Chapter 2

After saying that, I looked at Ashley.

"Ashley, I'll be troubling you from now on!"

Ashley grabbed my hand, her face beaming with excitement.

"Cassidy, don't be silly! We're friends!"

"Don't worry, I'll handle everything around the house from now on. You just relax and take care of yourself, make sure the baby is thriving and strong!"

"With me here, I'll make sure you're perfectly comfortable!"

"That's right, honey. Come on, lie down. Just leave everything to us from now on."

That's exactly what I was waiting to hear.

The moment I sat down, I couldn't wait to start bossing Ashley around.

"Ashley, tomorrow morning I'd love some fresh milk. Could you go to the ranch in the suburbs and get some for me?"

The words had barely left my lips when Ashley's face fell, looking distressed.

"Cassidy, the suburbs are over twenty miles from here. It takes forever to drive!"

"How about I just get some for you at the supermarket?"

Mark quickly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, supermarket milk is the same!"

"Honey, let's just stick with supermarket milk!"

I coldly snorted, looking displeased.

"How is it the same?"

"Supermarket milk is full of additives. Can a baby drink that?"

"I'm only saying this for the baby's good!"

"If you two think it's fine for the baby to drink milk with additives, then don't bother going for fresh milk!"

They had no more arguments. After all, the baby in my belly was theirs.

The next morning, Ashley, with dark circles under her eyes, drove to the suburbs to buy milk.

When she returned, she complained endlessly to Mark about how exhausting it was.

"You have no idea how terrible that road is; it felt like my bones were rattling apart!"

"And that ranch stank so bad, cow manure everywhere!"

"There's no way I'm going back there again!"

Listening to her complaints from the next room, I put on my headphones and comfortably drifted off for my beauty sleep.

Whether she went or not wasn't up to her!

Even if she didn't want to, for the sake of their baby in my belly, Mark would make her go buy that milk.

Can't handle it already?

The real suffering was yet to come.

Since I finally had a free housemaid, of course, I was going to treat her like a slave.

Besides buying milk, all the housework fell on her.

Laundry, sweeping, cooking – she did it all.

In just one month, she transformed from a glamorous beauty into someone looking completely run down and aged beyond her years.

Finally, a visibly exhausted Ashley approached me.

"Cassidy, I'd like to go home and rest for a couple of days!"

I frowned, pretending to be annoyed.

"Ashley, if you go back, what about me?"

"You wouldn't make me go to the kitchen, breathe in all that cooking fumes, or touch dish soap, would you?"

"Those things are terrible for the skin!"

My words were like a thorn, stinging Ashley deeply, and she instantly bristled with fury.

"Bad for your skin? What about my skin?"

"Look at the state I'm in!"

She pointed at her somewhat sallow face, yelling, her entire body trembling with rage.

If she hadn't been clenching her teeth, I'm sure she would have physically attacked me.

But the angrier she got, the more triumphant I felt inside.

"Ashley, didn't you want to be the baby's godmother?"

"What's a little hardship now?"

"Later, I'll have the baby take care of you in your old age!"

"Oh, the baby just moved! He wants lobster linguine! Could you please go to the kitchen and make some for us?"

Ashley completely lost it, yelling at me.

"Cassidy! Is that what the baby wants to eat?"

"You just want to eat it! You're deliberately bossing me around!"

"I'm done serving you!"

However, the moment her words fell, Mark walked in through the door, his face grim.