Chapter 5

Dimitri frowned and stood up with a soft sigh. "Have Kenneth wait outside for a while. I'll be down with Zachary in a minute."

He looked at Brooklyn and held the latter's hands. "Get changed, and remember to hide the marks on your body. If you don't, your father's going to lecture you again."

Brooklyn flushed as he reached to touch his neck. He had love bites and hickeys all over—he couldn't understand how Dimitri could be so dominating in bed when he looked so gentle and fragile. It was puzzling to him.

"Right, I'll head down first. You can just come downstairs when you're ready." Dimitri caressed his head, even kissing his forehead gently. Then, he got into his wheelchair and left.

Brooklyn sat there, still feeling lost. He wasn't Zachary, but he suddenly wanted to be. He muttered to himself, "Why doesn't he want to be with such a great guy? He's so willful."

He got changed as he spoke. To him, this whole thing was like a dream. Once he met Zachary's father later, the dream would be over. After all, there was no way Kenneth Hart wouldn't be able to recognize his own son.

Brooklyn straightened up after changing, still feeling sore. He slowly got to his feet and wavered as he walked. Everything hurt.

He opened the door cautiously. As soon as he did so, he saw Dimitri standing at the door in a black suit. He blurted, "You can stand?"

"Mr. Wood is only crippled in one leg, not both," a young woman standing nearby said disdainfully. "You really know nothing about him, huh?"

"Don't be so fierce to him, Heather." Dimitri took his cane from the young woman, Heather Lane, before holding out his other arm to Brooklyn. "Zachary."

Brooklyn looked at the outstretched arm, feeling lost. Heather sighed in resignation and hurriedly grabbed his arm, linking it with Dimitri's. She said, "Don't be in a rush when you're walking. Mr. Kenneth is waiting downstairs."

Brooklyn felt a little flustered. This was his first time holding an Alpha's hand like this. He'd never dated anyone in the past, so he'd never had the chance to be so close and intimate with a top-ranked Alpha.

"You seem very nervous." Dimitri always sounded so gentle. He held Brooklyn's hand gently and said, "You don't have to hold me so tightly. I won't fall."

"It's my first time…" Brooklyn said in a small voice.

"I know." Dimitri patted his hand softly. "This is my first time linking arms with someone like this, too."

Brooklyn looked at him in surprise. He happened to turn to look at the former and smiled dotingly. Brooklyn couldn't help blushing again and averted his gaze.

Dimitri chuckled at this, making Brooklyn's heart tingle. He couldn't help wondering how such a perfect gentleman could exist.

"Be careful," Dimitri suddenly said, reaching out to place a hand before Brooklyn's forehead. "Watch where you're going. Didn't you see the pillar in front of you?"

Only then did Brooklyn notice the huge pillar before him. He hadn't been paying attention to where he'd been going at all; he would've walked right into the pillar in a few steps. Fortunately, Dimitri had stopped him in time.

"My, my. If it isn't the wonderful Mr. Dimitri Wood! Could this possibly be Mr. Zachary Hart, the one who tried to get away so he wouldn't have to marry you?" a man asked mockingly.

Brooklyn hadn't noticed him standing behind the pillar. He had no idea who the man was, but the look on his face made Brooklyn want to slap him.

"Let's go." Dimitri didn't want to waste his breath on the man at all. He pulled Brooklyn to him as he sidestepped the man, Victor Wood, his older brother.

"It's a miracle that a cripple like you actually managed to find a partner," Victor said.

His words were so nasty that Brooklyn could clearly feel Dimitri's hand trembling. He was holding himself back.

Perhaps Dimitri needed to exercise restraint around Victor, but Brooklyn didn't. He had no idea who Victor was, and this was probably his only time meeting the latter.

There was no need for Brooklyn to hold himself back, so he told Dimitri, "Wait for me over there. Hold onto the wall and make sure you don't fall, okay?"

Dimitri didn't know what Brooklyn was up to but still did as told. Then, he watched as Brooklyn stomped over to Victor and slapped Victor without a word. He even gave Victor a kick for good measure.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Victor glared daggers at Brooklyn. "Do you know who I am? If you think you're going to marry into the Wood family, think again! You'll never become a part of the family!"

"How is that any of your business?" Brooklyn didn't want to marry into the Wood family, anyway. "I won't let you talk about him like that. He might be crippled, but he's still better than you. He deserves to have a partner, but you don't!"

Brooklyn's cheeks were puffed out angrily as he spoke, and his eyes were wide. He even stood on tiptoes, seemingly thinking it would make him look more domineering.

"This is the Omega you like, right, Dimitri?" Victor pointed at Brooklyn while sneering at Dimitri. "He's nothing like us people from the upper crust. In fact, he's like a rabid dog from the slums. He's barking at everything he sees! You haven't done a good job of training him."

"Why, you—" Brooklyn wanted to clap back at him, but he wasn't wrong. He had indeed come from the underground level; he wasn't a rich kid from the upper crust. He was nothing but a peasant.

"Zachary." Dimitri suddenly waved a hand at Brooklyn. "Come over and help me."

Brooklyn immediately went over to him and helped him approach Victor. Dimitri looked at Victor coldly for several seconds before saying, "Even if I'm a cripple, the Wood family won't be yours."

Victor's expression turned steely with rage. He gnashed his teeth, wanting to say something in return. However, the words wouldn't come.

Dimitri patted him on the shoulder before leaving with Brooklyn in tow. As they left, Dimitri said softly, "You can just ignore him if you come across him in the future—he's nothing to worry about. If he bullies you, just let me know. I'll stand up for you."

Brooklyn nodded, but deep inside, he didn't think anything of the sort would happen. Once they met Kenneth, Brooklyn wouldn't see any of these people anymore.

Dimitri would still be the gentlemanly son of the Wood family while Brooklyn would return to the underground level. He would continue as a poor young man who had to work hard to put food on the table. He would continue caring for his grandmother.