Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

A muscle in Caroline Whitman’s temple twitched.

’That’s my mom for you,’ she thought. ’Her guesses are always spot-on!’

Seriously, Kingsport was too small. She was genuinely worried that she, Adrian Grant, and the child would run into her parents one day when they were out.

Being seen out and about with Adrian Grant wasn’t the scary part.

The scary part was being seen with a child between them who was the spitting image of Adrian.

What was even scarier was her recent discovery that if you looked closely at Ryan Grant’s little face, you could see a hint of her own features.

If they were really caught, she wouldn’t even know how to begin to explain.

Caroline Whitman: "Mom, what are you thinking? I barely know him. We have some business dealings at most. How could you jump to the conclusion that we’re living together?"

Franklin Whitman: "Barely know him? You’re the one who facilitated most of the collaborations between our company and the Grant Group. You two can’t be strangers, can you?"

Yolanda Young: "Oh, come on. You’re a grown woman. It’s not like we’re going to scold you for dating. People are free to date who they want these days. If you really like him, it’s not like we’d disapprove."

Caroline Whitman: "..."

’Damn it,’ she thought. ’I should have kept my mouth shut about having someone I like...’

She changed the subject, glancing toward the dining table. "Weren’t we supposed to be eating? Where’s the food?"

The couple exchanged a look and tacitly agreed to drop the subject for now.

"What’s the rush? It’s not time yet. And you still haven’t told us where you were last night."

When faced with a difficult question, Caroline Whitman really didn’t want to answer.

Clearly, her usual excuse of staying with a friend for a few days wasn’t going to work anymore.

She might have gotten away with it once or twice, but over time, the lie was starting to fall apart.

"I moved to Brocade Bay a while ago. It just so happened that Adrian Grant was heading the same way last night. I was at my place in Brocade Bay."

Caroline replied, feigning nonchalance.

Franklin Whitman was shocked. "Brocade Bay? What are you doing all the way out there?"

Although he saw his daughter at the office every day, he never imagined that she had secretly moved after work without telling them a thing.

Caroline casually fabricated an excuse. "I wanted a change of scenery. It’s closer to the office, so I don’t have to get up so early."

Franklin looked skeptical. "Azure Heights isn’t far from the office either."

Even though their family was wealthy now, Caroline’s sudden move was still too strange.

In terms of security, Azure Heights was top-notch.

’Could there be some new investment opportunity in Brocade Bay?’ he wondered.

Brocade Bay was a high-end residential complex with mature, fully developed surrounding facilities. There was no more room for new development.

Yolanda Young was also puzzled. "Why on earth would you move there? Is there another business opportunity?"

Caroline said with a straight face, "I’m currently investigating it."

Hearing this, Franklin and Yolanda, though still a little doubtful, were inclined to believe her.

After all, the Whitman Group wouldn’t be where it was today without Caroline’s investment acumen, in addition to the demolition compensation they’d used as seed money.

The first thing Franklin did when he got money was to send his daughter to the best private school.

He never had the chance to get an education himself, so he couldn’t let his child go without one.

Franklin trusted Caroline’s investment advice so readily simply because he felt his daughter was well-educated.

Plus, he figured that after studying at a prestigious private school for so long, she must have picked up some inside information by osmosis.

At first, he had cautiously invested a small amount of money based on the trends Caroline mentioned, and to his surprise, the interest compounded, and he made a considerable profit.

From then on, Franklin never doubted any of Caroline’s bidding suggestions or her predictions about future market trends.

Franklin’s interest was piqued. "What kind of trend? Give your old man the inside scoop."

Caroline: "It’s nothing major, really. A potential partner I haven’t been able to win over lives there, so I figured I’d start by getting familiar with his neighborhood."

"Oh, I see." Franklin nodded and asked casually, "Who is it? Do I know them?"

Yolanda, however, gave Caroline an unreadable look. "Man or woman?"

It wasn’t that the couple was overly controlling, but she was their only daughter. If nothing else, they had to worry about her safety.

The family of three had an unwritten rule: whoever went somewhere, even on a business trip, had to report it in the family group chat.

Now that Caroline had suddenly moved to Brocade Bay without a word, they were, at the end of the day, a little worried.

Yolanda suddenly had a thought. "You didn’t move there to chase after a man, did you?"

"..."

Realization dawned on Franklin as well. He asked, "Does that Adrian Grant fellow live there?"

Caroline Whitman: "..."

"Dad, there you go again, letting your imagination run wild. Why drag him into this for no reason?" Caroline said helplessly.

Franklin: "Look at you, getting defensive again."

Caroline: "Did you call me back just to talk about this? If so, I won’t be coming back next time."

With that, she turned and went upstairs. "Call me when dinner’s ready."

Yolanda: "Honestly... this girl."

That evening, after dinner at The Whitman Manor.

The couple asked Caroline to stay the night. Ordinarily, she definitely would have.

But not tonight.

It was now 8:30 PM.

A call came in from Ryan Grant.

Caroline ran into the courtyard to answer it. After reassuring the little guy and hanging up, she returned to the living room to find her parents looking at her, dying to ask questions but holding back.

So she told them with a serious expression:

"I have something to do tonight, so I won’t be staying over."

The couple exchanged another look. Franklin said calmly, "Then you should head back."

Yolanda pursed her lips. What she said in the end wasn’t what she was actually thinking:

"Be safe on the road. And come back more often. Also, where exactly in Brocade Bay are you living? Send us the address. We’ll come visit when we have time."

Caroline: "...I’ll send it to the group chat later."

After watching their daughter leave, Yolanda said with certainty, "That girl is definitely hiding something from us."

Franklin felt the same way. "She couldn’t really be seeing someone behind our backs, could she?"

But Yolanda didn’t think so. "That’s impossible. Even if she were with that boy from the Grant family, there would be even less reason to hide it from us."

They had originally called Caroline back to ask about what happened with Adrian last night, to get a feel for the situation so they would know where things stood.

But given Caroline’s attitude today, they couldn’t figure out if there was any chance of something happening between them or not.

When Caroline returned to Brocade Bay, Adrian was helping the child with his homework.

Seeing this, a strange, dreamlike feeling washed over her.

After a while, it really did create the illusion that they were a real family of three.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Adrian and the little boy both looked up at the same time.

"Mommy, you’re back! I thought you were going to work late again tonight."

"Haha," Caroline deflected. "Have you two eaten?"

The little boy: "We ate already."

Caroline went to take a shower. When she came out, she joined Adrian in watching some TV in the living room with Ryan.

Before long, Ryan was dozing off on the sofa to the sound of the television.

Caroline turned off the TV, and Adrian picked up the child to carry him to his room.

When Adrian came out of the child’s room, Caroline was just walking over from the living room.

The two met face-to-face.

Caroline thought for a moment, then explained what happened earlier. "My parents went to my old place last night,"