Bondage and Marriage - 66

“Ian!“

Gabriel’s upper body was almost pulled out of the window, and when Noah urgently called out, Ian squeezed his fist tightly around Gabriel’s collar and, after a while, threw him aside and approached Noah. Gabriel, unable to breathe properly, hurriedly moved as far from the window as he could.

“Ian…”

Before Noah could say anything, Ian, gritting his teeth, spoke first.

“Don’t tell me you’re asking me to take care of that guy.”

“Look, I’m not asking you to take care of him. It’s just…”

Noah hesitated, trying to find a way to resolve the situation quietly. He lowered his head, feeling guilty as he reluctantly spoke, aware of the discomfort in using Tanner as leverage.

“I don’t want my father to find out about this…”

Noah spoke with half sincerity, the other half driven by the fear that Ian might kill Gabriel by either beating him or throwing him out of the window. Noah didn’t expect much from it, but for some reason, Ian, his face marked by pain, closed his mouth and stared at him. He glanced once at Gabriel, who was trembling, and then at Noah, curled up on the sofa, before clenching his teeth.

Noah, knowing very well that Ian disliked Tanner, hadn’t thought mentioning Tanner would do much good, but for some reason, Ian’s anger seemed to calm a bit as he silently released the handcuffs that had been restraining Noah’s arms. Ian threw the handcuffs aside with a metallic clang and looked down at the clear handcuff marks left on Noah’s arms.

“Can you stand?”

“Yes… ugh…”

Noah groaned as he stood up, his sore buttocks making him wince as he put on the pants Ian had given him. Ian, watching Noah adjust his clothes, suddenly reached out and spun him around. Before Noah could cover himself, his backside was exposed to Ian, and Ian’s eyes scanned the countless red marks on Noah’s buttocks.

Though Ian himself had slapped Noah’s backside many times, sometimes even more severely than this, seeing the marks now, he realized it didn’t feel good. When Ian remained silent, Noah, feeling a bit embarrassed and sore, trembled slightly. Then, Ian’s finger gently brushed between Noah’s cheeks.

“Wait, are you planning to do this here?” Noah thought in confusion, staying still, but Ian’s finger, instead of inserting itself, merely brushed and then pulled away as if checking.

Noah felt the trembling of Ian’s hand on his waist and swallowed hard. It seemed Ian was… very aroused, though not in a sexual way, but more out of anger.

Ian quickly dressed Noah in his coat, which reached his thighs, making it less noticeable that Noah was still in his pants. Ian wrapped his arm around Noah and, as they stepped outside, coldly ordered the waiting guard.

“Get the one inside out.”

“Yes, sir.”

Noah could hear some commotion from inside as Gabriel resisted, but Ian didn’t even look back. Noah felt a slight sense of relief that Gabriel wasn’t going to be thrown from the second floor, following Ian quietly.

Once inside the bedroom, Ian stripped off Noah’s coat and clothes. After carefully inspecting Noah’s bare body, he gave him a pajama top and, to Noah’s surprise, took out an ointment.

“Ah…”

Ian carefully applied the ointment to Noah’s sore buttocks, which had been beaten. The burning sensation from the ointment gradually eased the pain. Noah, who had been enjoying the sting, felt a little disappointed as Ian applied the ointment thoroughly, even between his cheeks. He fidgeted, feeling strangely odd under Ian’s care.

“Uh, what about Gabriel…” Noah asked.

“Don’t worry. Your father won’t find out,” Ian replied, his voice cold and indifferent as he continued to treat Noah.

After the treatment, Ian told Noah to rest and left the room. Noah stared at the door, feeling strange and as though he had done something wrong.

On the day Gabriel Hooper first visited the mansion, Ian had heard from the staff that Gabriel would arrive around 2 p.m. the next day. Recently, Daniel had become somewhat involved in advising Ian on his relationship, and when Ian asked how he could attend their sessions or overhear their discussions without making Noah uncomfortable, Daniel cautiously replied.

“Uh… Sir, isn’t that stalking?”

But of course, Ian’s response was harsh.

“Shut up.”

With that, Daniel, though busy with work, ended up running an errand to pick up some papers from Tear, as Ian had asked. What Ian decided was to quietly observe Gabriel’s visit by arriving early at the mansion around 1 p.m.

However, while on his way, he heard from the staff that Gabriel had arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected, which made Ian feel increasingly uneasy.

Why was Gabriel, a tutor, in such a rush to arrive early? Ian couldn’t help but feel uneasy, though he rationalized that he shouldn’t be too worried because Gabriel was an Omega. Still, Ian couldn’t shake the feeling of discomfort.

When Ian entered the mansion, he had tried to keep his presence discreet, knowing that Noah might misunderstand if he appeared too suspicious. However, when he arrived at the room where Gabriel and Noah were supposed to be, he could already hear them starting their session, despite the staff’s best efforts to delay it.

Ian stood outside the door, suppressing the urge to burst in. The sounds inside were muffled by the excellent soundproofing, but Ian could still hear faint voices. He felt regretful that he hadn’t set up a listening device earlier.

At that moment, a loud crash sounded from inside, and Ian immediately turned around.

Ian couldn’t bear the thought of killing Gabriel right now, so he first had Gabriel detained and then returned to the office. It wasn’t that disposing of the body would be difficult. In a way, death would be a too merciful punishment. There were so many things in this world more agonizing than death. Ian had no intention of ever letting Gabriel live comfortably.

Preoccupied with these dark thoughts, Ian’s expression grew increasingly cold as he looked over Mikhail’s documents. Gabriel Hooper, 34 years old, from a notorious Alpha-dominant family with two younger Alpha brothers. It was speculated that he harbored resentment towards Alphas due to the discriminatory treatment in his family, but that was not the key information for Ian.

Rather than suppressing his anger, Ian deliberately dwelled on the details, meticulously reading every word. After returning from studying abroad in France, Gabriel had worked primarily as a French tutor. The most crucial information was what came next.

At 15 years old, Gabriel had been arrested for molesting a 12-year-old Omega girl, but was released after a settlement. Rumors then spread of him having s3x with a 15-year-old, prompting his parents to transfer him to a distant school. Though he behaved relatively well until graduating university, things changed after that.

At 25, he was prosecuted for sexually abusing a 16-year-old Alpha girl he was tutoring, but his family’s immense settlement money covered it up. After that, his students would either develop severe depression requiring psychiatric treatment, or suddenly move away, with some even committing suicide. The last person he tutored was none other than Noah Frost.

Noah had endured Gabriel’s tutoring for an exceptionally long 4 years, right up until just before marrying Ian. After Noah’s marriage, Gabriel had briefly moved between Tear clubs, all of which were secretly providing underage individuals. How could the Frost family not have known their beloved youngest son was being abused for so long? Idiots who mistook Omegas for delicate flowers to be easily broken.

Ian finally reached the recent text messages Gabriel had sent Noah:

“You’ll regret ignoring me.”
“I wonder how your Alpha or family will react if I send them these photos?”
“No Alpha would ever want a tainted, impure Omega like you.”

Unable to contain himself, Ian tossed the documents aside. He would ensure Gabriel Hooper never lived comfortably again – he would make his life a living hell, with no one to turn to for help.

Ian now understood why Noah had not resisted his own harsh, rough relationship. Noah had not been able to resist – he had been constantly tormented by Gabriel since becoming an adult, until just before marrying Ian. Seeing the messages, Ian could only imagine the brainwashing Gabriel had subjected Noah to.

But what about himself? Hadn’t he done something terrible to Noah as well? Noah, who had just escaped his tutor, the one Ian claimed to love – what had Ian done to him? No different from Gabriel. Thinking of Noah’s devastation on their wedding night, and how he must have resigned himself to enduring this, as an Omega should, Ian felt his heart shatter.

It was no wonder Noah avoided even their gentle lovemaking – it was a wholly unfamiliar and strange relationship for him. Perhaps Noah had even found Ian’s attempts at tenderness to be mockingly cruel. Ian could no longer bear it.

“Noah…” Ian barely uttered the name before clenching his teeth and bowing his head. A drop of something warm fell, staining the records of Gabriel’s threats against Noah. Ian didn’t dare utter an apology to Noah ever again.

“Damn it, why isn’t anyone answering the phone!” Gabriel angrily threw the phone. His face was pristine, unlike a week ago when it had been swollen with bruises and nosebleeds from the beating by Ian and the security guards. He had barely managed to heal the marks all over his body using a skin regeneration ointment.

He thought this was an exceptionally unlucky case. Usually, when he got caught doting on someone, his parents would cover it up to avoid damaging the family’s reputation. How satisfying it had been to see their reluctant faces as they paid the settlement fees, given their blatant favoritism towards him as the Omega child.

“Damn it, Noah…”

Gabriel’s face turned red as he recalled the time when he was grabbed by the collar and dragged around by Ian Miller, beaten to the point of fearing for his life. Maybe it would have been different if it had been young, weak children, but adult Alphas always avoided him on purpose, so Gabriel had never felt overwhelmed by such a strong pheromone. That moment, however, felt like he was really going to die.

But no matter how he thought about it, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel Noah Frost was a waste. He had tamed Noah so carefully, and now Ian Miller would take him without any effort. The thought of it made Gabriel furious, and he couldn’t stand it. He had been spending the money he received from the Frost family at clubs, trying to ease his loneliness, but there was no one like Noah.

Now that he was out of money, Gabriel sent threatening texts hoping to extort more, but even after sending dozens or hundreds of messages, Noah didn’t respond. Had he changed his number? Or did he think it was fake? During this time, Gabriel had never been able to leave any evidence, not even a video or a proper photo. The thought that an Alpha would take away the beautiful body he had spent so much time on made him lose control, and in the end, Gabriel went to find Noah Frost.

He regretted acting so carelessly. Not only had the opportunity slipped away, but he had also been beaten by an Alpha like this, something he had never experienced before. Even though his parents had shown favoritism, Gabriel had grown up comfortably, able to do anything. He had never been beaten by anyone.

When Gabriel thought about the look Ian Miller had given him, he was sure he would be killed without a sound, but since Ian had let him go, he thought that Ian had been disappointed in the corrupted Omega. What Alpha would like an Omega who had been touched by someone else? Gabriel thought he would wait for Ian to abandon Noah…

But Gabriel was very wrong. It had been two days since he was beaten and kicked out of Noah Frost’s mansion. A lawsuit had been sent to the place where Gabriel was staying. It was a lawsuit for trespassing and assaulting Ian Miller.

The irony was too much. Gabriel had been the victim of assault, yet it was his assault on Ian Miller that was being reported! Of course, Gabriel had hit Ian. But compared to what he had done to Ian, it was nothing—less than one-tenth of what he had suffered.

Ian Miller claimed that Gabriel’s assault had caused him a two-week injury and demanded a huge settlement for the losses his company had suffered due to the CEO’s health decline. Gabriel couldn’t afford such money, so he contacted his parents, but no one answered. It seemed they had changed their numbers. If Gabriel couldn’t pay the settlement, the only thing left for him was prison. Ian Miller had enough power to make that happen.

As Gabriel nervously chewed his nails, a text came from an unknown number. It was a message saying that the money had been gathered and telling him where to go. Gabriel thought it was someone from his family, so without suspicion, he went. But when he arrived, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and began to lose consciousness.

The next time Gabriel opened his eyes, he felt a sharp kick in his side. Groaning in pain, he tried to stand up, but a large man was looking down at him. Surprised, Gabriel jumped up, but he cried out as his neck was hit hard. A short chain was tied around his neck and fixed to a stake in the ground. Trembling in fear, Gabriel realized that something was terribly wrong. He screamed, but something was stuffed in his mouth, preventing him from speaking.

“Hello, Gabriel Hooper.”

Gabriel then realized there was another man in the room besides the large man. While Gabriel struggled and mumbled, the man, Mikhail, typed busily on a tablet but still spoke to Gabriel.

“Say hello. This man will be your owner. And I’m just an intermediary, someone who handles the transfer.”

Owner? What was he talking about? Gabriel shook his head wildly and struggled, but the chain hurt his skin, adding more pain. Mikhail calmly spoke again.

“Actually, I don’t usually deal with these things, but this time, Ian Miller specifically asked me to give you a little lesson. Let’s see… how should I explain this? To put it simply, Ian Miller recently decided to ‘beautifully’ mess with Noah Frost, and now he’s being sold to Russia.”

Gabriel started trembling as Mikhail spoke. He finally realized the reality of the situation.

“You know, your parents tried to fix this, thinking you were their son, but after seeing the settlement amount, they gave up.”

Gabriel understood that saying this was like biting one’s own hand in regret. Mikhail, with his Russian accent, casually said this and Gabriel realized that this man was not someone to be taken lightly. He wouldn’t show him any mercy.

“Just to let you know, your life from now on might be… a little painful. Everyone will think you ran away because you couldn’t handle the settlement, and no one will know you’ve been sold to Russia. No one will come looking for you. Oh, by the way, you can speak French, but not Russian, right? Good. It’s probably better for your mental health if you don’t understand the language.”

Gabriel finally began to cry and plead, but no one here showed any sympathy for him. After finishing his task, Mikhail stood up and left the room. Just before he left, he spoke to Gabriel, who was crying and pleading in despair.

“By the way, did you know? Noah Frost is a VIP member of Tear.”

“…?”

Gabriel, overwhelmed by despair and fear, didn’t understand right away. But then, when he realized what Mikhail meant, his eyes widened in shock. Mikhail, with a genuinely amused expression, added:

“Noah Frost is really good at acting, huh?”

Mikhail left the room, and Gabriel never saw him or Noah again. The door slammed shut with a loud bang, and Gabriel realized it would never open again.