Pregnant for the straight CEO-Chapter 87

~Yu Jin~

I couldn’t breathe right. My chest felt like someone had parked a truck on it. This man, this stranger who looked like someone took my face, aged it twenty-five years, and gave it sharper edges was standing ten feet away, hands in his coat pockets, staring at me.

"Hey, kid," he said again, softer this time. "Sorry I’m late."

Late. Like he’d missed dinner, not my entire fucking life.

I tried to push off Min, but my arms were jelly and the IV was still tugging at my skin. Min tightened his hold around my waist, steadying me, his breath warm against my temple. "Yu Jin, easy. You’re still half sedated."

Yeah, no shit. My head was swimming, pheromones leaking out of me like a broken faucet, thick and hot and making everyone around us shift uncomfortably. Fan Xiao had the window cracked and was practically hanging his head out like a dog. Lee Know had gone dead quiet for once, which was scarier than gunfire.

And then Anning made this sound

.. a tiny, choked gasp from the back of the van.

I turned my head. She was staring at the man like he’d just crawled out of her nightmares. Her laptop slid off her lap and hit the floor with a clatter nobody bothered to pick up.

"Dad?" she whispered.

The man... my father, apparently glanced at her. Just a flick of eyes. No smile. No oh my God, my daughter I haven’t seen in years. Nothing.

"Anning," he said, flat. "You grew up."

That was it. That was all he gave her.

Anning’s face crumpled like someone had punched her in the gut. She scrambled backward on the gurney bench, knees knocking into bags of medical crap. "You... you’re alive. You’re actually.... "

"No time," he cut her off, turning back to me. "Yu Jin. We need to move."

Min’s grip on me went iron-tight. "Hold the fuck up. Nobody’s moving anywhere until someone explains what the hell is going on."

My mom, Mrs. Yu, whatever the hell I was supposed to call her now stepped forward, arms crossed so hard her knuckles were white. " You don’t get to show up after years and start barking orders."

Dad sighed like this was all just annoying traffic. "I’m not here for a reunion, Yu Jin omoni. I’m here for him." He nodded at me. "He’s coming into full presentation. You know what that means."

"Yeah," Mom snapped. "It means you want to drag him into whatever twisted lab you’ve been hiding in."

I felt my stomach drop. "Wait. What labs?"

Dad looked at me then. Really looked. And for the first time I saw something in his eyes that wasn’t cold calculation. Pride, maybe. Or hunger.

"You’re the strongest Enigma I’ve ever seen," he said, voice low, almost reverent. "Stronger than me. Stronger than anyone they’ve recorded. Your pheromones alone just knocked out three NDA trackers two miles back. That’s why they’re scrambling. That’s why we have maybe five minutes before the next wave shows up."

I swallowed. My throat tasted like metal. "And you want to... what? Fix me?"

"Help you control it. There’s someone I know.... an Enigma older than me, stable. He’s agreed to guide you. But we have to go now."

Mom laughed, bitter and sharp. "You tried that line on me once. Remember? Right before you started talking about blood samples and containment protocols for our young son."

Dad’s jaw flexed. "I was trying to protect him."

"You wanted to weaponize him!" she yelled. "That’s why I divorced you. That’s why I told him you were dead. Because you looked at our baby and saw a project."

I stared at her. "You... you knew? About the experiments?"

Mom’s eyes filled up fast. She didn’t even try to hide it. "I knew he was talking to people. Bad people. I overheard him on calls. Planning. I couldn’t risk it. So I took you and ran. Told you the accident story so you’d never look for him."

I felt something crack open inside me. All those years taking suppressants like candy, thinking I was broken, thinking I had to hide because I thought my dad was dead and my mom was protecting me from the world. Turns out she was protecting me from him.

And I’d known. Deep down, I’d always known something was off. That’s why I never pushed her for details. Why I started crushing extra pills when the headaches got bad. Because some part of me was scared the truth would be worse than the lie.

Min’s voice was quiet in my ear. "You okay?"

"No," I croaked. "Not even close."

Park Hana, Min’s mom finally spoke up from where she stood with her NDA goons. "If we’re done with the family therapy session, I have a proposal."

Everyone turned to her.

She lifted her chin, all ice queen. "I let you take him. I don’t call in the strike team waiting over the ridge. In exchange, I will come with you."

Dad barked a laugh. "You? Why the hell would I trust you?"

"Because," Hana said coolly, "your little pheromone burst just scrambled every tracker in a ten-mile radius. They can’t lock on him right now. But the second he stabilizes or crashes they’ll be on us like flies. You need my codes to keep the satellites blind. And I’m not letting my son disappear into whatever black site you’re running."

Min stiffened next to me. "Mom..."

"Shut up, Min," she said without looking at him. "This isn’t about you."

Dad stared at her for a long second, then shrugged. "Fine. Tag along. But you try anything..."

"Yeah, yeah, you’ll kill me, I get it," Hana rolled her eyes. "Let’s move before your five minutes turn into zero."

That’s when I noticed Woo Min. Rin’s Woo Min. Standing halfway behind my mom’s car like he’d just appeared out of nowhere. Hair messy, coat too big, eyes red like he’d been crying.

"Woo Min?" I rasped.

He stepped forward, hands twisting in front of him. "I... I followed the news. Saw the vans. I couldn’t just sit there while..." His voice cracked. "Rin’s still with my friend. he’s okay. Scared, but okay."

I felt my eyes burn. Rin. My little baby . The one thing I’d been clinging to through all this mess.

"Tell him ..." I swallowed hard. "Tell him I love him. And that I’m gonna come back for him. Promise him that."

Woo Min nodded fast, tears spilling over. "I will. Every day until you do."

Min squeezed my side. "We’ll get him. All of us will get our son."

Anning was still in the back of the van, knees drawn up, staring at my... at our father like he was a stranger. Which, yeah, he was.

He glanced at her again. "Anning, come on. We’re leaving."

She laughed, wet and broken. "You didn’t even hug me. You didn’t even say you missed me. I ran from you when I was young because you scared me, and now you just.. ’you grew up’?"

"Drama later," he said, already turning toward his car. "We don’t have time."

Anning’s whole body shook. She looked like she might throw up.

Hana sighed like this was all just inconvenient. "I’ll take her."

Please don’t ask me any questions, I also don’t know when she arrived. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Dad paused. "What? Who’s this? "

"The girl’s useless to you right now," Hana said. "She’s in shock. JUST BE ON YOUR WAY. ."

Anning looked at Hana, then at Dad, waiting for him to argue. To say no, she’s my daughter, I’ll take her.

He didn’t.

"Fine," he said. "Keep her safe."

Anning made this sound, half sob, half scream and stumbled out of the van. Hana caught her by the elbow before she hit the ground.

"Come on, sweetheart," Hana murmured, surprisingly gentle. "Let’s get you out of here."

Anning didn’t fight it. Just let Hana lead her toward the NDA SUVs like a zombie.

I watched them go and felt something twist hard in my gut. My sister, half-sister? was falling apart and my father didn’t even care.

Min helped me out of the van. My legs barely held me, but I locked my knees. Couldn’t fall apart now.

Dad opened the back door of his car. "In."

I looked at Mom. She was crying openly now, arms wrapped around herself.

"I’m sorry," she whispered. "I thought I was keeping you safe."

Dad wasn’t waiting. "Yu Jin. Now."

Min climbed in with me without asking. Dad didn’t stop him.

Fan Xiao, Ji, and Lee Know piled into the other van, the one we’d escaped in. Lee Know leaned out the window as they pulled away.

"Try not to get experimented on, yeah?" he called. "I want my riot-starting Enigma back in one piece!"

I flipped him off weakly. He grinned.

And then we were moving.

Me, Min, my dad in the front passenger seat, some driver I didn’t know, and Mom, my mom riding shotgun in the lead van ahead of us.

I leaned my head against Min’s shoulder. The pheromones were still leaking, but slower now. Exhaustion hitting like a wave.

Min’s fingers laced through mine. "You breathing?"

"Barely."

He huffed a laugh. "Good. Keep doing that."

I closed my eyes.

Dad twisted around in his seat. "We’ll be at the safe point in four hours. The other Enigma is waiting. Once he helps you stabilize "

"Save it," I muttered. "I’m not your lab rat."

He went quiet.

Min squeezed my hand harder.

Four hours. Then what? Some ancient Enigma was gonna wave a magic wand and make me normal? Or was I walking straight into whatever nightmare my mom had spent twenty-five years protecting me from?

I didn’t know.

All I knew was Min’s hand in mine, the road humming under us, and the fact that for the first time in my life, I wasn’t hiding.

Even if I was terrified.

Especially because I was terrified.