ALSACW – Chapter 61

Helen’s full name was Helen Moran.

Unlike her French-sounding name, she had typical Han Chinese features. This wasn’t surprising; ever since the unification of the Federation, the lines between ethnicities had blurred. After nearly eight hundred years of change, even the names of those ethnic groups had become little more than specialized terms for scholars. Perhaps one of Helen’s ancestors had been genuinely French, but at least her alpha mother showed few French characteristics. Her mother also looked like a typical Han Chinese person, even though her name was Mabel Moran.

As an only child from a family that was considered well-off in the outermost ring, Helen had grown up doted on by her two mothers. Compared to her surroundings, she could be considered very fortunate, but this rare luck was also the direct cause of her future tragedy.

Helen picked up a glass of perfectly warm milk and surveyed the exquisite prison around her. Everything here was new and expensive. Perhaps the price of a single table could buy her family’s shop, and a single chair could buy Winona’s.

But Helen had always thought she was worth less than a shop. Winona had been sold for only ten thousand star coins, less than a fifth of the value of their family’s shop.

However, that auction had shattered her sense of value. She had actually been sold for nine hundred thousand. The person who sold her told her that if her grade were higher, C-rank, she could have fetched at least one and a half million.

Only then did Helen understand why the gangs always stared at the omegas in every household with such hungry eyes. It turned out they were worth so much money.

The dark gleam that occasionally flashed from the eye sockets of the nearby AI robot reminded her that her every word and action were under that person’s surveillance.

After five months, Helen had grown accustomed to it all. After all, people always get used to their lives.

She drank the milk, following the doctor’s instructions. To ensure the baby in her belly grew well, she also had to take a pile of nutritional supplements and medicines of unknown purpose. Of course, though they were called instructions, she had no right to disobey, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them commands.

Helen lined up the pills and, mimicking her old habit of eating candy, slowly licked them one by one. The bitter taste spread through her mouth, bringing a pleasure that was almost painful.

The young, dark-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Her lower abdomen was already showing signs of pregnancy. Because her frame was so petite, the extra flesh seemed like a grotesque monster lurking inside her. Helen never looked at it closely. Even when the doctor handed her the ultrasound scan, she would only look at the text and data she couldn’t understand. She didn’t dislike or hate this child; she just wished it didn’t exist. Even though she had endured so much suffering for it to exist.

This hope was not something she would act upon, because she truly felt no hatred or aversion toward the child. It was just a wish as empty and beautiful as a rainbow, like the anticipation that surfaces the moment you blow out your birthday candles.

If only she could go back to how things were.

Back then, when she ate candy, Winona would be by her side, unwrapping it for her.

The omega next door was already up, likely feasting heartily as usual. According to her, she was from the outermost ring of N-District on Qinglan Star. Qinglan Star had always been famous for its beautiful natural scenery. Because resources were plentiful, the Empire intentionally maintained the planet’s pristine appearance, which meant its pillar industries were also extremely primitive: medicinal herbs and tourism.

The upper class always made a fortune. They built luxurious scenic areas, developed comprehensive tourist routes, and kept the animals and plants so glossy and well-fed they seemed to be in paradise.

But for the lower class, in the omega Jisan’s not-so-distant memory, her family’s livelihood was feeding the rhinoceroses on a stretch of grassland.

Robots supposedly frightened these animals.

The planet became a paradise for naturalists. Animal husbandry had been banned fifty years ago as an unnatural practice. The wealthy could buy meat shipped from across the stars, while Jisan had grown up eating artificial meat. Her father always complained that it had a nasty bean smell.

Jisan felt the same way, but she couldn’t complain. She didn’t dare say much. On the crudely mannered Qinglan Star, omegas who spoke out of turn were often beaten half to death.

In the first nineteen bleak years of her life, the only lucky thing that had ever happened to her was being sold.

And sold to her current alpha, no less. She could have pretty dresses, speak loudly, and watch television and play games without a care in the world. All she had to do was bear children.

Even if the process of pregnancy was a bit painful, Jisan didn’t care. She was used to enduring pain, but she had never received any reward for it afterward.

Besides, she glanced secretly upstairs, her life was better than that person’s.

Satisfied, Jisan took another large bite of beef.

Helen, who was walking toward her room, caught Jisan’s glance and sighed wearily.

This was the tragedy her overly wonderful past had brought upon her.

She could never accept this as a good life the way Jisan did, so she was restless and uneasy day after day.

Just as Helen was about to while away the day on her lounge chair as usual, she suddenly spotted a candy wrapper on it.

It was a brand she often ate back home, and she ate it here, too—Johnsen always fulfilled every request the pregnant women had, except for freedom.

But the crease on it revealed a secret. It was the crease of a star—Winona loved to fold her leftover candy wrappers into stars.

Helen’s breathing hitched. She forced herself to calm down; there were surveillance cameras in the room.

She half-reclined on the lounge chair, her hand quietly picking up the wrapper. She felt an unusual bump on it.

Helen put the candy wrapper in her pocket and slept peacefully.

Then she ate, took a walk, and watched television.

That night, she lay in bed, her hand gently caressing the candy wrapper.

11.23.

That was what was embossed on the wrapper.

But Helen knew its hidden meaning.

Winona had finally escaped from that hell, and she had even miraculously found a way to reach her.

November twenty-third. It was the anniversary of when they started dating.

Helen placed the candy wrapper on her chest, as if tucking a fragile dream deep into her heart.

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G-District, inner ring.

Tonight, many of G-District’s most prominent figures had gathered at the Sakura Sky Hotel.

All this pomp and circumstance was merely to welcome a single person: a young lady of the Tang family.

As one of the few noble families in the Empire that had prospered since its founding, the Tang family had deep connections in both military and political circles, as well as an inhibitor business that was like a license to print money. To those far from the Imperial Capital Star, the Tang family was undoubtedly synonymous with eminence.

Recently, the confrontation between the Tang family and the Third Princess had captured the attention of the Empire’s upper echelons. This business war, fought with daggers drawn, ended with both sides taking a step back, but those in the know were aware that the Third Princess had suffered a major loss.

Aside from gaining some insignificant goodwill from omegas, the Third Princess had received no tangible benefits and had needlessly offended the Tang family. What was even more laughable was that Tang Ji had never even shown her face during this conflict. Tang Jianshen alone had been enough to make her miserable. This forced many who had gloated, thinking the Tang family had no worthy successors, to correct their attitudes.

However, those with more information thought differently.

Johnsen raised a glass of champagne and walked toward the omega in the center of the crowd. At his side was his omega, Qi Sheng.

An insignificant person.

Under the bright lights of the ballroom, amidst the crowd of socialites, another once-insignificant person stood beside the Second Miss Tang.

But she had been lucky enough to have a second differentiation into an S-rank, lucky enough to gain a little fame on the star-net, and lucky enough to be standing by the Second Miss Tang’s side.

She certainly looked like an excellent candidate for a live-in spouse in the eyes of the nobility: high-rank, obedient, and doting on her omega.

If only it wasn’t an act.

Recalling his private chat with this alpha, Johnsen used his champagne glass to hide a trace of a sneer at the corner of his lips.

Omegas… their minds were always rather shallow. A little romance and some jewelry were enough to make their heads spin.

Putting down his glass, Johnsen put on a respectful expression and said to his omega, “Let’s go and greet Miss Tang.”

Qi Sheng wrinkled his nose slightly and nodded.

Tang Jianxi looked at the well-dressed alpha before her, her lips curving into a perfect smile. Perhaps due to his low rank, Johnsen wasn’t very tall, which made him stand out among the other alphas. He seemed not to care, his expression always composed, but the fact that he never deliberately mingled with the other alphas showed that this new G-District magnate was not as nonchalant as he appeared.

To be fair, aside from being short, Johnsen was quite handsome; otherwise, he wouldn’t have won Qi Sheng’s heart so quickly back then.

And Qi Sheng, beside him, lived up to his reputation. In a hall full of omegas as gorgeous and varied as flowers, he was like an out-of-place clump of grass.

Sun-scorched grass, at that.

Tang Jianxi thought that as Johnsen’s omega, Qi Sheng couldn’t possibly be unaware of Johnsen’s activities on the side. An omega’s sense of smell was always keen, and his continued inaction was likely due to his insecurity about his appearance.

But none of that was her concern at the moment.

Right now, Johnsen was toasting her with his glass, offering a polite compliment in his persuasive voice, “Second Miss Tang’s presence truly makes Cang Star shine. I must say, it is an honor for our era to have a beauty like you.”

“Hello, Mr. Klin. I’ve heard a great deal about you. Seeing you today, you certainly live up to your reputation.”

“Oh?” Johnsen chuckled, a cloying playfulness flickering in his light gray eyes. “Then I certainly hope it was my good reputation that reached Miss Tang’s ears.”

Tang Jianxi didn’t answer, only offered a meaningful smile.

“You must know the purpose of my visit to Cang Star. I wonder if Mr. Klin has any interest in cooperating with the Tang Group?”

Johnsen raised an eyebrow and glanced at the tall alpha beside her. “But doesn’t the Tang Group always cooperate with U.Z.?” he asked in surprise.

“Well, meeting a competitor’s business partner is part of a competitor’s duty, is it not?” Tang Jianxi was still smiling, making her true purpose impossible to discern.

Johnsen’s eyebrow twitched. He hadn’t expected Tang Jianxi to bring this up so openly, but he had no reason to refuse. After all, his mother-in-law was not part of the Third Princess’s faction but was a neutral party, just like the Tang family. His current actions had already crossed a line. If it weren’t for the fact that Qi Sheng was his mother-in-law’s only beloved posthumous child—leading her to tolerate him out of affection for her son—and that his cooperation with the Third Princess was, on the surface, purely business, she would have done more than just give him a light rap on the knuckles as a reminder not to get too involved in the struggles of the Imperial Capital Star.

The alpha cursed inwardly but said with an honored expression, “That would be wonderful, of course.”

With the business out of the way, they should have been able to end this mutually uncomfortable conversation after a few more lines of pointless pleasantries.

But just then, Qi Sheng, who had been standing by like a statue, suddenly looked at Yun Chuji, who had been a wallflower the whole time, his eyes shining. With an enthusiasm unbecoming of a married man, he said, “Miss Yun, I’m your fan!”

And so, the conversation became even more uncomfortable.

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