Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

Since they were out of the city for the weekend, they decided to spend two full days having fun with their son.

After breakfast, Caroline got fully decked out in physical sun protection—sunglasses, a mask, a silk scarf, and a hat to cover her face. Grabbing a bag, she took her son for a stroll around the city.

Ryan, who had been cooped up inside for nearly half a month, could finally stretch his legs.

They spent the whole morning at an amusement park.

At noon, they took a break.

In the afternoon, she took her son to play on the beach.

They didn’t return to the hotel until dusk.

A little after eight that evening, the boy’s father finally sent a text message.

Adrian: [I’m at a business dinner. Might be back late. You two go ahead and get some rest.]

When Caroline told Ryan, he unexpectedly blinked and said something.

"This morning, when I said I wanted to sleep by myself, Daddy said no."

"..."

This was the first Caroline had heard of it, but her focus was also on Ryan not sleeping alone. "Mommy says no, too. What if you catch a cold or get a fever in the middle of the night and we don’t realize it in time?"

Ryan’s eyes darted back and forth. "Why are Mommy and Daddy saying the same thing? You never used to worry about this before."

"..."

"Anyway, you’re either sleeping with your dad or with me. Don’t even think about sleeping alone."

"Oh..."

At eleven o’clock that night, Adrian returned to the hotel, smelling faintly of alcohol.

The well-tailored suit he wore still looked sharp, but tonight, an alcohol-induced languor clung to him.

"Why aren’t you asleep yet?"

Adrian’s gaze fell on the large and small figures in the living room. Perhaps the alcohol hadn’t worn off, as his voice was tinged with a faint, weary laziness.

"Waiting for you," Caroline replied, then paused. Feeling her words were too ambiguous, she added, "The boy wanted to wait for you to come back before he went to sleep."

"I see. You don’t have to wait for me in the future. Kids won’t grow tall if they don’t sleep early."

Adrian walked over, loosened his tie, and pulled it off. He then unfastened the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing a sliver of his elegant, pale neck.

He didn’t get a response from Ryan.

As he drew closer, he saw that the little guy on the sofa was already fast asleep.

’So much for worrying about his growth,’ he thought.

"He’s been asleep for a little while. I was afraid of waking him if I carried him to the room too soon, so I just let him sleep here for a bit."

Caroline explained when she saw him looking over.

"Okay. You sleep with him tonight. I still smell like alcohol."

Adrian sat down, leaned his head back against the sofa, took off his glasses, and closed his eyes. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, his expression filled with exhaustion.

Caroline sat across from him. As she looked up, she saw the warm light fall on him, making him appear exceptionally soft.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been staring when Adrian, seeming to sense her gaze, opened his eyes and sat up straight, his eyes meeting hers.

Thinking she had something to say to him, he stared at her for a long moment.

After their eyes met for a few seconds without warning, Caroline coolly averted her gaze. "I’m taking the boy back to the room."

"Okay."

Adrian watched her back disappear into the room before retracting his gaze. He sat alone on the sofa, spacing out for a while, before getting up and heading into the other guest room.

Ryan’s plan to sleep alone had failed.

—

The next morning, Adrian ordered breakfast for them in advance before heading out.

Just like the day before, Caroline took Ryan for a trip around the city, visiting the zoo and the aquarium.

In the afternoon, Adrian had some rare free time, so he joined Caroline in looking after their son.

This time, they went to the beach again, but to a private one where there were no passersby to disturb them, and more importantly, no risk of the outside world finding out they had a child.

Caroline also had the rare opportunity to see Adrian out of a suit. A set of casual clothes softened his usual sharp, stern demeanor, giving him a gentler, more relaxed feel.

’If Adrian had looked this harmless and approachable back in school,’ she thought, ’I definitely wouldn’t have kept having nightmares about him grinding me under his heel.’

"What is it?" Adrian asked, turning his head as he noticed Caroline’s stare.

"Back in school, I always thought you were one of those people who seemed refined on the surface but were secretly a psycho. The pressure was immense whenever I got paired with you for experiments, and I kept having dreams about you stepping on me."

Caroline’s mouth had moved faster than her brain, and she’d blurted out her inner thoughts unconsciously.

Only after she finished did she realize what she had just said.

’Crap! How could I have said that out loud?’

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? So I’m a psycho in your eyes."

"However, I don’t have a fetish for stepping on people," Adrian said with a slight smile.

"..."

Caroline rubbed her nose. "Haha, I was just kidding. You don’t seem like that kind of person. Besides, they say dreams are the opposite of reality, right?"

Adrian just smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly as he withdrew his gaze and turned to look at their little one playing in the sand.

Caroline didn’t say anything more, also looking at their son up ahead.

As if sensing their gazes, Ryan looked up at the two of them and gave them a sweet smile before lowering his head to continue building his castle.

The summer breeze blew gently, and for a moment, all was peaceful.

An abrupt voice shattered the tranquility.

"Vincent! I’m telling you, we’re through! I hate you! I said I hate you, do you hear me?!"

"Hah, Luna, have you forgotten who paid for your grandmother’s treatment? Who hired all those top-tier medical teams? Who do you think is getting you your current jobs? Now that you’re a little famous and have been recognized as a young lady of the Lynch Family, you think you can just turn your back on me? Let me tell you something: I’m the only one who gets to do the dumping. You don’t have the right to dump me!"

The voices came from behind them.

"..."

"..."

Caroline fell silent when she heard those two names.

’God knows how long it’s been since I last ran into these two. I was starting to think I’d forgotten all about the protagonists of this book, but this sudden, completely unexpected encounter caught me completely off guard.’

’Is it because I’m hanging around the villain that I’m indirectly coming into contact with these people now?’

However...

Caroline shot a glance at Adrian.

"This is the private beach you booked?"

Adrian didn’t seem embarrassed at all. "Evidently, the area behind us must be another family’s private beach."

Perhaps their voices had disturbed the arguing couple.

Luna was startled. "Don’t make a scene here. I’ll go back with you."

Vincent sneered, "Afraid of being seen?"

Luna retorted, not to be outdone, "Going public with you wouldn’t hurt me—in fact, it would probably boost my career. But it wouldn’t do you any favors when it comes to inheriting the Fuller Group."

"Fine. Just fine."

Vincent laughed in anger. He turned and glanced in the direction ahead of them.

But his view was blocked by a row of hedges. He could vaguely make out a child shoveling sand, and the man’s voice sounded somewhat familiar.

He wanted to use the child’s face to identify the owner of the voice, but unfortunately, he could only see the back of the child’s head.

Vincent thought for a moment, then decided to put the matter aside for now and left with Luna.