I Just Want Her Heart... Literally Chapter 1

Mia Merrow, the mermaid I spent a fortune to buy, looks down on me for my ugly appearance. Instead, she turns around and falls for my handsome and gorgeous stepbrother, Charlie Pickler.

I bankroll her medical treatments. She says I don't put enough thought into it.

I build her the most luxurious environment to live in. She calls me tasteless and undignified.

Yet, a simple sticker that Charlie casually tosses to her becomes the most priceless treasure in her eyes.

"It's just an ordinary sticker, but to me, it's the most precious treasure in the world!" she gushes. "A money-obsessed man like you could never understand!"

They embrace right in front of me, hoping I'll give them my blessing.

"Give up, Rick. No matter what you do, you'll never hold a candle to Charlie."

"Exactly, Ricky. Mia doesn't love you, so why force her?"

Watching the two of them play off each other right in front of me, I can't help but laugh inwardly.

Who said anything about wanting Mia's love?

As I gently run my fingers over the burn scars across my face, I quietly remind myself that there are only three days left before Mia reaches maturity.

They say the heart of an adult mermaid, when ground into medicine, could heal any scar.

"My sweet, darling Mia," I mused to myself. "I've given you so much. In three days, it'll be your turn to give something back to me."

* * *

"I don't need Mia's love. I just need her heart."

I stated my true intention slowly, only to be met with snickers from both Mia Merrow and Charlie Pickler.

"Come on, Ricky, stop being so stubborn. Isn't that basically the same thing?"

As far as my stepbrother Charlie was concerned, winning over someone's love meant winning over their heart. What he didn't know was that I literally wanted her physical heart.

Mia frowned, clearly displeased.

"Rick, if you like me, just say so. Why make up these pretentious excuses? Don't think playing hard to get will make me fall for you."

Charlie leaned against Mia's chest, his eyes filled with contempt.

"Ricky, merfolk care about beauty more than anything. You…"

He didn't finish, but I knew exactly what he was getting at.

Almost instinctively, I reached up and ran my fingers over the hideous scar across my face—a scar I'd gotten while saving Charlie from a fire.

…

When we were kids, Charlie set the curtains on fire while playing with matches at home. At the time, the only people at home were six-year-old Charlie and ten-year-old me.

After Mom died, Dad—a schoolteacher—used the money she left behind to marry his longtime sweetheart.

Charlie was her son.

Before leaving the house that day, Dad repeatedly reminded me to take good care of my little brother.

"Even if you get hurt, you can't let your little brother get hurt. Got it?"

So when I saw the room go up in raging flames, I gave up my chance to escape and, without hesitation, rushed back inside to push little Charlie out. In the end, I ended up trapped in the inferno.

That was the first time in my life I truly understood what true despair felt like. Even now, I could still remember the excruciating pain of the flames burning my flesh.

If the firefighters hadn't arrived in time, it wouldn't have just been my face that was ruined. I would have lost my life, too.

Meanwhile, although Charlie—the cause of the fire—was a little shaken up, he ultimately walked away without a scratch.

I couldn't fathom how he could so unapologetically mock me for being ugly when he knew full well who had ruined my face in the first place.

"Don't forget. I got this burn saving a certain someone."

Charlie's expression stiffened.

Of course he knew the truth. He just didn't want to feel indebted to me because of it.

"I know, Ricky. It was to save me. But I was a small kid back then. I didn't know any better."