Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

"He transferred to St. Hector’s High School in our final semester and happened to be my deskmate for the term."

When it was time to apply for college, Ethan Xavier had asked her which schools she was applying to, but Caroline Whitman didn’t tell him. The day the entrance exam scores came out, Ethan asked her out for bubble tea.

She turned him down that day.

The reason was simple.

Right after the exams, she had started an internship at her family’s company to learn the ropes. When would she have found the time to go out for bubble tea?

After she stood him up, Caroline Whitman never heard from Ethan Xavier again.

After graduation, she left all her St. Hector’s High School group chats and deleted some of her classmates from her contacts.

Caroline wasn’t sure if Ethan Xavier was on her deleted list, but she was certain that she hadn’t received a single message from him on WhatsApp or any other app over the years.

It was just surprising that after so many years, Ethan Xavier still remembered her number and had called her.

She briefly explained the caller’s situation to Adrian Grant.

Just as she finished speaking, the phone rang again.

A glance at the screen showed it was the same unsaved number from before.

...

When the ringtone sounded, the father and son once again turned to look at her.

Caroline felt that hanging up at this moment would make her seem like she had a guilty conscience.

"Answer it. What if it’s something urgent?" Adrian Grant suddenly said.

Caroline hung up and set her phone to silent. "We haven’t been in contact since high school. Who knows if it’s a scam call."

She was genuinely worried about that.

After all, when someone you haven’t spoken to in five or six years suddenly calls claiming to be a high school classmate, you can’t be sure it isn’t a scam.

Adrian Grant just smiled, his eyes crinkling. "Good. You have strong anti-fraud instincts."

Caroline pretended not to hear his teasing.

The small ripple caused by the sudden phone calls before the food arrived quickly subsided. The rest of the meal went smoothly, with no one leaving the table for any reason.

They ate their fill.

The little guy had slept the whole way back to Kingsport in the car, so he was still full of energy.

It was already past two in the afternoon when they got home, and he had no intention of taking a nap.

But Adrian Grant did.

Whether at the office or at home, he always took a short nap around noon, unless something required him to be out.

Upon returning home, he changed his clothes and went to his room for a short rest.

Caroline glanced at the time. It was already two in the afternoon.

In truth, she was also getting drowsy. She had been so worried about her son that morning that she hadn’t dared to close her eyes in the car.

Like Adrian, she also had the habit of taking an afternoon nap.

It was just that she had never napped in the same bed with Adrian in broad daylight.

Thinking back on past weekends, one of them was either working overtime, or they were out together with their son. They had never really taken an afternoon nap together.

Now, with their son still up, if she were to suggest going to the bedroom for a nap, she knew—based on past experience—the little guy would probably watch her like a hawk until she entered the room Adrian was in.

The thought of having to share a bed with Adrian for a nap in broad daylight made Caroline feel conflicted and awkward.

It wasn’t as if they had never slept in the same bed before.

Back when she didn’t have feelings for Adrian, she never felt this self-conscious.

But after deciding to pursue him, she found herself getting hung up on these little things.

’I don’t even understand myself sometimes.’

Then again, she’d felt that Adrian had been deliberately avoiding these situations with her ever since that last time.

’I can’t figure out what he’s thinking.’

To avoid annoying him and achieving the opposite of her goal, Caroline decided to just sit on the sofa and watch cartoons with her son.

The only problem was, she couldn’t stop yawning.

Within minutes, listening to the chattering cartoon characters on the big screen, she began to nod off.

Finally, her head tilted to one side, and she slowly slumped against a gleeful little Ryan.

Ryan’s wide, toothy grin vanished. His little body tensed up as he turned to look at his sleeping mom.

He carefully cupped Caroline’s face and slowly lowered it. As he did, her body slumped sideways, and she ended up lying on the sofa.

The movement woke Caroline up.

"Mommy, if you’re sleepy, you should go sleep."

"I can watch TV by myself," Ryan said, thoughtfully.

Caroline yawned but said stubbornly, "I’m not sleepy. Mommy will watch with you."

"Oh."

Seeing her insistence, Ryan turned his attention back to the screen, becoming immersed in the cartoon and starting to giggle again.

Caroline simply tilted her head back against the top of the sofa and closed her eyes. ’There’s no way I’ll fall asleep in this position,’ she thought.

In reality, it only took a few minutes for her to drift off again.

When Ryan turned around, he saw Caroline with her head tilted back on the sofa, eyes closed.

Seeing this, he slid off the sofa, put on his slippers, and scampered off to the room where Adrian was.

He tiptoed and pushed the door open with his small hands.

Once inside, he went straight to the bed, climbed up, and started shaking Adrian, who was sleeping soundly.

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up! Quick, carry Mommy to bed with you."

In his mind, every time his mommy fell asleep, his daddy would carry her to bed. This time should be no exception.

He couldn’t let Mommy sleep on the sofa while Daddy enjoyed the bed all by himself.

Adrian was a light sleeper. He heard his son’s voice not long after falling asleep.

He opened his eyes to his son’s repeated plea.

He took a moment to wake up, then sat up and asked, "Did Mommy fall asleep on the sofa?"

"Yeah! Mommy was watching cartoons with me, and then she fell asleep."

Hearing this, Adrian knew what had happened.

Caroline had probably felt obligated to stay on the sofa and watch cartoons because their son was there.

The cartoons were already boring for her, and since it was her usual nap time, it was easy to get drowsy.

Adrian threw off the light blanket, got out of bed, and walked out of the room. He stood before the sofa, looking at the sweetly sleeping woman, then expertly bent down and lifted her into his arms.

She felt light in his arms, completely effortless to carry.

Adrian looked down at the child who had followed him out. "Are you going to keep watching TV by yourself, or come back to the room and nap with us?"

Ryan shook his head. "I’m not sleepy yet."

Adrian didn’t force him. It wasn’t good for a small child to sleep too much during the day, or they wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

So he added a word of caution, "Don’t open the door and run outside, and don’t turn on the stove in the kitchen."

Ryan nodded obediently. "I know, Daddy."

Adrian turned and went back to the room. After closing the door, he walked straight to the bed. Just as he was placing her down, just like the night before, she suddenly woke up.

Adrian straightened up, looking down at the woman on the bed. "You’ve been waking up startled a lot lately. Are you not getting enough rest?"

Just as Caroline realized where she was, Adrian’s words reached her.

...

She paused for a moment. "You say that as if you’re always carrying me to bed."

Adrian walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down. Caroline could feel that side of the bed dip slightly.

He said, "Hmm, in the car, on the sofa... adding them up, it’s been four or five times now. I don’t know if that counts as ’always’ in your book."

Caroline hated how he called her bluff like that, because his words made several... evocative... scenes flash through her mind.

’It seems Ryan’s talent for calling people out was hereditary.’

"Um, thank you." Caroline pulled the blanket up, covering half her face, and said in a muffled voice, "For not letting me sleep on the sofa."