Chapter 2

Theo settled me in the bedroom before turning around to enter the study. He locked the door from the inside.

I pressed against the door and heard a rapid conversation from behind it. "Calcium supplementation during pregnancy... Seaweed... Wait a minute, doctor. You said humans need to soak in seawater every day if they're carrying merbabies?"

His voice suddenly rose. "But she's pregnant!"

I held back my laughter so much that my stomach hurt. Who would have thought that a vicious and cruel villain would be clutching a phone and consulting a doctor on obstetric knowledge? Even his voice was trembling.

When the study door suddenly opened, I almost fell into his arms.

Theo quickly held my waist, and the warmth of his palm seeping through the fabric was burning hot. He looked down at me, his gaze falling on my flat lower abdomen. His Adam's apple rolled. "You—"

I interrupted him boldly, "I'm hungry. I want you to make seafood stew for me."

The clinking sounds of pots, pans, and bowls quickly came from the kitchen.

The butler hesitated at the door. "Mr. Atwater almost burned the kitchen down the last time he cooked."

I replied, "Oh… It’s alright. He’s rich."

If it burned down, we could just move somewhere else.

The butler was speechless.

An hour later, Theo brought out the finished product with a soot-covered face.

The food looked... okay. It should not be poisonous. When I was scooping up a spoonful of stew, he suddenly grabbed my hand. "Wait."

Theo carefully picked out all the shell fragments and tested the temperature before handing the spoon back.

I deliberately frowned. "Too bland."

His hand, reaching for the salt shaker, stopped in mid-air before he turned around to turn on his tablet. He diligently searched for the daily recommended sodium intake for pregnant women.

I was speechless.

Thus, I began my life comparable to that of a queen. In the mornings, Theo personally squeezed orange juice for me. During showers, he treated me with the utmost care, like I was a fragile object. Even when I woke him up in the middle of the night due to my leg cramps, he would gently give me massages.

One morning, I woke up groggily to find him measuring my waist with a tape measure, his expression as serious as if he were defusing a bomb.

"What can you tell from just one month?" I teased him.

Theo's ears turned red, but he insisted on recording the data in his phone's memo app, titled "Merbabies Observation Diary”.

The most absurd thing was last week, when a business partner came to the company to see him. When the security guard called for permission, Theo was kneeling, tying my shoelaces. Meanwhile, I sat in the rocking chair, eating fruit while playing a game on my phone.

He said coldly into the microphone, "Don't bother me with such a thing anymore. My wife is taking a nap." He then casually placed a blanket over my legs.

"You lied!" I raised an eyebrow at him.

At this moment, I was lying in the rocking chair on the terrace, watching Theo build a swing set in the garden. The sunlight turned his hair amber, making the scene feel somewhat warm.

Suddenly, a system notification popped up.

[Warning! Villain's corruption level has dropped to 90%.]

The system's voice was tinged with doubt. "Elle, are you sure this will save him?"

I smiled and touched the pearl necklace around my neck. "At least he doesn't want to die anymore, right?"

After Theo was done with the swing, I swung my legs. "Honey, my legs are cramping."

He wiped his hands clean, knelt on one knee, and massaged them for me.

The system said, "Amazing!"

"Honey, I want a pink pearl."

I saw a pink pearl at an auction a while ago, and it was so beautiful. Unfortunately, the male lead, Reagan York, bought it to please Melody Carlisle.

"Cry one for me." I casually picked up a plate used for grapes and placed it under his chin.