Chapter 4 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

“Ms. Lorraine, I’m surprised at how fast you’ve switched personalities.” Casting her a cursory glance, I picked up my bag and prepared to make my journey to the Featherstones’ home.

Since Anthony was unwilling to go, it was my job to go in his stead.

As soon as I reached the door, Rylee stepped forward to block my way. Seeing that Anthony was absent, she could finally take a breather from pretending to be a harmless little bunny. She questioned me sharply, “When are you going to sign the divorce papers?”

I was stunned for a second. Nevertheless, I released a chuckle as I looked at her. “Are you playing the homewrecker by forcing me to divorce him?”

“You’re the homewrecker!” Calling her that seemed to have hit a nerve because her face darkened as she snarled, “If it weren’t for you, the lady of this house would have been me by now. Since George has died, there is no one to protect you, no one who will ensure that you can continue living here. If I were you, I’d sign the divorce papers, take the money that Anthony has offered, and get as far away from here as possible.”

“Well, it’s a pity that you’re not me, Ms. Lorraine!” I retorted coldly as I ignored her jabs and skirted around her to go downstairs. Other than Anthony, no one in the world could say anything to hurt me.

Being a person who had always basked in the limelight, Rylee felt dissatisfied that I was ignoring her. She suddenly gave a hard grip on my arm. “How shameless can you get, Sienna? Anth doesn’t even like you, so what’s the use of clinging onto him?”

Glancing back at her, I had the urge to laugh but my next words were uttered calmly. “Since you’re aware of his stance toward me, what’s there to be nervous about?”

“You…” She flushed a bright red, unable to respond.

I leaned closer to her with a faint sneer on my lips and lowered my voice into a whisper. “As for why I’m clinging onto him…” I paused as I evened out my tone. “He’s got some mad skills. So you tell me, what’s the use of it?”

“You’re so shameless!” Rylee’s eyes reddened with anger. Without thinking, she raised her hands and intended to push me. The stairs were behind me, so out of instinct, I twisted sideways to avoid getting pushed by her.

Nonetheless, I never expected her to lose her own footing. She fell right down the stairs.

“Ahhhh!” Her ear-splitting scream resounded throughout the living room, and I stood rooted to the ground for a while, unable to react.

To my misfortune, I was shoved aside just as I sensed a frosty front darting my way. Then, Anthony’s figure shot down the stairs as he went to check on Rylee, who was already lying at the bottom of the stairs.

Rylee was curled into a ball on the floor, holding her abdomen with an agonized look on her ashen face. She spoke in a feeble voice, “My child. My child.”

There was blood pooling beneath her body, staining a large area of the carpet red. Every fiber in my body froze. She’s… pregnant?

With Anthony’s child?

“Anth, the child. The child…” Rylee tugged at Anthony’s sleeve as she repeated the words like a broken record.

Beads of sweat covered Anthony’s forehead, his icy expression sank with dread.

“Don’t be afraid. The child will be fine.” He comforted Rylee and scooped her into his arms before he strode toward the door.

After taking a few steps forward, Anthony stopped abruptly. His glowering eyes were as dark as an abyss, and the anger in his voice was palpable. “I bet that you’re happy, Sienna.”

His simple words were full of hatred and fury.

I was bereft of speech; I did not know how to react.

“Aren’t you going after them to explain?” A deep voice came from behind, jolting me into action. I turned and was stunned to see Jared there all of a sudden.

Suppressing the panic that was rising in my heart, I calmly asked, “Explain what?”

He raised his brows. “Aren’t you afraid that he would think that you pushed Rylee?”

My eyes dipped down as a hint of bitterness shone through them. “It’s doesn’t matter whether I pushed her. The truth is that Rylee is hurt and someone has to take the blame for it.”

“It’s good that you know!” Jared descended the stairs as he left the villa with his medical kit in hand. He was probably heading off to the hospital to see Rylee.

It was an hour’s journey from the villa to the Featherstones’ family home. Throughout the entire hour, I felt like I was in a daze.

My mind was flooded with thoughts about the child in Rylee’s belly and the look in Anthony’s eyes before he left. I couldn’t seem to draw enough air into my lungs.

My chest tightened, and just as the car pulled to a stop in front of the Featherstones’ family home, a wave of nausea washed over me. I rushed out of the car and retched on the flowerbed for a long time, unable to throw up.

“It seems like being Mrs. Featherstone has made you fragile, seeing that you’ve almost vomited after a short car ride.” A sharp and distasteful voice sounded out from the front door of the house.

I didn’t need to look to know who it was. George had two sons. The elder one was Christopher Featherstone, who had died in a car accident along with his wife years ago, leaving his only son, Anthony, behind. George’s second son was Charlie Featherstone.

At that moment, the one mocking me outside the family home was Uncle Charlie’s wife, Helen Clarke. There were many internal feuds within wealthy families, so I had already gotten used to this.

I suppressed the discomfort in my stomach as I stared at Helen, greeting her politely. “Aunt Helen.”

Helen had always disliked me. Perhaps she was jealous that I was favored by George despite coming from a poor background, or perhaps she was disgruntled because George had valued Anthony so much that he handed the reigns of this household to him. Given the context, she could have been venting out her anger on me.

She cast an icy glance at me before gazing behind me. Upon noticing there was no one else inside the car, her expression darkened. “What? Anthony, the favorite grandson, didn’t even show up for his grandfather’s funeral?”

There would be many guests here today, so Anthony’s absence was indeed unacceptable. I lifted my lips into a smile and gave her a perfunctory reply. “An important issue has arisen, so Anthony might run late.”

“Haha!” Helen sneered. “This is the person whom my father-in-law has placed all his hope on. I wonder what he saw in him.”

The Featherstones were an influential family, so many people attended the funeral to pay their respects. Although Helen was repulsed by me, for the sake of appearances, she didn’t make things too difficult for me.

We entered the family home together. George’s casket was in the middle of the hall where some white flowers were arranged on top of it.

Many people entered, one after the other, all clad in black mourning attire. George was well-known, so those who came to offer their respects were all from outstanding backgrounds. Charlie and Helen greeted them outside, while I greeted them inside the hall.

“Ms. Stanhope.” Mrs. Eriksen strode toward me with a sandalwood box in hand.

“Mrs. Eriksen, what’s wrong?” The Featherstone family wasn’t all that complicated despite being a wealthy family because there weren’t many descendants. George had always preferred a life of peace and solace and had only hired Mrs. Eriksen to take care of him.

Mrs. Eriksen placed the sandalwood box in my hands with a sympathetic expression on her face. “This was left to you by Mr. Featherstone before he passed on. Keep it safe.”

She paused briefly before continuing, “Mr. Featherstone was aware that Mr. Anthony would possibly force you into a divorce upon his demise. If you don’t want that to happen, give this box to him. Once he sees it, he’ll think twice before divorcing you.”

I dipped my head to look at the square-shaped box in my hand. It was secured with a hidden lock. Glancing at Mrs. Eriksen, I asked in puzzlement, “Where is the key?”

“Mr. Featherstone already gave it to Mr. Anthony.” Mrs. Eriksen studied me as she advised, “You’ve lost a lot of weight recently. You should take care of your health. Mr. Featherstone has always hoped that you and Mr. Anthony would have a healthy son together so that there would be an heir to the family. Now that Mr. Featherstone is gone, don’t let the family bloodline end with the two of you.”

At the mention of a child, I was taken aback for a while. Then, I offered Mrs. Eriksen a smile, deciding not to comment any further on it.

---