Chapter 2

In truth, I had realized long ago that Sienna's mind was elsewhere. Every night, as she grew passionate beneath me, her brows would knit together. "Why are you so thin, William?"

That was only because Sienna had felt another man's firm, healthy waist beneath her hands.

I had once suffered a severe stomach injury in a fight and developed acid reflux. Sienna knew about it. She frequently didn't come home at night, claiming that a powerful new male boxer had shown up at the fight club. Her eyes lit up as she spoke, just as they had when she came to see me after getting out of prison years ago.

I stayed until I had cried a flood, and only then did I decide to leave.

I woke up to a heavy smell of disinfectant in the air. Sienna's assistant sat there looking uneasy, holding my chart. "Something came up at the fight ring today, so Ms. Quinton is busy... She'll be over right away..."

I just smiled bitterly, brushed past her, and walked out. She had left our bed to go to him. How could I not know? I still felt my side throbbing faintly, but I clenched my teeth and walked on.

I heard someone sobbing when I walked past a hospital ward. "When can Travis and I finally stop hiding in the shadows, Sienna?"

A ripple still ran through my dead heart, and my head felt like it was tearing apart.

It took a long time before Sienna finally spoke, her voice shaking despite her efforts to stay composed. "Please just forget about it, Jonathan. We'll have nothing to do with each other from now on. My family wronged him. As long as he's alive, I can't turn my back on him."

What did she mean by saying she'd wronged me? My earliest memory dated back to when I was eighteen. Everything before that was a complete blur. All I remembered was that Sienna was the woman I loved, and that I had to wait for her.

In that instant, the memories I'd locked away broke through, forcing me to remember everything in agony. I remembered the lecherous way Sienna's father had looked at me and how Sienna had lifted the knife despite her trembling.

I sank into a weak crouch and looked through the gap in the door. Jonathan kissed her lips with tears in his eyes, but Sienna didn't push him away. "Just one last time. I'll leave after that, Sienna…"

Sienna moaned loudly beneath the man, giving herself over to him as if this were their final goodbye.

I stared blankly as tears silently rolled down my cheeks. It turned out that real love came naturally, unlike the careful restraint she'd shown around me.

In the first few years after Sienna's release, I still needed a urinary drainage bag. She cared for me meticulously but avoided intimacy.

I was about to turn around when a nurse running past collided with me and knocked me to the floor.

"Who is it?" Sienna rushed out, her brows furrowed, the man's underwear still slung over her shoulder.

I couldn't stop myself any longer and broke down crying.

Sienna lost her composure when she saw the surgery schedule form in my hand. "William, you're... hurt? Why... did it have to happen now?"

She looked somewhat uneasy as my expression fell for a moment. "I-I didn't mean it like that, William…"

In that instant, neither of us spoke as silence fell over the hallway. It was strange, considering how much we'd once had to say to each other.

I smiled faintly, though it looked like I was crying. "You don't want me anymore anyway. Why do you even care, Sienna?"

Sienna grabbed my wrist, shaking her head repeatedly, her eyes pleading with me. "Let's go home, William…"

She forced me into the car, though it wasn't the route to the villa. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, cautiously checking my reaction. "How about we go to that diner, William?"

I didn't agree, but I didn't refuse either. I still felt a dense, stinging pain spreading through my heart.

When we were students, before we turned eighteen, we had little money, so our dates were limited to meals at a diner. Later, after she got out of prison and became busy with her boxing matches, we stole late-night kisses at the same diner whenever she had time between boxing matches.

Sienna got a number and held my waist while waiting in the queue. She had been a fighting champion for so long that she carried an intimidating air, creating a space around us.

It felt as though nothing could ever go back to how it was.

"Table 56 is ready now!"

I was just about to walk into the restaurant when the phone rang again. "Jonathan signed a fight-to-the-death agreement! He's already in the ring, Ms. Quinton!"

Sienna froze right where she stood, a tremor running through her hand.

I smiled faintly. "Go ahead. You don't need to worry about me."

Just as I thought, Sienna turned back around and left, never once looking behind her.