Pregnant for the straight CEO Chapter 67

~Fan xiao~

Lee Know wouldn’t stop staring at . Like literally staring. Like I was a TV drama and he just found out a character died.

He sat up straighter in his hospital bed, clutching the blanket like a grandma judging the world.

"Tell ," he said. "Everything. Why am I always being targeted? I know it’s because of you."

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again like a dying fish.

"Do you REALLY want to know?"

"Yes."

"No, you don’t."

"Yes, I do."

"You’re going to freak out."

"I’m already freaking out! So TALK."

I rubbed my face with both hands. "Okay. But don’t shout."

"I’m not shouting."

"You’re literally shouting."

"I’M TALKING NORMALLY..."

"Oh my God." I sat down and grabbed the tal rail of the bed so I wouldn’t run away. "Fine. I’ll tell you. Just don’t have a heart attack, you’re already barely functioning."

He narrowed his eyes like he was about to report to custor service.

I took a deep breath. "So... I’m a hacker."

He blinked. "Okay. That’s... Actually, no. That’s not okay. What kind of hacker? Like... stealing ga accounts? Or...?"

"BANKS, COMPANIES......"

He froze.

I swear the beeping monitor behind him actually hesitated.

"Banks," he repeated, voice flat. "Like... banks. Banks."

"Yes, banks," I said, waving my hand like we were talking about grocery stores. "I started young. Like... stupid-young. Like ten."

"Ten?!" he squeaked. "You were TEN hacking BANKS?! At TEN I was eating glue...WHY WERE YOU...?!"

I shrugged. "I was bored."

"You were BORED?!"

"Yes, bored! What else does a kid do with a phone and free Wi-Fi? Howork?"

He stared at like he wanted to throw out the window.

"And," I continued because I’m dumb, "I was good at it. Like... very good. And my dad noticed, and he was kinda losing his business at the ti, and... yeah. One thing led to another."

He slowly leaned back. "What ’another’ are you talking about?"

I scratched my head. "So basically I hacked into companies and got private info... and my dad sold it."

Lee Know just stared.

I kept going because once you start confessing cris you weirdly can’t stop.

"I made a LOT of money for him. Like insane money. It beca our little system. I steal. He sells. We eat."

He blinked aggressively. "FAN. XIAO."

"What?"

"That’s ILLEGAL!"

"No shit?" I snapped. "You think I thought it was community service??"

He threw a pillow at . "Why would you do sothing like that?!"

"I WAS TEN," I yelled back. "I didn’t even know how to tie my shoelaces properly!"

"You knew how to hack BANKS but not tie your shoes?!"

"That’s not the point!"

He groaned into his hands. "Oh my god. Oh my GOD..."

"And then" I held up a finger.."my mom found out, it had been going for years and I always almost a teen now."

He stopped groaning.

"Oh boy," he whispered. "What did she do?"

"She kept asking my dad to stop but he wouldn’t. She didn’t think it was good for and when she couldn’t take it anymore....she snitched."

He choked. "She WHAT?!"

"She told one of the companies we hacked," I said. "She straight up betrayed us. Just called them and said, ’Hello, yes, my husband and my son just committed digital cris, thank you for your ti.’"

"WHY?!" he yelled.

"She didn’t want doing illegal shit. Said she’d rather divorce my dad than watch beco ’so criminal rat with talent.’ Her words."

"Oh wow," he muttered. "She sounds... intense."

"She threw under the bus," I corrected. "And my dad took the fall so I wouldn’t go to jail."

Lee Know’s eyes softened. "He protected you."

"Yeah." My throat tightened a little, but I swallowed it down like it was poison. "He said he’d never let take the bla. So he’s sitting in jail right now. Alone."

Silence.

Heavy silence.

Even Lee Know’s breathing slowed.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

"More than ten years."

"And you’ve been... alone?"

"Pretty much."

He stared at for a long, long second. "That must’ve been hard."

I shrugged even though my chest hurt. "It’s life. You deal with it."

He didn’t look convinced but didn’t push it.

"So," I said, forcing myself back into sarcastic mode before I got emotional, "after the divorce, my mom tried to raise alone. But then she realized, surprise, I was still hacking."

"DID YOU LEARN NOTHING?!" he yelled.

"No. Absolutely nothing."

The nurse passing by glared at us. We both pretended to be saints for exactly three seconds.

"So then what?" Lee Know demanded.

"Then I beca... careful." I lowered my voice. "I couldn’t get caught. Eyes were on . I owe a LOT of money."

"How much is a lot?"

I hesitated.

"How MUCH?"

"...Around 500 million dollars almost a billion I don’t exactly know. Give or take."

"GIVE OR TAKE?!" he shrieked. "HOW DO YOU ’GIVE OR TAKE’ HALF A BILLION...?!"

"Closer to a billion," I mumbled.

He slapped my arm. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Ow...look, it’s not LIKE I WANTED this debt!"

"How do you even GET that much debt...no, wait, I don’t want to know, I’m already dying..."

"I have to pay it," I cut in. "For my dad."

His head snapped toward .

"If I don’t pay it," I said tightly, "they’ll kill him in jail. They already threatened it. So yeah, I spend my whole life paying shit off."

Lee Know’s expression changed. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t shock. It was sothing quieter, heavier, like he finally understood why I never talked about my family.

"That’s why people co after you," he whispered. "Because you owe them?"

"No." I sighed. "Because I owe their bosses. And their bosses owe soone else, and so of them want to personally hack for them. Most people want hacking for them. And soone else owes soone bigger. It’s... a ss."

"And they target because...?"

"Because I care about you." My voice cracked before I could stop it. "And they know it."

His face went red instantly. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." I rubbed my forehead. "The second we t again in this country, I knew trouble would follow. I just didn’t think it’d find you so fast."

He folded his arms. "You should’ve told ."

"I didn’t want you involved."

"Fan Xiao," he snapped, "I got KIDNAPPED. I was almost KILLED. I AM VERY INVOLVED."

"Okay, but I didn’t PLAN THAT..."

"Oh shut up. So why don’t they go after your mom."

"You shut up, she’s married now and has her own family. She married the man she betrayed us too"

He grabbed my wrist. Hard. "What!? That took a quick turn. Now tell everything. All of it. I deserve to know."

I inhaled slowly. "Fine. But you’re not going to like it."

"Too late."

"So after my dad went to jail, and my mom left, I kept hacking. Not as big, not as flashy. But enough. Enough to keep the debt from swallowing alive. Enough to keep my dad breathing. Enough to pretend I’m not drowning."

Lee Know was quiet. Too quiet.

Which scared more than yelling ever could.

"Say sothing," I muttered.

He lifted his eyes. "What about your mom? Does she know?"

I laughed. A short, bitter, ugly sound. "She doesn’t talk to ."

"At all?"

"At all," I repeated. "She told I ruined her life. I told her she ruined mine. Now we pretend the other doesn’t exist."

Lee Know’s face softened again. "That’s... sad."

"I don’t have ti to be sad," I said. "I have debt collectors breathing down my neck. Crying won’t pay them."

"You’re allowed to feel things, idiot."

"Feelings don’t fix anything."

He rolled his eyes. "You’re so stubborn."

"And you’re so nosy."

"Because you hid a whole CRI HISTORY from !"

I threw my hands up. "I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO PANIC...."

"WELL I AM PANICKING NOW!"

We sohow ended up yelling again. A nurse peeked through the door, sighed loudly, and left again.

Lee Know scooted to the edge of the bed and grabbed my hoodie. "So all these people following us, threatening us, kidnapping ... it’s because they want either you, your skills ,or your money?."

"Basically."

"And you’re paying all of it alone."

"Yeah."

"Why didn’t you ever tell anyone?"

"Who would believe a kid paying off a billion-dollar cri debt?"

He had no answer.

I sat there for a mont, letting the weight of everything hang between us. Then he nudged with his foot.

"So... what now? You’re just going to keep hacking banks forever?"

"No."

"What then?"

I hesitated.

Because this part... I hadn’t said out loud yet.

I leaned back, staring at the ceiling like it had answers.

"There’s one place," I said slowly, "that has enough money to erase everything. Enough to pay the debts. Enough to save my dad. Enough to disappear after."

Lee Know narrowed his eyes. "What place?"

"Not a place," I said. "A company."

"Which company?"

I paused.

Long enough that he shoved my shoulder.

"Which. Company."

I looked him straight in the eyes.

"My mom’s."

He froze. "Your... mom’s company?"

"Well typically that of hers and her husband so yeah."

He stared at like he forgot how to blink. "You’re not..."

"I didn’t say anything," I said, holding up my hands. "But if soone were to look at my mom’s company... and notice they have billions sitting around... and notice I have a reason to ruin them..."

"FAN XIAO..."

"I’m just saying. Hypothetically."

He grabbed my hoodie again. "You’re insane."

"Maybe."

"You’re serious."

"I didn’t say that."

"You’re planning sothing."

"I didn’t say that either."

"FAN XIAO!"

I grinned.

He groaned and fell back against the pillow. "Oh my God. I’m going to be a father to twins AND an accessory to hacking..."

"You won’t be an accessory if you don’t know anything."

"I KNOW EVERYTHING!"

"Not my fault you asked."

He threw another pillow at .

I caught it this ti.

And for a second...just a second...I let myself breathe.

Because for the first ti in a long ti, I wasn’t alone with this secret.

Even if he yelled at the whole ti.

Even if he stared like I was the dumbest genius alive.

Even if he demanded all the answers I never wanted to give.

He stayed.

He listened.

He didn’t run.

And maybe... maybe that was enough.

For now.

I stood up and stretched. "Anyway. You should rest."

"I can’t rest knowing you’re planning sothing illegal with the sa energy you use to order noodles."

"Not my fault noodles are important."

"FAN XIAO."

"Yes?"

"If you do anything stupid..."

"Define stupid."

"Don’t worry. I won’t drag you into it."

But I also didn’t say I wasn’t going to do it.

Because I was.

And nothing was going to stop .

Not even him.

Not even myself.