could only offer a few words of comfort before running out of the house to play by himself.
When he came back two hours later, he saw his dad acting as if nothing had happened, baking bread and preparing dinner in the kitchen.
“Dad, are you okay?” Romeo asked with some concern.
His dad just smiled and told him to sit down at the chair and get ready for dinner.
He didn’t know when it started, but his dad began to stay out all night.
He would always come home drunk, sometimes in the early morning, sometimes not until the next morning, and would collapse on the living room sofa and sleep soundly.
Every time he heard his dad come back, Romeo would go to the bathroom, get a basin of warm water, and bring it to his dad’s side. He would use a wet wipe to clean the traces of makeup from the corners of his dad’s eyes.
His dad also had a strong smell of perfume, mixed with the scent of some Alpha’s pheromones. Romeo was still a child, and although he had not yet presented his secondary gender, he instinctively felt some disgust for this subtle smell.
I hate it. Why does dad have this smell on him?
Romeo was still a child. His daily life was just going to school and coming home, and playing soccer with the neighborhood kids. He naturally didn’t know what this meant.
After washing the basin, he didn’t think much of it. He went back to bed to continue sleeping. He had school tomorrow.
This life continued for half a year.
Until one day, his dad said to him:
“We’re moving.”
“Where to?”
“To an uncle’s house.”
“An uncle?”
Romeo frowned. He didn’t know why, but a sense of unease lingered in his heart.
“He’s here.”
His dad looked out the window. A black limousine was parked downstairs. Romeo’s friend, the neighbor’s kid across the street, had a similar toy car. The kid had even shown it off to Romeo, saying that it was very expensive and was a gift from his dad.
“Wow.”
Romeo looked at the car in amazement. The real car looked much more impressive than the toy car.
His dad stroked Romeo’s head and urged, “Alright, let’s go.”
The two of them dragged their luggage and went downstairs. A middle-aged Beta in a black suit stood in front of the car, smiling at them.
“Sir, young master,” the middle-aged Beta smiled, took the suitcase, and opened the car door for them.
“Wow, thank you,” Romeo ran into the car.
Suddenly, he saw an Alpha man sitting in the car. The man had white hair at his temples and a chiseled face. He looked extremely serious, and even his pheromones had a heavy scent.
“Ah!” Romeo was startled.
“I’m sorry, this is my son,” Romeo’s dad quickly got into the car and said submissively, “I told you about him before, do you remember?”
Romeo was confused by his dad’s appearance. After a long while, he said blankly, “I’m sorry.”
The man did not speak, just looked at them coldly. The car door was quickly closed by the servant outside.
His dad said, “Romeo, this is… sir. We’ll be living with him from now on. You have to be a good boy.”
Romeo pouted and lowered his head. He hadn’t even heard his dad say the man’s name. He only knew that he had to call this man “sir.” He was not happy. The atmosphere in the car made him uncomfortable.
The man raised his hand, and an assistant next to him handed him a display screen. The man lowered his head and looked at the fluctuating lines on the screen.
Romeo was still a few months away from his eleventh birthday at that time. Of course, he didn’t know that the lines on the screen were the stock information of XX Airlines.
The car started quickly. Along the way, everyone was silent.
A few times, Romeo poked his dad’s arm, wanting to talk to him, but his dad shushed him and told him to be quiet. Alright, if you don’t want me to talk, then I won’t. Hmph!
Romeo stared out the window. The car had already reached the suburbs. Outside the road was a flat, wide grassland. It was autumn, and the grass had turned a withered yellow, which was not very pretty.
The car sped along the highway, but the scenery around them did not change. The sky, the barren grassland, the highway… Occasionally, the shape of a few clouds would change.
Romeo looked out the window. Gradually, he closed his eyes and rested his head on his dad’s shoulder.
When he woke up, the car was just backing into a garage.
“You’re awake,” his dad smiled and rubbed Romeo’s face.
Romeo said, “Mmm.” He was still a little sleepy. He hugged his dad’s arm, wanting to whine and sleep a little longer.
Just then, Romeo heard a few “cough—uh—” sounds. He followed the sound and saw the man looking at him expressionlessly.
“Shh, shh, I’m sorry,” his dad lowered his head and shushed Romeo again.
The Alpha man’s expression finally softened a little.
At that moment, the driver opened the car door for them. The middle-aged Beta butler from before stood outside the car and smiled at them. “Gentlemen, young master, dinner is ready. Please follow me.”
At that time, the 10-year-old Romeo had no idea that this would be the beginning of his nightmare.
Romeo wanted to go to the amusement park, to the shop next to the amusement park to buy ice cream, to the square in the park to feed the pigeons, and to laugh out loud with his friends.
But this place had none of what he wanted.
This place was huge, far from the city. It was a manor, and behind the manor was a continuous mountain range.
There was only withered yellow grass here, and a magical wind that could blow a child away. The only animals were probably the ones raised on the manor, as well as wild rabbits and field mice.
There were also no chocolate cookies, watermelon-flavored cotton candy, or yogurt ice cream that Romeo loved most. There was only tasteless and hard buckwheat bread, dry and sour cheese, and salty and fishy ham.
Not long after he arrived, Romeo’s cheeks became visibly thinner.
He had no choice but to go and complain to his dad. He threw himself into his dad’s arms and whined, “Dad, can you take me to the amusement park for ice cream?”
His dad had a troubled expression. The man did not allow him to leave the manor at will. Taking a child to an amusement park was even more impossible.
“Why? It’s so boring here,” Romeo started to throw a tantrum.
“…I’m sorry,” his dad stood up and broke free from his hand. “I, I have to go to the study. The man is looking for me.” He left in a hurry without looking back.
Romeo never went to school again. There was a private school in the manor, but Romeo didn’t like it there.
The man had had several marriages, which had brought him many children. Fortunately, he was rich and could easily provide for them. Except for his eldest son, Peterlov, who was at a boarding school, the other children all studied at the private school in the manor.
They did not welcome Romeo and saw him as an intruder.
If Romeo took one step into the private school, they would smash his head with a dictionary. The teachers at the private school would not interfere. They did not dare to discipline these true young masters.
So Romeo gradually stopped going to the private school. Sometimes he would go to the manor’s farm and keep company with the lambs, cows, and kittens.
“Meow~”
A small cat sat on the fence, licking its paws.
“So cute,” Romeo stroked the small cat’s chin. The small cat closed its eyes and purred, expressing its satisfaction with Romeo’s service.
Suddenly, the small cat seemed to sense something. It opened its eyes, and its originally slender pupils dilated into circles. The small cat jumped, darted into the haystacks on the farm, and disappeared.
“Huh?” Romeo was confused. He turned his head, and a person was standing at the door.
Romeo had seen this person’s photo. Peterlov, the man’s eldest son, who had been at a boarding school, had returned at some point.
Peter looked at the child with curiosity.
A farm servant next to him said, “This is the child of the master’s partner.”
“Oh—” Peter had no interest in the child. He pointed to a few sheep on the farm and said, “Those few will do.”
“Yes,” the servant grabbed the lamb’s legs and dragged it out.
“What are you doing?” Romeo asked, scared.
“Young master Peter wants a custom-made sheepskin backpack,” the servant said.
Peter said, “Wait a minute.”
The servant stopped what he was doing. The sheep cried out in pain from having its legs pulled.
Romeo felt a chill in his heart. He took two steps back, and then he saw a terrifying scene:
Peter picked up a shovel from the side and smashed it hard on the sheep’s head. The sheep fell to the ground, its legs stretched out, and it stopped moving.
Romeo’s legs went weak, and he sat on the ground. How could a child have ever seen such a thing?
There was still blood on the shovel. Peter sneered, threw the shovel into the haystacks. A howl came from the haystacks, and the shadow of a cat shot out, climbed onto a beam, and disappeared.
“Take these sheep away,” Peter said.
“Yes,” the servant dragged the sheep onto a cart. Only Romeo was left, sitting on the ground with a terrified face.
