He Stole Me From the Man Who Saved Me

Chapter 2 My Husband Trusted My Abuser Over Me

Xavier introduced the woman beside him. "This is Sophia, the professional postpartum caregiver I hired for you. She'll help you recover from postpartum depression and take care of both you and the baby."

Sophia Blake smiled warmly. "Mrs. Sterling, I was your midwife last night when you gave birth. Do you remember me?"

Wendy's fingers tightened around the blanket. So it was her. The woman who had asked about her daughter in her previous life.

But back then, Sophia had only assisted with the delivery. She had never come to the Sterling estate, and their final meeting had supposedly been that chance encounter at the mall.

Unless it had never been chance at all.

Suppressing the turmoil rising in her chest, Wendy lowered her eyes and nodded. "I remember."

Xavier gently ruffled her hair. "Get acquainted. I need to take a call."

The moment he left, Wendy lowered her voice. "Ms. Blake, tell me everything you know."

Sophia blinked in confusion. "Mrs. Sterling, what are you talking about?"

She bent down, picked up the baby, and carried him over. "Look how adorable Ethan is. His mouth and nose look exactly like yours."

Wendy stared at the swaddled infant. He was dark, wrinkled, and looked nothing like her.

The truth was so obvious. How had she never realized in her previous life that everything about this child had been wrong?

When her so-called son was ten, he had shoved her into a swimming pool lined with nails. As she bled in agony, Xavier had only frowned and said, "How did you raise him to be this naughty?"

When the boy started dating at fifteen and Wendy scolded him a few times, Xavier accused her of overreacting and locked her away for ten days.

And in the end, she had died in a pool of blood while that same son looked down at her with hatred in his eyes.

Wendy jerked her head away and instinctively shoved the baby from her arms.

"What's going on?"

Xavier had returned just in time to witness it, his brows furrowing sharply. He picked up the child at once and forced him back into Wendy's arms.

"Wendy, this is the baby you carried for ten months and gave birth to yourself. Why are you shaking?"

The baby woke and burst into tears.

"It's natural for a first-time mother to need time to adjust," Sophia said gently. "The baby is hungry. Mrs. Sterling, please nurse him."

Wendy's whole body stiffened. "I won't."

Sophia reached for the buttons of her sleepwear as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Mrs. Sterling, let me help…"

"I said I won't!" Wendy slapped her hand away.

Sophia stumbled backward, her lower back striking the nightstand. Her face paled instantly.

Xavier's expression darkened.

Sophia straightened with visible difficulty, though her voice remained soft. "Mrs. Sterling is young. It's normal to resist breastfeeding at first. But breast milk is best for the little baby. Sir, perhaps you should persuade her."

Xavier immediately softened his tone. "Wendy, I know you're exhausted, but you're his mother…"

"Then let him drink formula!" Wendy glared at him, refusing to back down.

Sophia leaned close and whispered, "Sir, with you here, Mrs. Sterling may feel embarrassed."

Xavier nodded in understanding. "You're experienced. I'll leave my wife in your care."

He turned to Wendy and kissed her forehead. "I have business overseas and need to leave for a few days. Be good. I'll bring you a gift when I return."

Wendy said nothing.

The moment the door shut behind him, Sophia's expression went cold. "Mrs. Sterling, are your breasts swollen and painful?"

Wendy instinctively shrank toward the corner of the bed. "I have a fever. It might be acute mastitis. Let him drink formula for now."

Sophia's face hardened. "How can a precious little baby like him go without breast milk? Let me help you."

Two maids entered, wheeling in a medical-grade electric breast pump.

"Mrs. Sterling refuses to cooperate," Sophia said coolly, rolling up her sleeves. "Use the machine."

Wendy's pupils contracted. She struggled immediately, but the maids pinned her shoulders to the bed, tied down her wrists, and tore open her sleepwear.

"Set the suction to maximum," Sophia ordered.

The machine roared to life.

Pain sharper than childbirth ripped through Wendy's body. Purple bruises spread rapidly across her chest, blooming in grotesque patches.

"It hurts!" Wendy screamed.

Sophia offered only a perfunctory smile. "Endure it. It's for the baby's sake."

After more than ten minutes of agony and humiliation, Wendy's vision began to blur.

Just before losing consciousness, she heard Sophia tell the maids, "Three times a day. Morning, noon, and night. If she refuses, tie her down."

For the next seven days, Wendy's phone was confiscated, and she was confined to the master bedroom.

Whenever she tried to get out of bed, Sophia stopped her with the excuse that Xavier had ordered strict bed rest.

The brutal pumping never ceased. Her chest split open, bled, and festered. Every attempt to resist earned her only harsher humiliation.

On the evening of the seventh day, Xavier returned from his trip and walked to the crib to check on his son.

"What happened to Ethan's face?" he asked, frowning.

Sophia lowered her eyes with a troubled expression. "I prepare mild meals for Mrs. Sterling every day, but she…"

She let the sentence trail off and glanced toward Wendy's pillow.

"But she what? Speak."

"Mrs. Sterling secretly ate spicy food. I couldn't stop her." Sophia sighed softly. "Breast milk affected by spicy food can cause eczema in babies."

Wendy shot upright. "I never ate anything spicy!"

Ignoring her, Xavier strode to the bed and flipped over her pillow, revealing a bag of spicy snacks hidden beneath it. His face darkened at once.

"I know you love spicy food, but can't you control yourself for your son while breastfeeding?"

Wendy stared at him in disbelief. "That's not mine! I never even left this room…"

"Enough," Xavier snapped, cutting her off before she could finish.

He turned to Sophia. "Bring the soup from the kitchen. I'll feed her myself."

Before Wendy could react, he seized her jaw and forced the soup down her throat. The instant she swallowed, her face changed.

"There's something in this soup…"

Her words died unfinished as darkness crashed over her, and she collapsed onto the bed.