Chapter 516: Let’s just get this over with
The next morning, the doctor returned. The room was even more tense than the first time. The four Alphas stood in a line, looking like they were waiting for a verdict in a murder trial.
The doctor looked at the paperwork in his hand, then at me.
"The blood work is conclusive," he said. "The hCG levels are exactly where they should be for a conception that occurred approximately twelve days ago. Congratulations, Jo-Pil. You are in the very early stages of pregnancy."
The air in the room seemed to vanish.
Seo-Jun let out a breath he had been holding for ten days, a sharp, triumphant sound. Jin-Yeok just nodded once, his eyes flashing with calculation. Min-Cheol looked relieved.
But Ki-hoon... Ki-hoon walked straight to me. He didn’t care that the others were watching. He knelt down in front of my chair and took my hands in his. They were shaking.
"I’ve got you," he whispered, his voice thick. "I promise, Jo-Pil. I’ve got you."
I didn’t answer. I simply let out a tiny sigh and closed my eyes.
There was no running from this now, it seemed.
Four days later, I stood in front of a mirror that cost more than my father’s house. I was wearing a white silk suit that fit me like a second skin. My hair was styled back, and my glasses were gone. I looked like a prince, but I felt like a ghost.
"It’s time," Jin-Yeok said, appearing in the doorway. He was wearing a black tuxedo, looking terrifyingly handsome. He held out his arm. "The guest list is full. The press is outside. Are you ready to become a Lee?"
I took a deep breath, thinking of my father sitting in the front row, healthy and safe. I thought of the tiny life starting inside me—a life that was barely two weeks old but had already changed my world.
"Let’s just get this over with," I said.
...
The heavy doors of the chapel swung open, and the scent of white lilies rushed in, thick and stifling.
I walked down the aisle. I wasn’t just Jo-Pil anymore; I was a name, a contract, and a mother-to-be.
As I reached the altar, the four of them stood waiting. They weren’t the polished businessmen they would one day become—they were still students, still arrogant and messy, but today they looked sobered by the weight of the gold bands in their pockets.
The priest began the service, but I was barely listening. My mind was drifting through the chaos of the last two weeks.
Jin-Yeok was the first. He took my hand, his grip steady.
"I, Jin-Yeok, take you..."
I remembered him in front of my door, sniffing me. He was the first to discover there was something off about my beta persona.
I thought that right now, he’d treat this like a school project he had to perfect. But as he looked at me, he looked at my tired eyes. Really looked.
"I know I treat everything like a transaction," he whispered, low enough only for me to hear as he slid the first ring on. "But I promise... I won’t treat our life like one. I’ll make sure you’re never just a figure in a ledger. You’ll be a person first."
How... Reassuring. But how well he adheres to his words, I’ll know as time goes by.
Min-Cheol stepped up next. He looked almost nervous, his fingers fumbling slightly with the second ring.
"To have and to hold..."
I thought he just wanted a playmate, someone, to distract him from the boredom of being a rich heir. But his gaze was soft.
"I’m sorry for calling you a toy," he breathed, sliding the gold onto my second finger. "I promise to stop playing games with your feelings. I’ll try to be someone you actually want to talk to, not just someone you’re stuck with."
I could feel how genuine he was when he said those words. But you can’t exactly stop a cat from meowing just because they choose to be quiet. I’ll see how it goes with him.
Then came Seo-Jun. He stepped into my space, his heat radiating off his tuxedo. I expected him to be smug, to look at me like he’d finally caught the rabbit.
"In sickness and in health..."
Instead, his jaw was tight, his eyes dark with a strange kind of sincerity.
"I’m a pain in the ass, I know," he murmured, his voice a rough rasp. He slid the third ring on, his thumb brushing my knuckle. "But I want to be the only pain in the ass you have to put up with. So I’ll make you this promise... I’ll never let anyone else look down on you. If the world tries to make you feel small because of where you came from, I’ll burn the whole thing down. You’re a Lee now, that means you’re equal to me."
Ah, I didn’t expect to hear those words from him. It felt like he truly meant it. He was a psychopath, no less.
Finally, it was Ki-hoon.
He didn’t just take my hand; he held it like it was made of glass. The boy who had watched me from the library window for three years and then finally claimed my lips in a, ironically so, library at night, was standing in front of me, and he looked devastated by the joy of it.
"As long as you both shall live?"
"I failed to protect your peace," Ki-hoon whispered, a single tear making his eyes glisten. He slid the final ring on my fourth finger. "But I promise to spend the rest of my life making up for it. I won’t just be your husband, Jo-Pil. I’ll be your partner. I’ll listen when you want to speak, and I’ll move when you want to walk."
That was so like him.
"Hwang Jo-Pil, do you take these four Alpha’s as your husbands and decide to change your name to Lee?" The priest asked, and I could feel my heart racing. I could feel my entire body shaking and moving me to make a decision.
Even the eyes on us were all speculating why I was quiet. My father, too, was wondering if there was something on my mind.
But it was nothing. This life just felt so absurdly surreal.
"I do," I finally whispered, and that made the Alphas let out an inaudible sigh of relief.
The weight of the four rings was heavy. I mean, four rings made of gold on four of my fingers was a bit... Anyway, it was a physical reminder of the life growing inside me and the four men now tied to my soul.
At the reception, the chandeliers sparkled over a crowd that didn’t matter anymore. Ki-hoon leaned in, kissing my temple with a gentleness that made my chest ache.
"You’re home now, Jo-Pil," he said softly.
I looked at the four of them—my husbands, my classmates, and the men who had promised to see me as a human being. I wasn’t the gardener’s son hiding in the shadows anymore.
"I’m not home yet," I said, a small, tired smile finally touching my lips as I looked at the four rings on my hand. "But I think... I think I’m willing to see if we can build one."
Seo-Jun laughed, pulling me toward the dance floor. "Good enough for me, Lee Jo-Pil. Let’s get to work."
"Work?" I asked, and he smirked.
"Of course, it’s our honeymoon from here, you know. Let’s get along well."
I gulped. It seems my life isn’t going to be as smooth sailing as I wish it would be.
The ’Gardener’s Son’ was gone. In his place stood a man who had traded his invisibility for a throne.
As Seo-Jun led me onto the floor, and the others fell into step around us, I realized I wasn’t just a part of their world anymore. I was the center of it.
For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of the affection—or the intense, burning attention—of the four Alphas in my life. I had my father’s safety, a new name, and a future I was finally brave enough to claim.
"Yeah, let’s get along well," I whispered to myself, as the music swelled and the world watched the new Lee Jo-Pil take his first steps into a life that was finally, truly, his own.
(And see you in the next book. Bye.)
