“Of course not. But I really do like crabs since I was a little girl. Anth remembered all this time. When I arrived at A City the other night, he took me straight for crabs. I do apologize for the ordeal you went through that night though. It was completely unexpected. Thank goodness you are fine.”
It sounded insincere and hollow. “It has nothing to do with you,” I said with an indifferent laugh. “I am thankful for the incident because it showed me just how much Anthony loves me.”
Her smile froze on her face and slid off a moment later. “I am curious,” she continued as if I had said nothing. “With what kind of a person you’ve managed to offend to make them want to kill you. And in such a manner too! Straight to the morgue. That’s pretty cold if you know what I mean.”
I shrugged. “Yes, I stay up all night thinking about it too,” I replied nonchalantly. “What did you manage to uncover, Ms. Lorraine?”
Rylee was visibly irritated at not being able to upset me thus far, but she obliged me nonetheless. “I did not discover much, or it could be that Anth had been looking in the wrong direction. After you were brought out of the lift, the person who brought you into the morgue was not the same person who drugged you. That person may not even be a man.”
I frowned at her words. “I’m curious, Ms. Lorraine. Where did you get this piece of information from?”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said coldly. “What matters is that you shouldn’t let Anth get into trouble again for you.”
“What do you know?” I asked sternly.
Rylee seemed to have lost her cool demeanor from earlier. I leaned closer. “Rylee, if you meant what you said about doing all of this for Anthony, you owe it to him to tell me everything you know.”
Her plan of making things difficult for me had gone awry and she looked sour about it.
“Sienna, you’re pretty selfish, you know,” she reprimanded. “You’re constantly letting Anth place himself in danger for you. Don’t you love him? You’ve left him twice, and both times did you fail to find a man who’s more willing to spend his money on you than he is. At the end of the day, you go back to him. Don’t you feel ashamed?”
I was deeply offended. What the hell did she mean by not being able to find a man who wants to spend on me?
“Putting himself in danger for me?” I said, losing all pretense. “Rylee, do you know why he chose me despite the greater compatibility he shares with you?”
I took a deep breath. “Because you are a despicable creature. How many times have you placed his life in danger? And always in a car too! Do you want to harm him because you can’t get him? And speaking of him spending his money on me: I’ve always thought that you would at least have some semblance of decency, but it appears that you are severely lacking in that department. You’re always somebody who buys what you want without ever working for it. Who is the one to pay for your branded goods? Your house and car? Isn’t it all from Anthony? You’ve used your brother’s death to guilt him into paying for all your expenses, not to mention instigating Cameron to harm her own child and nearly destroying his marriage. Don’t you think that you are taking his kindness for granted? Do you think that your brother would be ashamed of how his sister is behaving? Rylee, if you had some dignity, you wouldn’t harass him shamelessly like you’re doing now. I feel pity for you, hence my tolerance for his generosity towards you. Don’t think that you are entitled to inherit everything with the Featherstone name on it. Even if your name is Ms. Featherstone, it’s high time that you start earning your own living instead of being the parasite that you are.”
At the mention of “parasite”, Rylee slammed her fist down on the table. “Sienna!”
She was livid. Her pretty eyes flashed viciously as if she would like to devour me. “You think I have no shame, don’t you?” she asked through gritted teeth.
I looked her in the eyes and nodded. “That’s right.”
I’ve never enjoyed quarreling with others, and I certainly did not feel comfortable putting them in their place. But Rylee had gone too far today.
In retrospect, she probably regretted telling me what she knew about that night. But that didn’t matter to me even if she didn’t. She was a woman who wouldn’t concern herself with these things. The things that she did know probably came from Joe anyway.
I figured that I’d better corroborate what she’d said with Anthony. I grabbed my purse and prepared to leave.
My tirade did not sit well with Rylee. The shame and anger she must have felt was released at the sight of my departing back. “Sienna, as high as you think of yourself, just know that Anthony is merely infatuated with you temporarily. Don’t forget that the Moore family is aware of your dirty past and will expose you at any given time.”
I laughed derisively and did not bother to wait for her to finish.
When I stepped out of the café, I breathed a long sigh of relief from having finally left the toxicity behind. Suddenly, my eye fell on a signboard not far away. It was a restaurant for hairy crabs. At the sight of that unpleasant trigger, my heart began to thump wildly again.
Anthony called me but I did not feel particularly eager to pick up. After a slight hesitation, I hung up on him. To return now would only make me feel worse.
It was at that notion that I’d decided to wander aimlessly on the crowded streets.
I had lost track of time. It was a foggy night, with thunder rumbling ominously overhead. Before I registered the fact that it had begun to rain, my clothes were already soaked.
I did not even know where I was; it appeared to be a small alley.
I made up my mind to return only to realize that I couldn’t locate the route from which I came. I descended into a mild panic.
I paced for a little while and was about to use the GPS on my phone when I became aware that somebody was standing behind me.
I whipped around and was frozen with shock for several moments. I recognized him; my mind whirred for a name. A foreign-sounding name. Danny!
What is he doing here?
I clutched my shirt to force myself to remain calm. “Long time no see, Danny!” I said with as natural a smile as I could muster.
Danny stared at me with his bottomless dark eyes. After a long pause, he returned the greeting.
It was a deserted part of town. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t frightened.
Besides, I did not know his intentions of approaching me. As hard as I tried to calm myself, my hands betrayed me by trembling visibly.
“When did you return to the country? Have you had your dinner?” I probed, in response to his silent stare.
Lightning flashed across the sky as rain sprayed over us like a fine mist.
“Stay indoors, will you? Abe is in the country. The houses in Venria were burned down and our goods were exposed. He had sustained heavy losses. If he finds you, you will be in deep trouble,” Danny said, ignoring my question.
When he finished, he turned and walked away. The thin clothes on his broad shoulders were already opaque from the rain. He looked a pitiful sight.
“Danny!” I called without realizing it.
He stopped but did not turn around, as if he was waiting for me to say something.
“How have you been?” I did not know what they were doing in the country. His dark skin was at odds with the rest of the population in this city and it made him stand out but not in a good way. He looked very different from when I last saw him. He was currently disheveled.
“Good!” he answered shortly. At that, he turned and left, with no intention of staying.
I stood in the alley for a little longer while the rain worsened. Before long, the bodyguard who was tasked to tail me had appeared. He held an umbrella over my head.
“Has he been following me for a long time?” I asked.
“Yes, quite some time,” he answered.
“Does Anthony know?”
“Mr. Featherstone only knows that you are being followed, but he does not know who the person is.”
I nodded without enquiring further.
The bodyguard held out a phone to me. “Mr. Featherstone wants to speak to you.”
“Please take me back,” I ordered, ignoring the phone.
He was startled but obeyed me. I was led out of the alley and into the car.
It was dark when we arrived back at the villa. It appeared deserted but I recognized Anthony’s Bentley in the yard.
He was home.
I took a deep breath before going in. I changed into my slippers in the hallway and turned on the lights.
Anthony sat grimly in the living room. It was hard to tell but he looked angry.
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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