6

Siennan’s POV

As soon as Noah screamed, I saw Liam panic. His gaze snapped to Emily, who looked pale and trembling. Instantly, all of his attention focused on her, as if I—lying on the asphalt—had vanished from sight.

“I’m okay…” Emily whispered faintly, her body visibly shaking. “I just… I’m afraid of blood. Phobia. Don’t worry about me. Sienna… she needs help more.”

Those words should have touched me. But everything crumbled when Noah's voice followed, sharp and full of conviction.

“Aunt Emily, your face is super pale! Dad, hurry and take her to the hospital! Mommy’s just pretending to be sick so she can steal your attention from Auntie!”

I fell silent. Not from the pain in my body, but because of the deep stab in my chest that hurt far worse. That child... my own child, thought I was just a nuisance.

Liam stood frozen, eyes shifting from Emily’s paling face to me, crumpled on the ground. But when Emily groaned softly—whether from fear or something else—I knew I had lost.

Liam helped Emily, gently lifting her toward the car. As they passed me, he shielded her eyes, as if I were something too unpleasant to see.

Before getting into the car, he turned and murmured, “Emily can’t see blood. She’s too fragile. I… I already called an ambulance. They’ll be here soon. Just wait, okay?”

Just wait, okay.

And just like that, I was left. Again.

Their footsteps grew distant. A car door slammed. Then the world fell quiet once more.

I stared at the sky. Too bright. But my vision blurred. I wanted to laugh—but instead, blood trickled from the corner of my lips. Warm and salty.

The ambulance arrived. I vaguely heard someone speaking. A paramedic, probably.

“Unbelievable. She’s bleeding and they just left her here?”

***

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

I was in a hospital.

My body felt heavy, aching. Every small movement sliced from the inside out.

A male doctor entered, scanning the chart in his hand. “You’ve sustained a mild concussion and several abrasions. Nothing critical, but we recommend you stay for four days to recover.”

I nodded. There wasn’t much to say. The physical pain… somehow felt less than the ache elsewhere. The wound no one could see, but one that never stopped throbbing.

After the doctor left, I stared up at the ceiling. Five more days until the contract with Liam ended. And once I left this hospital… I’d only have one day left.

One day to freedom.

But even that hope felt fragile the moment I heard two nurses gossiping outside my room.

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

“Oh my God, she’s adorable! He called a specialist for her, booked the VIP room too! It’s like a K-drama!”

I looked down. My hand gripped the blanket. Cold. Not from the room temperature, but from how frozen my heart had become.

I got up. Slowly, even though each step felt like stepping on knives. I followed the signs to the VIP ward, leaning against the wall.

Through the crack of an open door, I saw them.

Emily lounged gracefully on the hospital bed, her face tired but serene. Noah sat beside her, holding her hand tightly. And Liam—he was feeding her porridge, doting and attentive.

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

I stood at the doorway like a stranger. Like a voyeur watching someone else’s happiness.

A passing nurse chuckled softly. “They’re such a perfect couple, aren’t they? Liam was in full panic earlier, nearly cried. I guess the rumors about their epic love story are true.”

I gave a faint smile. “Yes. They’re very happy.”

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

Except one notification came in—an email. A reminder that the deadline for submitting a manuscript to a foreign publisher’s writing competition was near.

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

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

The days that followed, I spent writing. For the first time in five years, I returned to myself. Not someone’s wife, not a mother clinging to what’s left, not a shadow swallowing pain.

I wrote. Relentlessly.

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

I was home again—in my own world.

By the early hours of the fourth morning, a nurse entered with a bright smile. “Congratulations, Mrs. Sienna. Your tests look good. You’re cleared to go home today.”

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

I had finished my manuscript. And I had also finished one dark chapter of my life.

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

But for the first time… I didn’t rush to read any of them.

I stood frozen at the front door, staring at the front yard that once felt familiar—now... estranged. In my hand, the manuscript I had written over the past four days was clenched tightly—a silent witness to the lonely days spent in the hospital. Four days without a single warm message from my husband or my child. Just dozens of missed calls from Liam... ones that came when everything was already nearly too late.

As I stepped inside, one of the housemaids rushed to greet me with visible relief.

“Mrs. Sienna! You’re finally home. While you were away, Mr. Liam was like a lost man. None of the food we made suited his taste.”

I gave a faint smile. So that’s why he kept calling me? Not out of concern. But because… his appetite was disturbed.

I slowly took off my shoes, arranged them neatly on the rack, and walked toward the living room. There, I saw Liam sitting on the couch, hunched over, his face drawn. The moment his eyes caught mine, his expression shifted dramatically.

“Sienna?” He stood quickly, approaching me. “Where have you been? I called so many times! Why didn’t you pick up?”