Chapter 262: Shh, Papa’s Got You

Reid went rigid, his arm tightening instinctively around us, but Brad stepped further into the room, his fists clenching at his sides as tears of pure fury sprang to his eyes.

"Have you lost your mind, Reid?!" Brad hissed, keeping his voice in a furious, strangled whisper so he wouldn’t wake the child, though his entire body trembled. "Who is this?! How could you bring a stranger into Kain’s bed—into this room—and let him hold the child Kain never even got to hold?!"

"Dad, calm down, please—" Reid tried to intervene, his voice low and urgent, but Brad cut him off, his face pale with heartbreak.

"I will not calm down! Is the grief turning you into a lunatic?!" Brad choked out, his voice cracking down the middle.

Reid had never once seen his father lose his temper like this.

"You haven’t let a single person touch Sarah for eight months, and now you bring a random man home from who knows where and let him play house with Kain’s daughter?!"

The sharp, angry edge of Brad’s voice tore me out of my sleep. My eyes fluttered open, disoriented and wide with shock as I pushed myself up against the headboard, instinctively clutching Sarah against my chest.

Brad’s words died in his throat the second I looked up. Under the morning light, as my silver hair fell across my face, Brad caught full sight of my features. Aside from the silver hair, pale skin, and the softer, noticeably delicate frame of this new body, my eyes, the shape of my lips, and the subtle angle of my jaw bore an eerie, undeniable resemblance to the man they had buried.

Brad stumbled back half a step, his breath hitching violently as he stared at me.

"Hah..." Brad let out a breathless, horrifying laugh, his eyes darting frantically between me and Reid. "Is that... is that why you brought him here? Because he looks a little like Kain? Reid, how could you be so sick—"

Before he could finish the sentence, the sudden, high-pitched tension in the room startled Sarah. She burst into a sharp, piercing wail, her tiny fists kicking against her blanket.

Brad’s paternal instincts instantly flared. He expected Reid to snap out of whatever trance he was in, to yank his daughter away from this stranger immediately.

Instead, Reid didn’t move a muscle to pull her away. He just sat at the edge of the bed, watching me with absolute trust.

Without a second thought, I shifted Sarah into the crook of my arm, gently supporting her neck as I began to sway my shoulders, bouncing her in that slow, rhythmic way only a mother knew.

"Shh... it’s okay, baby," I cooed softly, my voice dripping with an effortless, deep maternal warmth as I pressed my lips against her soft forehead, holding her tight against my heart. "It’s alright, Sarah... Grandpa is just a little upset, he didn’t mean to scare you... Shh, Papa’s got you..."

Brad froze entirely.

Sarah was notoriously difficult. Ever since she was born, she rejected almost every nanny, nurse, or relative who tried to hold her, screaming hysterically at the touch of any stranger’s scent. Yet right now, wrapped in the arms of a man she had supposedly just met, her piercing cries instantly softened into tiny, rhythmic snuffles. She buried her small face straight into the crook of my neck, inhaling my night-blooming jasmine, completely pacified.

Brad’s jaw went slack. The fiery rage in his eyes completely dissolved into utter, terrifying confusion. His gaze traveled from the peaceful baby in my arms, to the intimate way I held her, and finally to Reid, who was calmly stepping out of bed, picking up a shirt from the side.

Brad swallowed hard, his voice barely a breath as he looked at his son.

"Just... what on earth is going on here?"

"You’re never going to believe it if we tell you," Reid said, his voice completely steady, "but it’s the truth." He turned his dark grey eyes toward me, a quiet plea in his gaze. "Kain, I think we have to tell at least a few people. If not, they’ll never accept this."

Brad choked back a disbelieving gasp, his face contorting into a mix of horror and confusion. "Kain? You’re... you’re calling him Kain?"

His sharp eyes scanned my face again, searching for any shred of sense in the nightmare unfolding before him. "Wait—aren’t you Kain Samson? The Samson Omega son?!"

"That’s right," I said softly, my arms still cradling Sarah securely against my chest as she settled back into a peaceful sleep. I looked up into Brad’s tear-streaked face, my heart aching for the grief he had carried. "That’s right... but, believe it or not, I’m also Kain Evans, father-in-law."

Brad’s breath hitched violently. The sheer absurdity of the words hung in the air like a slap to the face. His hands flew to his chest, clutching his soft cardigan right over his heart as a deep, agonizing hurt contorted his gentle features into pure rage.

"Is this a joke to you?!" Brad’s voice broke, a ragged, sobbing fury tearing from his throat. "Whatever sick, twisted roleplay the two of you are playing, it isn’t funny at all! Not even a little bit!"

Tears spilled over his lashes, tracking down his pale cheeks as he trembled with outrage, glaring at Reid.

"How could you?!" Brad wept, his fingers digging into the wool of his sweater. "How could you let someone pass himself off as my dead son-in-law?! It is not good to pass off as others, Reid! Even if it’s to help you ’heal,’ even if you’re drowning in grief—to bring a boy in here, teach him Kain’s lines, and let him act like Sarah’s parent..."

Brad shook his head, his voice dropping to a heartbroken, disbelieving whisper. "It is cruel. It’s cruel to Kain’s memory, it’s cruel to this child, and it’s insane!"

Reid looked at his father, his expression completely unshaken.

"That’s why I said it’s hard to believe, but it’s true." He turned to me, his gaze softening with quiet trust. "I’ll go make Sarah’s formula. You two..." He looked back at Brad. "Just tell him some of your secret moments, Kain. That’s the fastest way for Dad to believe."

Brad’s eyes went wide with sheer panic as Reid stepped toward the door. "Wait! You’re leaving Sarah with this stranger?!"

"He’s not a stranger. He’s my husband," Reid said flatly, offering no more explanation before disappearing past the corner.