Substitute Wife, Genius CEO novel Chapter 93

The room erupted in collective gasps. To see so many brutal scars on such a young child was horrifying.

The force behind those strikes must have been sickening.

Jude swore under his breath, shooting the principal a lethal glare. "Take a good look at those scars, Principal. Can you hand this kid over to him with a clear conscience? If Leo turns up dead, are you prepared to take responsibility?"

Now that child abuse was on the table, the situation had escalated entirely.

The principal looked at Xavier nervously. "Mr. Sterling?"

Xavier pinched the bridge of his nose. "I won't send you to the manor. You're coming with me."

Ultimately, Xavier managed to drag Leo away. The boy looked back at Jude with every step he took.

Catching Leo's lingering gaze, a rare flicker of jealous rage rippled through Xavier's usually stoic heart. "Is it that hard to leave him?"

Leo kept his thick lashes lowered, refusing to answer, but internally, he screamed 'yes.'

Though young, he was incredibly perceptive. He knew telling the truth would only infuriate Xavier.

Summer had always warned him—their father didn't love them. If the day ever came when he was on his own, he had to know how to protect himself.

Xavier didn't press the issue, leaving the air between father and son frozen at absolute zero.

Back at the school, Jude felt his chest tighten at the memory of the boy's pleading eyes and battered back. He was completely consumed by anxious fury.

Xavier was an absolute piece of trash!

He tried calling Summer again, but her phone was still off.

Where the hell was she?

**

When Summer finally woke up, she found herself staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room.

Her entire body felt leaden, her head spinning with a heavy fog. Her dislocated arm hung uselessly at her side. Thanks to the constant rough handling, the ligaments were likely torn; even the slightest twitch sent a blinding, agonizing pain radiating through her, causing a fresh wave of cold sweat to break out.

Then there were her fingers, brutally crushed beneath Lily's heels. They were swollen and bruised purple, the nails pooling with dark, congealed blood. Every millimeter of movement was pure torture.

The door swung open. A woman stepped in, dressed in a crisp white blouse and a black pencil skirt, her hair pulled back into an aggressively tight bun.

Summer froze, certain she had misheard. "Electroshock chair?"

The next second, two heavily built women barged into the room. Without a word, they grabbed Summer by the arms and dragged her back inside.

Ignoring her frantic struggles, they hauled her violently toward a terrifying, mechanical chair sitting in the center of the room.

"Let go of me!" Summer screamed, thrashing wildly. "This is illegal! I'll call the cops!"

Elise let out a chilling sneer. "Miss Vance, this academy goes by another, more common name: The Sanitarium. Electroshock therapy is a perfectly legal medical procedure here. If you had just been compliant and willing to learn, we could have avoided this. But you're far too rebellious."

A psychiatric hospital?

In that instant, it felt as if Summer had been plunged into a vat of ice. Her blood ran cold, her body trembling uncontrollably as the sheer horror of her situation sank in.

She never imagined Xavier could be this monstrous—locking a perfectly sane woman inside a mental asylum.

Summer was forced down into the chair, heavy leather straps locking her wrists in place.

As the women moved to secure her ankles, Summer's terror gave way to pure, feral adrenaline. She wasn't going down without a fight. Rearing back, she kicked out with everything she had. "Get the hell away from me!"