He Stole Me From the Man Who Saved Me

Wendy Carter had spent three years poking holes in condoms, drugging her patron, and scheming her way into his bed, only to flee on the very night she gave birth to his son. When Xavier Sterling found her, she was rifling through passports in an old house on Ashford Alley. "Ten years ago, I saved you here, and you said you would trust me for the rest of your life." His voice was sharp as he advanced on her step by step. "I have already decided to marry you, so why are you running?" Wendy's shoulders trembled violently. "My status is too low. I'm afraid the women who want to be Mrs. Sterling will hurt me." Pain flashed across his eyes. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "There is no one else. From now on, you will be the only Mrs. Sterling." What Xavier did not know was that when Wendy made up that clumsy excuse, the only thing she could see was the horrific scene of her death in her previous life. On her forty-second birthday, a richly dressed woman had approached her and asked, "Twenty years ago, I was the one who helped deliver your baby. How is your daughter doing?" In that instant, Wendy remembered everything. When she had first given birth, the doctor had clearly told her she had delivered a beautiful baby girl. Yet when she woke, everyone congratulated her on giving birth to a son. Everyone in Cloudcrest knew the Sterling family's rule: whichever woman bore Xavier's first son would become Mrs. Sterling. Surrounded by blessings and envy, Wendy had married Xavier six months later and spent the next twenty years as his wife, raising their child and caring for the family. But that woman's words planted doubt in her heart. Without telling anyone, Wendy secretly ordered a paternity test for her son. The day the results came back, she stared at the report that read No Biological Relationship and prepared to confront Xavier. Before she could, her phone lit up with photos from an unknown number. The first batch showed Xavier kissing and strolling with a faceless woman, photos taken over the course of more than ten years. The next showed a little girl locked in a basement, tortured from childhood into her teens. That girl had Wendy's face. There was no mistaking it. She was Wendy's biological daughter. Panicked, Wendy drove home in a frenzy, only to be struck by a speeding truck before she arrived. As she lay dying, the "son" she had raised for twenty years rushed to the scene. He crouched beside her, took the phone from her hand, deleted every photo, and sneered, "For twenty years, I had to call a lowborn b***h like you ‘Mom.' Do you know how disgusting that felt? Hurry up and die, you idiot." Her entire world shattered. The son she had raised for twenty years hated her to the bone. The husband she had spent half her life with had another family. Her biological daughter had suffered abuse all those years. That overwhelming hatred came crashing back the moment she opened her eyes in the delivery room once more. The tiny infant boy, Xavier's gentle face, and the hypocritical congratulations of people disguising their jealousy as they praised her for marrying into wealth all came flooding back at once. In this life, she wanted only three things: to escape, to survive, and to find her daughter. But then she caught a strange tenderness in Xavier's eyes, one she could not understand. He treated her like something precious, carrying her into the car himself and holding her hand the entire way, his unease written plainly across his face. That was when Wendy understood escape was impossible. Since she could not run, she would return with him for now and quietly investigate where her daughter had been taken. So she cooperated obediently, returned to the hospital for her postpartum examination, completed her discharge procedures, and stopped resisting. When they arrived back at the Sterling estate, Xavier personally arranged everything before saying gently, "The doctor says you're suffering from severe postpartum depression. I failed to make you feel secure because I was not devoted enough before. Tomorrow, I'll announce our engagement. Once you finish your recovery, we'll get married." Wendy remembered clearly that in her previous life, she had remained his nameless lover for another six months after giving birth. Only after fending off countless rivals had she finally secured the title of Mrs. Sterling. She did not know why, but in this life, he seemed desperate to make her status official immediately. Avoiding his gaze, Wendy nodded. The moment he left the room, she pulled up a number on her phone and sent a text. Wendy: I accept your terms. But before I leave, help me hire a private investigator and find out where my biological daughter is. The reply came almost instantly. A: Okay. Within one month, the truth will come to light. Just then, Xavier walked in with a woman beside him. Wendy deleted the message at once and looked up, her face turning deathly pale. "You are…"