They Used Me for Seven Years, Then I Cut the LifelineChapter 1​

My stepbrother, who had been paralyzed for six years, suddenly confessed he had gotten a woman pregnant.

I contacted my secretary to prepare a gift for his future wife, but my father stopped me.

"Zenon, this is also your child!"

Saoirse Lorenger, my wife, stood silently beside her father, tacitly accepting this absurdity.

I got the point.

So, the child in her womb was my stepbrother's.

Seeing me silent, Saoirse stepped forward and separated me from Oliver Lorenger. "Zenon, it was Dad and I who made the decision without consulting you, so don't blame Oliver."

She soothed me with a patronizing tone. "You always refuse to have a child and you know how awful the rumors are about you."

"Oliver is paralyzed and he is your brother. Having a child with him won't shake your status as Saoirse’s husband."

They claimed it was for my own good, yet they acted first and consulted later, never asking my consent.

In their eyes, I would never say no to them.

However, they did not know, the time had come to keep their promise to their mothers—to take care of the Lorenger and Steiner families.

I should go too.

——

Oliver's hand was still resting on her pregnant belly.

The scene stung my eyes.

"Zenon, don't be angry with Saoirse." Oliver lay on the bed, a harmless smile on his face.

"The doctor said I'm in a poor health and Saoirse was afraid something would happen to me and the baby, so she kept it from you all along."

"We’re all doing this for your own good. You’ve been married for so many years and yet childless — it's quite a disgrace," he said, affectionately patting the back of my hand.

“Once the baby is born, we’ll register him in your name so he can call you Dad, okay?”

My father, Jack Lorenger, cleared his throat, adopting the air of an elder.

"Zenon! Oliver got Saoirse pregnant with the Steiners' eldest grandson and also the hope of the Lorengers!"

"Your brother is physically disabled, yet he takes on the burden for you and the Steiners. Instead of showing gratitude, who are you trying to impress with that deathly expression?"

Saoirse finally removed Oliver's hand from her belly and walked toward me. She wanted to hold my hand, but I dodged away.

Her movement froze in mid-air.

"Zenon, after all these years as a husband and wife, don't you still not understand me?"