C1 Prologue

The school bell rang, indicating the coming end of the lesson. Coincidentally, it just happens to be the last lesson for the day as well. As the lecturer left the classroom, Xianliang packed his bag neatly and slowly. He would like to make sure all of his belongings are in and none of them was missing before he went home. Once he was sure everything was in and he had double-checked it just to be safe, he zipped up the bag and hooked it over his right shoulder. He pushed in the chair nicely under the table, without any screeching noise emitted from it, before leaving the classroom.

His name was Xiong Xianliang and this was his life. He was in his senior year of high school. He came from a wealthy family and he was the popular kid in school. However, none of those ever brought him real happiness.

As he turned to a corner, there stood five teenagers around his age in the hallway. They were his so-called "friends". Friends who would only be with him due to his high status as the "son of the rich" and the popular boy which the girls go crazy for. He knew from the start that they were all fakes. They were just using him for their benefits. He let them in because he has no one to be with. Even if it was just for a little while, at least let him think they were real. Even if it only lasted for a few seconds.

He shot out a big grin as he called out their names, "Wenling! Tengfei! Jinhai! Song Li! Huiqing!"

Even though he was smiling widely upfront, deep down, his heart clenched bitterly at the thought of them. His eyes hurt from seeing them and his ears hurt from listening to them. He could not deny that he was lonely. Even with fake people surrounding him, he was still lonely. Throughout his entire 18 years of life, he had always been left alone.

'I guess... Loneliness will be a part of me till the day I die.' He thought solemnly before shoving those negative thoughts away and hang around with his "friends".

"Prince Xiao!" They greeted him with much enthusiasm and one by one, they chorused the same questions they asked daily.

Xianliang was getting tired of this facade, but he never said anything. He just smiled and gave them the same answers he had given to them daily. They chatted and shared waves of laughter as they made their way towards the school's front gate. Upon seeing the familiar black Mercedes-Benz coming through the gantry and parked right at the pick-up area, his smile faltered. He knew then his father was not coming to take him home. He turned around and bid his goodbyes to his "friends" with a fake smile before making his way towards the pick-up area.

His father was known to be a busy man. He did not have the time to pick him up from wherever he was since he went to nursery. It was always the butler who was there to take him home. To Xianliang, the butler was more of a grandfather figure than a father figure. He was in his late 70s. Despite his old age, he continued to serve the family and supervised the employees. When Xianliang was five years old, his father had appointed the butler to be Xianliang's caretaker. Ever since then, he had been serving him and looking after him. However, as he was reaching his declining years, Xianliang refused to let him work till he collapsed.

Living alone has its perks. He was able to do everything on his own, except for driving himself home and to school. Xianliang let him keep his job as his daily designated driver. Nothing more and nothing less than that.

As he approached the car, the butler got out of the car and greeted him before opening the passenger's door side.

"Afternoon, Young Master Xiao. How was your day?" Asked the butler politely as he held the door for Xianliang.

Xianliang gave him a sincere smile, "Afternoon to you too, old grandfather. Please drop the formalities. I am your grandson now and my day went well. Thank you for asking, old grandfather."

He slid in as the car door was being closed gently after him. The butler got onto the driver's seat before putting on the seatbelt and drove off to their next destination; home. Xianliang looked out of the tinted black window which was a two-way mirror where only he could view the outside world and the other end of the mirror just acts like a mirror.

His mind wandered far and not more than five minutes later, Xianliang asked the same question he had always asked since young, "How is Father? Is he still busy? He did not pick me up today. Will he be available to fetch me home tomorrow?"

Even though this conversation had been played out countless times and Xianliang knew the answers would remain the same, he could not help but hoped that the answer would change someday. Although he was going to be 18 years old soon, it does not mean he did not want his father to drive him home and to school. If anything, he had wanted it then more than ever.

Through the rear mirror, Xianliang saw the solemn expression plastered on the old butler's face. The dreadful answers were enough to shut his world down.

"My apologies, Xian-ah, but Master Xiao is busy at the moment. Fortunately, he is doing well. Hopefully, you will be able to see him off before he flies later tonight," the butler answered slowly as he knew how upset Xianliang could be.

Xianliang remained silent as he zoned out of the window in sullen. His father was not the best dad in this world. They hardly talked to each other whenever they are alone, as compared to back then. He was neglected at a young age till then. Xianliang was not sure when his father would see him eye-to-eye and had a real father-son conversation. Currently, being in the house alone with his father had made him feel suffocated and alone. He missed his father's warmth and gentle touch. All of it was gone after his mother's passing. He would do anything to go back in time and be with his loving parents again.

Before Xianliang could ponder more, there was a crashing impact by his side. He could feel the bones in his body snapped and he was in an uncomfortable position. Red wet lines covered his vision before everything around him faded away. His mind blanked out. His surroundings turned cold and he knew he would be taken far away from this world.

'Is this... what death feels like...?' He closed his eyes as he embraced the abyss of darkness. 'I guess... even after death, I'm being left alone...'

A lone tear slipped past his eyelashes as sadness constricted his heart. 'I wish I could be in a world, where at least... I have a dad... who loves me...'

A light shined far from him and he was swallowed in by an unknown force.

Somewhere Else

"He is not my son! He doesn't even look anything like me at all! How could a blind fool like you be fooled by a treacherous woman?! Oh right! You're already a blind fool!"

"Watch your tone and language, Huizhong! That woman is your fiancé and the mother to your son!"

"Fiancé?! That lying witch isn't my fiancé! I didn't agree to that arrangement! And I'll have you know that kid isn't mine, to begin with! Now, get out, old man, before I regretted doing something I wasn't supposed to do!"

He angrily shouted across the room. From outside, everyone was able to hear him loud and clear. They could feel the anger radiating in his voice. What was truly terrifying was the sight of his face. There was so much anger and hatred being displayed in his cold features. If looks could kill, the older-looking man would have been dead by then.

The older of the two men remained calm before he stood up and walked out of the room. At this point, once his son blew his head off, nothing would get through to him. Not even him—the father of the said son.

As the door shut closed behind the older, the younger male exhaled out a tired sigh. A hand brought up to his styled darker brown hair and scratched it in distress. His eyes remained cold. His heart constricted in thousands of knots.

"I don't want anything to do with that child. He's not even mine," he clenched his fists tightly before making his way out.

His name was Lei Huizhong and this was his life. He was a well-known successful businessman who captured a lot of the maiden's attention. He was handsome and hot. However, he was not the type to date and fool around. He barely had any free time to go out for a jog even.

Other than that, everyone who had met him, including his business partners and employees, feared him. He was known to be a cold-hearted man with low anger tolerance. If someone messed up with him, by accident or on purpose, they would taste his fury. Currently, someone is purposely getting onto his nerves and he planned to pay back tenfolds.

At the corner of his eyes, he could see the door room, which was occupied by a sick child in bed, was opened. The last time he saw it, the door was closed. He let out an exasperated sigh before walking towards it.

All he ever wanted to do was to shut the door closed, and he did. His hand was gripping onto the doorknob. However, the sight of the sick child in bed with multiple tubes invading his skin made his angry heart shimmered to one of sadness. Thousands of thoughts invaded his mind.

The sickly child was brought home by his father. The older man proclaimed that the child was being bullied in school. However, he knew better. The cause of the child's sickly appearance was none other than his mother.

He was not stupid. Even if that woman blinded the whole world, she could never hide the truth from him. He knew her better as she was his ex-girlfriend whom he dated for five years. He regretted staying with her for those fake five years and he was glad she did not take his virginity away.

He did not know why she had appeared back in his life then and claimed the child to be his. She could come over with the child years ago. 'So why now?' A question with an answer he could never get from that crazy psycho b—woman.

He manoeuvred around slowly, in hoped to not wake up the sick child. He gently lay a hand atop the other's forehead, checking the little guy's temperature. He frowned when the heat did not go down.

"You're having a fever... I'm going to call the doctor, okay?" He did not know why he was talking to the boy. It was not like the child could hear him, nor understand him. Before he could walk out of the door, the monitor started beeping at a fast rate before a flatline was heard.