Postpartum Crisis: A Conspiracy Against Me from My Family

When I opened my eyes again, Melinda and my husband were by my bedside, and Jeff had tears in his eyes.

"Joanna, are you okay? You went through too much, I love you."

I was about to be infuriated. Jeff had finally decided to show up. He was always running around, claiming he was making big money for us, but I hadn't seen much of that money, and he was never around.

I started crying and looked at Melinda with grievance. "Mom, I'm in so much pain..."

Melinda's tears welled up out of sympathy. "Dear, you've suffered enough. We won't have more children. One is enough."

I looked around the hospital room, which had only one bed.

"Where's Mia? How is she?"

Melinda averted her gaze and brought over a cup of oatmeal, "Dear, have some. I prepared it for you!"

I felt like vomiting. "Take it away, I don't want to drink it! How is Mia?"

Melinda, frustrated, put the oatmeal down, "Jeff, you take it."

Jeff cheerfully took it went to the back table to savor it.

"Don't worry about Mia. She's fine. She's already discharged and gone to the postpartum care center."

Hearing about the postpartum care center, my eyes lit up. "When do I get to go? Can I be discharged today?"

The previously sentimental atmosphere became lively. "You'll go soon. The staff from Honeydew will pick you up this afternoon."

I was instantly happy. At 3 PM, Honeydew's luxury nanny car was parked at the hospital entrance. Melinda helped me walk, while Melinda had disappeared again.

The maternity nurse held my newborn son. It was my first time seeing him. He was tiny, wrinkled, and quite ugly.

The gates of Honeydew opened for us. "Welcome home."

It was full of ceremony; the money was well spent.

Honeydew has two villas, and I was going to stay in the largest one in the middle of the courtyard, which looked like a castle.

I wasn't sure if it was just my illusion, but as we passed by a nondescript villa in the corner, I felt someone watching us.

Following my instinct, I looked over and saw only dark windows. This area shouldn't be for guests.

On the first day in the presidential suite, dinner and a late-night snack were delivered on time. Doctors and nurses checked on me, and the manager briefed me on the schedule for the next day.

At the postpartum care center, I wouldn't get bored. There were many activities every day. As a first-time mother, I was curious about everything and wanted to experience it all. But strangely, I never ran into Mia.

Honeydew didn't enforce breastfeeding, so I chose formula and could sleep as long as I wanted.

On the third day at Honeydew, I was woken up at dawn by noise.

"Is this how you take care of Mia? How can you be so discriminatory?"

Jayden's angry voice boomed from the living room, and Melinda's voice wasn't any less loud.

"She insisted on going back. I couldn't stop her."

In my pajamas, still groggy, I walked out of the room.

"What are you arguing about? What happened to Mia?"

Jayden glanced at me with a look I had never seen before, as if he wanted to stab me.

"Mia had no one with her during childbirth, and the promised postpartum care center was a lie. How can you treat her like this? You said you'd take good care of her."

Tears welled up in Jayden's eyes, and he struggled to hold them back.

I was getting more confused and angrier. Jayden had never spoken to us like this before.

"What are you talking about? I saw the room myself. It's just a bit smaller than this one. It's not as bad as you say."

Hearing my response, Jayden was furious. "A bit smaller? Three or four people crammed into one room, with only one maternity nurse looking after them. You call that a bit smaller? Why don't you go stay in the smaller one?"