Chapter 3

Bryce's expression soured considerably. "Linny, we're a married couple. Is it really necessary to split everything down to the pennies?"

I flashed him a good-natured smile and asked, "Weren't you the one who said that we should split our expenses evenly to prevent conflicts between us?"

Since Bryce had suggested splitting our expenses in the first place, he couldn't come up with anything to argue with me. He could only transfer the money to me as he was told.

After completing the chores, I went to take a shower. I was currently 18 weeks pregnant, and my belly wasn't showing yet. Although pregnancy usually lasted ten months, I knew I would give birth after 38 weeks.

So, next week would be the best time to transplant the baby. For that, I needed to implant the brood pouch into Bryce as soon as possible.

Implanting the brood pouch was quite simple. I put on some sexy lingerie and sprayed on some perfume. As I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw Bryce working on a table on his computer.

It wasn't until I pressed my body against his back that I noticed he was actually making a price list for household chores. My interest in seducing him immediately dwindled by half. But since this was the only way to implant the brood pouch, I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his neck and softly call out, "Honey…"

When Bryce turned around to look at me, his eyes lit up. I had to admit that Bryce had a very attractive face. Back then, I fell for him at first sight because of that face and married him without a second thought.

Without hesitation, I kissed him.

Bryce resisted and reminded, "You're still pregnant, you know."

"It's been four months, so it's fine," I replied.

Upon hearing me say that it was fine, Bryce got into it. After a passionate lovemaking session, Bryce fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, a pink mark appeared on his belly. That was the mark left by the implanted brood pouch. I felt satisfied with the work I'd done.

However, even with that, there was a risk of failure. To be safe, I did implantations on him for four consecutive days. Bryce was exhausted and kept complaining.

He said to me, "If we keep this up, I'm going to start charging you. After all, you're the one enjoying it while I'm the one doing all the work."

I was speechless for a moment. But when I saw that the mark on his belly had turned into a mature shade of purple, I smiled again.

Bryce noticed this purple mark but assumed it was from my kisses and didn't think much of it.

A week later, I suggested taking Bryce to meet my parents.

Bryce asked, "Why the sudden meetup? Didn't we agree that we would each handle our own parents?"

I replied, "My parents have some free time now and want to meet you. It's only polite that we go, don't you think?"

Bryce was still reluctant to go and wanted to say something. Nevertheless, when I clarified that I had already prepared the gifts, he finally smiled and agreed to go.

When we arrived at my family's place, Bryce's eyes widened in disbelief. "Linny, is your family wealthy?"

I kept telling Bryce that my parents had a lot of children, so they didn't have time for all of us. Therefore, he assumed that my parents lived in some rural mountainous area with seven or eight kids and worked away from home all year.

Owing to this, he dressed quite casually when he left our residence that morning.

Technically, my family did live on a mountain—it was just that the entire mountain belonged to us. From the entrance of our property to the living area, we had to take a car.

During the ride, Bryce kept complaining that I should have told him sooner. "Why didn't you make it clear earlier? Look at how casually I'm dressed… I'm being impolite for showing up like this."

Oh, so he did know that he should dress up properly when meeting his wife's parents.

I said, "It's okay. My parents don't care about that."

I had hundreds of siblings. My parents didn't care about the character of their children's spouses—they only cared about their reproductive capability.

Bryce asked again, "Linny, do your parents own a lot of assets?"

"Well, they have some," I replied with a smile. "But I have many siblings, so each of us would only get under a hundred million."

A hundred million was a staggering amount for an average family. The moment Bryce learned about this, he seemed frustrated that he'd suggested splitting the expenses with me.

As soon as we met with my parents, my father wanted to check Bryce's pulse.

Bryce didn't understand why he would want to do that.

I explained, "My dad is an alternative medicine practitioner who has gained nationwide recognition. He usually only treats important figures."

Upon hearing this, Bryce immediately extended his hand.

My father seemed very pleased with Bryce. He nodded and muttered, "Not bad, not bad… Very good."

Bryce thought my father was praising his good health and looked very proud.

That evening, we stayed at my parents' manor. After Bryce fell asleep, they came over.

My mom looked at his body and laughed. "33, you've really found yourself a great free man. He has a naturally fertile body. How many brood pouches did you implant in him?"

"Four," I replied.

My mom said, "What a shame. You should have implanted a few more. But there's no rush. You can still take your time in the future. You did the best among your siblings."

Fewer male seahorses were willing to have children when it came to my generation. I was ranked 33rd in my family, but none of my older brothers or sisters had kids.

My father asked, "Did he agree to carry children?"

I took out the agreement with the terms clearly written and signed.

My father nodded approvingly. "Alright, I'll help you transfer the baby over right now."

A month later, Bryce's belly swelled significantly, and he gained 13 pounds. He thought it was because he had been overeating lately and started exercising intensely.

But no matter how much he exercised, it was futile and yielded no results.

One day, he felt the baby move.