Pregnant for the straight CEO-Chapter 88

~Hana~

I was halfway through a bottle of soju and a drama where the male lead was being a complete idiot when the news alert popped up on my phone. Some grainy footage of cops in full gear, lights flashing everywhere, and a ticker screaming "DANGEROUS ENIGMA ON THE RUN – ARMED AND EXTREMELY VOLATILE – DO NOT APPROACH."

I snorted so hard the soju almost came out my nose. Dangerous Enigma. Yeah, that could only be one person. Yu Jin. Poor kid probably sneezed too hard and knocked out half the city with his pheromones.

Then I remembered. Shit. Anning.

I’d connected our phones. You know, that "find my friends" thing. I told her it was because I didn’t want her getting lost in this mess, but honestly I just didn’t trust her not to do something stupid when she was upset. Girl’s got a history of disappearing when life kicks her in the teeth.

I opened the app. There she was. A little blue dot sitting in the middle of some hospital parking lot across town. Same hospital the news was talking about. Of course. Because why wouldn’t everything go to hell in one night?

I grabbed my keys, threw on the first hoodie I saw (Min’s old one, the bastard, still smelled like him even after I’d washed it a hundred times), and was out the door before the drama guy even confessed.

Traffic was a nightmare, cops everywhere, but I know all the back roads. Twenty minutes later I’m pulling into the lot and spot the chaos immediately.

I parked crooked, didn’t even care, and jogged over just in time to see Anning stumble out of a van like she’d been punched in the soul. Some woman I didn’t know caught her before she face-planted, but Anning wasn’t even fighting it. She just looked... empty.

Then I saw him. The dad. The ghost. Standing there like he owned the night, barking orders, not even looking at her twice. Yu Jin was getting helped into another car by Min (of course Min was there, clinging to his new boyfriend like glue), and the dad just... let Anning go with the stranger.

I felt my blood boil so hot I almost marched over and decked the guy myself. But Anning needed me more.

I pushed through the mess, grabbed her arm from the woman who was holding her up. "I got her."

The woman raised an eyebrow, all ice-queen vibes, but she let go. "Keep her safe."

"Yeah, no shit," I muttered, already pulling Anning toward my car.

She didn’t resist. Just let me drag her like a broken doll. I shoved her into the passenger seat, slammed the door, ran around, and peeled out before anyone could change their mind.

We were three blocks away before she made a sound.

A tiny, wet laugh that turned into a sob so hard her whole body shook.

I kept my eyes on the road, hands tight on the wheel. "You wanna talk or you wanna scream first? I got tissues and I got windows you can roll down if you’re gonna hurl."

She didn’t answer. Just cried harder.

I pulled into an empty lot behind a closed convenience store, killed the engine, and turned to her.

"Okay, screw this." I unbuckled, reached over, and yanked her into a hug so fierce her face smashed into my shoulder. She smelled like hospital antiseptic and tears.

She grabbed my hoodie like it was the only thing keeping her from floating away. "He didn’t even hug me, Hana. He looked at me like I was a stranger who grew taller. Like I was in his way."

Her voice cracked on every word, high and broken and furious all at once.

"I waited years. Years thinking he was dead, then years knowing he wasn’t and still hoping one day he’d show up and say he forgives me, say he missed me, say anything. And he said ’you grew up.’ That’s it. That’s all I get after everything."

I rubbed her back hard, the way my mom used to when I was a kid and the world felt too big. "He’s a piece of shit, Ning. A walking, talking, lab-coat-wearing piece of shit. You don’t need his validation. You never did."

She pulled back just enough to look at me, mascara everywhere, eyes red and swollen. "Then why does it hurt so fucking much? Why do I feel like I’m nothing if he doesn’t want me?"

"Because he’s your dad, dumbass," I said, wiping her cheeks with my sleeve. "Dads are supposed to love you no matter what. When they don’t, it carves this stupid hole inside that nothing fills. But listen to me that hole? It’s his failure. Not yours."

She laughed again, bitter and wet. "Easy for you to say. Your dad actually calls on your birthday."

"Yeah, and he also calls to borrow money and cry about his new girlfriend being half his age. Trust me, I’d trade for a deadbeat ghost dad some days."

She snorted, wiped her nose on her own sleeve. "You’re awful."

"I’m honest. There’s a difference."

She leaned her head back against the seat, staring at the roof. "And then there’s Min. My fiancé. Ex-fiancé. Whatever. He left me for a guy. A guy who’s currently having the world’s most dramatic Enigma meltdown. I mean, good for him, I guess? Found his soulmate or whatever. "

I barked a laugh. "Girl, Min didn’t leave you for Yu Jin. He left you because he’s been lying to himself since we were teenagers. You were the safe choice. The pretty, smart, perfect girl his mom wanted. Yu Jin’s the one who makes him feel shit he’s terrified of. That’s not on you."

She turned to me, eyes narrowing. "You’re defending him now? You hated him for years after he cheated on you."

"I still hate him," I said, shrugging. "But hating him doesn’t mean I’m blind. He’s a coward who hurts people because he’s scared of being hurt. Classic alpha bullshit. You dodged a bullet."

She was quiet for a second, then whispered, "I don’t feel like I dodged anything. I feel like I got hit by the whole damn truck."

I reached over and squeezed her hand. "You’re allowed to feel like shit right now. Your dad showed up after abandoning you, treated you like luggage, your fiancé ran off with your brother, and the whole city thinks your family’s a national threat. That’s a lot, Ning. That’s a fucking lot."

She started crying again, but quieter this time. "I keep thinking what’s the point? Like, why bother? Nobody wants me around. Not my dad, not Min, not even my mom really she picked Yu Jin and ran. I’m just the leftover kid nobody claimed."

"Stop." I grabbed her shoulders, made her look at me. "Listen to me, Anning. You are not leftover. You are not nobody. You are the girl who hacked the school’s grading system to give me a passing grade in math when I was failing. You are the girl who stayed up all night with me when my dog died and let me cry into your hair until it was gross. You are the girl who once punched a guy twice your size for calling me a slut. You are brilliant and funny and loyal and so fucking strong it hurts to watch you think you’re weak."

Her lip trembled. "I don’t feel strong."

"You don’t have to feel it right now. You just have to keep breathing until you do. And you’re not doing it alone, okay? I’m here. I’m always here. Even when you’re a mess. Especially when you’re a mess."

She lunged at me again, arms around my neck so tight I could barely breathe. "I love you, Hana. You’re the only person who never left."

"Yeah, well, someone’s gotta stick around to tell you when you’re being dramatic," I muttered into her hair, but my voice cracked. "And buy you ice cream when your life implodes."

She laughed through the tears. "You’re buying me ice cream right now."

"It’s two in the morning."

"I don’t care. I want mint chocolate chip and I want you to tell me I’m amazing while I eat the whole pint."

I started the car. "Fine. But I’m also getting fried chicken. And soju. And we’re going back to my place and watching that drama where the guy finally grows a spine. You can yell at the screen when he screws up. It’s therapeutic."

She buckled up, still sniffling. "You’re the best."

"I know."

"And Hana?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ever see my dad again, I’m kicking him in the balls."

I grinned. "I’ll hold him down."

She smiled. A real one this time, even if it was small and shaky. "Deal."

I pulled out of the lot, one hand on the wheel, the other reaching over to squeeze hers again.

She was still hurting. Bad. The kind of hurt that doesn’t go away overnight. But she wasn’t alone. Not tonight. Not ever, if I had anything to say about it.