Sitting by the entrance of the two-story house, I stared thoughtfully at the green lawn.
Nice lawn, I thought, deliberately focusing on it so I wouldn’t have to listen to the very audible moans coming from inside the house.
This was an awkward situation, and it was throwing off my plans for…
I’d already forgotten what they were.
Everything had started so well, too.
I’d gotten Ryan’s schedule from Madelyn and timed my visit so Rebecca would be alone.
After all, only a complete idiot would suddenly show up at their house without warning.
The kid might not understand everything, but he’d certainly pick up on the negativity coming from his mother.
It was better to arrange everything beforehand, without the child around, so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness afterward.
Who would’ve thought that a lonely woman who hadn’t had sex in eight years would be masturbating at that exact moment?
Certainly not me.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the scene through the walls.
Rebecca was writhing seductively on the bed, and she hadn’t merely retained her beauty after all these years.
If anything, she’d become even more attractive.
Maybe I was getting a little excited myself, but I could understand Homelander to some extent.
Not when it came to forcing someone into intimacy, obviously.
Still, I could understand where some of his feelings came from.
I turned away and decided to leave the woman alone instead of spying on her.
If I were in her position, I’d be mortified to discover someone watching me like that.
So I slowly took to the air and headed toward the next house, where the boy was being taught.
It would have taken about ten minutes to get there by car, which was how Rebecca usually traveled.
For me, the same journey took only four minutes.
I landed on the grass and watched Ryan’s lesson with interest.
The boy was handsome, having inherited the best features from both his parents.
Or maybe all children were just adorable at that age?
Hard to say.
It wasn’t really a question I felt like pondering.
His upbringing, however, seemed quite good.
If anything, he was almost too obedient.
Though perhaps I was being overly critical.
His teacher was competent, after all.
More precisely, his teacher was a woman.
And judging by her behavior, she seemed to be trying to make Ryan emotionally attached to her.
“How predictable.”
I actually rolled my eyes at Vought’s little scheme.
It was obvious what they were planning.
In a couple of years, they would somehow get rid of Rebecca and replace her with the teacher, who looked remarkably similar to her.
That way, Ryan would remain under the control of a Vought loyalist.
Once that happened, they could start teaching him all the usual superhero nonsense.
“Everything brilliant really is simple.”
I sighed in annoyance.
Rebecca probably had no idea that Vought intended to get rid of her soon.
No, I wouldn’t call her stupid.
She’d simply put her trust in the wrong people.
People shouldn’t be trusted in general, especially when those people represented the interests of a multibillion-dollar corporation.
The knock at the door caught Becky completely off guard.
She had only gotten out of the shower a couple of minutes earlier and hadn’t even had time to dry her hair properly.
Still, she made her way downstairs.
She couldn’t imagine why anyone would come bothering her without warning.
Whenever Vought employees needed to speak with her, they always called first.
Still, she wasn’t particularly worried.
Whatever it was, it could be urgent.
She opened the door and froze for a moment, frowning as she stared at the stranger standing before her.
She didn’t recognize him as one of Vought’s employees.
At least, she had never seen any blond men in glasses among them, and certainly not one wearing ordinary clothes instead of the company’s uniform.
“Hello,” the woman said cautiously, studying his face.
She still couldn’t place him.
“Hello, Rebecca. It’s been a long time.”
The blond man smiled.
Rebecca took several steps backward, staring at her unexpected visitor in shock.
Now she recognized him.
Not by his face, but by his voice.
The most famous superhero in America.
And if he was here, then he knew about Ryan.
Becky had no idea what she was supposed to do.
One thing was already obvious, though: when it came to something this personal, nobody could tell Homelander what to do.
Apparently taking her retreat as an invitation, the blond man calmly stepped inside and looked around the house with interest.
He gave a quiet hum, probably noticing the hidden cameras with his X-ray vision, then turned his attention back to her.
“What are you doing here?”
That was all Becky could manage to say.
“What do you think?”
The man smiled as he removed his glasses.
“I decided to come see my son. I only found out about him recently.”
“He’s not your son,” Becky said, her anxiety rising.
“Really? Then how about we take a DNA test to determine paternity?”
Homelander walked into the living room.
“That was a rhetorical question.”
“I figured.”
Becky glared at his back with undisguised hatred.
She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts under control, then closed the front door.
She had no idea whether Vought already knew he was here or what they intended to do about it.
But she certainly wasn’t foolish enough to place much hope in them.
After standing by the entrance for a few seconds, she followed him into the living room.
Running away was pointless, especially when your pursuer could fly faster than a military jet.
So when she found him sitting calmly on the couch, she simply took the seat opposite him and waited for him to speak.
“Nice place,” the man said at last, breaking the silence.
“I’m not giving him to you.”
Becky immediately made her position clear.
“I never said I was going to take him.”
Homelander sighed deliberately and looked directly into her eyes.
“I don’t have the right to take him away from you. As far as he’s concerned, I’m basically nobody.”
“But then…”
The blond man frowned.
One look from him was enough to make her fall silent.
“However, he is my son. I have every right to see him at least once a day and get to know him better. And you’re going to help make that happen. Is that clear?”
“He’s just an ordinary boy,” Becky said in a trembling voice instead of answering his question.
“We both know that’s not true.”
The man sighed and rolled his eyes.
“And you’re a terrible liar. So, what do you say?”
“Fine.”
The word was barely more than a whisper.
“Excellent.”
He slapped his hands against his knees and stood up from the couch.
Then he suddenly stopped and looked at her.
“By the way, you smell really good. Is that some kind of floral scent?”
“You’re disgusting.”
Becky frowned and shuddered at the sickening feeling his words left her with.
“See you around.”
Homelander shrugged, put his glasses back on, and headed for the door.
Rebecca needed some time to process everything that had just happened, and he was more than willing to give her that time.
It took her several hours to finally regain her composure.
By then, it was already time to pick Ryan up from his tutor’s house.
She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled before opening the front door.
The moment she stepped outside, she froze.
“Hello again, Rebecca.”
The blond man smiled as he put his phone away.
“You’ve been here this whole time?”
She frowned.
“Yes. I need to get to know my son.”
He answered calmly and took a few steps toward her.
“Now isn’t a good time, Homelander.”
Becky sighed.
“I’m only Homelander when I’m wearing the cape.”
“Fine… John.”
There was obvious irritation in her voice.
“Please, not right now.”
“Rebecca, do you honestly think I have unlimited free time?”
John gave her a condescending look.
“I’m practically free for the entire day today. Tomorrow, I won’t be.”
“Fine. Get in the car.”
Becky suppressed a heavy sigh as she walked toward the SUV and climbed behind the wheel.
John didn’t argue.
He simply got into the passenger seat.
“Funny. I haven’t actually sat in a car in more than ten years.”
He looked around the interior with mild amusement.
“It’s cramped.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
Becky tightened her fingers around the steering wheel.
“And don’t pretend we’re friends.”
“You’re going to have to get used to it, Rebecca. If we’re going to coexist without constantly arguing in front of the kid, we need to at least be civil.”
“You raped me. There can’t be any friendship between us.”
Becky stared straight ahead, her entire body tense.
“Oh, really?”
John chuckled.
She immediately whipped her head toward him, outraged by his response.
“That was a deal, similar to the ones you made with various companies when you were a director. So everything between us was mutually agreed upon.”
“So that’s how you saw it?”
She glared at him angrily.
“Rebecca, I’ll be completely honest with you.”
John’s expression turned serious.
“I didn’t take you by force. You gave yourself to me. You had a choice: your job or your husband. And we both know which one you chose.”
“Don’t talk as if you know me.”
Becky spoke through clenched teeth.
“And don’t pretend you’re some innocent angel.”
John leaned back in his seat.
“You didn’t just choose the company that time. You chose it afterward, too. You abandoned your husband and disappeared, leaving everyone to believe you were missing.”
He glanced at her.
“And where are you now?”
“That’s different.”
Becky muttered the words quietly, already realizing she had lost the argument.
“Of course.”
The sarcasm in John’s voice was unmistakable, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Becky said nothing.
She started the car and drove toward her son, doing her best not to look at the unwanted passenger beside her.
Instead, she sank into her thoughts.
And, much to her own dismay, she eventually came to the conclusion that she was just as responsible for this entire situation as the blond bastard was.
Maybe even more so.
She had kept her husband in the dark about her condition.
She had cheated on him and had a child with another man.
So much of what happened had been the result of her own choices, from the affair to abandoning her husband and running away into her own personal prison.
And the fact that Homelander himself had laid all of that out for her only made things worse.
Lost in thought, she didn’t even realize they had already reached the address.
Rebecca parked the car and looked toward the house.
The tutor came running outside, and Ryan quickly climbed into the back seat.
“Hello.”
The boy politely greeted the unfamiliar man before looking at his mother questioningly.
“Sweetheart…”
Becky hesitated.
“He’s your father.”
She introduced her son to the stranger with very little enthusiasm.
“Well, hello, Ryan.”
The blond man smiled.
“You have no idea how happy I am to finally meet you. My name is John.”
His smile widened when the boy’s eyes suddenly began to glow red.
Rebecca pressed her lips together, then immediately forced herself to smile, doing everything she could to avoid angering the superhero.