I Need a Gangsta to Love Me Betta

Chapter Five

Wei Qian's hands twitched with the urge to throttle him, to shred that smug, pathetic body into pieces and feed it to Le Gē's dogs.

But he did not.

Not yet.

He held back, forcing down the violent urge that gnawed at him. He wouldn't give Xiao Yuan—or anyone else—the satisfaction of seeing him lose control.

So, he sat silently beside Le Gē, reclaiming the role he'd relinquished nearly sixteen years ago, his expression unreadable but his gaze fixed with barely concealed fury on Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan swayed to the music, oblivious, grinding against a woman, looking utterly carefree, as if the night in Japan almost seven months ago had never happened.

As if he hadn't betrayed him.

As if he hadn't shattered Wei Qian's life completely.

The anger and hurt bubbled up inside him, like a geyser about to erupt.

Because of that bastard, Wei Qian was a wanted man—branded as a criminal by his own government, despised by the very people he once protected and loved, and headhunted relentlessly by a rival gang that wouldn't rest until he was dead.

He'd lost everything.

His freedom, his reputation, even his place in his own world.

He was left to watch from the shadows, an outsider in a life he'd built with his own blood and sweat.

To add further insult to injury, he no longer had control over the game he had poured his heart and soul into making.

Xiao Yuan had taken that too, slipping it from his grasp as easily as he'd betrayed his trust.

Torn him down piece by piece, leaving nothing but the fragments of a man who'd once had purpose, loyalty, and something to call his own. He'd crushed Wei Qian's pride, leaving him stripped bare to a world that now saw him only as a fugitive, a target, a shadow of the person he used to be.

Wei Qian was back to square one. Working beside a smug, satisfied Le Gē—a gangster who watched him with that unsettling glint in his eyes, like he'd always known Wei Qian would end up back here.

Le Gē hadn't hesitated when he offered him a position again, declaring, with an almost fatherly amusement, that he wanted him back. It was as if the last sixteen years had meant nothing. As if all that he'd struggled to escape from had been waiting patiently for him to return.

Le Gē had also merrily told him he wanted his right hand back, since Xiao Yuan was his left. He'd spoken with a gleam of excitement, telling Wei Qian he could enter the arena again, kick asses, and make him money. The thought alone had twisted something deep inside him, a reminder of the life he thought he'd left behind.

And yet, here he was—right where Le Gē had always wanted him.

The room buzzed with laughter and music that Le Ge had organised for a successful deal, but Wei Qian barely heard it, his mind replaying the shattered pieces of his life.

Seven months.

Seven fucking months since it had all come crashing down.

Seven months since the night in Japan that had marked the beginning of the end.

He felt the bitterness clawing at him, the reality that he was nothing more than a pawn in their game—a game he no longer had any control over. Seven months and here he sat, forced back into a role he'd fought so hard to escape, watching Xiao Yuan revel in his betrayal with that careless, oblivious smile.