6

Sienna’s POV

The moment Noah shouted, I saw Liam panic. His eyes immediately searched for Emily, who looked pale and trembling. In an instant, all his attention shifted to her—as if I, lying helpless on the pavement, no longer existed in his sight.

"I'm okay..." Emily whispered shakily, her body visibly trembling. "I just... I’m scared of blood. Phobia. Don’t worry about me. Sienna… she’s the one who needs help."

Those words should have moved me. But it all crumbled when I heard Noah’s voice—sharp and full of certainty.

"Auntie Emily, your face is so pale! Dad, take her to the hospital, quick! Mom’s just pretending to be hurt to steal your attention from Auntie!"

I froze. Not from the pain in my body, but from the stab in my chest that hurt far more. That child… my own son… thought I was just a nuisance.

Liam stood stiffly, his gaze shifting from Emily’s pale face to my broken figure on the ground. But when Emily let out a soft whimper—whether from fear or something else—I knew I had lost.

Liam helped her up, gently lifting her toward the car. As they passed me, he covered Emily’s eyes, as if I were something too disgusting to look at.

Before getting into the car, he turned and said quietly, “Emily can’t look at blood. She’s too fragile. I... I called an ambulance. They’ll be here soon. Just hang on, okay?”

Just hang on, okay?

Just like that, I was left behind. Again.

Their footsteps faded. The car door shut. And the world fell silent again.

I looked up at the sky. Too bright. But my vision was blurry. I wanted to laugh—but instead, blood dripped from the corner of my mouth. Warm and salty.

The ambulance arrived. Faintly, I heard someone speak. A paramedic, maybe.

“Damn. She’s bleeding, and they just left her like that?”

***

I opened my eyes. The sharp scent of antiseptic greeted my nose. Everything was white and still.

I was in the hospital.

My body felt heavy. Sore. Every small movement felt like it tore something inside me.

A male doctor walked in, glancing at the chart in his hand. “You have a mild concussion and some abrasions. Nothing serious, but we recommend a four-day stay for recovery.”

I nodded. There wasn’t much to say. The physical pain… somehow felt lighter than the wounds no one could see. The ones that kept throbbing relentlessly.

After the doctor left, I stared at the ceiling. Eleven more days until my contract with Liam ended. Once I left this hospital… I’d have only seven days left.

Seven days to freedom.

But even that hope felt fragile when I overheard two nurses gossiping outside my room.

“Hey, did you hear? Emily’s also being treated here. I saw her being carried in by her boyfriend—Liam, right?”

“Oh my god, she’s so cute! Liam even called in a specialist for her and booked the VIP room! Like a K-drama!”

I lowered my head. My hands clenched the blanket. Cold. Not from the room’s temperature, but from my frozen heart.

I stood up. Slowly. Even though every step felt like walking on knives. I followed the signs toward the VIP rooms, leaning against the wall.

Through the slightly open door, I saw them.

Emily sat gracefully on the hospital bed, her face tired but peaceful. Noah sat beside her, holding her hand tightly. And Liam—feeding her porridge with tender care.

His gaze… so warm. So gentle. A gaze I never once received, not even after five years of marriage.

I stood at the doorway like a stranger. Like an outsider spying on someone else’s happiness.

A passing nurse let out a soft chuckle. “They’re the perfect couple, huh? Liam was totally panicked earlier, almost crying. Looks like all those rumors about their love story might be true.”

I offered a faint smile. “Yeah. They looked really happy.”

Then I returned to my room. Slowly. Since the accident, not a single message had come through. My phone was silent. No word from Liam. Not even from Noah. No one asked how I was doing.

Except for one notification—an email. A reminder that the deadline for an international writing competition was near.

I stared at the screen, then pressed the call button. “Liliana, could you please bring my laptop to the hospital?”

Not long after, Liliana arrived and handed it to me.

The following days, I spent writing. For the first time in five years, I returned to myself. Not as someone’s wife, not as a mother clinging to the remnants of love, not as a shadow swallowed by wounds.

I wrote. Endlessly.

In the neutral, quiet air of the hospital room, I felt free. I even turned off my phone and went completely offline.

I had come home—to my own world.

By dawn on the fourth day, a nurse came in with a bright smile. “Congratulations, Mrs. Sienna. Your test results look good. You’re allowed to go home today.”

I looked out the window. The sky was clear. The air felt light.

I had finished my manuscript. And I had closed a dark chapter of my life.

When I turned my phone back on, the screen instantly filled with over 99 unread messages and missed calls. All from Liam.

But for the first time… I didn’t rush to read a single one.

I stood silently at the doorstep, gazing at the yard that once felt familiar—now… it felt like a stranger’s. In my hand, the manuscript I had written over the past four days was tightly held—a silent witness to those quiet days in the hospital. Four days without a single warm message from my husband or child. Only dozens of missed calls from Liam… that came when everything was already nearly too late.

As I stepped inside, one of the housemaids greeted me with a look of relief.

“Mrs. Sienna! You’re finally home. While you were away, Mr. Liam was like a lost man. Nothing tasted right to him.”

I gave a faint smile. So that was why he kept calling? Not because he was worried. But because… his appetite was affected.

I slowly took off my shoes, placed them neatly on the rack, and walked into the living room. There, I saw Liam sitting on the sofa, hunched over, his face weary. As soon as his eyes met mine, his expression changed drastically.

“Sienna?” He stood up quickly and came toward me. “Where have you been? I called so many times! Why didn’t you answer?”