Sienna Johnson read the ssage from Noah Phillips: "Beauty isn’t a sin; the sin lies in a person’s heart!"
She pondered her reply. But because of beauty, creatures are hunted, driven to the brink of extinction. In that case, isn’t beauty a sin? she mused, her fingertips sliding across the screen, typing and deleting. She found herself at a loss for words.
They had once been the closest of companions, relying on each other for survival. Yet, even such intimacy couldn’t withstand the cruelty of ti. If she and Noah could reach a point where they had nothing to say to each other, what about her and Adrian Desmond? Adrian Desmond wasn’t an ordinary man. Her marriage to him could one day place her, and even her family, in danger. If, one day, she, her children, or her family were hard because of Adrian Desmond, could she and Adrian continue their relationship?
Just as she was wondering how to reply, her cell phone suddenly rang. Startled, Sienna almost dropped it.
It was a call from Noah Phillips...
She didn’t know whether to answer.
The phone kept ringing, its persistence unwavering. Sienna finally answered, "Brother..."
That single word, "Brother," dredged up a flood of mories.
"It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages," Noah said. "I heard from Vivian Abbey that you went to Abyanabad. Are you planning to settle there?" His voice was unhurried and gentle, like a spring breeze, calming her heart.
"No! I’m just here on vacation. I’ll be heading back in a few days."
"Are you unhappy? Is he not treating you well?"
Sienna forced a smile. "Who told you that? We’re doing fine."
"Your voice doesn’t sound happy!"
Being too familiar with soone was often troubleso. No matter how hard you tried to hide sothing, they could always discern the truth from the subtlest clues.
"No! You must have misheard." One shouldn’t air their dirty laundry in public. Although everyone at Desmond Manor knew about her argunts with Adrian, she didn’t want Noah to find out.
"I’m planning to visit Sileria City soon," Noah continued. "When do you think you’ll be back? If our schedules align, let’s grab a al together. It’s been too long since we last t."
Previously, Sienna would have found an excuse to refuse, but this ti, she accepted.
She was a selfish person. If she loved soone, she expected to be treated with equal affection and to see her love reciprocated. Loving soone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return—that wasn’t sothing Sienna would do. Adrian knew perfectly well that she disliked lanie Carpenter, yet he still allowed lanie access to the Desmond family. They had even grown quite close recently. Why, then, should she keep her distance from Noah just because of Adrian’s preferences?
"Around the 26th," she replied.
"I should be in Sileria City around then. I’ll call you."
"Mm-hmm."
Sienna suddenly thought of Ernest Turner and asked, "Brother, do you have any illegitimate children?"
Noah, on the other end of the line, was stunned. He was clearly startled by Sienna’s question. "Why do you ask that?"
"I recently saw a young boy who looks remarkably like you—his features, his temperant... I even wondered if he might be a child you’d had from a one-night stand with so woman."
Noah stated firmly, "No! Sex without love, driven only by carnal desire, is disgusting. If I don’t love a woman, I absolutely will not sleep with her."
"I’m sorry," she said in a low voice. "I seem to have misspoken."
"...Did you have a fight with him?" Noah persisted with the question, which was already giving Sienna a headache.
"No!"
"Are you not even telling the truth anymore?"
Pressed like this, Sienna couldn’t continue to lie. She admitted, "Yes. It’s like he’s only just realized I’m not good enough for him and regrets marrying ."
"So, you’re planning to return to Sileria City?"
"Sileria City is my ho."
Noah didn’t listen to her explanation, continuing, "You have a problematic way of handling your emotions. When you encounter relationship problems, your first instinct isn’t to communicate and resolve them, but to run away. Running away doesn’t solve anything; it only makes things worse, especially with issues between n and won. You shouldn’t think that taking the initiative to communicate or make ands is shaful. That’s the wrong way to think."
"Brother, he’s gone too far!"
Noah’s voice was gentle. "So, you’re finally willing to tell the truth."
Tears welled in Sienna’s eyes. "...It’s just... one shouldn’t air their dirty laundry. I didn’t want you to laugh at . I can’t even handle my own relationship problems."
"Why would I laugh at you? Matters of the heart are the most difficult. Once you fall in love, it’s hard to be detached. You beco vulnerable, even foolish, simply because you care so deeply for the other person."
"..."
"Loving soone ans giving them the power to hurt you... It’s because of love, because you care so much, that you beco vulnerable..."
Noah patiently reasoned with her, and Sienna took his words to heart. "I don’t know what happened between you two," he continued, "but as long as you still love each other, nothing should be a reason to give up on one another. Baby, don’t run away. Try to communicate with him..."
"Brother, I..."
The phone was snatched from her hand. Sienna looked up with tear-filled eyes to see Adrian Desmond, who had suddenly appeared. Her phone was in his grasp, his face dark and somber. He stared at her as if he’d caught his wife cheating.
"Baby, why did you stop talking?" Noah’s voice asked from the phone.
"..."
"Are you still there?"
"Give back my phone!" Sienna stood up, trying to snatch the phone from Adrian’s hand. He threw it hard against the rocks. CRACK! Noah’s voice vanished as the phone shattered.
"Adrian, you bastard!"
"Sixth Brother," a voice interjected, "you’ve only given her the cold shoulder for a few days, and she’s already getting restless, flirting with other n. Listen to what she was saying! Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were mistreating her..."
Unexpectedly, lanie Carpenter had co with him. Sienna’s tears stopped, and her eyes regained their icy expression.
"Shut your filthy mouth! Just because you sleep around with every man you see doesn’t an all won are as cheap as you!" Sienna retorted.
"Sixth Brother and I both heard you flirting with a man just now. Don’t even try to deny it!" lanie shot back.
"What did you hear? I was just on the phone with a friend, that’s all. Unlike you two, always parading around together like a shaless couple. I haven’t said a word, so why are you making such a fuss in front of ?"
lanie Carpenter didn’t speak, instead looking at Adrian Desmond, who was staring intently at Sienna.
Sienna clutched her waist as she squatted down to pick up the SIM card from the ground. Just as she was about to stand, Adrian Desmond stepped on her hand, though without applying much force.
"Sixth Master, please remove your noble foot," she said coldly.
"Who was that man on the phone? Noah Phillips? Your sweetheart?"
"Adrian Desmond, take your foot off my hand!"
"I asked you, who was that man?"
"It’s none of your concern!"
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