Adopted Son

"Your lie was successful this time, Loli," Hansel praised his wife and looked in awe at the woman who was sitting on the sofa and giving milk to baby Aarav. "You are very suitable to be a mother, are you sure no one will be suspicious of your absence all this time?"

For months, Lolita deliberately isolated herself to deceive her extended family. As soon as she received news from one of her subordinates, Lolita immediately informed the family that she was pregnant and did not want to be disturbed by anyone.

However, her extended family always demanded to have biological children of Rosell descent, not foster or adopted children.

At her wit's end, Lolita, who had resigned herself to her fertility, accepted Sita's offer. Even without having to meet first with the woman who wanted to give up her a baby, Lolita easily agreed to all the agreements Sita proposed.

"It's okay to lie, this is all for our good. I did this because of their insistence too. I am self-aware that I am not a fertile woman like they expected, that's why I adopted this baby," Lolita explained without feeling guilty. "With all the work I've done now, who knows, after this I might get pregnant."

"How can you be pregnant? We rarely see each other. Even husband and wife relations can still be counted on the fingers of one hand," Hansel teased and never once intended to see the baby in Lolita's arms. There is no feeling of guilt or regret when saying all that.

Lolita froze in silence. She understood that Hansel had not been able to love and accept marriage gracefully, so she was reluctant to touch her even though they had reached the fifth year of their marriage.

Hansel could not tolerate Lolita's promiscuity before marriage. Lolita doesn't demand to be loved as long as Hansel doesn't divorce her. However, despite all of Hansel's cold attitude, Lolita is still grateful because her husband is still willing to donate sperm to make the IVF process smoother that they are currently carrying out.

"Don't waste any more time and money!" Hansel sighed softly. "This is the last time you ask me to do an IVF process. If it fails, stop and accept your fate. Just think of this baby as a complement to your life, who will accompany you for the rest of your life," he stressed.

"Okay, I understand." Even though it felt very painful, Lolita nodded heavily. With great care, she lifted baby Aarav and handed her to Hansel. "Don't you want to hold him? From now on, you should also consider him your own child."

Hansel thought for a moment when his eyes fell on the still red baby, then without hesitation refused. "No, I want to take a shower first. Next week we have to go back to town, and because we have this baby with us, we have to prepare ourselves for new things."

Lolita withdrew and ignored Hansel's refusal. What else can you do besides giving baby Aarav a warm hug again? In her heart, she also promised that she would give full love to the baby and treat it well like her own child.

Before entering the bathroom, Hansel looked back at Lolita who was so happy with the baby's presence.

"I forgot to ask something, Loli," said Hansel at the bathroom door. "Where are the parents? Have you made an agreement beforehand?"

Hansel didn't want there to be a commotion in the future.

Loli didn't want to lie to Hansel about the origin of her baby, so she answered honestly. "This baby was born without marriage. The girl's parents themselves wanted to remove this baby from their family. That's why I was interested in adopting this child. I wanted to raise his from the moment he was born into this world."

***

Five years later.

Under Lolita's direct care, Aarav has grown into a cheerful child. Apart from being handsome and intelligent, he also gets along easily with his family, playmates and cousins.

At first, almost all family members were suspicious of the presence of the baby brought by Lolita and Hansel. The irregularities in Aarav's pregnancy and birth made all family members suspicious and wondering. Is it true that Aarav is Lolita and Hansel's biological child?

However, as time went by, that suspicion slowly faded and they decided to just accept it. The main reason is that Aarav's face is like a copy of Hansel, making the extended Rosell family reluctant to discuss Aarav's identity, which was once suspected.

The father and son were like betel nuts cut in half. Both have many similarities in terms of physicality. Lolita, who was always with Aarav, thought hard, could Hansel have something to do with the adopted child?

However, Lolita wouldn't have the courage to ask that. Right now, the most important thing for Lolita is that Aarav is always by her side and considers her a real mother. That already makes her perfect enough to be a woman and mother.

That afternoon, an important meeting was being held in the main house. This activity prioritizes discussions about family businesses, where Hansel currently still maintains his position as CEO in the large company founded by the Rosell family.

Alexander Rosell, Hansel's biological father, had two wives.

Hannah, Alexander's first wife, was Hansel's biological mother. Even though she has separated from her house with Alexander, she still encourages her son to inherit the family property which has a fantastic annual income. At every family meeting, she was never absent from witnessing changes to the company's internal regulations firsthand.

Meanwhile, Joanna, Alexander's second wife, has two children, Jonny and Tiffany. The mother and two children both have the ambition to overthrow Hansel from his position.

This afternoon, they also held Hansel's secret. The three of them were one hundred percent sure that Hansel would step down from his position this time.

"According to the agreement at the beginning, I want Papa to keep your promise. Hansel must step down from his position. He doesn't deserve to be CEO of the company, because he has lied to all of us all this time. The child they brought five years ago was not Rosell's descendant, the child was adopted. because Lolita herself couldn't get pregnant," Jonny grinned slyly after making his statement.

"What the hell, Jonny?" the grandfather, Hilman Rosell asked first. Hansel is his favorite grandson, so he doesn't accept it if anyone dares to bring down his grandson's dignity. "If what you mean is about Hansel's child, then forget it! It's no use talking at length, it won't change anything."

"It's true what your grandfather said, Jonny," Alexander chimed in. "It's useless for you to suspect Hansel, from any angle, Aarav is definitely Hansel's biological child, not an adopted child as you accuse him of."

Hansel looked flat, waiting for his brother's explanation. 'What else does this damn bastard want to prove?' he snorted in his heart.

Next to Hansel was Lolita who immediately covered Aarav's ears. She didn't want her son to hear the accusations that often came out of Jonny's sharp mouth.

"This time I brought strong evidence, Grandpa," Jonny looked excited. In front of everyone, he will expose Hansel and Lolita's lies. Calmly, he gave Tiffany a code to bring several witnesses who had been gathered in the last few months.

A few minutes later, two women who were former workers at Lolita's old house appeared in front of everyone.

Without any doubt, the two women also said that Lolita had never been pregnant, and that the child currently between them was a child who had been adopted from another city.