“Attention, all passengers. The plane is ready for takeoff. For your safety, please put up your tray table, buckle your safety belts, and kindly turn off your phone or set it to airplane mode. Thank you.” The sweet voice of the air stewardess rang from the speakers.
I subconsciously fished my phone out from my bag and was about to turn it off when I was notified of the dozen of missed calls, all of which were from Anthony. There were also a few text messages, all sent by him too.
Since I had to turn it off quickly, I merely scanned through them. The first one asked for my whereabouts, and the rest were just usual greetings.
The plane was taking off. There was no time for me to reply, so I just shut it down.
It was a four-hour journey from K City to J City. I barely slept last night so, not long after the plane took off, I asked the air stewardess for a blanket and took a nap.
By the time I woke up, the plane had landed. I turned on my phone and checked the time. It was six o’clock sharp.
Stacey was already there to pick me up when I got off the plane.
The sky got dark earlier during winter. It was barely six and it already looked like night had fallen. Stacey was wrapped in a thick padded jacket. She chuckled when she saw that I came with only one bag and nothing else. “Did you come directly after receiving my call?”
I nodded and said, “Yes. Take me there right away!”
Her expression was undecipherable. After a pause, she spoke, “Let’s get something to eat first. I’ve booked a restaurant. After that, I’ll take you to their residence.”
Since she had made the arrangements, I had nothing more to say. I nodded in agreement.
I did not have much of an appetite, to begin with. I simply ate what I could. After dinner, Stacey took me for a drive to the Glenwood residential area.
At the entrance to the residence, I froze. “Does Macy really live here?”
Stacey nodded and explained, “Well, they basically take walks around the residence at night. The weather’s been cold recently, so I guess they just take a brief stroll before returning home.”
The information left me stunned for a couple of seconds. I thought Macy should be staying at the house we had previously bought.
I asked Stacey to get us inside, and then we went straight to their apartment building.
We keyed in the passcode, opened the door, and found ourselves an empty house. No one had been living here for some time. It was in the exact condition when we left.
Stacey came to a realization. “No wonder they would rather live here than stay at their villa. You guys have a house here!”
The news caught me off guard. “What villa?”
She nodded. “I’ve checked. Nick used to stay at his villa at the Peakville Estate but, for whatever reason, he moved here.”
We left the place and headed downstairs. It was not snowing in J City, but the temperature was exceptionally low. Stacey led me to the residential rest area for a short break.
She turned to me and said, “When you see him later, do you intend to say hi?”
That was a strange question. “Why not?” I responded.
She shrugged. “Have you ever considered why they’re all in J City, but they lie to you about being in M Country?”
“Maybe they don’t want me to worry!”
“If that’s the case, what do you think their reaction would be when you appear out of the blue? I have an idea. Would you care to listen?”
“What do you have in mind?”
Stacey sat up straight and faced me. “You’ll see them tonight, but don’t go up to them first. Wait until tomorrow. I’m taking you somewhere to have the whole story sorted, and then we’ll deal with this calmly, alright?”
I was taken aback by what she said. It felt like she had overestimated the seriousness of the matter. I wanted to ask for more information but she silenced me. “Look, there they are!”
I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw two men, both about six feet tall, pushing a stroller as they talked.
There was some distance between us and them. I was a bit short-sighted anyway, so I could not make out exactly who they were but based on their silhouettes I could tell they were Nick and Jackson.
I really wanted to go over and talked to them, but Stacey stopped me. She urged me to call them on the phone first.
Alarmed, I took out of my phone. The screen showed some more missed calls from Anthony.
I had set my phone to silent mode after getting off the plane and since then I had not had the time to look at it.
“Didn’t you tell Mr. Featherstone that you’re coming?” She said hesitantly after taking a peek at the number of missed calls on my phone screen.
I nodded. I looked through the contacts for Jackson’s phone and dialed his number.
Before long, the call went through to Jackson’s phone. From a distance, I watched him hesitate to pick it up. Nick muttered something to him, and after that, he answered the call.
“Sienna, how’s it going?” Jackson answered the call.
I lowered my voice and said, “Hi, Jackson. Where are you? I’m coming to J City in a few days and I’m wondering if you’d like to visit as well. We can celebrate the new year together in J City. What do you think?”
There was silence at first, and then he said, “Hi, Sienna. I’m afraid we can’t go. We’re still in M Country at the moment. It’s cold here. It’s not good for the baby, traveling back and forth. Maybe after the celebration, when it gets warmer. Then we can go back to see you.”
I watched as the man standing not far away fed me with lies. The feeling was unbearable. Why is he lying to me? If I had not come here and see them with my own eyes, I would think they were in M Country.
Pushing aside the disappointment, I asked, “What about Macy? How’s she doing these days?”
From afar, I saw Jackson exchange glances with Nick. There was a moment’s silence again, before he said, “She’s at home. I’m outside right now and, if you don’t mind, I have stuff to do. I’m hanging up.
See you.”
Afterwards, he ended the call without waiting for me to finish what I had to say.
I was stunned for a while as I watched them walk further away, pushing the stroller ahead of them and talking between themselves.
If Stacey had not stopped me, I would have run up to them and demanded to know why he lied to me.
It was sometime later when I finally calmed down. I took a deep breath and turned to Stacey. “So, what did you find? Lay it on me.”
After everything that had happened, I was confident that I could accept whatever would come my way. I had lost my baby, my relationship with Anthony had hit the rocks, and the same had gone to Rylee.
Things are actually going quite well!
She looked me straight in the eyes and pursed her lips. “I suggest you give Mr. Featherstone a call first. There are about one hundred missed calls from him. He must be worried sick about you!”
I got annoyed. Anthony happened to be calling me again when I peeked at my phone. In cases like this one, a fight would most likely ensue if I take the call.
I chose to turn it off. Then I looked at Stacey and asked, “Is your place far away from here?”
She replied with a shrug, “It’s around here. I originally planned to return to my hometown for the new year. How’s this? Tomorrow, I shall take you to that place I’ve been talking about, and after you get that sorted out, I’ll make my way home. I heard that the Stanhope family in K City is planning to add you to their family register. If things work out, you’ll have a lot on your plate.”
I was not one who liked to get to the root of whatever we were dealing with. Since she had made all the arrangements, I would not want to interfere. Anthony’s calls kept coming. I spoke to Stacey for the final time that night, “Alright. I’ll head back first. See you tomorrow!”
She nodded as she got out her car key from her handbag. “That’s that, then. I’ll pick you up tomorrow!”
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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