Chapter 1 : Pregnancy

In the hospital corridor stood a petite and beautiful Omega. The boy had clear, bright eyes, pure and innocent, with an almost ethereal beauty.

Keith Russell clutched a prenatal check-up report behind his back, biting his soft lower lip, his face full of conflict. Should he tell him?

He remembered that day when Austin came to him because of his heat period. The room was filled with pheromones, making him dizzy, but he could still clearly hear the name that broke his heart, "Frank..."

Austin mistook him for Frank and forcibly marked him. While doing that to him, he kept calling out Frank''s name, as if reminding himself that Keith was just a stand-in for the person he truly loved.

But when he was about to be molested by the orphanage director, it was Austin who saved him and comforted him. If it weren''t for Austin, he might have been violated, thrown into a filthy ditch, or even had his blood drawn and organs sold.

Austin was the only person in the world who treated him well, a beam of light he longed to touch, someone he was obsessed with. But Austin was also like a brilliant star in the sky, out of reach.

As long as he could be with Austin, even if it was just a little closer, even if he knew it was all fake, he was willing.

Unfortunately, he was doing worse and worse, making Austin unhappy and more and more annoyed with him. Over the past year, the phrase he heard most often was, "You''re becoming less and less like him."

Austin was increasingly disappointed in him.

After Austin sobered up, he never mentioned the incident again, as if it had never happened. Keith didn''t dare to touch this taboo, fearing that if Austin got angry, he would send him back to that cold, dark orphanage.

Since then, Keith had been extremely cautious around Austin. Even when he was in his sensitive period, he didn''t dare to ask Austin for help, fearing he would anger him.

Even when the inhibitors couldn''t suppress his discomfort, he would lock himself in his lonely room and endure it silently.

But today, Keith found out he was pregnant. His steps home were particularly heavy, biting his lower lip tightly, his face pale.

He couldn''t even accept it himself... Would Austin really accept their child?

If it were before, he might have thought so. After all, back then, Austin was the best to him, gentle to the core, with infinite tolerance and patience.

Finally, he returned home and opened the door to find only an empty hall. It seemed Austin hadn''t come back yet. Keith didn''t know if he felt more lonely or relieved.

He ran to the piano room on the second floor, wanting to play a piece to ease his heavy heart.

Keith didn''t actually like playing the piano at first, but he had no choice. He had to accept all the things forced upon him to make Austin look at him more. Even if his fingers cramped and ached, thinking of Austin''s gentle gaze made it all worth it.

But how could he not know that these were all the preferences of Austin''s beloved?

He was supposed to ease his mind, but Keith played with such focus that he didn''t notice the man watching him from behind.

The man stood there in a black suit, his short hair neatly combed back, his features sharp and deep. His cold eyes were fixed on Keith, looking through him as if seeing someone else.

His originally stern expression softened slightly, as if his Frank was playing for him, sweetly calling him Montague and asking if he liked the music.

But as he listened, the melody suddenly changed. The unfamiliar tune shattered all his fantasies. Yes, his Frank had gone abroad and was with another Alpha.

The thought of this made Austin furious, and his gaze towards Keith instantly darkened.

He stepped forward, yanking Keith up from the stool, gripping his wrist with no hint of gentleness.

"What was that you just played? Is this what you call trying your best?"

Austin''s deep voice was full of authority. Though not loud, it made Keith feel suffocated. The grip on Keith''s wrist was so tight it seemed like he could be devoured alive at any moment.

Keith endured the excruciating pain in his wrist, his doe-like eyes glistening with tears, looking extremely aggrieved. "I''m sorry, I just thought it would sound better this way. I hoped you would like it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Keith felt the pain in his wrist intensify. Despite biting his lower lip, he let out a muffled groan. Austin''s beautiful eyebrows furrowed tightly as he harshly said to Keith, "This is his composition. What right do you have to change it? What gives you the qualification to alter it?"

Austin''s reprimand, filled with coldness, enveloped Keith, making him feel as if he were in an ice cellar. Then, Austin harshly threw him onto the cold, hard floor with a dull thud.

Keith let out a muffled groan of pain, tears uncontrollably hitting the floor. He had always known that his efforts were just Austin''s way of capturing the elusive shadow he saw in him.

Keith curled up on the floor, trembling slightly, clutching the fabric at his chest. But... it still hurt so much...

Instinctively, Keith protected his stomach. Fortunately, it was fine, but his knee was injured, blood smearing the floor, and his elbow was bruised. Tears continued to fall uncontrollably from his eyes.

He truly wasn''t as good as Mr. Douglas. For the past year, he had been trying his best to imitate Mr. Douglas, but... he just couldn''t get it right. It was understandable for Austin to be angry with him.

But clearly... clearly, in the beginning, no matter how he played, Austin never blamed him...

Austin took all this in, but his face remained expressionless, as if he hadn''t seen anything. He coldly scolded, "Stop crying!" Keith kept wiping the tears from his face, but his eyes seemed to have opened some kind of floodgate, and the tears kept flowing, no matter how much he wiped.

Over time, this guy became less and less like him. Thinking of this made Austin even more irritated. He rubbed his temples and muttered, "Annoying."

Then he yanked Keith up from the floor and headed straight for a nearby cabinet. Ignoring Keith''s resistance and cries for mercy, he shoved him into a small, dark cabinet and locked it, leaving the person inside to cry and pound on the door desperately.

Keith had claustrophobia. Whenever he made Austin angry, Austin would lock him in the cabinet as a punishment. But Austin rarely did this to him, unless he crossed a line...

But why? Just for changing a piece of sheet music, Austin, who usually wouldn''t leave him alone in any enclosed space and was willing to protect him, treated him like this.

"Sir! Sir, Keith knows he was wrong! Please... don''t lock Keith in here, sir... I''m scared!"

The deep-seated fear enveloped Keith, making him feel like he was back in the orphanage basement, with the cries of the children echoing in his ears and the bloody organs those people had cut off appearing before his eyes.

Austin stood there, expressionless, casually sitting on a nearby sofa, watching the commotion in the cabinet gradually subside.

Until he received a phone call. Hearing the voice on the other end, Austin was stunned for a few seconds, then a trace of gentleness appeared in his eyes. "I''ll bring someone to pick you up."

The oppressive feeling from before had completely vanished, leaving only tenderness and excitement. A smile curved at the corners of his mouth, and from the crack in the closet, Keith saw it all.

He couldn''t remember the last time Austin had smiled at him like that. No matter how much he tried to please him, no matter how hard he worked to make Austin happy, Austin had always been cold. But now, who could make Austin so happy just by talking on the phone? Could it be him?