CHAPTER 23
Losif glanced around and noticed there were other employees watching, and Rayne’s secretary, San, was standing right beside him. Seeing that, Losif simply walked away. As he was leaving, Rayne turned back to look at him, then rolled his eyes before going into his office.
Rayne sat down on his chair, his voice sharp and commanding. “Is this how you’re going to serve me? Letting my ex walk into my company?”
His voice echoed, and his eyes didn’t move away from San. The man stood in front of him, silent, like he had suddenly gone mute.
Rayne placed one hand on the table, his index finger tapping repeatedly. Tak. Tak. Tak. It was the only sound filling the office now.
“I’m sorry, boss. I’ve failed you. I won’t let it happen again.”
Rayne knew he couldn’t stay kind and gentle with everyone, not anymore. He had already seen the consequences of doing that.
His eyes drifted around the office, up to the ceiling, and he sighed.
“Leave.”
San nodded, stepping back without turning around, and just like that, he left the room.
Rayne rested his back against the chair in a swift motion, making the chair halt and shake slightly, jolting him too.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them gently. That’s when he noticed a file sitting on his table.
He picked it up and flipped it open. It was the list of employees who had joined the company, some were interns, some were full-time hires. Most of the interns were betas and alphas; only a few were omegas.
While reading through the file, Rayne stood up and grabbed his coat, which was draped over the back of his chair. He put it on properly. With the file in one hand, he grabbed the door handle with the other and pushed the door open.
There was a wave of noise outside, but the moment the employees saw Rayne’s office door opening, everything went quiet. One by one, they straightened up and glued their eyes to the computer screens in front of them.
Rayne walked over and stopped beside one of the desks. He leaned his back against it, placing the file down while his eyes scanned the room.
Everyone was working. All of them were new. It was a fresh beginning.
He nodded to himself, then left again.
As he walked away, every pair of eyes followed him until he disappeared back into his office and the door closed.
Sigh.
Everyone was still tense. Earlier, Losif had been standing there, and they all already knew he was Rayne’s ex.
After witnessing that scene, many of them wondered if Rayne would fire them too,just like he had fired the previous staff.
Rumors from the old employees painted Rayne as a devil who didn’t treat his workers like humans and saw them as nothing more than machines.
That was why so many people never applied to work in this company.
One alpha guy stood up, his eyes fixed on Rayne’s office door.
“We just need to focus on our work so he won’t fire us, okay?”
Everyone nodded at his words, and he sat back down.
Rayne had heard them talking a few minutes ago, but the moment he stepped outside, they all went silent,which he found strange.
But he shook off that feeling and continued focusing on his work.
He was reviewing files after files, checking everything carefully. But after two hours, his eyes started to burn from the inside.
They were closing on their own, getting heavier with every second. Sleep was hovering over him from every direction, but he forced his eyes open. He needed to finish his work before going home. That was why he kept pushing himself.
His fingers continued typing on the keyboard even while he was dozing off, and every time his head dropped to the side, his eyes snapped open, reminding him he had fallen asleep again.
He shook his head to stay awake, but his eyes refused to cooperate. So he slapped both his cheeks hard, trying to wake himself up, and then focused on the laptop screen again.
After half an hour, he was finally done. He shut down the laptop and grabbed his phone before standing up.
He was still so sleepy that the room felt like it was spinning. But since his house was thirty minutes away, he planned to sleep in the car.
As soon as Rayne stepped out of the company building, the harsh sunlight hit his eyes. He was already exhausted and sleepy, and for a moment, everything in front of him blurred into darkness.
Even though it was only early afternoon, Rayne didn’t change his mind about going home. He was too tired to stay any longer.
He had already messaged San to bring the car down before he came out, but ten minutes had passed and neither the car nor San had appeared.
Rayne was still waiting when a car suddenly pulled up right in front of him. It was a white vehicle with dark-tinted windows, making it impossible to see inside.
And Rayne knew very well, this wasn’t his car. It was Iosif’s.
Earlier this morning, when Rayne arrived at work, he had seen the same exact car parked by the roadside. And when he happened to spot Iosif standing inside, he assumed the car must belong to him. But he still wasn’t completely sure.
Just then, the window of the car in front of him rolled down, and there, in the driver’s seat, sat Iosif.
Iosif’s brown eyes were fixed directly on Rayne from inside the car. One of his arms rested casually on the window frame, while his other hand gripped the steering wheel firmly.
“Why don’t you come inside, Rayne? Don’t stand out there like that.”
Rayne stared at him for a moment, then looked away to the other side.
But still, Losif didn’t move his car. Instead, he stepped out and walked around from his side toward Rayne.
In a swift motion, Iosif grabbed Rayne, pressed an injection into his arm, and covered his mouth.
Rayne felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm before Iosif threw him inside the car.
Awoken by the noise, Rayne tried his best to see through his blurry gaze, but nothing became clear until he blinked a few times.
A bed was beneath him. He pushed his torso up slowly. It was a room, an unfamiliar one. A king-size bed supported him, and there were no windows anywhere. Only a small table stood beside the bed.
He sat up, clenching his head. It throbbed painfully, as if someone had hit him hard.
That’s when Rayne’s memory snapped back. He remembered,Iosif. It was Iosif who had grabbed him and thrown him into the car.
The anger, the disgust, the hatred Rayne had been trying not to feel for Iosif scattered instantly. Iosif had already crossed every limit he should never have dared to cross.
Pressing his palms against the bed, he stepped down.
He wasn’t tied, nor did he have any injuries now.
There was only one meaning, Iosif didn’t plan to kill Rayne.
Or torture him. At least not yet. Rayne walked toward the door.
He stared at it for a moment and gulped while gripping the handle. Just as he was about to open it.
“Who’s that omega inside? I’ve never seen him before,” an unfamiliar voice came from outside. Rayne froze.
Instead of opening the door, he slowly leaned forward, placing his ear flat against it, trying to catch every sound.
“He’s new. And he’s the most precious goods,” another voice sneered.
“Don’t you know? Master Iosif sold him here.
There’s going to be an international slave auction, and he’ll be sold there. ”
Rayne’s eyes widened, and he staggered back, barely managing to steady himself by gripping the wall beside the door.
Iosif had sold him? That was the most ridiculous joke he had ever heard.
If someone had said this a year ago, he would have laughed, thinking what a stupid joke, because Iosif would never do something like that.
But things were different now. Rayne knew better.
Iosif could do anything, he was no longer the man Rayne once knew.
Rayne couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
His mobile wasn’t with him either. He had no idea if Lucian had even realized his disappearance yet.
Probably not, Lucian was likely still buried in work.
But once he found out, he would search for Rayne.
Rayne was sure of that. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
The moment he did, a wave of silence washed over the other side, like no one was there anymore.
He banged on the door harder, irritation rising in him as they continued pretending to stay silent.
“Open the door right now!”
But only silence answered him.
Just then, the door clicked. The sound made his heart skip a beat.
He tensed, on guard, staring at the barely opened gap.
Even though he heard it unlock, the door wasn’t fully pushed open, so he took a deep breath and pulled it himself,
Only to be greeted by a sharp slap across his face. The force was brutal. His head whipped to the side, and he crashed onto the floor. A salty taste filled his mouth, he must have bitten the inside of his cheek from the impact. One hand instinctively touched the wound as he lifted his gaze.
An omega stood before him, dressed in a revealing bikini that looked deliberately cheap and slutty. Behind him, two betas stood with crossed arms, watching like guards.
The omega stepped closer, then knelt on one knee.
His fingers slid under Rayne’s chin, forcing him to look up.
The omega’s dark hair fell over his sharp eyes as he examined Rayne with an intense stare.
“Oh… I see why everyone went crazy when Master Iosif came to sell you,” he said with a slow smile.
“You’re very beautiful. And it’s good you’re only temporarily marked, there’s no problem with that. ”
The omega’s hand slid from Rayne’s chin to his jaw, gripping it firmly as he turned Rayne’s face from side to side.
“I shouldn’t have slapped you. It left a mark on you,” he muttered.
Rayne jerked his hand away and pushed himself to his feet in one sharp motion, glaring down at the omega.
The omega only smirked and rose to stand as well.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Rayne snapped, his jaw tightening. “And whoever sold me here, I don’t care. I’m not some thing you can trade wherever you want. And I’m also not someone you can easily dare to mess with.”
Rayne was not an ordinary omega anyone could buy or sell. He was the son of one of the most powerful businessmen. But this place… this world operated differently.
Here, it didn’t matter who you were. If you were an omega, escape was impossible.
This place was straight hell. Slaves were trained here.
They bought people from all over the country, mostly from rural areas, and many young omegas with no parents.
They brought them here, broke them, molded them, and turned them into property.
In other words, they used those omegas long before selling them.
“What was your name again? Yes… Rayne,” the omega said, voice dripping with arrogance.
“Listen carefully. This is not your parents’ house, so behave.
Omegas who don’t behave here end up in the red room.
” He paused, then turned toward the two betas behind him.
“Strip him and check if he’s a virgin or not. ”
Rayne’s eyes widened. What was this omega saying? He was an omega too, yet he was destroying another omega’s life without hesitation. Rayne’s gaze darted around the room. His eyes landed on the table lamp, He moved fast, running back and grabbing it tightly.
When he looked forward again, the omega was already standing at the doorway, leaning casually against it with one arm, as if enjoying the show.
The two betas who had stepped forward were huge, towering, muscular, the type that could snap someone in half with one hand.
Qr
“Don’t come any closer. I won’t even think twice before killing you,” Rayne warned, his voice icy and his glare cutting like a blade.
The two betas scoffed. To them, Rayne was either stupid for choosing this path…
or dumb enough to not understand the kind of situation he had just stepped into.