Danny looked away and squeezed the extra water out of his shirt. “I am fine!” he answered brusquely.
I took a deep breath as I felt some sorrow in my heart.
I fingered my purse and took out all of the money that I had. It wasn’t much, but I gave it all to Danny. I’d even included my phone number. “This is for you. My number’s here, if you need my help, feel free to call me.”
He did not reach out to take it, but kept his eyes fixed on me. I placed the money and my number on the ground next to him and left promptly.
It wasn’t that I was being compassionate or anything, but during my time in Venria, Danny had aided me and allowed concessions despite not doing them so openly. Without him and his kindness, I may not even have made it back here alive.
A cab took me back to the villa, where I found Anthony reading in the yard. He ignored me and remained absorbed in his book.
It was noon. I wandered to the kitchen and found lots of food in the kitchen.
I took some out and whipped up a quick meal for myself. After that, I went upstairs to the bedroom. I originally planned to do some light reading but I fell asleep due to exhaustion.
Several hours later, I woke up and realized groggily that it was already late afternoon. The remnants of my lunch had been cleared away.
There was nobody in the villa. I sat for a while in the living room and returned upstairs soon after. I’d been sleeping the entire day and I had no desire to continue.
The sky grew dark, thunder growled threateningly. Before long it had begun raining again. The gale swept the fine mist indoors and plummeted the temperature inside the villa.
Summer called to tell me what had happened in her day at school; it was the little things that bothered children. I let her speak until she tired herself out.
I hung up soon after. After a day and a half spent sleeping, I wasn’t able to fall asleep in a hurry. My mind on inspecting the Lavelian Village project the following day, I texted Rachel and Marcus to inform them of the inspection tomorrow.
It was midnight when the sound of an engine came from below. I knew it was Anthony without looking. Since we have not been on the best of terms these few days, it would be better for us both if I dropped off to sleep quickly to avoid a confrontation.
The door opened and shut, followed by the flick of the switch of the bedside lamp. The tap in the bathroom came on and then off. Finally, the bed on his side sank as it bore his weight.
Suddenly, I felt my waist being hugged with Anthony’s breathing in my ear. I didn’t expect him to. Maybe he felt something different about me today.
“You’re not asleep?” he said quietly.
I sighed as the pretense fell apart. “No,” I whispered.
The bedside lamp was still on. Anthony flipped me around to face him. It’s a good sign that we haven’t fought yet. “Let’s talk about things?” he asked.
We were supposed to discuss what happened the night before!
“What would you like to talk about?” I probed carefully.
“Why didn’t you pick up my call last night? Who was the man you met in the alley?” he asked calmly.
“I’ve told you, my phone was off, and the man was an old friend!” It made not much of a difference whether he knew about Danny or not. I’ve decided that he would be better off not knowing.
Anthony narrowed his eyes in displeasure. “Sienna, I’ve told you before. I don’t like it when you lie to me.”
I gazed at him and chuckled coldly. “Lie to you? Who’s lying to whom now? Anthony, let me ask you this. Where were you that night when I was at at the morgue? Who were you with?”
He pursed his lips, clearly unhappy. “Why are you bringing this up now?”
“Why not? You’re bringing up things from yesterday! I can do it just like you.” I did not know why I was this upset. Maybe the thought of him being with Rylee as I lay there dying made me feel awful. I had thought that he had brought back those hairy crabs for me from his business engagement. It made me feel like a fool that he was out there giggling with Rylee while I waited for him at home.
He exhaled with dissatisfaction. “Sienna, do we have to interact with this much hostility every time?”
“We don’t have to interact at all!” I was much happier if none of us spoke, to be honest. The silence wasn’t a big deal anyway.
I rolled over and faced my back towards him. I had so much unhappiness that I wasn’t able to express and it hurt to hold it in. To make things worse, I couldn’t drift off to sleep.
I became angrier when I felt his hand moving on my body. I flung off the quilt and sat up straight in bed. “Mr. Featherstone, if you desire a woman’s company, feel free to contact Ms. Lorraine, who I’m sure would be delighted to oblige. If you’re not willing to ask her, I don’t mind doing it for you!”
I snatched up my phone to dial Rylee’s number. Anthony glared at me with anger. “Sienna, what are you saying?”
“I’m looking for someone who can satisfy you!” I retorted. “What is it?” came Rylee’s voice from the other end.
“As you wish, Ms. Lorraine, Anth needs you very much right now. Please could you come over to our villa? If you need to be paid for your services, I will transfer you the money.” I was reckless and abandoned all restraint.
There was a moment of silence on her end as she was shocked. “Sienna, what the hell are you doing?” she raged. “There’s a limit to throwing insults, you know!”
“Is the money insufficient?” I asked mockingly. “Aren’t the expenses that he’s paid for you over the years enough for you to spend one night with him? Haven’t you always told him that you love him? Why wouldn’t you come to him now when he needs you?”
“Sienna, you…” I did not hear what came next, because at that moment Anthony had snatched my phone from me and hurled it across the room, where it was smashed to pieces upon impact with the floor.
We stared at each other, both of us in such a rage. Even Anthony was not as adept as concealing his emotions as he usually was, and looked murderous.
“Why did you humiliate her for?” he said coldly. “You could have directed your anger towards me and told me straight to my face if you didn’t want me to touch you. What did she do to you to deserve this?”
“Why? Does your heart break for her?” I asked sarcastically without any fear towards him. “Isn’t what you need the most right now is for someone ladylike and gentle? What’s wrong, are you resentful to me for exposing your harbored love for her over all these years? What am I to you? A replacement of her for you to lie to and do whatever that you please?”
“Replacement? Lies?” Anthony’s handsome features were contorted with hurt. “After all these years, is that what you see it as?”
“Isn’t it?” I laughed derisively, feeling my vicious surge of anger wearing him down. “Do you think that I’m unaware of why you refused to let me go all those times? It’s because I’m a Moore, and the goddaughter of Louis. It’s because of my identity that allows you to have unobstructed access and connections all over K City and even all over the world. Anthony, you don’t have to hang on to me for these benefits under the pretense of loving me. Even if we were separated, the Stanhopes and the Moores won’t deny you access to your privileges. If you want Rylee, you can have her and keep your connections. You don’t have to sneak around anymore. I don’t mind it at all.”
“You don’t mind?” Anthony gave a sarcastic laugh.
He glared at me with his bloodshot eyes which radiated the power of unspeakable anger. His hands were balled into fists in an effort to contain it within his body. In the dead quiet of the night in our bedroom, the atmosphere was chilling.
Noticing his balled-up fist, I braced myself for it to land on me. But it didn’t.
After a long moment, he turned his gaze on me. In his eyes, I could see a mixture of sorrow, disappointment, and despondent.
“Very well!” he finally uttered the only words he could muster and slammed the door shut as he left the room, resulting in a loud bang that reverberated throughout the house.
This is going to be another sleepless night…
The next morning, despite having very little sleep, I had to be at Lavelian Village for a site inspection.
When I arrived at the meeting point, Rachel and Marcus were already there, which caught me by surprise. The reason being I did not expect Marcus to make an appearance in a task that was usually carried out by the site supervisor.
“Ms. Stanhope, I hope you don’t think the world revolves around you just because you’re the president’s wife. If you can’t even arrive at a meeting on time, I suggest you just assume the role of a housewife, since Mr. Featherstone already has more than enough to support you.”
Rachel made a snarky comment on account of my tardiness. But I did arrive late, so there was no point in me getting back at her.
Pursing my lips, I ignored her remark and took over a project checklist from Leedon before turning to Marcus. “Mr. White, shall we do a walk-around to familiarize ourselves with the site perimeters?”
Marcus nodded. He glanced at Rachel indifferently but didn’t say anything. After a moment of silence, his gaze fell on me and he asked, “Are you very busy lately? You look overworked.”
“Oh, I’m alright. Just didn’t sleep well that’s all,” I replied while shaking my head.
This turned out to be a major undertaking as it not only involved a thorough inspection of the construction security, but we also needed to coordinate with departments from different companies. We had spent the whole morning covering the inspections for a few bases.
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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