Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

Looking at his face and thinking back to the feel and experience of last night, Caroline Whitman felt a faint pink blush creep up her fair cheeks.

After she finished her breakfast alone at a leisurely pace,

the two of them ended up in the living room, just staring at each other.

To be precise, it was Caroline Whitman staring at Adrian Grant. He had gone from reading the newspaper to holding her in his arms, watching the political news—

if you ignored his wandering hand.

Face flushed, Caroline Whitman slapped his hand away. ’How can this man keep such a straight face?’

"Are you always such a homebody, just watching the news?" Caroline Whitman couldn’t help but ask, trying to both distract his wandering hand and learn a little more about his daily life.

Adrian Grant replied, "No, I’m usually working overtime at the office."

"What? Even President Grant has to work around the clock?"

"At that time, I had just returned to the country to take over all the group’s affairs. Working overtime was both inevitable and necessary."

Recalling those days when he was too busy to think, and comparing them to now when he could carve out some free time for himself, Adrian Grant’s voice took on a languid tone.

The hand that had been too forward earlier was now being held captive, so he could only use his free one to stroke the side of her waist.

Caroline Whitman sat sideways on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. Her hand discreetly gave his broad chest a little stroke.

"Why don’t we go pick up Ryan now?"

"What’s the hurry," Adrian Grant said, stroking her hair. "Don’t be fooled just because he says he misses us. Only he knows how much fun he’s actually having at the old family home."

Caroline Whitman thought of the wronged expression on their child’s face last night. "It hasn’t been that long. Have you already figured Ryan out?"

He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, a smile on his lips. "My parents are both at home, spoiling him rotten and granting his every wish. He couldn’t be happier. For all we know, after a few days back with us, he’ll use ’missing them’ as an excuse to go back to the old family home."

"..."

’She remembered the few times Ryan Grant had mentioned wanting to meet his grandparents. At the time, Caroline had thought he’d sensed something was wrong and was feeling insecure.’

’Just like how he initially clung to her and Adrian Grant, crying for his mommy and daddy.’

"Don’t forget," Adrian Grant reminded her, "when we were at work, he’d contact your father all by himself when he was home alone."

"..."

’Now that he mentioned it, that really was true...’

However.

Caroline Whitman raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I, for one, think you’re just making all this up to be alone with me."

Adrian Grant didn’t hide his intentions at all. "You’re not wrong. It’s rare for us both to have free time, and I’d rather not have a third wheel."

’Good thing that person was their son.’

’If the boy weren’t so young, he never would have made such an exception.’

No sooner had he said it than Adrian Grant’s phone rang.

"..."

"..."

Adrian Grant answered the phone. It was Milo Morgan.

"What’s up?" Adrian Grant asked.

"Come on out and play ball! How come we haven’t heard a peep from you all weekend?" Milo Morgan’s voice came through the phone.

In reality, for the past two months since Ryan Grant’s appearance, Adrian Grant’s weekends—when he wasn’t working overtime—had been spent with his son. And that’s not to mention how he used to work overtime every single day before this.

But whenever he had free time during the day, he’d always set aside a few hours to play ball with them.

"I’m busy," Adrian Grant said.

"Didn’t Zoe say you weren’t working overtime today?" Milo Morgan laughed, knowingly. "How could you be busy? Are you with your girlfriend?"

He had just called Zoe Grant and had been forced to listen to a long list of her complaints.

It turned out Adrian Grant had dumped all the overtime work he was supposed to be doing onto Zoe Grant.

"So you know, and you’re still bothering me?"

"Bring your girlfriend with you! I’m here with Chloe Carson, and so are Finn Kaye and the rest of the guys."

Adrian Grant looked down at the woman in his arms. "Want to go?"

"Sure, why not? It’s boring anyway," Caroline Whitman said, getting off his lap.

’Besides, all they’d do for the rest of the day was just hug and kiss.’

"We can pick... up this afternoon—" Caroline started, then cut herself off, suddenly remembering he was still on the phone.

Adrian Grant got the address from Milo Morgan. After hanging up, he didn’t get ready to leave immediately. Instead, just as Caroline Whitman started to walk away, he pulled her to a stop and said with a smile,

"What, am I so boring to be with?"

"..."

Caroline Whitman huffed. "Why are you twisting my words? It’s not like we had anything else planned."

Then, her eyes flickered down to his crotch. ’All we’ve done is hug and kiss,’ she thought. ’We might as well go out and play ball.’

’If it weren’t for last night, she might have thought there was something wrong with him.’

Adrian Grant smiled faintly. "Actually, there are plenty of things we could be doing."

’He wasn’t some perfect gentleman who’d turn down a meal set right in front of him. He was just worried that once he got a taste, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and that would scare her.’

’Losing control of his desires would be a huge hassle.’

"What kind of things?" Caroline Whitman asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We have plenty of time. There’s no rush. You’ll find out eventually."

Adrian Grant headed out of the living room to change first, leaving Caroline Whitman standing in place, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

’Was their relationship not yet at the stage for... *that* kind of thing?’

’Caroline was surprised. If that were the case, he was even more "conservative" than she was.’

She looked up and, as if possessed, called out his name. "Adrian Grant."

Adrian Grant stopped and glanced back at her.

Caught off guard as their eyes met, the question she’d been about to ask—"Will you marry me?"—died on her lips. Her courage vanished.

And yet, Adrian Grant seemed to have read the question in her eyes.

His gentle voice held a hint of a smile. "I don’t want you to marry me just because of the child, or because of... that sort of thing.

If those are the only two reasons, I’d be a little hurt. But I’ll accept, no matter what your reasons are. Just know one thing: once you cross that threshold, there’s no going back."

Caroline Whitman felt the awkwardness and guilt of being seen right through.

’She had, in fact, been operating under the assumption that since they already had a child in their future, marriage was a foregone conclusion.’

Seeing that he was still standing there, and had even turned to face her directly, Caroline Whitman had no choice but to walk over and stop in front of him.

Adrian Grant seemed to be waiting for her response. Left with no other option, she lowered her head, clasped her hands behind her back, and, for the first time in her life, tried to act coy like a character in a TV show. She wriggled a little, then raised a small fist and tapped it lightly against his chest.

"You’re awful!" she pouted. "You’re in such a hurry! I don’t want to get married so quickly!"

Adrian Grant: "..."

With that, Caroline Whitman put on a bashful expression, covered her face, and fled back to the room.

"..."

He silently rubbed the spot on his chest where she had hit him.

’What else could he expect from the woman who could physically lift him up? That punch certainly had a way of making his heart race.’

They arrived at the tennis court where they were meeting Milo Morgan.

They were late.

Milo Morgan and the others had already changed into their athletic gear and had finished two matches.