Chapter 10%
Caitlin’s eyes were burning red with rage, but at this point, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to me anymore.
My adoptive parents‘ mistreatment of me was exposed for everyone to see. Almost immediately afterward, Lance stopped all financial support E
The fallout hit fast and hard.
Without the Sterling family’s support, the Wests, who were already more reputation than substance, fell like a house of cards.
Not long after, Mr. and Mrs. West were hit with investigations.
First came tax evasion, then child abuse, domestic violence, and even tampering with national exam scores.
There was no way out of that. The verdict was clear, and they were likely gonna spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
As for Dean, when the whole truth finally came out, he just stood there, his brow furrowed as if trying to get his head around everything. Whether the pain he showed was real or just wounded pride, I honestly didn’t care anymore.
He took a step toward me, but Lance was already watching, and that one sharp look from him froze Dean in place.
“Sienna…” Dean’s voice cracked a little. “You went through all of that… why didn’t you ever tell me?“%
I gave him a cool smile, one laced with all the bitterness I’d buried over the years.
“You? The guy who said he’d walk through fire for Caitlin? What was I supposed to tell you, ‘Hey, take a shortcut and toss me in instead?”
“You… you heard everything?” His face went pale.
I nodded. “I’ve known for a while. You and Caitlin are running around playing your little games. Doesn’t matter now. I never had real feelings for you anyway.“”
That hit. Dean flinched like I’d smacked him.”
“No… Sienna, how can you say that?” Dean trembled. “You used to love me. Have you forgotten?”
“Used to,” I said quietly. “I don’t remember.“}]
Dean’s emotions spiraled. He lunged toward me, trying to grab my shoulders.”
“Hey, Hudson, what are you doing?“}]
That’s when Lance’s voice cut through the tension.”
“You’re standing too close to my fiancée,” Lance said coldly, his expression like ice.“]
Lance’s presence alone made Dean take a step back. Whatever confidence he had disappeared in an instant.
“Sienna…”
Lance gave him a slow, deliberate smile.
“Dean, if you’re still clinging to this fantasy about the Hudsons bouncing back, I’d leave now. Before you stain her view of you any more than you already have.”
Dean opened his mouth again, but facing the immense power of the Sterling family, he could only leave in humiliation and defeat.
But Lance? He didn’t forget. And he damn sure didn’t forgive.”
In the life I’d lived before, Dean had destroyed me.§
This time around, Lance made sure to pay for it with interest.
The Hudsons went bankrupt overnight. Their assets were frozen, their business partners disappeared, and their support vanished in an instant. No one dared to help them.”
Everyone got the message.
They’d messed with the wrong man.
And just like that, I could finally do what I’ve always dreamed of.”
1 finally gained admission to Southridge Tech University through my own efforts.
There, I poured myself into research, diving headfirst into tech innovation. I worked day and night to contribute something meaningful, to build and protect the country I loved.}
No longer bound by anyone, I could finally live freely and become the person I had always wanted to be.
This was the dream I had chased back in my previous life.
Many years later, I heard the news that Caitlin was dead, having taken her own life in prison by hitting her head against a concrete wall.
I was stunned.%
‘Could she have also been reborn?‘
Would she claw her way back into the life I’d finally built?
Lance must’ve seen the fear flicker across my face.
He leaned in close and whispered against my ear, “Sienna, don’t worry. She’s not coming back.”
I didn’t understand what he meant.
Not until the day he held my hand and walked me down the aisle. Not until we stood together, fingers laced, in the home he built from the ground up for us–brick by brick, heart and soul.”
Lence looked at me with a gentle and warm smile I’d never forget.
8.01 PM
“Sienna,” he said, “the reason we were reborn is because I made a deal with the heavens in our past life. I traded my life to give you one chance to live freely. And one chance for me… to protect you.”
At first, I couldn’t believe it until the year Lance turned thirty–five.§
That’s when his health began to fail fast and all at once.§
I traveled across the country and beyond, prayed at every chapel, and begged every higher power I could think of. I offered anything, everything, just to have a little more time with him.”
But as Lance once said, ‘Everything has to be paid back.“}
He didn’t make it to our 14th wedding anniversary.
Lance closed his eyes in the same autumn season when we first met as children. Right before the end, he reached for me, his fingers brushing my face and wiping away the tears I couldn’t stop.
“Sienna, for you, I’d do it again. Ten thousand times over.”
(The End)
