Chapter 3

Just as I was about to say something, Collin suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the plate. "Perfect timing, Yasmin and I are starving."

He pulled me over to the table, opened my yogurt, and stuck a straw in it. Then he cut off a small piece of the fried egg and put it in his mouth.

Collin frowned and looked at Amelie. "Miss Gallagher, pregnant women shouldn't eat anything too undercooked, right? This egg isn't fully cooked—the bacteria count could be high."

Amelie's expression changed slightly. "I made it sunny-side up on purpose. Marvin likes it that way..."

"And this bacon," Collin said, cutting off another piece, "is way overcooked. The protein's denatured. That's not good for the baby either."

Marvin looked annoyed. "Collin, what do you know?"

Collin looked up, all innocent. "Mr. Garza, I'm a med student. I just finished a nutrition class last semester. If you don't believe me, I can go grab my textbook and show you."

Amelie bit her lip, looking at Marvin with pleading, aggrieved eyes.

I leisurely sipped my yogurt, just sitting back and watching the show.

After breakfast, Marvin headed off to work.

As soon as he was gone, Amelie dropped the whole damsel-in-distress act and started strutting around the living room, poking at my collectibles and critiquing the decor.

"Yasmin, this sofa is way too dark. It's not good for a pregnant woman's mood," she said, pointing at my custom leather sofa. "Can't we get something lighter?"

I ignored her and kept reading my finance magazine.

"And these curtains," she said, tugging at them, "are way too heavy. They block out all the sunlight—might not be good for the baby."

Collin poked his head down from upstairs. "Miss Gallagher, you should really be taking it easy while you're pregnant. Don't be jumping all over the place. What if you slip and fall?"

Amelie shot him a glare, then strutted over to the wine cabinet. "Wow, Marvin's got a ton of booze here... Hey, this red wine looks nice..."

She reached out to grab it, and I finally spoke up. "Put it down."

Her hand paused, and she gave me a defiant look. "Come on, Yasmin, it's just a bottle of wine..."

"That's a 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild—Marvin's pride and joy," I said coolly. "Go ahead and touch it. See if he scolds you first or mourns the wine when he gets home."

Amelie pulled her hand back with a sulky look, still not giving up. "Yasmin, now that I'm living here, maybe it's time to change some house rules? My room's way too small. Can I move to the room next to the master bedroom? It's so much sunnier over there..."

"No," I said, flipping to the next page of my magazine. "That's the study."

"But pregnant women need..." Amelie protested.

Collin had come down at some point and was pointing his phone at Amelie. "Miss Gallagher, keep going. I'm live-streaming right now. The title? 'Top Ten Disgusting Moves of the Homewrecker.' The viewers are eating it up."

Amelie's expression changed instantly, and she quickly covered her face with her hands. "What are you doing? Turn it off!"

Collin grinned and put his phone away. "Just kidding. But you sure freaked out, Miss Gallagher. Why so nervous? Got something to hide?"

"You!" Amelie stomped her foot in frustration and stormed upstairs.

Collin sat down next to me and whispered, "Yasmin, she's not even high-level, just shameless."

Yasmin let out a little laugh. "This is just day one. The real show hasn't even started yet."

At noon, Marvin made a special trip back just to have lunch with Amelie.

At the table, Amelie's eyes were red and puffy—she'd clearly been crying.

"What's wrong?" Marvin asked right away.

Amelie sniffled, gave me a quick, pitiful glance, and hesitated before saying, "It's nothing... my emotions are all over the place because of the pregnancy..."

Marvin looked at me. "Yasmin, are you picking on Amelie again?"

Before I could say a word, Collin came out of the kitchen with a plate. "Mr. Garza, that's not fair to Yasmin. Miss Gallagher was the one who kept insisting on moving to the guest room, and when she didn't get her way, she started acting like we were the villains."

Amelie rushed to defend herself. "That's not what I meant... I just thought that room gets more sunlight, and it'd be better for the baby..."

Collin set the plate down, looking all serious. "Miss Gallagher, that's actually not true. Pregnant women should avoid too much direct sunlight—UV rays can be bad for the baby's development.

"The room you're in now gets plenty of fresh air and soft light; it's honestly the best spot for you."

He turned to Marvin. "Mr. Garza, if you don't believe me, I can show you my nutrition and OB-GYN textbooks. It's all right there in black and white..."

Marvin was totally shut down and could only pat Amelie's hand awkwardly. "If it's good for the baby, just stick with it for now."

Amelie bit her lip, glaring at Collin, clearly unwilling to let it go.

That afternoon, I went to hit the spa with my bestie, Collin's sister, leaving the drama to those two kids for a while.

When I got home and stepped inside, I immediately heard Amelie complaining tearfully. "I swear, I was just trying to help out with the cleaning. I never thought I'd end up breaking something..."