Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

The moment Franklin Whitman spoke, Molly Lawson felt the stares of the two family heads, Kenneth Ford and Quentin Sutton, landing on her. It made her skin crawl.

Indeed, on their turf, if she dared to cause a scene and ruin their engagement party, she would be in for a world of hurt.

Just then, Molly Lawson’s father came over, offering an apologetic smile to Adrian Grant, Caroline Whitman, and the others.

"President Grant, President Whitman, this is my failure to discipline her properly. Please, forgive us."

Then, he turned his head and hissed at her in a low, angry voice, "What are you waiting for? Apologize!"

Molly Lawson’s face burned. It was bad enough to be so humiliated in front of Adrian Grant, but to lose face in front of so many people was even worse.

’Who would’ve thought in a banquet hall this huge, I’d somehow catch the attention of the most important people here? What terrible luck.’

’It’s all Franklin Whitman’s fault for drawing attention with that booming voice of his.’

"Caroline, President Grant, it was my misunderstanding." She forced her lips into a pained, apologetic smile.

Suddenly the center of attention with so many eyes on her, Caroline Whitman didn’t want to blow the matter out of proportion.

She simply said coolly, "As long as you know it was a misunderstanding. If you say something like that again, don’t blame us for holding you accountable."

Molly Lawson’s father continued to smile apologetically as he led his daughter away.

After they left, Finn Kaye and Milo Morgan happened to wander over from the next room to see what the commotion was about, laughing as they did.

"What’s all this? Adrian, since when do you have a kid?"

Adrian Grant just glanced at Finn Kaye before walking away.

Milo Morgan, however, spotted the real story. He teased, "Looks like while Adrian hasn’t had time to hang out with us, he’s certainly had time for dates with Miss Whitman."

Finn Kaye understood immediately, raising an eyebrow. "That explains it. We could never get you to come out when we were abroad, and it’s the same now that you’re back. Looks like it wasn’t about you not having time, it was about who you were spending it with."

Adrian Grant: "..."

Gene Carson followed silently behind, listening to the teasing from Adrian Grant’s friends. He stopped and looked toward the woman named Caroline Whitman.

’Could she be the one Adrian likes?’

***

"So you’re not married yet?" Ethan Xavier asked only after the others had walked away.

Franklin Whitman was still standing there. Hearing this, he took a look. ’Who is this guy?’

’He’s not bad-looking.’

’But seeing my daughter’s reaction, I can tell she’s not interested in him.’

So, he stepped into his fatherly role. "And who are you? What are you doing asking about my daughter’s personal life?"

Only then did Ethan Xavier notice the man who looked like he was nouveau riche. He was the only one in the entire venue with the air of a local tyrant, completely out of place.

A flash of disdain couldn’t help but cross his eyes.

’This is Caroline Whitman’s father?’

He smiled. "Hello, sir. I’m a former classmate of Caroline’s. I just recently returned to the country and have heard a lot about the Whitman Group’s reputation. Now that I’ve met the man steering the ship, I can see your presence is truly extraordinary."

"Heh, you’re quite the smooth-talker."

As Franklin Whitman spoke, he gave Caroline Whitman a look, signaling for her to leave.

Caroline Whitman: "..."

Not wanting to worry her dad, she obediently moved to the side. A former investment partner happened to come over, and she started a conversation.

「Ten o’clock.」

As the party was about to end, Caroline Whitman was already by Franklin Whitman’s side.

"How far have you gotten with him? I was watching you two just now. Why didn’t you even say a few words to each other?

Did you take Ryan to Serene Garden Villa that day? When did you go?"

Thankfully, the child’s existence had been revealed to Franklin Whitman early on, so Molly Lawson’s little performance just now hadn’t made him suspicious.

In Franklin Whitman’s eyes, they rarely saw each other, so an opportunity like this to meet was precious.

And to think he’d even made a point of giving them space instead of going over and bothering them.

And this was the result?

"..."

Caroline Whitman: "We went a couple of days ago."

She paused, then added, hoping to stop him from nagging her to death, "You don’t have to worry. I see him often."

"Oh? Oh! Did you hold hands? The link Dad sent you was useful, right?"

Caroline Whitman had to admit, there was something to those links Franklin Whitman had sent her.

At least she hadn’t hit a wall yet.

She nodded. "He didn’t pull his hand away. Dad, what do you think that means?"

Franklin Whitman slapped his large palm on his thigh. "That means it’s promising!"

Caroline Whitman was skeptical. "Really?"

’Even though I think so too, when you’re pursuing someone, you have to avoid getting narcissistic.’

"Wait a sec, Dad will send you a few more. Guaranteed to work!"

And so, the father-daughter duo abandoned the fruit platter, pulled out their phones in the corner, and began their exchange.

Her phone vibrated several times in a row.

Caroline Whitman opened it and saw:

[Do They Dislike You or Have a Crush on You? The Details Don’t Lie]

[Do They Genuinely Like You, or Are They Just Being Polite?]

"Read these carefully. If it’s not enough, Dad’s got more." Franklin Whitman put his phone away and gave her a look that said, ’Victory is assured’.

Caroline Whitman: "..."

"Dad, where on earth do you find these articles?"

"You just search for them! You young people don’t know how to use a search engine as well as I do."

"..."

Caroline Whitman clicked on the bottom link: [Do They Genuinely Like You, or Are They Just Being Polite?].

She skimmed it. It was basically comparing the "polite to everyone" version versus the "special treatment for you" version.

The former was politeness, like just lending you an umbrella when it rains. The latter was personally walking you home.

’This isn’t very helpful.’

Given Adrian Grant’s personality, the chances of him just lending her an umbrella versus walking her home were about fifty-fifty.

Caroline Whitman quickly skimmed the other article, which also distinguished between the polite version and the personal care version.

The polite version was basically: a conversation only happens if you initiate it.

If you don’t reach out, they can go a whole day, or even several days, without contacting you.

When they do initiate, it’s always with a hint of distant politeness: "Let’s grab a meal sometime."

But that "sometime" often never comes.

’Thinking about it, with Adrian and me, it doesn’t seem like either one of us is always the initiator.’

’If we’re really talking about initiating, does Adrian asking me to dinner and a movie these past two days count?’

In the end, Caroline Whitman searched for some similar articles herself. After scrolling through a bunch, she finally found a link with a title that made her want to click.

[Stop Guessing! Do They Dislike You or Like You? Just Do This One Thing to Find Out]

She opened the article. Inside were just a few short paragraphs:

[Imagine someone you dislike suddenly forces a kiss on you. Wouldn’t you be disgusted?

If you put yourself in that situation and feel disgusted, then you get it! This is absolutely the most direct and practical way to test their true feelings, a single move to figure out if they really dislike and hate you.

Of course, this method is extremely high-risk. Even someone very attractive might get taken away by the cops for a ’chat’! Please use this method with caution.]

There were also a few top-rated comments below the article.

[User: Thanks, OP. It really worked.]

[User: Thanks, OP. Just tried it. Already having ’tea’.]

[User: Didn’t manage to test their feelings, but I got myself booked instead.]

[User: Flirting before the kiss, police report after the kiss.]

[User: Thanks. My crush is now my accuser.]

Caroline Whitman: "..."

She fell deep in thought.

The only two times she had kissed Adrian Grant flashed through her mind.

He hadn’t pushed her away either time, but the first time, they were both in a negative state of mind, and the second time was an accidental brush of the lips.

’But if I suddenly kissed Adrian while he was fully conscious, would he push me away?’

She couldn’t bear to imagine the scene; just thinking about it made her toes curl in secondhand embarrassment.

But on second thought, it really was a quick way to figure out how someone felt.

The only drawback to this plan was that, given Adrian Grant’s personality, if he really did push her away, it would be more than enough to prove it was a disastrous decision.

It also meant that after such a failure, it would probably be impossible for her and Adrian Grant to return to their current state of balance.

Thinking of this, Caroline Whitman lifted her gaze to look for Adrian Grant.

He was nowhere to be seen in the entire banquet hall.