02

"What happened? Who bullied my princess? Tell me their names and Daddy will punish them for you." 

"Daddy, they said that I am a bad kid that's why Mummy died. Is that true? Am I really a bad kid?" 

"No, my princess. You are a good kid, they lied to you. Don't listen to them."

"Daddy, I don't want to go to that school. The kids there say that daddy doesn't love me that's why he misses most of the parents-teacher meetings and they also laugh at me."

"I'm sorry, my baby girl. Daddy will try to attend them from now on, if my princess doesn't like it then the school shall be changed." 

"Dad..." Suddenly her eyes shot open, tears rolling down the corner of her eyes. Her gaze shifted across the ceiling while the smell of medicines hit her nostrils. 

"Sia, you are awake." Olive quickly rushed to Sienna who discovered herself lying on the hospital bed. "Why am I in the hospital bed? I remember I was in... I..."

"You were not feeling well that's why. Wait, you are up so I will go call the doctor imm..."

Suddenly remembering what had happened before she fainted, Sienna grabbed her best friend's hand with hope in her eyes, "Dad... What you said about my dad, it's all fake right? Was it a prank? My dad is not that type of person, you also know that. He can never do something like that, he is an honest man. How can he just..."

"I do." Olive shook her head in assurance and put her hand over Sienna's hand, "I know everything, the news also took me aback. So as soon as I saw the news, I called you."

Upon hearing her, the color from her face was gone as she lost the last drop of hope she was holding onto. Sienna looked down and pursed her lips together. "So, everything happened and I did not even know it. Dad must have felt lonely, he..."

"Sia, we can think of something. Uncle must have been framed, I am sure that someone is behind this."

Her sorrowful gaze scanned the surroundings and she grabbed her hand desperately, "You said that he was in the hospital, where is it? Which hospital? Please take me to him."

"Fine, let's go."

Standing before the ICU, Sienna kept looking at her father who was lying unconscious on the hospital bed. She touched the wall helplessly and cried out, "Dad... What happened to my dad?"

"The police said... That he was trying to kill himself and in the process, he took... 14 sleeping pills. Thankfully, he was taken to the hospital in time. The news said t-that uncle is in a critical condition so... so he is kept in the ICU."

"Oh, Lord." Covering her mouth with her hands, Sienna closed her eyes. She always saw her father as a hero, to think he could try to take his own life... 

Suddenly remembering something, she wiped the tears off her cheeks, "Lovell, he can save dad. He will help him, I need to go to him."

"Sia, stop."

"I don't know if he has been back to the country yet, my phone... I need to make a call. Ollie, did you see my phone? I don't know where I left it, I need to..."

"Sia." Olive enveloped her hand in a comforting grasp and bit her lips as if she didn't want to say it but she didn't have a choice. "The company uncle is accused of embezzling money from is Mr. Bronze's company." 

"What?"

"It's your husband's company."

"Right, I am sure that something is wrong. I need to go and talk to him first so he can s..." As she rushed towards the elevator, Olive stood before her like a shield. "Sia, hear me out first." 

"You don't understand, Lovell has to know the truth. He knows that my dad will never do something like this, either something is wrong or someone has framed my dad. Lovell hates cheaters, once he knows that..."

"He won't do anything, trust me. It was him who called the police on your father. Not only that, he even told the police that Mr. Waters should get the heaviest punishment available for a criminal."

As if she couldn't believe her ears, her feet moved on their own towards the back while her gazes were fixated in the space. "No, this can't be. He... He is on a business trip, there's no way he can d..."

"He didn't go to any business trip, Sia. The news said that Mr. Bronze helped the police to catch your father. You know what does it mean, right? Please, don't go to him. We don't know what he is planning on doing right now, so we better n..."

"There must be some misunderstanding, he loves me and he sees my dad as his father. There's no way..."

"Sienna Waters." Olive blurted out while grasping her hand tightly. "Please listen to me this time, don't go to him. He is not the person you think he is..."

"What are you saying? I told you he is... He is n..." The more she was trying to disbelieve everything, the more something inside her was telling her that she was wrong.

"If he was not this type of person, why would he not only throw your father to jail with no escape but also get engaged to his girlfriend the next day? He just couldn't wait t..." Noticing what she just said, Oliver covered her mouth with her hands immediately and looked away.

As if someone cut her heart into pieces, she took a step back. "What... Did you say?"

"Mr. Bronze... He got engaged to his girlfriend two days ago. It was the day you... You fainted."

Her hand automatically went on her abdomen as she heard Olive clarify the news, the ground under her feet almost swallowing her whole. "It's not him, he loves me, he... He loves me very much."

"No, he does not. I'm sorry but that man is a ruthless and greedy man, he has sent your father to jail. You see the situation, Sia. Everything is ruined now and it's not a prank."

"No. It's n..." Sienna cried in pain, cradling her belly and her feet already moving backwards while she gazed in the space. 

Noticing her hand on the belly, Olive asked worriedly, "Sia, are you..."

With teary eyes, as Sienna stared at her Olive covered her mouth with her hand and she looked down. "Oh my..."

'Lovell Bronze, my dear husband. He always stayed by my side no matter what, he whispered the words of love in my ears every morning. How can he change overnight? I don't...' Suddenly wiping her eyes off, Sienna rushed to the elevator.

"Sia, please listen to me. Plea..."

"I'm sorry, Ollie. But I must talk to him face to face."

"Sienna."

"Until I'm back, please look after my dad."

* Half an hour later *

As soon as the car stopped in front of the tallest glass building of the region, Sienna hopped out of the car. Since they got married, she came to his office sometimes so at least, people knew about her.

Her feet moved knowingly towards the elevator while her gaze scanned the surroundings subconsciously. Everyone present there kept giving her weird gazes while chattering among themselves. 

Pausing for a moment, Sienna looked at herself. Barefooted, her hair messy and even the clothes she wore were wrinkled.

"Mam, you can't go on." Two guards immediately blocked her.

"You guys know me, right? I am..." Remembering the news Olive told her about, Sienna bit her lips in hesitancy. "I really have something urgent to talk to him about, please let me go inside."

"We are sorry but we are strictly ordered to not let you go inside." One of them replied.

"Strictly ordered? Who..."

The guards shared a few glances with each other before one of them replied, "It's the CEO's order that you must not go to see him or he... He will fire us."

Her hand clenched into a fist, everything felt so ridiculous to her. 'I won't believe that it's you who passed on such an order, I trust you. Lovell, I believe you cannot be so heartless that you will go to this extent to keep me away from coming closer.'

"Please, I will not cause any trouble. I just want to talk to him..." She insisted.

"We can't help you with that, please try to understand our situation. We are just following Mr. Bronze's order, don't make it hard for us. Please, madam."

A soft chuckle escaped her mouth and she looked around helplessly. The way everyone was looking at her, as if she was some criminal. 

"It's Mr. Bronze's ex-wife, right? The one whose father is a spy and he even stole the company's money. Yeah, shameless father's shameless daughter. Maybe she got married to him to steal the money and the important documents. She must have thought that she would get everything if she was his wife but Mr. Bronze is not a fool so she chose to use her old father. Shame on them!"

'Do not pay attention to them, I just need to talk to Lovell. But how do I go to him? The guards won't let me go and the people here won't help...'

When she was standing still and thinking of a way to go up, suddenly seeing someone in the crowd she ran to him. "Yaden, Sir Yaden."

Yaden Smith, Lovell's secretary stopped walking as soon as he saw her. All his employees seemed to like Sienna so they always gave her respect when they saw her though things were not the same now...

"Mrs. Bronze."

"Sir Yaden, please do me a favour."