Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

9:00 PM.

Adrian Grant sat in his car and called his son twice. To his surprise, the little guy only exchanged a few words with him before hanging up, saying he was going to play chess with his grandfather.

Staring at his phone, Adrian sat in the car, lost in thought.

During this business trip, he had made it a point to finish work before 9:00 PM.

He would set aside an hour to talk with his son.

’Has it really been so few days for his son to have such a change of heart?’

Adrian silently glanced at his chat window with Caroline Whitman. The last message was from the previous night.

"President Grant, we’ve arrived."

"Mm."

Adrian put away his phone, suppressing the strange mood that had come over him today, and hurried to his next social engagement.

It was 12:30 AM by the time Adrian Grant returned to his hotel.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a graceful figure appeared in his line of sight.

Caroline Whitman was standing outside. She quickly pressed the open button, and the closing doors slid open again.

The moment they opened, however, Caroline got a clear view of the man inside.

She subconsciously looked up, her gaze meeting a pair of shimmering, almond-shaped eyes.

Caroline froze.

The slight buzz from the alcohol she’d been feeling sobered up a notch in that instant.

’What the hell...’

’Am I cursed today?’

’Why do I keep running into Adrian Grant in elevators, of all places?’

Adrian’s gaze swept over the top of her head. There was finally no one else outside the elevator.

Caroline shuffled inside, her tone a mixture of bewilderment and strangeness. "What are you doing here?"

Adrian lowered his eyes to the tipsy woman before him. Her fair skin was flushed with a light, rosy tint from the alcohol, and the corners of her eyes were tinged with red.

He withdrew his gaze, which paused for a moment on the "19" she had pressed for her floor, before his thin lips parted. "I’m here for the same reason you are."

"..."

Caroline glanced at the other lit button in the elevator: "33".

’Great.’

’Looks like I’m staying in the same hotel as Adrian Grant.’

’Except he’s on the 33rd floor.’

"Haha, what a coincidence," Caroline said with a dry laugh.

"It is quite a coincidence. Noon, evening, and now... We’ve managed to run into each other even without any contact all day."

Adrian’s teasing voice sounded from above her.

Caroline lowered her gaze, pondering the deeper meaning of his words. ’What does he mean by that? Is he being passive-aggressive because I didn’t contact him today?’

"Are you upset that I didn’t message you today?"

Caroline was a bit tipsy from the new wine she’d tasted at Leo Carson’s, and she didn’t feel like overthinking things. With the man right in front of her, she just asked directly.

She half-turned, her dark, glossy eyes fixed on him.

Adrian’s eyelashes were lowered, his dark eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses still calm and unruffled as he met her gaze.

’Upset with her?’

’Their past conversations had always revolved around his son.’

’Outside of matters concerning the child, Caroline had no obligation to report her whereabouts or companions to him during work hours.’

’He had no standing to be upset with her.’

"No," Adrian said.

Caroline blinked, trying to discern the truth from his expressionless face.

"Then are you upset that I didn’t greet you first today?" she suddenly blurted out.

’This woman’s way of speaking is always so unexpectedly direct and frank,’ Adrian thought, ’much like the bold, surprising actions she sometimes takes.’

"No," Adrian replied just as concisely.

But Caroline just smiled. "Then what was with the passive-aggressive tone just now?"

"Passive-aggressive tone?"

"Did I misunderstand you, then?"

Caroline lifted her chin slightly, her eyes curving with a hint of cunning. "President Grant, our agreement doesn’t stipulate that we have to greet each other when we meet outside."

"Besides, you act like I’m a stranger when you see me. I’ve never seen you greet me first, so I’m not about to go out of my way to suck up to you." Caroline huffed just as the elevator doors opened.

"Ah, my floor. See you back in Kingsport." Caroline flashed him a smile and stepped out of the elevator first.

Once in her room, she took a shower and fell asleep on the soft bed.

The next day, Caroline woke up at 9:00 AM.

Her assistant sent a message saying that Director Whitman had specifically assigned her to inspect several potential partner factories in Janton and Lucia.

Caroline: "..."

’There’s no way this business trip will be over in less than a week.’

"That old man... he isn’t doing this on purpose to keep me on a business trip this long, is he?"

She called Franklin Whitman, but the call was rejected.

A second later, a text message came in.

Franklin Whitman: [In a meeting.]

So Caroline called Yolanda Young instead.

"Mom, how’s Ryan? Is everything okay with him?"

Yolanda Young: "Look at you, being such a doting godmother, worrying about him like he’s your own son. Don’t worry, what could happen to him? Your dad took him to class this morning, he’s perfectly safe."

"Oh, okay. That’s good." Hearing this confirmation, Caroline relaxed.

However, she replied to Yolanda’s earlier teasing with a guilty conscience, "What do you mean, my own son? I’m just worried that if something happened to the child, I wouldn’t know how to face his parents."

Yolanda Young: "Alright, alright. We have a nanny at home, and if that’s not enough, you’ve still got me. Nothing will happen to him."

The call ended.

Just then, her assistant sent her the flight information for Janton that day.

It was a 4:00 PM flight, and Caroline was one of the very last people to board.

After stowing her luggage, Caroline looked down to double-check her seat number, and her gaze naturally fell downwards.

Her seat was on the aisle, and a man was already sitting by the window.

His long legs were bent slightly in front of him, his posture relaxed but not sloppy.

Her gaze slowly traveled up and landed on his face.

It was Adrian Grant.

"..."

’What has been going on these past two days?’

’Should I go buy a lottery ticket or make a huge investment? I can’t let all this luck be wasted on running into Adrian Grant.’

"What are you doing here too?"

A familiar, clear female voice suddenly sounded from above him.

The next moment, a figure plopped down heavily in the seat beside him.

Adrian turned his head toward the voice. It was Caroline Whitman.

It wasn’t just Caroline who was shocked; from his perspective, he was just as surprised.

Not only were they on the same flight, but their seats were even in the same row.

Adrian: "As you can see, I’ve finished my work in Floria, which is why I’m on a plane leaving the city."

"..."

"You’re going back to Kingsport?" Caroline asked, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

Adrian gave her an unreadable look. "I don’t think this plane’s destination is Kingsport."

"..."

Caroline pursed her lips and asked casually, "How many days will you be in Janton?"

"Not sure. I’ll head back when I’m done."

After saying this, Adrian glanced idly at the last group of people boarding and asked, "Are you alone?"

Caroline was looking down, rushing to deal with company matters before the plane took off. Her fingertips tapped ceaselessly on her phone as she replied without looking up:

"No, I’m with my assistant. She’s in the back."

"I thought Chase Ford would be with you."

Adrian’s voice was as casual as if they were just making small talk, betraying no emotion.

Only then did Caroline raise her eyes and give him a strange look.

"What does he have to do with anything? We just happen to be competing for a partnership with the same company."