Chapter 5

Sienna POV

I paced the room back and forth, my chest rise and fall at same pace. The whole memory came clashing against my skin—it felt harsh and almost unbearable.

“Gosh….” I wanted to scream out. I wanted to hurt myself almost immediately.

I hated the fact that I had a one night with him. I felt drugged. I felt used.

All blames wouldn't even be laid on me but my mom. Why would she get married again, I was already there in her life, what else does she want.

Sex. Children.

Now, she got me entangled with this mess.

I finally collapsed onto the bed. My head was facing the ceiling walls directly. My thoughts were messed up

My hand slowly went to my phone area. I didn't hestiate before calling him. My chest heavied as the phone rang.

The ringing seemed to stretch on forever, each tone hammering against my already fractured nerves. Part of me hoped he wouldn't answer—that I could hang up and pretend this impulse never happened. But another part, the part that had been spiraling since the memory crashed back, needed to hear his voice. Needed confirmation that this nightmare was real.

"Hello?"

My breath caught deep within my throat. That voice—smooth, familiar in a way that made my stomach turn and churn.

"It's me." The words came out rougher than I intended.

Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable. I could hear him breathing on the other end, could almost picture the expression on his face. Surprise? Regret? Did he even care?

"Sienna." He said my name carefully, like he was testing the weight of it. "I wasn't expecting—"

"We need to talk." I cut him off, sitting up abruptly. The ceiling had offered no answers, and lying down made me feel too vulnerable. "About what happened."

"I know." Another pause. "Where are you?"

"Does it matter?" I laughed bitterly, running my free hand through my hair. "This whole situation is insane. My mom marries your dad, and we—" I couldn't finish the sentence. Saying it out loud would make it more real somehow.

"I didn't know," he said quietly. "When we met that night, I had no idea our parents were—"

"That doesn't change anything!" My voice rose despite my efforts to stay calm. "It doesn't change what we did. It doesn't change the fact that now we're... what? Step-siblings? This is so messed up."

I heard him exhale, a sound heavy with frustration or maybe exhaustion. "You think I don't know that? You think I'm not losing my mind over this too?"

His immediate words surprised me. I'd been so caught up in my own horror that I hadn't considered he might be drowning in the same guilt, the same disgust at the situation we'd stumbled into.

"Then what do we do?" My voice came out smaller now, almost childlike. "How do we face them? How do I look at my mom knowing I slept with her new husband's son before I even knew he existed?"

"We can't tell them."

The words hung in the air between us—a secret already taking shape, already binding us together in a different kind of intimacy.

"Obviously," I snapped, though relief flooded through me that he'd voiced what I'd been thinking. "But that doesn't solve anything. We still have to live in the same house, see each other at family dinners, pretend we're just... what? New siblings getting to know each other?"

"I don't have the answers, Sienna." He sounded tired now. "But I know this: we were two strangers who made a choice that night. We can't undo it. All we can do is make sure it never happens again and try to move forward."

Move forward. As if it were that simple. As if I could look at him across the dinner table and not remember his hands on my skin, his lips against mine. As if this secret wouldn't eat away at me every time my mom smiled at me, trusting and oblivious.

"I hate this," I whispered. "I hate all of this."

"I know."

Two words, but something in his tone made my throat tighten. We were strangers bound by the worst kind of mistake, and now we had to figure out how to survive it.

"When do they want us to meet?" I asked finally, the practical question anchoring me.

"Dinner. Tomorrow night. My dad's been talking about it all week—how excited he is for us to become a family."

The irony was almost too much. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Okay." I swallowed hard. "Tomorrow night. We meet for the first time. We act like strangers."

"Strangers," he echoed. "Yeah. We can do that."

But as I ended the call and stared at my phone, I wondered if either of us truly believed that lie.

My mind still raced fast even though I believe he felt real like comfortable with everything that I had happen.

I felt more like someone that has been used sand dumped already—it was the definite truth. I have been used.

Then a piece of fear crawled up in my chest, what if this result into a pregnancy.

I let out a sigh, trying to avoid that thought from having chances within me, but still, I felt scared and horrified at same time.

Having a intimate night with my step brother, it was something that I have never imagined, not in this life—either in the next life one.

"Sienna, we're going for a dinner night at my husband's place and you must be there with me." She bardged into my room without any notice, just swung the door wide open, taking me out of my thinking word.

My mind skipped at her words.

I was invited at a party at his house but now it was happening so fast. I haven't even planned enough for this already. My fear was still alive within me.

I finally sat comfortably and I nodded in support of attending what she wants me to attend. Even though I really don't have intentions towards attending, I was scared.