Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 218: My Wife

The maid who had just emerged from Anne’s bedroom pushed a food cart which held a tray of several dishes on it.

The maid sighed lightly.

"What’s wrong, She still didn’t eat?" Razia promptly inquired as soon as the maid came out.

The maid nodded looking slightly annoyed but Razia didn’t dwell much on the other woman’s facial expression.

"It’s normal for some pregnant women to have some days where their appetite is off." Razia said thoughtfully but the maid who had gone in to serve Anne rolled her eyes.

"It’s just being pregnant, she doesn’t have to act spoiled by refusing to eat."

Razia was shocked at her sudden outburst.

"What are you saying Linda? At times like these you can’t blame a pregnant woman for the things she wants and doesn’t want, it’s very evident her body is in control and her not eating means her body just can’t take it or she doesn’t have the appetite. We’re all women, let’s be understanding of another woman."

Linda however scoffed lightly, it was evident she had other opinions regarding the matter. "I mean it’s just being pregnant, it’s not as if she’s the first ever woman to be pregnant right? Let’s face it Razia she’s just acting entitled because she feels she can and it’s a pattern you’ll see among women who have a rags to riches story. She probably just wants to try her hand at being the picky mistress because she can do that now since she’s practically living like a queen."

"How can you even say that? We could lose our jobs for what you just said. You have no compassion at all Linda, she’s clearly not feeling well."

"Oh please, I’m just saying the plain truth, and we won’t lose our jobs, this house belongs to master not her, and if you’ve seen the way master doesn’t even care about her, you won’t be worried right now. She just got lucky and married a Sterling but that doesn’t mean master sees her as the queen of his heart, so I’m allowed to speak the truth."

"You’re not speaking the truth, you just want to justify talking bad about mistress."

"Whatever. I just know one thing for sure, this marriage won’t last long. It’s already very obvious that there’s no love in such a marriage, a marriage without love will only crumble. We can keep calling her the mistress for now, but it won’t be long and she’ll be out on the streets. If I were in her shoes I’d start preparing myself to go back to having nothing."

Linda’s words had just fallen out of her mouth, her tone dripping with certainty.

There were debates about the master and mistress but she was sure as hell that the master didn’t care one little bit for his wife.

There have been many loveless marriages that ended in six months, many marriages ended even sooner and had to live separately until those six months were over, and the marriage would completely be destroyed. It was public knowledge that a man like Andrew Sterling would never settle in marriage when they prioritized nothing else in their lives but their profession.

All the staff at the manor were from family lines that have worked for the Sterling family over the decades, many of them took over the jobs from their parents who had retired.

The private lives of the Sterling family was something they would never reveal outside even if their lives depended on it, hence this secret marriage of a well known man like Andrew hadn’t been revealed despite the actively gossiping habit of some of the household staff.

Razia couldn’t stand the busybody Linda talking unreasonably about Anne when she herself had no idea of the experience of being pregnant and how a woman’s mind and body would undergo changes. The older woman could sense hints of jealousy in her tone, young women like Linda dreamed of being in the exact same position Anne was currently in right now, but the difference between someone like Anne and someone like Linda was the exact same reason Anne was Andrew’s wife while Linda was still a maid.

It turns out the good things in life were always given to those who deserve it.

At this moment, crisp footsteps suddenly approached the hallway and both Linda and Razia looked up as the sounds of those steps were firm and tough in a way they knew no one else in the manor would be able to carry themselves with the same amount of confidence.

As expected, the tall figure that rounded the corner was the very person every staff in the household feared. Everyone wanted to avoid being pinned under his stern gaze and lucky for them, they had never been as he barely paid attention to the household staff, however this time, immediately he appeared, his strict black orbs seemed pinned harshly on someone.

The temperature seemed to have suddenly become a bit uncomfortable, the air somewhat suffocating.

Under the eyes of the man whose form reminded one of power and controlled rigidity, Linda almost lost her ability to keep standing. Her legs suddenly felt like jelly and her heart began to hammer harshly in her chest, fear trickling through her body turning her blood cold.

He had not heard everything she just said now right?

She began to say countless prayers internally that he hadn’t heard a word of what she said.

The nerves were too heavy for Linda’s mind, so she began to quietly assure herself.

So what if he heard? She hadn’t said anything offensive about him, what she said might have been offensive to the woman he was married to but it was after all not a marriage of love, if master didn’t care about his wife like she was sure he didn’t, he wouldn’t mind a single bit that she had said those things about Anne.

Thinking about this, Linda somewhat felt relieved. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that look was giving her. The closer Andrew came, the more the fear in Linda took root that her mind instantly discarded the little assurance she had just given herself.

What made it feel even more frightening was how his long steps instantly stopped the minute he arrived near her.

His eyes were like lazers that could pierce through her and terror gripped her like a vice almost choking the breath out of her. The maid’s face turned ashen instantly.

"Butler Jones." Andrew suddenly called, his deathly steel like gaze still pinned to the maid.

The butler who had been personally pushing a new food cart behind Andrew immediately responded by coming forward.

"Master?"

"It seems some of the staff in this manor disrespect me enough to think they can make comments about my marriage, even worse about my wife." Andrew’s voice sounded like glaciers, ice cold and harsh, "Who the hell do you think you are, talking about my wife like that?"

Anne was still laying in the warm comfort of her bed, having unconsciously been listening to what Linda had been saying right outside her door while her fingers tightened in her pillows at the realization that the maid might be right.

Her pregnancy was the only thing still keeping her in this marriage and very soon, it might all come to an end. However just several seconds later she heard silence and crisp footsteps followed untill Andrew’s voice reached her ears. Two words out of his statements stood out, clinging to her mind as if fixated in her head with glue, repeating over and over again.

’...My wife...’

Those words...

It was the first time she had heard him call her that.

She suddenly felt her pulse jump, her heart hammering in her chest like something coming alive.