WCMBI - Chapter 236: For Child’s Sake (Patreon)

Yes, Ian had tidied up the mansion, waiting exclusively for her return. He had meticulously organized and cleaned everything, including the annex and the verdant rose garden that remained untouched. She was meant to stay in the main house anyway.

The throbbing ache in his chest began to subside. Slowly rising to his feet, Ian maintained his gaze on Melissa. He opened his mouth deliberately, as if intending to memorize every detail from her hair to her fingertips.

"Please come back for Dia's sake, at least. I implore you."

Though he still wondered why she rejected him, at this moment, bringing Melissa back to where she belonged took precedence. He deliberately avoided the disdainful expression she showed when mentioning the possibility of taking her back to the aristocratic circle.

"Do not cowardly bring up Dia's story."

For her, Dia embodied a decision steeped in remorse. She hadn't done much as a mother while raising Adela, and the guilt weighed heavily on her.

However, she struggled to find the right words. At that moment, the cries of Adela echoed from the adjacent room, jolting her to action. In haste, she headed towards Adela.

As she stepped into the hallway, Sarah and Pedro awaited her with concerned expressions. Together, they went into the room where Adela was.

Staggering, Ian followed her, his face blank as he fixed his gaze on the direction she disappeared. Swiftly, he acted. Just before Melissa could close the door, he carefully inserted his hand through the gap and gently pushed it open.

Inside, a warm fragrance mingled with the scent of milk and the array of baby paraphernalia filled the room. And within it, a vision of his Omega holding the child in her arms was impossible to tear his eyes away from.

Suddenly, thoughts of the past, when they were together with Dia, surged within Ian, and he found himself overwhelmed by emotions he didn't even realize he possessed.

"My child."

Belatedly, Melissa recognized that Ian had entered the room and glared at him.

"No, it's my child."

"When was it conceived?"

Melissa couldn't recall when the child was conceived, but Ian's intuition told him otherwise. He confidently asserted his claim to the child.

"It is not your child."

"Are you sure? May I have a glimpse of the child, even for a moment?"

Melissa concealed Adella in her arms as he approached, seemingly entranced by something. For the first time, Ian felt a sense of unease in her actions. Though everything might have been her fault, he could not condone hiding the fact that she was his child.

Thus, he began exuding pheromones. It was to elicit a response from the child, to reassure his omega.

However, something seemed amiss. Ian, fixated on the impassive Melissa, intensified the release of pheromones.

Had he been a different man, an omega in awe, he would have surely responded to his own pheromones. But there was no flicker of change in Melissa's composed demeanor. Neither a hint of blush nor a shift in her breath betrayed her calm facade.

From that moment on, Ian sensed that something was significantly awry. The child, previously quiet, suddenly erupted into loud wails, startling Melissa into a rigid expression.

Only then did she realize that Ian had done something. Abruptly, the serenity she had struggled to maintain shattered.

Summoning a vast power in an instant, Melissa unleashed a relentless assault on Ian. Sharp ice surged towards him like gleaming blades. Instinctively, he dodged the attack, unable to conceal his bewilderment.

Before his mind could fully comprehend the situation, another attack ensued, and Ian evaded hastily. Melissa quickly handed Adella over to Pedro, channeling magic through her fingertips to draw a spell.

Pedro, suppressing his revulsion towards the alpha pheromones, naturally stepped back, cradling the child. Observing his foolish expression, Ian spotted the engraved rune beneath his feet and drew his sword. Vowing never to leave this place, he too infused aura into his weapon and brought it crashing down on the floor.

A resounding clash erupted as magic and aura collided, shaking the entire tower.