The Tired Bird Rests
Chapter 9
On her second day in the hospital, Sienna received a message from Helen.
[Everything is sorted.]
She replied with a simple “Okay” and quickly contacted the hospital to arrange for an early discharge.
During this time, Riley was still recovering from surgery. Zayden had not even visited once. By the time he finally showed up, Sienna would probably have already left Sea City.
After completing her discharge paperwork, she hired a caregiver to wheel her to the aviation center to get some documents sorted out.
Then, she asked the caregiver to take her back to the hospital. At that point, Zayden was at work. Only Riley was in the hospital room.
Riley was lying comfortably in bed.
Hearing someone at the door, she turned to look and saw Sienna. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to tell you something. You know Zayden’s feelings for you aren’t exactly normal, right? Guess why.”
She thought Riley would look suspicious or confused, but instead, Riley let out a small laugh. “You don’t need to tell me that. I know Zayden likes me.”
Sienna’s eyes widened. “You know?”
“Of course I do. I’m not stupid. I’ve known about it for a long time. Sienna, I don’t care. As long as he gives me a good life, I couldn’t care less. In fact, I hope he loves me forever. That way, I can be his wife and get half of the Scott family’s money. Zayden is nothing more than a tool for me to get what I want.”
A greedy light shone in Riley’s eyes.
Realization dawned on Sienna. “All this time, you’ve been doing it on purpose. You wanted to drive me away.”
“So? It doesn’t matter how much you love him. As long as I call for him, he’ll come right back to me. Sienna, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for loving the wrong man.”
Riley crossed her arms proudly.
So, that was how it was.
It was no wonder Riley was always picking on her. Everything finally made sense.
Sienna slowly unclenched her fists. Before coming here, she had turned on the recorder on her phone. She thought she would just end up with a recording of Riley mocking her, but instead, she ended up getting the truth.
“Well, I guess you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”
For the first time, Riley looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I’m leaving. I hope you get your wish and become his wife.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
After leaving the hospital, Sienna scheduled the recording to be sent to Zayden.
It was set to go out three days later. By then, she would already have left.
She wanted him to know that Riley was never the innocent girl he thought she was.
She wanted them to resent each other and feel the same pain she did.
Once everything was done, Sienna and the caregiver went to the most famous barbecue place in Sea City.
She ordered her favorite spicy barbecue.
Just as she was about to finish eating, she saw Zayden walk in.
She was sitting in the common area, while he went straight into a private room.
Moments later, her phone buzzed with a text from him.
It had his location, along with a message.
[I’m at the barbecue place. Ordered your favorite spicy barbecue. Once it’s packed, I’ll bring it to the hospital.]
Sienna glanced at the message before slipping her phone back into her pocket without replying.
After eating, she got up and left.
As she walked past his private room, a sweet, fragrant smell wafted out. It was not the usual spicy barbecue. It was sweet barbecue, which happened to be Riley’s favorite.
He was still lying to her.
But it did not matter anymore.
She bid Zayden farewell in her heart.
At the airport, Lewis Corp’s private jet was waiting for her.
“That guy really did this to you?”
Justin Lewis was furious seeing his once bright and cheerful little sister reduced to this state. He looked like he was ready to storm off and settle the score with Zayden.
Sienna stopped him.
“Let’s go, Justin. I never want to see him again.”
“Alright, let’s go. We’ll find the best doctors to treat you.”
The plane took off, and Sea City grew smaller and smaller beneath her.
She snapped her SIM card in half. That ended not just her phone number but also the chains that had bound her for the past four years.
She whispered her final goodbye to Zayden in her heart.
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