Chapter Text
The rain fell relentlessly, so heavy and intense, as if the sky were pouring out all its fury upon the world that still dared to breathe beneath it. The water fell in a dense gray curtain, pounding the sidewalks and streets with a nearly deafening roar, creating shimmering puddles beneath the dim streetlights.
My breath came in gasps, rough and irregular, every breath had to be forced out of my rebellious lungs. My chest felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand and then squeezed without mercy. Every time I tried to take a deeper breath, pain pierced sharply into my chest like shards of glass slowly embedding themselves in my lungs.
My hair was soaked through, clinging to my face and neck, while my clothes were heavy with rainwater that had seeped deep into the fabric’s fibers. The cold pierced my skin, creeping into my bones, making my body shake uncontrollably. Yet even though my legs felt heavy, even though my vision was starting to blur and the world around me seemed to spin slowly, I forced myself to keep moving forward. I must not stop. I cannot stop. If I stop now, then everything will truly be over.
“Just a little more… just a little more…”
I muttered softly between ragged breaths, my voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the relentless rain. I swallowed the bitter saliva in my throat, then called out the name that had been spinning in my head ever since.
“Papa… wait me.”
Those words slipped from my lips like a fragile prayer, like a hope I’d long known would never be answered. I don’t know how many times I’ve said them on this journey, and I know the answer remains the same. No warm voice would answer from the distance, no footsteps would approach to greet me. All that awaited me was a cold headstone with his name engraved upon it, silent and lifeless. Yet even if that were the only thing left of him, I still wanted to come. No, I had to come. If not now, then I would never get the chance again.
My steps grew shakier as the pain struck my chest again, far sharper than before. My breathing was ragged, my throat felt as if it were being sliced from the inside, and every movement of my body seemed to be resisted by something far stronger than my own will. I staggered slightly, one hand clutching my chest in desperation as if I could hold back the pain from tearing me apart from within.
“Not now…” I whispered softly, barely audible even to myself.
“Please… not now.”
I didn’t even know whom I was pleading with. My own body, which was already too exhausted, or God, who had always felt so distant and never truly listened.
I kept running along the sidewalk, slippery from the rain, crossing a bridge that reflected the headlights of passing cars in long, blurry streaks. A horn sounded in the distance, car tires sliced through puddles, and the entire city looked like a painting slowly melting away in the rain. My vision grew increasingly blurry, my steps no longer steady, yet I forced myself to keep moving forward like someone chasing something only they could see.
Then suddenly…
Buk!
My body collided with someone.
The impact was strong enough to knock me off balance. My feet slipped on the slippery road surface, and before I could even realize what was happening, my body had already crashed onto the asphalt with a heavy thud. My knee hit the pavement first; the pain was sharp and piercing, but even that felt far lighter than the tightness that was pressing harder and harder against my chest.
“Ah…” the person in front of me sounded startled by the sudden collision.
I tried to open my mouth, tried to say something, tried to apologize for crashing into them like a madman running aimlessly.
“I’m sorry…”
But the words never came out quite right. The world before me began to darken like a stage curtain slowly being drawn shut. The sound of the rain, which had been so loud just moments ago, now felt increasingly distant, increasingly faint, as if I were sinking to the bottom of a very deep ocean. My consciousness faded slowly, and among the shards of my thoughts, shattered like cracked glass, there was only one final sentence echoing softly.
“Papa, I’m coming.”
***
When I opened my eyes again, the world felt… wrong.
My head was throbbing violently, a dull ache radiating from my temples to the back of my neck. The pungent, musty smell made me wince involuntarily. Slowly, I realized something was strange. I didn’t smell the antiseptic scent of a hospital. There were no sounds of medical equipment, no footsteps of nurses, no blinding white light. Instead, there was only cold air mixed with the smell of trash and walls damp with dew.
I sat up immediately, gasping for breath. My heart was pounding as my eyes frantically scanned the surroundings. Dull brick walls loomed on both sides of the narrow alley. Several black plastic bags were piled in the corner, some were already torn, revealing contents that were unpleasant to look at. At the end of that narrow alley, a beam of morning sunlight slipped in, creating a bright line that contrasted sharply with the dark shadows around it.
“This… where is this?” my voice came out hoarse, almost sounding like someone else’s.
My hands trembled as I pressed them against my chest, making sure I was still breathing. Air was still filling my lungs. It still hurt, but clearly… I was alive.
“Shouldn’t… I be dead by now?” I muttered softly, barely believing the words coming out of my own mouth.
My memory is still crystal clear. I remember running in the rain. I remember the slippery bridge. I remember the hard impact and my body crashing onto the asphalt. It all happened at night. But now the sunlight streams warmly into the end of the alley, as if the world has just begun a new day.
I stood there unsteadily, my head still feeling light as a feather. Every step I took felt strange, like walking in a dream that was too real to be called a dream.
“Did I… pass out?” I asked myself, trying to find a reasonable explanation.
The narrow alley finally ended after a few more steps. As soon as I stepped out, a much noisier world immediately greeted me. Car horns blared in unison. People hurried along the sidewalk, some talking on the phone, others carrying briefcases with weary expressions. Colorful store billboards flashed along the street, reflecting bright lights that made my eyes sting slightly.
I stopped at the side of the road, holding my breath. Something had been bothering me for a while…something that felt wrong, but I hadn’t dared to admit it, not even to myself. Then my eyes fell on a massive digital billboard at the intersection.
The screen was so large and bright that almost everyone passing by was bound to see it, even if only for a glance. The images on the screen changed slowly, displaying several different advertisements. I swallowed hard as the screen changed once more, and that was when my body froze instantly.
“No…” I whispered softly, my voice barely audible. My legs felt weak.
“This… can’t be.”
There was no way I didn’t recognize the face that appeared on the screen, in fact, I knew it all too well. Short black hair falling softly around his forehead. Clear, bright eyes, untouched by the years of exhaustion I’d seen in the future. That face looked much younger than I remembered. My lips trembled as the words finally came out.
“Mama…?”
Beneath her photo, large letters were clearly displayed on the digital screen, so bright they felt cruel.
Male Omega Wanted.
Please contact xxx or come directly to HS Group if you see this individual.
My chest felt tight again, but this time it wasn’t from physical pain. Memories hit me mercilessly like waves crashing against the rocks. I knew this moment. Of course I knew. This was the moment Mama ran away… The moment he left Papa without a single word, carrying the biggest secret of her life, the secret that he was pregnant with me and Gege. My hands clenched unconsciously.
“So… it’s 2020?” I muttered, almost in disbelief.
“Thirteen years ago…”
The world felt like it was spinning around me, yet for the first time since Papa left, there was something different inside my chest. It wasn’t just heavy, empty grief. There was something small, warm, and terrifying. A hope I’d never even dared to dream of before. I lifted my face to the bright blue sky, a stark contrast to the cold rain that had brought me here last night.
“Is this a test?” I whispered softly.
“Or… a blessing?”
No answer came down from the sky, there was no sign whatsoever explaining why I was in this place or why I suddenly found myself standing in a time that should have long since passed. Yet amidst the confusion swirling in my head, there was one thing that felt crystal clear in my heart so clear it needed no explanation at all.
I didn’t care why God had thrown me back into this era, I didn’t care if all of this was merely a dream too vivid to be real, madness born of sorrow too deep, or a miracle my very reason couldn’t accept. All I know is one simple thing, yet one so heavy with meaning, because for the first time since that loss took everything from me, fate has given me an opportunity I’ve never had before.
The opportunity felt fragile and terrifying at the same time, yet also warm, like a small light that suddenly appeared in the midst of the darkness that had long engulfed me. This was a chance to meet Papa once more, not as his daughter born from a future filled with regret, but as a stranger in a world that had yet to know him as a father.
In this world, Papa hasn’t become my Papa yet, Mama hasn’t given birth to this disabled version of me, and the fate that once felt so cruel hasn’t yet closed off all the paths before us. That realization made my breath feel heavy and light at the same time, as if my chest were filled with something I couldn’t put into words.
I gaze at the blue sky above this bustling city, listening to the clamor of vehicles and the footsteps of people passing by, unaware that for me, the world has just changed completely. Amidst the chaos, I vow in silence, letting those words sink deep into my heart without needing to speak them aloud.
If fate truly gives me a second chance, then this time I won’t let it slip away. Whatever I must do, no matter how difficult the path I must take, I will change the ending of this story. This time I won’t be late again, and I will change my destiny and that of my family before everything crumbles again as it once did.
***
In another part of the same city, far from the narrow alley where someone had just realized that her fate had been rewound, a tall office building stood tall, its glass walls reflecting the daylight coldly and without emotion. On the building’s top floor, inside a spacious office that was too meticulously organized to be called comfortable, a loud thud suddenly shattered the silence.
A thin folder containing financial reports slid across the dark wooden desk after being slammed down in frustration, coming to rest at the edge of the desk with a sound that made the secretary standing before him hold her breath. Shen Wenlang stood rigidly behind his desk, his shoulders stiff and jaw clenched, the veins at his temples throbbing clearly beneath his pale skin.
The aroma of coffee still rising from the porcelain cup in the corner of the desk should have been soothing, but to Shen Wenlang, that bitter scent only added to the irritation that had been building since morning. He glanced at the cup briefly, then pushed it away with his fingertips as if the object had committed an unforgivable offense.
“This isn’t even close,” he muttered softly, but his tone was sharp as a freshly sharpened blade.
The secretary in front of him immediately bowed his head even lower. His shoulders tensed, and a cold sweat began to trickle down his back even though the air conditioner was working perfectly. He knew from experience that when Shen Wenlang spoke in such a calm tone, the man’s mood was usually far worse than when he was openly angry.
Shen Wenlang exhaled sharply, then leaned slightly against the desk while staring at the coffee cup he had pushed away earlier.
“What’s so hard about making coffee the way Gao Tu usually makes it?” he asked without turning his head.
The secretary opened his mouth, but no answer came out. He knew full well that no words would improve the mood of the man sitting across from him. Even Shen Wenlang realized that the question didn’t actually require an answer. What was unsettling him wasn’t the different taste of the coffee, but the person who had vanished from his life two months ago without leaving a single trace.
The two months that should have felt short had instead turned into a long and frustrating stretch of time since the day Gao Tu left without a single word. Every report sent by his subordinates always ended with the same conclusion, no clues, no witnesses, not even a trace.
Shen Wenlang had already dispatched his men to comb through city after city, checking every place Gao Tu might have visited, and had even spent a considerable sum of money to post the man’s portrait on various large billboards across the country. Yet all those efforts had come to nothing.
“How is it possible that not a single person saw him?” Shen Wenlang muttered in a voice barely above a whisper.
He gripped the armrest of his chair a little tighter. The run-down apartment Gao Tu had once lived in was now occupied by someone else, the places he might have visited had been searched without result, and even the hospital where his younger sister was being treated no longer offered any plausible answers. Gao Qing had vanished from her ward without a clear explanation, as if both of them had truly been swallowed up by the earth at the same time.
Shen Wenlang let out a long sigh, then hissed softly with a bitter tone.
“You’re all useless,” he hissed softly, more to himself than to anyone else.
But a company this large never stops just because someone loses patience. Shen Wenlang finally stood up straight, straightening his suit with movements that regained the controlled composure of the cold mask he always wore in front of the outside world, then walked out toward the conference room without saying another word.
The meeting went exactly as he had expected, too long, rambling, and filled with presentations that grew more exasperating by the minute. One of the directors was still explaining an investment projection chart when Shen Wenlang suddenly slammed his palm down on the conference table and cut him off with a cold voice.
“Enough,” he cut in coldly, his palm pressing down on the conference table.
The entire room fell silent instantly. Several directors exchanged glances before looking at him cautiously. Shen Wenlang stared at them one by one with a blank expression.
“Let’s just discuss the key points. Send the rest in writing.”
One of the directors tried to speak up.
“But, Mr. Shen, there are some details that…”
“I said send it in writing.”
His tone wasn’t loud, but it was enough to make everyone understand that there was no room for debate. Shen Wenlang had already stood up before anyone could respond. He grabbed the documents in front of him and walked out of the conference room, leaving the directors still seated with stiff expressions. Acting Secretary Gao Tu hurried after him, carrying several additional files, but his steps always lagged a few paces behind.
“Mr. Shen, there are a few documents you need to sign today,” he said, slightly out of breath when he finally managed to catch up.
Shen Wenlang didn’t turn around, but he could clearly sense the hesitation, and that small realization caused the irritation in his chest to resurface. He had just stepped out of the conference room when his footsteps halted upon seeing his chief of staff standing in the hallway, his expression far more tense than usual. Shen Wenlang raised an eyebrow slightly, signaling for the man to speak.
“Mr. Shen,” the secretary said in a low voice, “there’s a young child waiting in your office.”
Shen Wenlang was actually about to continue on his way without giving it much thought, but the secretary immediately added in an even softer tone.
“She says she knows something about your former secretary… about Secretary Gao.”
Shen Wenlang’s steps came to a complete halt. His heart was beating a little faster than usual. Without saying a word, he turned and walked toward his office at a much quicker pace. The hope he had repeatedly suppressed over the past two months began to stir again, bitter and fragile at the same time.
‘A young child?’
Doubt crept in, but he brushed it aside. He didn’t have the luxury of doubt.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the door to his own office. His hand rose to turn the doorknob, but for some reason the movement paused briefly in midair. Having had his hopes dashed too many times, he hesitated to believe this news outright. He glanced briefly at his secretary.
“Leave us,” he ordered softly but firmly.
“Watch the door.” The secretary nodded and stepped back.
Shen Wenlang took a deep breath before finally opening the door and stepping inside. Inside the room, a small child was sitting on the guest sofa near the large window. The child’s tiny body seemed to sink slightly into the large sofa cushions, their clothes looked worn, as if they’d been worn for far too long, and from a few steps away, Shen Wenlang could already sense the faint scent indicating that the child was an omega.
He paused for a moment near the door, staring at the little child with a sharp gaze as he tried to understand why a face he’d never seen before felt strangely familiar. When the child finally turned, their gazes met, and for a few seconds, they simply stared at each other without saying a word.
Shen Wenlang opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
But the child suddenly stood up from the sofa before he could finish his question. With small, hurried steps, he ran toward him. Shen Wenlang reflexively took a half-step back, but his reaction was too late, the small body had already wrapped its arms tightly around his waist.
“Papa!”
The child’s voice broke with tears that had been held back for too long. His hands clutched Shen Wenlang’s jacket, trembling.
“Papa… I finally got to meet you.”
Shen Wenlang’s body froze. He stared straight ahead with a blank expression while the words he’d just heard echoed in his head. The little girl was still hugging him tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.
‘Papa?’
The word echoed in his head, striking something fragile yet deep. Shen Wenlang didn’t know how to react to this completely absurd situation. His hand had risen slightly as if to break the embrace, but the movement stopped when something else caught his attention.
A soft yet overly sweet scent of vanilla slowly seeped into his sense of smell, and in an instant, the Alpha instinct within him surged violently. His muscles tensed, his jaw hardened, and his gaze sharpened at the sudden realization.
“How dare you…” he muttered coldly.
His next thrust was swift and powerful. Shen Wenlang roughly released his grip on the child, sending the small body stumbling backward several steps, nearly falling. Sharp iris pheromones surged uncontrollably, filling the room with a heavy, threatening tension. He stared at the child with cold eyes before speaking in a low, menacing voice.
“How dare an omega like you set foot here and touch me,” he said coldly, every word laced with menace.
He turned sharply toward the door.
“Guard,” he ordered curtly.
The door swung open from the outside. Shen Wenlang pointed at the child without taking his eyes off him.
“Take her away. Now.”
***