Kiss the Scumbag

“Shouldn’t we first question whether Father-in-law’s psychiatric evaluation was properly conducted? At the very least, more than two doctors should have confirmed it….”

“They said three doctors confirmed it. You sly old fox.”

Gordon spat out a curse directed at his father, but no one stopped him. Inwardly, everyone was thinking the same thing. At that moment, Winston’s mother, who had been seething with barely contained rage, suddenly turned around.

“What are you going to do, Winston?”

All attention shifted at once. Madam Campbell, who had remained silent until now, turned her fury toward Winston, who sat motionless, deep in thought.

“Are you going to let them take everything just like that? Do something! That lowly wretch must have done something to your father. He must have been secretly meeting Harold behind our backs! Yes, that must be it. Otherwise, how—how could this possibly—”

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

For the first time, Winston spoke. As his mother fell silent and everyone focused on him, he continued at a slower pace than usual.

“The chances of Father meeting Yu-jin are slim. He stayed in the mansion for quite some time—more precisely, at Delight. If Father had gone out or met anyone, I would have known immediately. Especially if it were Yu-jin.”

Yu-jin’s reaction earlier had only solidified Winston’s suspicions. He recalled the sheer horror in Yu-jin’s eyes, the way he had screamed in disbelief while denying the will. One of Winston’s eyebrows twitched briefly.

How insolent.

Though he remained still, the thickening scent of his pheromones made it clear to everyone in the room that he was furious. Of course, the reason was different from what they assumed.

It was Winston who should have been the one to shout that this was a lie, to vehemently deny it. He should have been the one to declare that his father had lost his mind in his final days. Instead, he had wasted those crucial moments, too absorbed in imagining himself pinning Yu-jin down.

How dare he.

Winston clenched his teeth. The idea of Yu-jin rejecting him was absurd. It should have been Winston who spat words of contempt, declaring that he would never marry someone like Yu-jin or have children with him.

But Yu-jin had taken that role instead. All of it.

It was so utterly ridiculous that Winston had no choice but to acknowledge the truth himself. His father had been of sound mind. He admitted it, if only to deny Yu-jin.

There was still a way.

Winston loosened his jaw and fell into thought. He had to handle this situation rationally, no matter what. And above all, he had confidence.

“Don’t worry. I won’t just sit back and take it.”

Winston’s low voice left no room for argument, and then he fell silent again. Sensing the tension in the air, Gordon hesitated before speaking up.

“Then, for now… why don’t we all head back? Winston will need time to think.”

“Yes. This is sudden, so we should take a step back and cool our heads.”

As George agreed and got up, Lady Catherine also rose from her seat. One by one, they began leaving the drawing room. The last to move was Madam Campbell, who stopped beside Winston as he sat on the sofa.

“You’re not wavering because of that thing, are you?” she murmured in a low voice.

Winston furrowed his brow and looked up at her from an angle. Madam Campbell, revealing the suspicion she had kept hidden, continued speaking.

“I noticed your pheromones grew stronger back in the study. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.”

“Mother, pheromones intensify when someone is angry.”

Winston dismissed her with ease. Seeing her son behave no differently than usual, she relaxed slightly, her voice softening.

“Of course, they do.”

She placed her hands on the shoulders of her beloved youngest son and kissed his temple—a gesture that said she trusted him.

That thing had received more inheritance than her.

As she stepped out of the drawing room, she clenched her teeth once more. She would never forgive them. Not Harold. Not that mistress.

Finally, once everyone had left and he was alone, Winston was able to think more clearly. The contents of the will were straightforward: within one year, he had to marry Yu-jin and have a child. After that, he could divorce him and still keep his inheritance. At a glance, it seemed simple. But the conditions were the real issue.

“Yu-jin, I love you.”

Recalling Harold’s final words, Winston nearly swore out loud. Even in his last moments, Harold had refused to let go of his feelings for his young lover. The fact that he had even included such a desperate confession in his will made that painfully clear.

A father passing down his mistress to his son—what kind of absurd, grotesque nonsense was this?

Was that why? Was that why Harold had pushed for this marriage? Was it supposed to be some considerate act to ensure the future of the lover he cherished even after his death? Rather than feeling moved, Winston was filled with bitter disdain. What about the family Harold was leaving behind? And if he had truly cared so much, why hadn’t he brought Yu-jin back sooner? The person most responsible for driving Yu-jin away in the first place was none other than Harold himself.

If you hadn’t slept with Yu-jin, I would never have given up.

Grinding his teeth, Winston forcibly redirected his thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on such things. The only thing that mattered was figuring out how to get through this god-awful situation.

Not who had fathered Yu-jin’s child, but the child he would have.

That child is mine.

It was an undeniable conclusion. There was no way he would allow some cheap whore to raise his child. If he threw enough money at Yu-jin, he would give up both custody and parental rights without a second thought.

Did he have his current child just to get child support money?

His mind drifted back to Yu-jin. Unaware of it himself, his thoughts continued down that path.

Of course. If he had known who the father was, he would have gone straight to him.

That thought sparked immediate doubt. If Yu-jin had known the father, it would mean he was currently raising a completely useless child. That part didn’t make sense.

There are plenty of cases where an omega only finds out after it’s too late to terminate.

Omegas often went through pregnancies without their bellies swelling, sometimes only realizing it right before giving birth. It wasn’t hard for Winston to imagine Yu-jin living carelessly, only to one day wake up and find himself with a child.

No matter how he looked at it, Yu-jin didn’t seem like someone with money. According to what Winston had heard from the lawyer, the house he had been living in had burned down, and now he was staying in a church. It was clear that he had been driven to the edge. That only made Harold’s inheritance all the more essential for him.

And yet, why hadn’t he abandoned the child?

Winston dismissed the possibility that Yu-jin knew who the biological father was. If he did, he would have demanded money already and wouldn’t be living in such poverty. It wasn’t uncommon for parents to suddenly develop affection for a child after giving birth. But that logic didn’t apply to Yu-jin.

There had to be some kind of value in it for him.

Perhaps he was holding onto the child as a wildcard, something he could use if the real father ever appeared. That was the most likely scenario. Otherwise, why else would Yu-jin be raising the child?

At that moment, a chilling thought passed through Winston’s mind.

If that was the case… then the reason Yu-jin was keeping the child…

He refused to acknowledge it, but there was only one explanation left. Winston’s expression twisted as he reluctantly accepted the possibility.

Because the child is Father’s.

It was the only reason that made sense. If that were the case, it explained why Yu-jin hadn’t demanded child support despite knowing the father. He must have been waiting for the right moment—waiting for Harold’s anger to subside enough so that he could reveal the child’s existence and secure an enormous sum of money.

But then Father died, and that opportunity vanished.

If that was true, then there was only one reason Yu-jin had kept quiet about the child all this time. He was being extremely cautious, afraid that if he made a move too soon, he would lose his one and only chance.

“That’s impossible. Have you forgotten what you said? It was a lie from the beginning.”

When Winston had asked if Yu-jin had really been pregnant, that was his answer. But the possibility that this was the real lie was just as high. After all, Yu-jin was nothing more than a whore and a con artist.

To think he was trying to deceive him again with such a pathetic trick.

“Winnie.”

The hallucination flickered before his eyes once more. Yu-jin, naked and pale, lying on the bed with his arms stretched toward him. That soft smile. That voice whispering sweetly.