We left the residence together and headed to the supermarket. There, we stocked up on basic cooking necessities, including rice, cooking oil, sugar, and salt. Marcus turned to me with a look of surprise. “You can cook?”
It was so embarrassing to have that question thrown at me. Impatiently, I rebutted, “Don’t underestimate me, alright? What makes you think I can’t cook?”
I picked a few seasonings and added bluntly, “Just you wait, I’ll show you what I’m capable of tonight!”
Laughter escaped him. He raised a hand, patted me on the head, and said, “Alright then. I’ll wait!”
I lifted my head and smiled at him. My eyes fell upon an item on the shelf behind him, so I asked for a favor, “Marcus, can you help me get that seasoning bag? I can’t reach it!”
He did not respond. Instead, he just stared at a target behind me, looking rather solemn. I froze, faintly wary of an icy glare that seemed to be directed at me.
Out of instinctive reaction, I was about to whip my head around, but Marcus pulled me into his arms and buried me into his embrace.
When he spoke, it was in a stern tone, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back!”
I was stunned, but before I could figure out what was going on, someone forcibly grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me out of Marcus’ embrace.
I was shell-shocked when my eyes took in Anthony’s face, filled with depth, eagerness, and delight interwoven in a complicated mess. In short, the emotions reflected in his eyes were an impetuous, messy lot. The thoughts in my head crashed to a halt as though my brain had been struck by a lightning bolt.
I was at a loss of what to do. My body stiffened, my heart began to ache, and the dense pain began to spread. Fear and bewilderment engulfed me.
I felt my hands and body tremble. In a moment, I broke off eye contact and stopped looking at him while my heart suffocated from the pain.
I was not ready to face him yet. I was not ready to tell him what happened to the baby. I was not ready to give him any sort of explanation at all.
“Sienna, why are you…” A woman’s dainty voice suddenly rang, and it fell heavily on my ears.
My eyes darted to Rylee, whose belly had already begun to show. She was standing next to a shopping cart stacked with lots of baby supplies fit for baby girls.
I suddenly recalled Anthony picking out these items before. They were more or less the same things.
Rylee, Cameron… Staring at Rylee with a pair of reddened eyes, I was on the brink of emotional collapse. In that instant, I lost control. I shoved Anthony’s arm away with all my might.
And then I launched myself almost frantically at Rylee. No one expected I would turn out like that.
Rylee stepped back in shock. I did not give her time to respond at all. The next thing I knew, I tore at her delicately styled hair, yelling in a frenzy, “Rylee, a life for a life! I won’t let you and Cameron escape!”
“Ah… she’s gone mad! Sienna, you mad woman! Anthony, save me!” Rylee, scared out of her wits, kept screaming. The scene descended into chaos.
Someone tackled me from behind. They had me tightly secured in their arms. A low, gruff voice rang in my ear, “Sienna, it’s me! I’m Anthony! I’m your husband!”
Almost instantly, I felt my strength dwindling, my eyes still maddening red. I broke myself free from his arms with what little strength I had left.
Marcus held onto me. I squeezed his hands tightly, my voice hoarse and painful, “Marcus, take me away from here!”
I really did not want to stay here a minute more. I feared I would not be able to control myself and engage in another fight with Rylee.
I was even more afraid of seeing Anthony protecting her and much more afraid of seeing them being intimate with each other.
“Alright, let’s go home!” Marcus complied. He carried me in his arms and headed towards the exit.
Random shoppers kept looking our way. Anthony, hot on our heels, eventually blocked Marcus’ path, his voice deep, chilly, and terrifying, as he ordered, “Let her go!”
Marcus sneered, looking rather grim. “Do you think she will go with you?”
Anthony’s eyes flitted to me, and his pupils shrank. Then, he shouted, “Sienna, come back to me!”
I clung onto Marcus like my life depended on him, my eyes now red and swollen. I begged him, “Take me away, take me away from here!”
Marcus nodded. Then he turned to Anthony, lips pursed, and pronounced one word at a time, “Anthony, you’ll hound her to death if you keep pushing it!”
Anthony pursed his lips, and I could vaguely see in his dark eyes that he was crumbling bit by bit. For a long while, he had his eyes fixed on me before he slowly spat out a few words, “Fine! Go!”
Without Anthony on our trail, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Marcus carried me into the car and brought me straight back to Central Park residence.
When we got home, he laid me down on the sofa in the living room before getting me some water and my medicine. He then squatted next to me and said, “Do you still want to take your meds?”
I nodded, reached out to take medicine from him, and swallowed it. I managed to calm down a bit after that. Feeling exhausted, I proceeded to lean back on the sofa.
He sat down and stayed right there next to me throughout a very long silence. I felt lucky that every time something bad happened, there was always someone who would stand by me, and we would pull through whatever it was together.
When Grandma died, George Featherstone stayed with me. And now it was Marcus’ turn. I had no clue how much longer I could stay sane, but I always felt that perhaps tomorrow, or someday later, I would not be able to hold on anymore.
Depression kept coming back. I could not tell whether I was just really bad at coping with it or was it destined to be this way.
I fell asleep without knowing it. I did not know how long I had slept, but night had fallen by the time I woke up.
Noises came from the living room. I rose to check, only to find Marcus in the kitchen, donning an apron as he cooked. His stance and actions resembled those of a master chef.
Hearing movements coming from behind, he turned around and, upon seeing my conscious self, smiled as he said, “You should go wash your face. Dinner will be ready soon!”
I leaned on the door frame, watching him prepare the food with great expertise. “Were you a student at Neo Oriental Academy?”
He chuckled, pride glinting in his eyes. “Ho? You’re talking about that famous culinary school? Well, hearing this question come from you, that should be a compliment!”
I nodded, not holding back on flattery. “You seem to know your stuff very well!”
He turned off the stove, looked back at me, and nagged, “Go wash up!”
I nodded and obediently entered the bedroom for a quick wash-up. By the time I came out, he had a full course ready on the table, complete with a pleasant aroma.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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