Overbearing CEO's Contract Love
Chapter 240: Are You Pregnant?

Chapter 240: Are You Pregnant?

Emma Hart puffed her cheeks, her mouth full of water making her face appear rounder. She chuckled and responded, "It’s nothing, you might as well hire a nanny for me at this rate."

"Sure!" Damien Sterling agreed promptly.

"No, no, no!" Emma hastily swallowed the water and protested. She knew Damien meant what he said, and the last thing she wanted was a nanny turning her into an office spectacle. Employing a personal nanny would only draw more attention at work, especially as she was already struggling to keep her pregnancy under wraps.

Damien walked towards Emma, his presence overwhelming. She could feel him approaching without even looking up, his steady breathing almost tangible in the silence. She remained still until he reached out and tugged at her coat.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Isn’t the office heating enough for you? Why the heavy coat?" Damien surveyed her thick coat incredulously. Everyone else dressed lightly, so why was she bundled up?

"It’s actually hot!" Emma replied in frustration, aware that her attempts to conceal her growing belly were becoming cumbersome.

Damien looked puzzled at her response. With resignation, Emma explained, "I’m just trying to keep people from noticing my stomach."

There was a knock on the door. The assistant entered, informing Damien about the attendees waiting in the conference room. "Mr. President, everyone has assembled."

Emma urged him, "You should go to the meeting now! It’s not good to keep everyone waiting."

"What’s so bad about it?" Damien glanced at her sharply.

Indeed, there was nothing wrong with delaying a little—after all, it was his company, and things proceeded at his discretion. However, Emma was eager to get back to her own tasks, feeling uneasy under Damien’s constant surveillance.

Compared to being confined at home, this level of scrutiny was somewhat tolerable.

As Damien left for the meeting room, Emma stepped aside, lowering her head to let him pass, and gestured politely, "After you, Mr. Sterling."

Damien gave her a sidelong glance, noting her increasing boldness and lack of fear. She even dared to joke with him now, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in his view.

No sooner had Damien Sterling left the conference room than Emma Hart, feeling a sudden burst of relief, also made her exit. But as she pushed open the door, Damien’s face unexpectedly appeared at the entrance. Despite his impeccably handsome features, his sudden appearance startled her.

Standing at the doorway, Emma clutched her chest, "Could you not scare me like that? Don’t you know pregnant women shouldn’t be startled?"

"I didn’t know," Damien replied curtly before turning away.

"You..." Emma watched as Damien’s retreating figure left her with nothing but his back to talk to. His mysterious actions puzzled her. Was he standing at the door just to frighten her? How childish!

Back downstairs, Emma stretched languidly, relieved to finally focus on her own tasks. "At last, I can do something for myself." Damien was in a meeting, likely for a couple of hours. Surely, she wouldn’t be summoned repeatedly during that time.

Engrossed in her work, the two hours flew by unnoticed by Emma, who hadn’t left her seat since returning from Damien’s office. It was only when her phone buzzed again that she realized how much time had passed. The message was blunt: Come up!

Sighing, Emma made her way back upstairs, suspecting that Damien was either reminding her to eat or had already prepared something for her lunch.

Entering the office, she found Damien massaging his forehead, a sign of fatigue likely from the meeting. As Emma walked in, he paused to rub his temples before shaking his head slightly and looking directly at her.

Emma, standing at the doorway, playfully bowed, mimicking the manner of an ancient maid, and teased, "What would you have me do, President?"

Damien flicked his fingers towards his assistant, who stepped forward holding a file as if he were a court eunuch about to announce a royal decree. Clearing his throat, the assistant glanced at Damien, then turned to Emma and began his report.

"According to the statistics, Miss Emma, in the two hours Mr. Sterling was away, the number of times you drank water was zero, the number of bathroom breaks was zero, the number of stretching exercises was zero, and the amount of rest time was zero minutes..."

"Wait, wait, wait," Emma couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted the assistant, finally understanding why the assistant had been reluctant to speak earlier.

Who had ever heard of an assistant reciting a report on how many times an employee drank water or used the bathroom within two hours?

Damien Sterling remained silent, yet Emma Hart had clearly grasped his intentions. "Mr. Sterling, isn’t this demand a bit too harsh?" she protested.

"Do you blame others for being harsh when you don’t take care of yourself?" he retorted.

Conceded! What kind of reasoning was that! Emma was utterly convinced now.

Manipulated by Damien’s firm approach, Emma finally began to drink water regularly, use the restroom on schedule, and take timely exercise breaks. She even reported to Damien’s office at set times, supposedly for updates, but Emma felt it was just his way of tormenting her thoroughly.

With all this activity, she was certainly meeting the exercise requirements for a healthy pregnancy.

In the Design Department, colleagues began to don their jackets as someone complained, "Why does the air conditioning feel a bit low today?"

Emma, however, felt more comfortable than usual and did not share their sentiment. While her coworkers usually dressed lightly, Emma wore slightly thicker clothes, which everyone had assumed was due to her dislike of the cold.

Looking around, Emma wondered if this was another of Damien’s interventions—had he lowered the temperature because he was worried she might overheat?

In the break room, Emma stood preparing to fill her glass with water, obedient under Damien’s watchful eye.

Zoe walked in and greeted Emma politely. Just as Emma was about to respond, a wave of nausea hit her. Damn this morning sickness! She tried to control it but couldn’t help rushing towards the basin.

"Ugh..." She retched uncomfortably.

Zoe hurried over, asking, "Emma, what’s wrong?"

As Zoe supported her, her hand accidentally brushed against Emma’s slightly protruding belly. Feeling it, Zoe looked at Emma, bent over and retching, "Emma, are you pregnant?"

Emma paled—this was the first time someone in the company had noticed her pregnancy, apart from Sophia Greenwood. Normally, her colleagues were too busy to notice anything, and she managed her discomfort by escaping to secluded spots. But this was the first time she had been unable to control herself in such a visible manner.

Emma shook her head, pondering a moment, then realizing a lie might draw more attention, she grabbed Zoe’s hand and pleaded, "Please, don’t tell anyone, okay?"

Zoe, although confused by her request, nodded firmly. "Don’t worry, Emma, I won’t say a word."

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