Chapter 81: Whose Child Is It?

For a moment, a heavy silence settled over the living room.

Not just Go Ha-jin, who had spoken the words, even everyone else found themselves unable to respond. Chae Il-joo, Lee Ah-seong, Chae Jun-seok, Tae Seol.

Naturally, Chae Woo-seok was no different.

What the hell had he just heard?

“W-What did you say?”

The first person to recover was, unexpectedly, Lee Ah-seong. Even then, he looked uncertain that he had heard correctly.

Pregnant?

Pregnant?

“I said I’m pregnant. The grandchild you two have always wanted.”

Go Ha-jin lightly rested a hand over his flat stomach as he clarified.

Pregnancy.

This was his solution.

His masterstroke for preserving the marriage and surviving this crisis.

After all, these people valued bloodlines above almost anything else.

“Well… it’s true that my family isn’t some real-estate conglomerate. But honestly, does that matter anymore? Isn’t continuing the Chae family line more important than my background?”

His voice remained calm, but inwardly he was anything but relaxed.

Go Ha-jin carefully studied every face in the room.

One wrong word here and he would fall straight into an abyss with no bottom—into darkness without a single ray of light.

“Hm.”

He wasn’t the only one whose thoughts were in turmoil.

Chae Jae-yi’s face was twisted with fury, looking ready to explode at any second.

Tae Seol appeared completely bewildered.

And Chae Jun-seok…

That expression was unfamiliar.

Neither approval nor rejection.

Something far stranger.

“Let’s have Dr. Kim examine him first. Then we’ll talk.”

Fortunately, Chae Il-joo and Lee Ah-seong were quick thinkers.

As far as they were concerned, Go Ha-jin had a point.

Perhaps he wasn’t the heir to the wealthy family they had hoped for, but he was supposedly carrying a child in a family where descendants were scarce.

From the beginning, the most valuable thing about Go Ha-jin had been the fact that he was a dominant omega.

Besides, publicly, he was known as nothing more than an ordinary omega.

There was no risk of public embarrassment.

The fact that he couldn’t provide political or financial backing for Chae Woo-seok was unfortunate… but manageable.

“Very well, Chairman.”

Go Ha-jin readily accepted Chae Il-joo’s order to see Kim Oh-hyeon.

Showing even the slightest displeasure would invite suspicion.

And besides…

If it was Kim Oh-hyeon, Go Ha-jin was confident he could somehow “persuade” him.

“T-That’s a lie, Dad! Pregnancy? How can he suddenly be pregnant?!”

As expected, Chae Jae-yi was the only one refusing to accept the situation.

Unfortunately for her, nobody paid much attention to her protests.

Then Go Ha-jin drove the nail in deeper.

“You know how close we are, noona.”

The casual remark made Chae Jae-yi bite down hard on her lip.

She still couldn’t understand why Chae Woo-seok kept protecting Go Ha-jin.

But she couldn’t deny that the two of them genuinely seemed close.

“Chae Jae-yi! Lower your voice!”

Instead of support, she earned a rebuke from Chae Il-joo.

Even Lee Ah-seong, who normally couldn’t stand Go Ha-jin, had remained silent.

“Then we’ll excuse ourselves.”

Only now did Go Ha-jin feel like he could breathe again.

He had survived.

At least for the moment.

As he rose with Chae Woo-seok and headed toward the door with all the composure he could muster.

“Though… I guess you didn’t know, Woo-seok?”

“…What?”

The voice came from behind them.

Chae Jun-seok.

Both men stopped.

“I mean, your husband just announced he’s pregnant, but you looked more shocked than anyone.”

At Chae Jun-seok’s observation, everyone’s eyes turned toward them.

Now that he mentioned it…

It was true.

Go Ha-jin had been the only one acting composed.

“That’s because-”

Chae Woo-seok opened his mouth.

He genuinely hadn’t known.

But there was no way he could admit that here.

Even if it wouldn’t help much, he still had to support Go Ha-jin somehow.

“Yes, because I never told him.”

Go Ha-jin cut in before he could continue.

“I was waiting for the right opportunity. I wanted to discuss it together with everything else going on in the family, but I ended up revealing it like this.”

“Anyway, we’ll be going now.”

He lightly tapped Chae Woo-seok’s arm and walked off first.

The action was almost shockingly rude.

But no one had the presence of mind to criticize him.

The news had simply been too explosive.

For everyone.

****

“Pregnant?”

The moment they entered their room and sent all the servants away, Chae Woo-seok finally spoke.

His voice came out sharp.

Somehow they had survived the crisis.

But that wasn’t the issue.

Pregnant?

Pregnant?

The idea had never even crossed his mind.

Until recently, he’d believed Go Ha-jin was a beta.

The word itself felt absurdly foreign.

And they had never even spent a rut or heat cycle together.

Sure, pregnancy was possible without that.

But the odds were significantly lower.

And Go Ha-jin was an extremely recessive omega.

How likely was it that a few rounds of s*x would result in a child?

If anything, the logical suspicion was…

Another man.

Chae Woo-seok knew most of Go Ha-jin’s movements.

Not all of them.

And technically, since theirs wasn’t a real marriage, he had no right to complain if Go Ha-jin had a lover.

Yet the mere thought of him sleeping with another man…

It made his blood boil.

The irrational anger overwhelmed any logical thought.

“Well…”

Go Ha-jin blinked.

He had expected relief.

Not this.

He certainly hadn’t expected Chae Woo-seok to look ready to commit murder.

For a long moment, Woo-seok simply stared at him.

Then finally…

“Whose kid is it?”

“…W-What?”

Go Ha-jin nearly lost strength in his legs.

The harshness in Woo-seok’s voice felt like a physical blow.

It was scarier than when he’d mistaken him for a serial killer.

Scarier than when he’d threatened him with a knife.

“Which bastard?”

Chae Woo-seok ground the words out.

“Who the f*ck did you sleep with?”

Had the rest of the sentence not followed, Go Ha-jin might genuinely have wet himself.

“…What are you talking about?”

“Are you messing with me right now? You said you’re pregnant. Whose child is it?”

“…Ha.”

The moment understanding dawned, an incredulous laugh escaped Go Ha-jin.

Part relief.

Part amusement.

Because somehow…

Watching Chae Woo-seok arrive at that ridiculous conclusion was almost… cute.

“Why?”

Go Ha-jin teased.

“Jealous?”

“Go Ha-jin!”

That was enough.

One more joke and he genuinely felt like his head might get ripped off.

“You can’t seriously be fooled too.”

Go Ha-jin leaned close and whispered into Woo-seok’s ear.

“It’s obviously a lie.”

“…A lie? You aren’t pregnant?”

“Of course not.”

He looked at Woo-seok like the answer should have been obvious.

“Have you ever heard of an extremely recessive omega getting pregnant? That’s practically a miracle. And don’t tell me you seriously thought I was cheating on you… I haven’t done that either.”

Chae Woo-seok had fallen for it completely.

Go Ha-jin had acted so naturally that even he believed it.

If he’d been fooled, then the family probably had too.

The man truly was frighteningly good at lying.

“So it’s all fake? No pregnancy?”

A long breath escaped Chae Woo-seok.

Almost like relief.

“…Are you really that happy?”

“Of course.”

“I have absolutely no desire to become somebody’s father.”

Realistically, the pregnancy had never existed.

And the odds of it happening were incredibly small.

Still…

For some reason, hearing Woo-seok say that left Go Ha-jin feeling oddly disappointed.

Even though there wasn’t actually a child to reject.

“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s not going to happen.”

“Fine. But what now?”

Woo-seok rubbed a hand over his face.

“That lie is going to be exposed sooner or later.”

“To be honest…”

Go Ha-jin scratched his cheek.

“I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“…What?”

The blank expression on his face was genuine.

The plan had been improvised.

There had been no opportunity to coordinate with Kim Oh-hyeon beforehand.

Staring at him, Chae Woo-seok felt his own mind go blank.

Moments ago this man had fooled an entire family.

Now he looked like an idiot.

“How did the entire Chae family get tricked by someone like you…?”

“But seriously, don’t worry too much. Kim Oh-hyeon is more loyal than you’d think.”

“Not good enough.”

This time Woo-seok crossed his arms.

“Tell me everything. I’m not risking my life on assumptions.”

Go Ha-jin hesitated.

He’d always avoided explaining Kim Oh-hyeon’s secret.

Previously it hadn’t mattered.

But now things were different.

One mistake could destroy everything.

“…Fine.”

After a long sigh, he finally gave in.

“He’s dating a beta.”

“…Okay?”

“Another doctor from the hospital.”

Go Ha-jin lowered his voice.

“And Kim Oh-hyeon is the one getting f*cked.”

“…Oh.”

Chae Woo-seok froze.

“Which means he’s not exactly going to expose us. If people found out an alpha had that particular preference, he’d be socially dead.”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

For a brief moment, Chae Woo-seok imagined the impeccably groomed doctor in that position.

He immediately shook the image from his head.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

Still…

If Go Ha-jin was telling the truth, then fabricating a pregnancy diagnosis suddenly seemed possible.

After all, they’d already hidden an omega designation.

Compared to that, a fake pregnancy wasn’t impossible.

“Alright.”

He exhaled slowly.

“Then we’ve survived for now.”

“Right?”

Go Ha-jin watched him carefully.

“No divorce either.”

“That’s… good, isn’t it?”

There was unmistakable hope in his voice.

As though he were waiting for praise.

“Maybe.”

Woo-seok’s gaze softened.

“But there’s something I still don’t understand, Ha-jin.”

Without warning, he grabbed Go Ha-jin’s arm.

The force pulled him forward.

Wrapping both arms around his waist, Chae Woo-seok looked directly into his eyes.

“Why did you lie back there?”

His voice was low.

“Why did you take all the blame onto yourself?”

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