BLOODHOUNDS #3: THE MALICE

Chapter 29 - REPLACEABLE

Ares Young

I was born into the wealthiest family in China, The Yang family. My grandfather built his empire when he was twenty-five, and he became a billionaire at the age of thirty-three. I looked up to him a lot, and he's one of the most extraordinary men out there to achieve something that people underestimated him for.

He married my grandmother at twenty-eight and had my dad a year later. He then has two more daughters. My dad followed my grandfather's footsteps by going into the business world. After he took over, the business started to spread its wings.

My father changed everything, bringing the family business to its peak. We earned the title of the wealthiest family in China that year. Not only did the Yang family become the greatest in China, but I was born a month after that.

My family was thrilled to have me, and they knew I would continue their business one day. When I turned eight years old, I loved watching car races. It made me want to be a racer. My grandfather's brother's son, who was ten years older than me, was preparing to be a racer by entering himself into an Academy.

I was jealous and wanted the same thing as him.

"You can race if you want, but your position as the next heir will be replaced with Linyi." Linyi is my aunt's son, who I never liked. He's mean and very competitive.

"If you don't take language courses, your position will be replaced by Linyi."
"If you don't start learning Kung Fu, you'll get beat up at school for being a weakling. You don't want to be replaced by Linyi or your sister, right?"
"Yuxuan, if you don't take that Prince role, you'll be replaced by Xiao Hao."
"Yuxuan is currently sick, and we'll replace him with Lingcao as the striker."

Everywhere I go, people always remind me that I can be replaced. That anyone could be me. That anyone can be me. That anyone can be more or even better than me.

I was constantly being reminded by everyone, even my sister, that I'm fucking replaceable. Adding the fact that I get bored quickly. I barely pay attention to anything because I'm good at everything.

My parents brought me to the doctor to examine me because I was different. The result came out in their favor. I was a genius. I was born with a high IQ, so everything was easy. Even though it made them happy gradually, they hated me for it.

They started to like my sister even more. They reminded me how she'd replace me as the heiress to their company.

When I turned ten, Linyi provoked me. He told me that he'd be the one who would take my throne as the heir and make sure he'd crush my dream to be a racer one day. I don't know how he knew I wanted to be a racer, but my parents caught those words.

I grabbed my grandmother's vase and threw it to his face. Linyi ended up getting stitches all over his face for it. They forced me to say sorry, but nothing came out of my mouth. My grandfather took me off the list for being his company heir instantly, and my dad was so mad at me that he told me he'd disown me if I didn't work my way to get that title back.

I didn't give him any reaction. I didn't even say a word.

"Yang Yuxuan, if you don't fix this, I'm going to disown you and have another son because you're fucking useless piece of shit." That was the last straw for me.

I went to the hospital where Linyi was recovering. I got on his bed, ready to strangle him to death. My whole family was shocked and sent me to America to get treatment for my behavior. Everyone was so scared of me and cursed at me, telling me never to return to Beijing.

Everyone told me I was replaceable and that my absences would never bother them.

So, after stepping foot in America, I swore to myself that I'd never return. I officially cut all ties with my family after I turned fifteen. They had to send Ariana to me two years later to convince me to come home.

She was talking to me in Mandarin, but I spoke in English. I told her that I would never speak Mandarin again and that I decided to change my name. I told my parents to disown me, and my grandfather showed his wrath to me.

My family came to America, and they were trying to scare me by the thought of me not getting their money anymore. They threatened that if I dared to change my name, if I stayed in America, and if I didn't apologize, they'd disown me. They even brought the official papers for it.

They thought I'd get scared, but I signed it right before them.

"You're an idiot." My dad hissed, "You're embarrassing your own family who raised you, who made sure you got everything that you need. You're nothing without us, and you'll regret everything. You'll regret this! You're such a failure, Yuxuan." With that, I was left alone in a penthouse in LA.

A year later, I learned that my parents had another son.

Another significant statement is that I was indeed replaceable. Everyone could replace me, and that's when my anger started.

Four years later, Ariana came to Seattle. She wanted to see me, but I never wanted to see her. Ariana was persistent, and she told me that she wanted me to be in her life, so she begged me not to push her away.

But I never liked her.

We argued a lot, and I was struggling with life.

I was homeless at some point, and Ariana helped me. I refused help and threatened to kill her if she told my family. She never told anyone. She helped me a lot before I joined The Bloodhound.

She also never talked about our family again. She seemed to experience something there that made her change. Something about her felt off, and she told me that she never wanted to get married and have kids alone.

She wanted to be happy, and she said being in Seattle made her more comfortable than being in Beijing.

Good for her.