Chapter 80

4

A chilling silence flowed momentarily. No one opened their mouth. The woman looking up at Dane with a desperate expression, Dane looking down at her with an expressionless face, and Greyson, who had turned pale watching them.

"...What did you say?"

Dane asked after a pause. She took a deep breath before answering.

"I said I'm pregnant, with your child."

...What is this woman saying?

Greyson contorted his brow in disbelief. How could Dane impregnate a woman? What nonsense.

"She's a crazy woman, no need to deal with her."

Greyson abruptly intervened between them. Gently but firmly pushing the woman's shoulder away, he smiled.

"I think you've come to the wrong house."

"Let go, what are you doing?"

The woman shrieked, shaking off Greyson's hand. Just as Greyson was about to open his mouth again, Dane suddenly blocked him.

"Don't touch a woman carelessly."

"...Huh."

Greyson looked at Dane in disbelief. What did you just say to me? I'm taking your side here? You're taking the side of this woman who's spouting nonsense?

With a "meow" from the cat, Dane directed a sharp gaze at Greyson. He didn't speak, but his actions made it clear.

Pheromones.

Greyson realized that he had been unconsciously emitting sharp, intense pheromones. Of course. He was extremely angry right now.

But Dane was glaring at Greyson with a fearsome gaze. He didn't care about Greyson's anger. All that mattered was that his pheromones were threatening his precious cat Darling. This fact made Greyson even more exasperated.

"Greyson Miller."

Dane called his name again at the continuously overflowing pheromones. He looked as if he really wouldn't let it slide if this continued. Finally, Greyson suppressed himself and contained his scent. As the scent faded, Dane turned his head back to her. Greyson's feelings were hurt once more, but there was nothing he could do about it.

It was obvious how this absurd happening would end, but that didn't make the unpleasant feeling go away. Unless Dane revealed his phenotype, things would certainly get complicated.

Of course, he would keep it secret. It's common for extreme Omegas to hide their phenotype. In fact, that guy is passing as a Beta...

Then how would he handle that woman?

Greyson suddenly became cold-headed. The course of action in such situations was predetermined. Already organizing the future events coldly in his mind, he silently looked down at her. Despite receiving the gaze of men with enormous builds, the woman raised her head and opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

"Let's talk inside, this isn't something to discuss standing like this."

"There's no need for that."

Dane suddenly blocked the woman who was trying to slip past him and enter. To the woman who looked up at him in surprise, Dane spoke in an indifferent tone.

"If you're pregnant, it's not my child."

"What?"

The woman raised her voice in confusion. As if she hadn't expected this situation at all.

Wait, could it be...

Just as Greyson hesitated, Dane opened his mouth. In his usual indifferent tone.

"I'm sorry, but I'm an Omega."

Her eyes widened. Greyson was equally surprised. Revealing his phenotype? So easily? No, this is the simplest solution, but...

"What?"

After a few seconds of silence, she asked back. Looking down at a face that was as confused as Greyson's, perhaps even more so, Dane calmly repeated what he had said earlier.

"I'm an Omega. I can't impregnate you, look for another candidate besides me."

"That's impossible... it can't be..."

The woman, who had shaken her head, soon laughed hollowly and said.

"You're trying to avoid responsibility by lying like that? Don't talk nonsense, how can you be an Omega? You want me to believe that? Such an obvious lie?"

"It's true."

Dane stated definitively once more. Then, a faint scent of pheromones was felt. After smelling that scent, the woman blinked her wide eyes several times and shook her head.

"No, it can't be... it can't..."

Though she wanted to keep denying it, this was too clear evidence. She looked at Greyson, who was standing behind, with wavering eyes. Greyson trampled her futile hope with a sneer.

"Do I look like an Omega to you?"

At his voice full of arrogance, she flinched, bit her lip, and lowered her head. Dane, looking down at her slightly trembling body, opened his mouth.

"There must be other candidates besides me, right?"

The woman slowly shook her head.

"No."

"Think carefully."

"No, I said no!"

Her head-shaking became more violent. Eventually, the woman began to cry out like a scream.

"That man can't be the father, no, I don't want that...!"

Looking down at her after her intense outcry, Dane opened his mouth.

"So you wanted me to be the father."

The woman hesitated and looked up at him. Her eyes were full of tears. It was a pitiful and miserable sight to anyone, but nothing changed. Dane still spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.

"I'm sorry, but I can't take responsibility for something I didn't do."

He continued in a calm voice.

"And you were mistaken. Maybe you judged me that way because I'm a firefighter, but I'm not the kind of person who can take responsibility for someone and form a family."

That statement resonated strangely in Greyson's ears as well. As he directed a frowning gaze at Dane, the woman said.

"You'd still be better than that man."

At the stubborn woman's words, Dane snickered and added in a somewhat lighter tone.

"You trust me, who sleeps with new people almost every day by going to clubs?"

The woman didn't laugh. Instead, she sniffled and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Watching her, Dane opened his mouth.

"...If you don't have someone to go to the hospital with, I can help with that."

Why would you?

Greyson didn't understand, but he kept quiet, not wanting to intervene and prolong this unpleasant time. And she left in a taxi that Dane called for her. By the time they were finally alone again, more than an hour had passed.

* * *

"Haaaa."

Dane pressed his forehead with one hand as if he had a headache and let out a deep sigh. Only after the taxi she had boarded disappeared did he return inside the house, immediately heading to the dining table and gulping down the cold coffee like water. After emptying the remaining coffee in one go, his Adam's apple moving up and down greatly, Dane finally put down the empty cup. Greyson, who had been watching silently until then, opened his mouth.

"Does this happen often?"

At the quiet question, Dane wiped his lips with the back of his hand and answered.

"Not often, occasionally."

It meant it had happened multiple times. No wonder his way of handling it earlier had seemed strangely familiar. Greyson, who had been staring at such a Dane, muttered.

"It's fortunate that you're an Omega."

Dane looked at him with a frowning face. As if to say, what nonsense are you talking about? But Greyson just silently looked back at him. With deep wrinkles on his brow, as if his mood had been twisted.

If Dane had been a Beta.

His heart immediately turned cold. Dane would probably have practiced thorough contraception, but if he had accidentally impregnated someone, he would have taken responsibility right away. He would have created a lovely family as a perfect husband and father.

Imagining that scene, his stomach churned with jealousy to the point of feeling like it would tear.

Dane had declared himself not to be that kind of person, but that couldn't be true. This man might not be domestic, but he has a strong sense of responsibility. He would certainly have dedicated the rest of his life to his family. Whether he would be satisfied with that or not was a separate issue.

"If you have something to say, say it."

Dane's voice cut through his consciousness. When Greyson came to his senses and looked, he saw Dane still standing there, waiting for the next words. "No," Greyson paused for a moment and then opened his mouth.

"Why did you reveal your phenotype so easily?"

When he asked what had been curious to him all along, Dane, unexpectedly, readily answered.

"Because that's the easiest solution."

Then he added nonchalantly.

"It's not like my life changes because I'm an Omega."