Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

「Grant Manor.」

Special Assistant King came to the garden and relayed the news he had received this morning to Gavin Grant.

Gavin paused with his teacup halfway to his mouth, revealing a look of pure disbelief for the first time.

"You’re saying Adrian drove into Brocade Bay last night and never came out?"

"That is what Carson reported."

Gavin pondered this. "Does the girl live in Brocade Bay?"

"Currently, we know Miss Whitman lives at Azure Heights. Whether she owns property in Brocade Bay is unclear at the moment. However, the young master has a vacant property there." Special Assistant King paused, sounding a bit uncertain.

Although Adrian owned a place in Brocade Bay, anyone familiar with him knew he usually stayed at The Seraphic. As for whether Caroline Whitman owned a place there, it was hard to say. What if they just happened to live in the same neighborhood?

Gavin was also deep in thought. To say he wasn’t shocked by the news that Adrian had taken Caroline to Brocade Bay and stayed the night would be a lie. Their relationship was developing a bit too fast; he was having a hard time wrapping his head around it.

He wondered if the two of them had been secretly involved for a long time. After all, this wasn’t their first time meeting. The more Gavin thought about it, the more something felt off.

Was his grandson messing with him on purpose? He quickly called Jonathan Grant to see what was going on. If they were already together, why go through all these unnecessary extra steps? Was Adrian afraid he wouldn’t approve? He wasn’t some old-fashioned conservative, after all.

Jonathan was stunned when he answered the phone, taking a moment to process the barrage of questions. "Huh?"

"What do you mean, ’huh’? Did you not know the two of them are together?" Gavin’s voice boomed through the receiver.

"No, I didn’t," Jonathan replied hastily, full of questions. "Wait, Dad, how is that even possible?"

"How is it not possible? I remember Adrian has a property in Brocade Bay. Is he still living at The Seraphic?"

"...I suppose so."

"You suppose? You don’t even know where your own son lives?"

"Adrian is a grown man. I couldn’t control it even if he stayed at The Seraphic today, The Imperial tomorrow, The Imperial Garden the day after, and The Brocade Garden the day after that."

"..."

「After hanging up the phone.」

Jonathan was still in shock, but he was now almost entirely certain of who the child’s mother was.

"Wait, that doesn’t add up," he muttered.

According to the inquiries he had made last night, Caroline hadn’t been pregnant in recent years. Based on the timeline of the child’s age, she would have had to get pregnant right around the time she graduated. This left Jonathan completely baffled.

Could it be that the child wasn’t Adrian’s after all? Before jumping to conclusions, he decided to call Adrian to ask if he was currently staying at Brocade Bay.

Meanwhile, Adrian, who was still in the study, received the call.

"Dad?" Adrian answered. "What’s wrong? Is there something you need?"

"Are you not living at The Seraphic anymore? I went looking for you last time but didn’t see you there."

"When did you go to The Seraphic, Dad?"

"Last weekend."

"Last weekend?"

Caroline had been about to step out of the room when he answered the call, but hearing him repeat those words, she paused and turned back to look at him.

He happened to glance her way at the exact same moment. After a brief look, Adrian withdrew his gaze, and his deep voice resonated once again. "I haven’t been staying at The Seraphic lately. Brocade Bay? How did you know? You guessed? Hmm, understood. I’ll visit the old estate another day. Today? Today doesn’t work. Tomorrow, then."

"..."

After Adrian hung up, Caroline turned around hesitantly. Just as she was about to say something, another call came through on his phone. He picked it up and listened for half a minute before replying in a low voice, "Hmm, I understand."

Hanging up the second call, Adrian finally turned to face her. "Last week, my parents went to the same private restaurant we did. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a very high chance they saw us when we were leaving."

Caroline was speechless.

"Then how do they know you’re at Brocade Bay?" A sudden realization hit her. "Were you followed last night?"

A wave of creeping dread washed over Caroline as she thought deeper into it. Didn’t this mean that, to outsiders, their relationship had just taken a massive step forward?

She looked at Adrian again, but there wasn’t a trace of panic or tension on his face. "Why don’t you look worried at all?" she asked.

Frankly speaking, if their child was exposed to both families, the entire nature of the situation would change. Putting everything else aside, if the child suddenly vanished one day to return to his original world, it would be a devastating blow to the oblivious families.

"As long as the child doesn’t appear in front of them, there’s no need to worry," Adrian replied.

Caroline’s mouth twitched. "You’re certainly optimistic."

"If both families know, we won’t have to keep our focus entirely on the child all the time," he explained. "It would make things much easier for both of us."

"..."

Caroline shot him a sidelong glance. "You aren’t actually considering letting them find out, are you?"

Adrian merely raised a slight eyebrow. His silence was the loudest answer of all.

Caroline couldn’t stand still anymore. "Are you serious!?" she exclaimed in shock.

Seeing her worked up, Adrian offered a rare smile. "Of course not. If they come looking for us at Brocade Bay, we’ll just move somewhere else."

"..."

"Are you really planning to hide in multiple safe houses like a cunning rabbit?"

Caroline’s gaze followed him as he stood up and walked toward the door. "If that day really comes, we’ll have no other choice," he said.

Opening the door, he added, "Right now, the most important thing is spending this weekend with the child. As you suggested, we’ll take him to the movies today."

"...Let’s ask if he even wants to watch a movie today first. But really, is it a good idea for us to go out to a movie theater so openly?" Caroline voiced her concerns.

Last time, the three of them had only gone out for a meal in Kingsport, and they ended up running into Adrian’s parents. If they went to the cinema this time and bumped into someone else, things could get complicated.

She stole a glance at Adrian, who seemed entirely unbothered by this possibility. But a second later, she understood why he was so unfazed.

"No one said we have to go to a public theater to watch a movie," Adrian said. "Let’s go to The Seraphic. I have a private screening room there."

"..."

"Aren’t you afraid your parents will ambush you again?" Caroline asked.

To her surprise, Adrian looked at her with perfect composure. "You seem more afraid of being seen by my parents than I am."

"..."

Caroline was speechless. Come to think of it, she wondered what she was even afraid of. If the child’s father wasn’t afraid of having his identity exposed, why the hell should she be?

"I don’t care either way," Caroline retorted. "It’s just that someone was the one who initially insisted on signing a non-disclosure agreement. Now you’re acting completely differently. Do you actually want to go public?"

Adrian narrowed his eyes in a smile. "They already know I haven’t been staying at The Seraphic lately, so naturally, they won’t go looking for me there. Therefore, The Seraphic is actually the safest place to be.

"On the other hand, my father already knows I’m staying at Brocade Bay now. In comparison, this is the most dangerous place.

"If we don’t move quickly, they might already be on their way here."

"..."