"Stop joking. What could possibly be wrong with me?"
Adam's heart tightened, but he remained calm on the surface.
At this moment, when Phoebe asked that question, his first reaction was that someone had seen him meeting with Nora.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Although he hadn't done anything with Nora—after all, what could he possibly do in just thirty minutes? He was sure everyone knew that.
But Adam was a handsome young man, secretly meeting with a charming and mature woman. No matter how you looked at it, it was bound to spark imaginations.
Plus, they were both writers. Nora was even known as the "Queen of Erotica" and had written multiple novels featuring similar scenarios…
As Nora's loyal readers, Rachel and the others would likely jump to conclusions immediately: Was the "Queen of Erotica" trying to act out one of her book's scenes? Or was she gathering material for a new novel?
A writer's field research—how could that be considered indecent?
It was artistic!
But Adam didn't really believe that was the case.
His sharp senses and keen intuition allowed him to detect if someone was nearby, and he was especially sensitive to being watched.
That was exactly why he had cut Nora off earlier when she tried to speak outside the restroom.
Given how cautious he was—and the fact that all their friends were busy having fun in the banquet hall—the chances of someone seeing him were incredibly low.
And when Phoebe said those words, Adam immediately glanced at Chandler out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that Chandler didn't show any signs of anger or confusion, he relaxed.
"You're still denying it?"
Phoebe put on a dramatic expression. "Rachel is pregnant! It's definitely yours, right?"
"…?"
Adam's mouth twitched.
"Phoebe!"
Rachel protested, clearly annoyed.
"What?"
Phoebe said matter-of-factly, "You won't say who the father is, so we can only guess. And who else is more suspicious than Adam?"
"Why am I the prime suspect?"
Adam retorted.
"Because you're the most handsome and the most charming!"
Phoebe grinned.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Adam shook his head, half amused, half exasperated. "But you forgot one more 'most.'"
"What 'most'?"
Phoebe asked curiously.
"The most loyal and principled!"
Adam said seriously. "When it comes to relationships, have you ever seen anyone more loyal and principled than me?"
"Pfft!"
Phoebe and Monica almost spit out their drinks. Even Rachel, who had been in a bad mood, couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?"
Adam remained dead serious. "My principle in relationships has always been: more than friends, less than lovers. Friends don't cross the line. That's never changed. Go ahead—name one instance where I broke this rule."
Everyone was speechless.
"Exactly."
Adam smirked. "Just because I have many female friends, you assume I'm a playboy with no principles. But in reality, no one is more principled than me!"
Rachel and the others froze. Meeting Adam's "sincere" gaze, they awkwardly averted their eyes.
Chandler was a prime example—without Adam's help, he would've definitely made a move on Joey's girlfriend.
Monica, too. Though she and Chandler were now happily together, it didn't erase the fact that she had secretly turned to him for "mutual support" in the past.
And Rachel? She had thrown every tactic in the book at Adam back when she was interested in him—basic moves, advanced moves, ultimate moves, and even final moves—all to get him into an unspeakable situation.
Even Phoebe wasn't innocent.
When Monica had broken up with her boyfriend, it hadn't even been a few hours before Phoebe was already cozying up to him. That raised a lot of questions…
"Looks like everyone agrees."
Adam smiled in satisfaction.
Compared to Rachel and the others, he felt a strong sense of moral superiority.
The only minor flaw in his record was his past relationship with Nora.
But that had been before he even knew Chandler, and at the time, he genuinely hadn't recognized Nora as Chandler's mother. Since then, nothing had ever happened between them again—not even earlier, when they had only reminisced and mostly talked about Chandler.
As for keeping secrets from William and Steven while being involved with Alice?
Well, he wasn't even friends with William and Steven. Did he really need to be polite about it?
"If it's not yours, then whose is it?"
Phoebe changed the subject.
Rachel shook her head. "Stop asking. I'm not telling anyone until I tell him first…"
Before she could finish, she was cut off.
"Hah."
Adam chuckled. "Do we even need to ask? It's obviously Ross's!"
"How do you know?"
Rachel blurted out.
Earlier, when Phoebe and the others had guessed Ross, she had managed to steer the conversation away. But this time, Adam's tone was so certain that she accidentally gave herself away.
"So it is Ross's!"
Phoebe clapped her hands, laughing.
Monica gasped, covering her mouth.
"Come on!"
Adam shrugged. "You two have been on and off for how many years now? Seven or eight? And now you're acting all secretive about it. If it wasn't Ross's, that'd be a bigger surprise.
"You probably had another one of those 'old friend' moments and got swept up in the heat of the moment. A little 'mutual assistance'—don't act like it's a big deal!"
Once two people had already crossed that line before, the chances of them doing it again were astronomically high.
Especially with Rachel and Ross, who had been entangled for so long and were still constantly around each other. It was practically inevitable.
That was exactly why Ross's British ex-wife had demanded that he cut off contact with Rachel after learning about their history.
Even Westerners knew the risks!
The whole "we're just friends now, absolutely nothing else" excuse? Total nonsense.
Or, as Leslie Winkle from The Big Bang Theory would put it:
"We've seen each other's sex faces."
That's not the same as being regular friends.
"Fine."
Rachel sighed as everyone stared at her. "It really is Ross's. But before I tell him myself, you all need to keep quiet about it."
"Of course."
Everyone nodded.
"Especially you, Phoebe!"
Rachel fixed her with a sharp glare.
"What did I do?"
Phoebe feigned innocence.
"Hmph!"
Rachel snorted. "If it weren't for you running your mouth just now, this whole thing wouldn't have come out!"
"That's not my fault."
Phoebe pouted. "What was I supposed to do—just let you drink champagne while you're pregnant?"
"Alright, enough of that."
Monica interrupted. "Rachel, what do you plan to do?"
"I don't know."
Rachel looked conflicted and uncertain.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Adam scoffed. "Tell Ross, get married, have the baby. You're both getting older—stop messing around!"
"Yeah."
Monica, happily married herself, was the first to agree. "Ross had a crush on you for ten years, and then you two have been going back and forth for another seven or eight. Now you're having his baby—clearly, you love each other. Marriage is the best choice."
"I don't know."
Rachel shook her head absentmindedly.
Seeing this, Adam didn't bother saying more.
Rachel and Ross weren't like Chandler and Monica. They loved unnecessary drama.
He'd already done his part as a friend—he wasn't about to waste any more energy on it.
Now that Chandler's bachelor party and wedding were over, his focus was shifting to graduation and his residency training.
But before that, he had a certain score to settle…