The Woman From Hell

When a middle-aged man wearing a suit and waiting i n the arrivals hall saw us come out, he immediately came forth and took Theo's suitcase from him as he said respectfully, "Mr. Grant, the car is waiting outside."

Theo nodded and handed the suitcase to him before h e took my hand and said, "This is my cousin's butler. You can call him Mr. West."

I nodded to pay my respects before getting into the car with Theo. After journeying for a while, I rested my head against Theo’s shoulder and fell asleep.

Before I fell asleep, I thought about what I should say when I met Theo's cousin.

However, I fell into such a deep sleep that I did not even know how I ended up back in my bedroom.

When I woke up the next morning, I opened my eyes t o realize I was in my bedroom in Salt City. It shocked me. Hadn't I gone to Whaldorf City with Theo last night? Why was I still at home?!

Sitting up in shock, I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. What I saw in front of me did not change.

Could I be dreaming? I pinched myself hard.

Ouch! I was not dreaming.

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, which also looked identical, up to the very way I arranged my toiletries. I had a vague sense that something was not quite right, but I could not place my finger on it.

I was still deep in thought when Theo pushed the door open and came in. He smiled and asked, "You’re awake?"

"Theo, why are we back home?" I hurriedly grabbed his shirt and asked frantically.

"Do you want to take a closer look?" His lips curled upwards into a smile.

I took another careful look around the room and finally realized what was off about it. Although everything in the room was arranged the same way they were back home, they were all new and unopened.

"What?" I stared at him in confusion.

"I was worried you would not be used to a strange environment, so I got someone to decorate the room to look like the one in Salt City," he said loftily.

My heart skipped a beat. I had not expected him to be so thoughtful and even take something like this into account.

"You don't like it?" When he saw me staring into space, the look in his eyes darkened as he asked.

"No, I just thought we'd be staying at your cousin’s house." After all, her butler had been the one to pick u s up last night. I thought we had gone to their house last night. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

He said quietly, "I'm not used to staying in other people's homes. I bought this mansion in the past, and it has always been left empty. I began decorating it when we started considering coming here. There were some delays as I wanted it to be decorated exactly the same way as our place back in Salt City.

"Let's go downstairs and have a look around. This house is slightly bigger than the one back in Salt City. We'll have to hire more servants once the kid is born, s o it'll be more convenient if we have a larger house.” When he finished speaking, he dragged me downstairs.

I was shocked and surprised to hear he had made plans for so far ahead in the future. A warm feeling washed over me, and I smiled as I asked, "Is Miss Woods here as well?"

"No.” He pulled me out of the bedroom as he said, "I needed someone to stay in Salt City and take care of things. But I hired a new nanny and a doctor to live in the house next door so they can take care of you whenever you need it.”

I frowned when I noticed he was going to go downstairs without changing. "You're wearing this outfit again?”

"You only bought two sets. I sent the other one to be washed, so I have to wear this one,” he said matter-of-factly as he spread his hands out.

"It's not like you don’t have anything else to wear.”

"But you didn't buy those clothes for me."

I did not know what to say in response. Was he eating his words from before? I recalled how he once would not spare the clothes I had bought even a second glance, and how he had judged the clothes when they had been brought back to the house. Now, those sets o f clothes were the only two outfits he wore. What a joke.

As Theo took my hand and led me downstairs, I finally understood what he meant when he said the house was slightly bigger.

It was a duplex-style mansion, and it consisted of three bungalows in total. The main one had three floors, while the remaining two houses were the servant's quarters. It looked like the houses that wealthy officials would live in during the olden days.

Theo pointed to the house on the right as he said," Three cleaning ladies and two gardeners live here, as well as a servant in charge of preparing meals. We'll hire a midwife once the child is born."

I turned my gaze to marvel at the size of the house and at the gardens both in front of and behind it. Indeed, it would require many people to tend to its upkeep.

Then, he pointed to the other house and said, "This is where the driver, the bodyguards, and the doctor live. I f you want to go out, you have to get them to

accompany you."

"Theo, don't you think this is a little wasteful? Is there really a need to hire this many people?" How much money would need to be spent to have so many people employed?!