Chapter 18: How Do You Know This Is His Child?
After the two of them left, Caroline started to recall the plot of the original novel.
The book’s main plot revolved around the romance between Luna and Vincent, so she arguably knew more about the course and future of their relationship than the couple themselves.
The two were caught in a tumultuous, back-and-forth relationship from their school days until after they graduated and began their careers. Luna became a famous actress and was later recognized by the Lynch Family as their long-lost daughter.
After that, she got pregnant and left, only to return five years later with twins. This kicked off another period of intense entanglement, but he eventually succeeded in winning her back, and they achieved their perfect happy ending.
At present, it was clear they hadn’t yet reached the "get pregnant and run away" stage.
Speaking of which, Adrian and Vincent’s first confrontation had been at a birthday banquet at the Grant Ancestral Home.
Luna had accidentally drunk wine spiked with an aphrodisiac, which was intended for Vincent. She then stumbled into Adrian’s room, but Vincent found her just in time, punched Adrian, and whisked Luna away.
And that was how their feud began.
That was what gave Adrian the idea to acquire the Fuller Group’s businesses, leading him to target the company at every opportunity.
Thinking of this, Caroline suddenly spoke up:
"Adrian."
"Hm?"
Adrian responded, surprised.
This was the first time Caroline had ever called him by his name so naturally.
He turned his head, but Caroline’s gaze was fixed on Ryan.
He looked away and asked flatly, "What is it?"
"If the child ends up going back, then for the sake of us having cared for him together, don’t try to sabotage the Whitman Group."
"..."
Adrian looked at her again, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes. "What sabotage?"
"Deliberately suppressing the Whitman Group, fabricating scandals, and plunging the Whitman Group into a financial crisis."
"..."
Adrian had an expression that seemed to say, ’What are you talking about?’ "Don’t our two companies have a partnership? It wouldn’t do me any good to suddenly start fabricating scandals about your company."
Caroline thought for a moment. ’That makes sense.’
"On that note, you still need to sign the contract for that project we discussed. It’s been a week, and progress has been too slow. I’ll have my secretary come to the Grant Group next Wednesday for your signature."
"..."
’So after all that beating around the bush, this was her real goal.’
「That evening.」
Adrian didn’t have any business engagements tonight, unlike yesterday when he didn’t get back until after 11 PM.
So tonight, they went to bed at nine.
Last night, Adrian had mentioned the importance of sleep for a child’s growth. Caroline had thought he had a point. After all, for the past half-month, they had been coming back very late every night, and Ryan had been staying up with them, developing faint dark circles under his eyes.
So, starting tonight, they decided to go to bed early.
To prevent a repeat of that night when the boy’s blanket wasn’t secure, they asked the hotel for a small comforter just for Ryan.
The incident from yesterday morning had been too much of a shock for both of them.
Now, both of them were very mindful of their personal boundaries.
Before falling asleep, Ryan blinked his confused eyes. "Daddy, Mommy, you’ve both been acting weird these past two days."
"Have we?"
"Yeah. You were never this clingy with me before, especially at night."
"..."
"..."
The two of them could barely keep it together.
Caroline subconsciously looked toward Adrian, but for once, their eyes didn’t meet.
Instead, she saw him turn off the lights first, and in the darkness, he said:
"Let’s get to sleep."
"Oh."
「The next morning.」
It was Caroline’s turn to get up early and head to a meeting with a partner company.
She hadn’t expected that the person she was meeting with would be Chase.
Only then did she realize that this company was a subsidiary of the Ford Group, and that Franklin was the one who had sent her here for this project meeting.
Caroline wondered to herself, ’Could that old man have done this on purpose?’
「After signing the contract.」
Chase suddenly spoke up. "How about we get some lunch? You came all this way. I happen to know a pretty good place nearby where you can try the local Marinus cuisine."
Caroline glanced at the time. It was just 11:30 AM.
She had arranged with Adrian to head back together at 1 PM, but since they had just signed a contract, she accepted his offer out of courtesy.
It was a private kitchen restaurant.
The atmosphere was quiet and elegant.
"Were we schoolmates before? At St. Hector’s High School?"
Chase said suddenly.
Caroline was surprised. "You’ve seen me before?"
She remembered doing her utmost to avoid these people back in high school.
St. Hector’s also had a university division, and despite being private, it was on par with other top-tier universities.
But Caroline, afraid that someone would ruin her peaceful life, had tested into a different university during her senior year of high school.
So when Chase suddenly brought up their high school days, she was truly surprised; she couldn’t recall ever interacting with these people.
"You were in Class Three, right? I heard Chairman Whitman mention you?"
"You’ve met my father?" Caroline was stunned.
Chase said, "It’s a coincidence, actually. My father and your father met at a dinner party recently and became fishing buddies. My dad mentioned you to me when he got back, but I didn’t expect we’d meet so soon."
Caroline replied, "Heh, my father is about to retire. He just likes to find ways to keep himself entertained."
"I’ve heard about Miss Whitman’s investment acumen before, so I was quite surprised that you took an interest in this particular venture of my family’s."
"And I didn’t expect Mr. Ford to have independently started a company here in Marinus."
The two exchanged some more pleasantries.
After finishing their meal and leaving the private room, they had just reached the elevators when they ran into Adrian and his son, Ryan, who were inside one.
The elevator doors were already halfway closed.
All three of them froze simultaneously.
Caroline was the first to be startled.
’Crap, what are they doing here?’
In that instant, she was overcome with the guilty feeling of being caught red-handed.
Just as Ryan suddenly cried out "Mommy!", the elevator doors sealed shut perfectly and began to descend.
"Daddy, who was that man with Mommy just now?" Ryan asked curiously, tilting his head up.
Adrian’s tone was calm. "Mommy’s business partner."
"Oh, then let’s wait for Mommy downstairs," Ryan said innocently.
"We’ll wait in the car."
Adrian looked down at the little one in his mask. ’Chase probably wouldn’t recognize the child.’
「Upstairs.」
Chase now had a surprised look on his face. "Was that Adrian?"
"You know him?"
Chase smiled. "Of course, I do. Our fathers are best friends. We used to play together as kids. After elementary school, I heard he transferred, and then I never heard anything about him again. I only found out he’d returned to the country about six months ago."
"But he has a kid that old? I don’t think I ever heard any news about him getting married."
"..."
"How do you know that’s his child?"
"The child was wearing a mask, but his eyes look just like his. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell. Besides, normally, if he were in a conventional marriage, he wouldn’t go to such lengths to protect his child’s privacy."
"Heh, I didn’t expect Mr. Ford to be a gossip."
’This kind of subverted her perception of Chase, the supporting male character.’
The young master, Chase, was quite candid and didn’t try to hide it. "It’s only natural for people to be curious and enjoy a bit of gossip."