How Could a Scumbag Alpha Possibly Love His Wife? (GL, ABO) - Chapter 3

Cheng Wan had just finished her bath. Her long brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Perhaps because she had stayed in the water too long, her complexion didn’t look very good.

Her wet eyes stared into the mirror. Cheng Wan looked at her reflection and lowered her gaze in quiet sadness.

She was wearing a soft beige pajama set that looked both warm and gentle. Cheng Wan gently placed a hand on her lower abdomen. Truthfully, she didn’t feel anything at all—not even the usual pregnancy symptoms.

This baby was very quiet. Perhaps it would be a thoughtful and gentle child.

The bathroom was filled with thick steam, which quickly fogged up the mirror again.

Cheng Wan rubbed her still-flat belly. Right now, the baby was only the size of a soybean. It would continue developing inside her body and eventually grow into a cute, noisy little child.

In this world, there were six genders. At birth, a baby could only be identified as male or female, but at puberty, they would further differentiate into one of the secondary gender attributes.

However, with advances in modern medicine, it had become possible to predict a child’s future gender differentiation—whether Alpha, Beta, or Omega—right at birth, and the prediction was usually quite accurate.

Cheng Wan felt that it didn’t matter which one it turned out to be. As long as it was her child, that was enough.

But then, her thoughts drifted to Bai Juntang. It was almost laughable. She and Bai Juntang had only met twice, and each time ended in conflict. They hadn’t even had a proper conversation.

The way Bai Juntang looked at the Cheng family was full of contempt. She looked at Cheng Wan the same way.

There was hatred and disgust in her eyes—pure loathing.

Cheng Wan’s hand, which was gently caressing her belly, paused.

If feelings could be measured like a popularity score, Cheng Wan was sure that Bai Juntang’s feelings toward her had long since dipped into the negatives.

“Baby,” Cheng Wan whispered softly, speaking to the tiny life still not yet formed, “your other mother doesn’t seem to like you.”

But that’s okay. I will love you.

The bathroom was silent, with only the sound of water droplets hitting the floor.

It was a long while before Cheng Wan finally turned and left the bathroom. The night was already deep, but the master bedroom upstairs was still glowing with a dim yellow light. That was the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Cheng.

Wearing fluffy slippers, Cheng Wan made her way toward her own room.

“Do you think Bai Juntang will agree?”

Just then, in the stillness of the night, Cheng Wan heard a familiar voice. It was her mother’s.

“How could she not agree? Cheng Wan is pregnant, after all.”

“But that hospital belongs to the Bai family. I’m worried she might pull some tricks tomorrow.”

“Yes, I was worried about that too when Cheng Wan came back. If Bai Juntang refuses to acknowledge the child, then we’ll lose the startup capital.”

“Let’s wait and see what the results are tomorrow. If Bai Juntang dares to tamper with anything, we’ll just get another test.”

“……”

Cheng Wan didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation. She already knew what the Cheng family was thinking. Naturally, they were calculating how to sell her off for a good price.

In truth, Cheng Wan wasn’t their biological daughter. She had been adopted by the Cheng couple when she was around seven or eight years old.

She didn’t remember much about her early childhood—just that when she was very young, there were always gentle hands patting her back softly. She would curl up in a woman’s arms and breathe in the comforting scent that lingered on her clothes.

People said she had been sent to an orphanage when she was four. That was where she met the couple who would later become her adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cheng.

At the time, the Chengs were already in their thirties and had never been able to have children. Medical tests had shown it was due to glandular issues—it was unlikely they’d ever conceive. So, when they saw the newly arrived little Cheng Wan, they decided to adopt her.

Back then, she was small and frail, still an undifferentiated little Omega. The Cheng couple were very pleased with her and quickly began the adoption process. But because they were busy with their business, the final paperwork was delayed for a while.

Ironically, during that delay, Mrs. Cheng finally became pregnant.

And once they had a biological child, who would still want someone else’s?

Cheng Wan was left at the orphanage. But since the legal procedures had already been completed, and a child wasn’t something you could simply “return,” the Chengs began using all kinds of excuses to delay taking her in—until she was seven or eight years old.

By that age, most children were already in school. But due to household registration issues, Cheng Wan hadn’t been able to enroll anywhere. Eventually, the Chengs gave in and agreed to take back this pitiful little Omega. They gave her the family name “Cheng” and officially called her Cheng Wan.

The moment Cheng Wan woke up in Bai Juntang’s bed, she had understood everything.

The Cheng family had never truly treated her as their own. They had always intended to trade her for a good price—and Bai Juntang had just happened to be the unlucky one caught in their scheme.

Thinking it over, Cheng Wan didn’t really blame Bai Juntang for hating her.

If their roles had been reversed, she might have been even angrier than Bai Juntang was.

In the pitch-dark bedroom, Cheng Wan sat on the edge of her bed. When she looked up, she could see the moonlight outside the window.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, and the surrounding stars were few and far between. Even so, the skies suggested that tomorrow would be a clear day.

***

Bai Juntang crawled out from under the hotel covers and glanced at the clock—it was already 10 a.m.

Her assistant had called several times, but she’d only just heard the phone.

“Hello?”

Still lying in bed with her eyes closed, Bai Juntang asked lazily, “Are the results out?”

“Yes, President Bai,” Xiao Li said, clutching the report, his emotions complicated. “Should I send it to you?”

“No need,” Bai Juntang replied. She preferred not to have that kind of thing put in front of her. “Just tell me the result.”

“Alright.” Xiao Li looked at the last line of the report, took a deep breath, and said cautiously, “Miss Cheng Wan is indeed pregnant with your child.”

For a moment, it felt as though the entire world had gone silent.

Xiao Li didn’t even dare to breathe. He sat stiffly on a hospital bench, tense with nerves. If not for the timer still counting on the phone, he would have thought Bai Juntang had hung up.

It was hard to tell how much time passed before Bai Juntang finally exhaled deeply and sat up in bed.

She pushed her long hair back and, with a strained expression, told Xiao Li, “Got it. Destroy the report.”

After hanging up, Bai Juntang casually tossed her phone aside and got out of bed to take a shower.

She had stayed out too late the previous night and ended up booking a hotel nearby. Now that the results were in, it was time to figure out what to do next.

Bai Juntang wasn’t a heartless person. If Cheng Wan really was carrying her child, then she would take responsibility for it.

Warm water ran down Bai Juntang’s shoulders, forming tiny puddles on the tiled floor.

However, Bai Juntang would never forgive the people who had set her up.

The child was innocent—but the others weren’t.

After stepping out of the shower, Bai Juntang immediately noticed her phone vibrating on the bed where she had tossed it earlier.

Towel in hand, she walked over while drying her hair. When she saw the caller ID, her eyes darkened.

She hesitated for a moment, then picked up the call just before it rang off, switching it to speakerphone.

“Mom,” Bai Juntang said as she sat down on a chair, head lowered, calmly drying her hair. “What’s the matter? Calling me out of the blue like this?”

The woman on the other end had a rich, magnetic voice—one that bore a striking resemblance to Bai Juntang’s. She asked, “Did you take a woman to the hospital yesterday for a DNA test?”

Bai Juntang chuckled helplessly. “Mom, if you already know, why ask?”

“And then you went out drinking the same night. That girl you drank with posted a bunch of pictures with you all over social media. What exactly are you trying to do?”

Bai Juntang didn’t reply, continuing to towel-dry her hair in silence.

She had only gone for drinks with that girl last night. She hadn’t stopped her from taking pictures, but it was just drinking—nothing else had happened.

Besides, Mu Ruchu was in those photos too. It wasn’t like it was just the two of them.

The woman on the phone sighed. Her tone softened slightly as she said, “I don’t know what you’re planning, but since Cheng Wan is carrying your child, that makes her part of our Bai family now.”

“In a few days, it’ll be your mother’s death anniversary. You should come pay your respects with us.”

Bai Juntang’s hand paused mid-motion. After a long silence, she said, “I understand.”

That was where most of their conversations usually ended. Bai Juntang always agreed to whatever the woman said—but once the call ended, she did whatever she wanted anyway. It was pointless.

Out of the 300 or so people in Bai Juntang’s contacts, this woman’s calls were always the shortest—never over 30 seconds, just like now.

Staring at the darkened screen, Bai Juntang casually tossed the towel to the floor and walked barefoot to the bed to check her phone.

She didn’t bother asking how the woman got her information. She knew someone was feeding it to her, and she didn’t care enough to stop them.

Then she dialed Xiao Li.

Even though it was the weekend and she felt a little bad making him work overtime again, this wasn’t the time to be considerate.

Fortunately, Xiao Li knew she’d need the car today and had already driven it over. As soon as Bai Juntang came out, she got in.

“President Bai, are we heading to the Cheng residence?” Xiao Li asked, though his hands were already steering in that direction.

Bai Juntang leaned back in the seat and responded with a soft “Mm.” She rolled the window down and added, “Let’s make it quick. I’ve already wasted two days on this.”

Her time was too valuable to be spent on people like them.

Xiao Li, ever the professional assistant, drove in silence, never once prying into his boss’s private matters. Before long, the car pulled into the Cheng family’s courtyard. This time, Bai Juntang didn’t wait for Xiao Li to alert anyone—she got out herself.

She moved like a gust of wind, pushing open the front door without hesitation. She walked in as though it were her own home and sat down on the living room sofa like she belonged there.

Cheng Jiajian froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and asked Mrs. Cheng to bring Cheng Wan out of the bedroom.

“President Bai,” Cheng Jiajian said, adopting the tone of a seasoned patriarch. His demeanor was authoritative yet polite. “So, have the results come back?”

“Of course they have,” Bai Juntang replied with a smirk as she looked at the middle-aged man. “You did your calculations well. The child in Cheng Wan’s belly is indeed mine.”

Cheng Wan, who had followed Mrs. Cheng into the living room, froze in her tracks as she heard those words. She stared at the woman whose back was turned to her.

Bai Juntang continued, “I know exactly what you’re all plotting. Last time, I stepped aside and let you have a project. But this time, I won’t be so agreeable. That child is mine, and Cheng Wan will carry it to term. That’s not up for debate.”

Cheng Jiajian hesitated. “President Bai, you can’t expect my daughter to give birth for you for free, can you?”

“She won’t be doing it for free,” Bai Juntang replied with a cold, amused smile. “As long as Cheng Wan obediently carries the child and the baby is registered under my name, I’ll give her 100 million.”

She caught the flicker of excitement in Cheng Jiajian’s eyes and sneered.

“But let me be clear—if any of you try anything shady again, forget the 100 million. I won’t give you a single cent.”