Chapter 189: What Kind of Crazy?
Chapter 189: Chapter 189: What Kind of Crazy?
Once they were the only two left in the room.
Sure enough, Adrian spoke up. "If we just met in May, then the timeline for getting married and having a child doesn’t quite add up."
Caroline crossed her arms and smiled.
’Great, he’s lost his memory but not his logical reasoning.’
"What do you think is wrong with it?" she asked.
"The child can’t be this old."
Caroline said, "Alright. It seems that even with amnesia, your IQ hasn’t dropped."
For a moment, Adrian suspected that he had gotten her pregnant and had a child with her during college.
But from Caroline’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case.
"So, is it...?"
"Didn’t Dad tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"About the child’s situation."
"I didn’t ask. I wanted to hear it from you first."
Adrian had his own reasoning. He believed that since Caroline was the child’s mother and his wife, she would know more about the child’s situation, and his own, for that matter.
Caroline raised an eyebrow. She suddenly found that Adrian, reverting to his rational and businesslike demeanor, had its own unique charm.
"Ryan is from the year 2036." Caroline leaned back against the sofa, crossed her legs, and leisurely watched the man on the bed, whose mind was clearly racing, anticipating his reaction.
Adrian frowned.
’He had amnesia, he wasn’t an idiot.’
"The future you and I from a parallel universe had him, and somehow, he time-traveled to the present. You’ve also had a paternity test done. I’m guessing the results are in your email. You should look for them yourself," Caroline said casually.
"..."
Adrian didn’t respond.
Of course, he had already looked.
In fact, during the quiet period after he woke up, he had started by familiarizing himself with his own phone.
He had immediately logged into his email and searched for "paternity test," and sure enough, an encrypted file had popped up.
The test result confirmed he was the biological father.
At the time, he had stared at the words on the screen in silence for a long time.
Now, that silence stretched on even longer.
Besides that, his email also contained Caroline Whitman’s personal profile.
The two emails weren’t sent far apart, both from around mid-to-late May.
However, the email with Caroline’s profile came first, followed by the paternity test report.
It was enough to prove that their connection had only begun around that time.
"I’ve seen it."
"But my parents believe this story about him time-traveling from the future?"
"Uh, I guess so. After all, you were the one who told them about it in the first place."
"..."
After a moment, Adrian spoke again, asking his third question. "Are we together because of the child?"
Caroline’s eyes darted back and forth.
"Nope." She leaned back and crossed her arms. "You pursued me."
The corner of Adrian’s eyebrow twitched.
"And quite crazily, too," Caroline added.
Adrian said nothing.
Based on his fundamental understanding of his own personality, the word "crazily" was not within his standard operating procedure.
"How so?" he asked.
"Seriously, you were very persistent," Caroline said, looking completely straight-faced. "We had only just gotten together when you proposed. The day after you proposed, you dragged me to get our marriage license. I couldn’t stop you even if I tried."
Adrian stared into her eyes, trying to find any flaw in her story.
When people were up to mischief, they were not only exceptionally patient but also exceptionally good at faking it.
Caroline was in exactly that state. Plus, what she was saying was technically the truth, so her bright eyes were open and guileless. Adrian stared for a moment, then suddenly looked away.
He couldn’t find any flaws.
He mentally reviewed his own personality and concluded that he wasn’t the type to do something like "relentlessly pursue someone and then rush to get married the next day."
But the wedding ring and the paternity test in his email left him unable to refute her claims.
After a long silence, Adrian could only manage, "I had no idea I was in such a hurry."
"Well, now you know." Caroline stood up and placed the peeled apple on his nightstand, her mood clearly much better than it had been in the afternoon. "Here. An apple peeled especially for you by your wife. I’ll be sad if you don’t eat it, you know."
Adrian stared at the peeled apple, hesitating for a second before obediently taking it.
After enjoying the sight of the handsome man eating an apple, Caroline said:
"I’ll go get the nurse to change your dressing."
She had only taken two steps before she backed up again, suddenly letting out a mischievous laugh. "Or should I let your dear wife change it for you?"
Adrian: "..."
"Let’s leave professional matters to the professionals. I wouldn’t want to trouble you."
Caroline stopped teasing him. After having the nurse change his dressing, she left him in peace.
However, at nine o’clock, Caroline returned.
This time, she came with the clear intention of teasing him. "Do you need me to stay with you tonight?"
Adrian looked at her, realizing this woman was getting an unusual amount of enjoyment out of "taking advantage of him while he had amnesia."
"No, thank you," he said.
"Are you sure?" Caroline sat down on the edge of the bed. "Really? What if you want water in the middle of the night, or need the bathroom, or have a headache..."
"There’s a call button."
"A call button isn’t as useful as your wife," Caroline said, her tone openly teasing. "Can a call button tuck you in? Can it chat with you?"
"My hands aren’t broken; I can tuck myself in. A patient needs quiet, not conversation."
"But you have amnesia," Caroline said with a blink. "The doctor said a familiar environment and familiar people can help with recovery. I’m just helping you get your memory back."
She stood up, took a spare blanket from the cabinet, and spread it on the sofa. "Alright, fine. I won’t force you if you’re unwilling, and I definitely won’t make a move on you."
Adrian: "..."
’Why does that sound so strange? That’s not right, is it?’
"I’ll just sleep here. If you remember anything in the middle of the night, just call me," Caroline said considerately, lying down on the sofa and turning to look at him with an innocent, harmless expression.
In fact, Caroline had barely laid down when Ryan Grant came happily trotting over, hugging his own pillow.
Seeing that his mother was already on the sofa, he announced that he also wanted to sleep here tonight to keep his dad company.
Caroline looked at the narrow sofa. "Sweetie, go sleep on your dad’s bed. There’s no room here."
So Ryan turned, still hugging his pillow, and looked at Adrian with pleading, expectant eyes.
Adrian took off his glasses and looked at the little boy who bore a striking resemblance to him. Helplessly, he glanced at the empty space beside him on the bed.
Before he could even speak, Ryan had already gotten the signal. He scampered over, plopped his little pillow down, and climbed up to snuggle under the covers. The entire sequence was one smooth motion, a clear sign this wasn’t his first time doing this.
"Dad, don’t worry, I promise I won’t kick off the covers or drool tonight." Ryan pulled the blanket up to his chin and snuggled obediently beside him, leaving only his big, round eyes visible. "Mommy, turn off the lights."
CLICK.
A small night-light remained on in the room.
Adrian wasn’t asleep yet. Assistant Carson had brought his laptop over earlier, and due to his memory loss, he needed to review his work progress from the past few months.
Fortunately, the one big and one small person beside him weren’t being noisy.
The child really did close his eyes obediently.
As for Caroline, she hadn’t slept well for a day and a night. Tonight was the first time she could finally rest easy, and she quickly closed her eyes as well.
Adrian pulled his gaze away from Caroline. As he opened his laptop to familiarize himself with the work data on the hard drive, he discovered a backed-up private file in his cloud storage.