Chapter 3

Sienna lay curled on her side, her shoulders shaking softly as she cried into her pillow. The dim light in the room cast long shadows across the bed, catching the way she kept wiping tears that didn’t seem to fully fall. Her sobs were quiet, almost too quiet, but constant enough to make the room feel heavy.

Gabriel sat beside her, elbows on his knees, his face tight with frustration and something that looked like guilt. His hand rubbed his forehead slowly, like he was trying to steady himself.

“I didn’t mean it to happen this way,” she said quietly. “I never meant to tear the two of you apart. I know how much you loved her… how much you cared about her.”

Sienna sniffed and turned her face just enough so he could see the wet shimmer on her cheeks. The moment his eyes met hers, she cried harder, covering half her face with one hand.

Gabriel let out a breath, long and tired. “Why didn’t you tell me first, Sienna? Why tell Aria before me? Why let her direct her anger at you instead of me?”

Sienna shook her head, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes. “I… I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to take her place. I swear I didn’t mean for things to get this bad. I was just scared.”

Her crying grew louder, but there was something off about the way she hid her face again, like she needed to hide the part of her expression that wasn’t matching the sound.

Before Gabriel could ask another question, the door opened sharply.

Margaret stepped into the room with a controlled, cold expression. “Gabriel, stop stressing her. She needs rest.”

She came closer to the bed and smoothed Sienna’s hair with a gentle hand. Her voice shifted slightly, harder now, more venom beneath the calm.

“We just need to make sure the baby is fine,” she said. Then she looked directly at Gabriel. “And thank God that barren girl is gone. I should have charged her with attempted murder. She’s lucky I allowed her to walk out of this family.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. His hand curled into a fist. “Mum…”

“What?” she snapped. “It’s the truth. She never gave you anything. Instead, she tried to kill the child that should have been yours from the beginning. I warned you about her but you won't listen.”

Gabriel rose abruptly. “I’ll go get the doctor.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He walked out, shutting the door harder than he intended.

The hallway outside felt colder. He stood there, breathing shallowly, anger swirling inside him so tightly that his hands trembled. He didn’t know if he was angry at Aria, at himself, at the entire mess. Maybe all of it. Maybe none of it.

“Why lie to me if you didn’t want a child?” he muttered under his breath.

He remembered everything he had tried to ignore. The hidden pills in Aria’s bag. His doctor confirming they were contraceptives, not fertility drugs. The made-up stories about fertility surgeries. The strange herbs she made him drink every night. The way she pretended to be hopeful after every negative test, when she was secretly making sure they stayed negative.

And Gabriel could not explain how he found himself naked that morning on Sienna's bed; it was still a mystery to him.

Every memory added fuel to the fire burning inside him.

He curled his hand around his phone, the anger rising again, hot and fast.

Did she ever really love me?

Or did she just love being Mrs. Blackstone?

He didn’t know anymore. He didn’t want to know. He convinced himself that her tears earlier were nothing but another act.

Before he realized what he was doing, he dialed her number.

Aria answered weakly, her voice faint. “Hello?”

Gabriel didn’t let her speak. “You are wicked.”

There was a soft sound, like she was too tired to even respond fully. “What do you want again?”

He erupted. “You tried to kill a child. You are a murderer. You don’t want a baby, but you want to kill mine? What did I ever do to deserve this? You lied about everything. If anything happens to the baby Sienna is carrying, I will never forgive you, I swear.”

He hung up before she could answer.

He didn’t know she was in a hospital bed, crying into a pillow while machines monitored her heartbeat.

He didn’t want to know.

Gabriel lifted his head and saw someone approaching from the far end of the hallway. Aiden walked with the same calm confidence that always irritated him. His pace is steady. Aiden passed by without a glance, without acknowledgment, without even the slightest shift in posture.

Gabriel’s resentment flared instantly. Aiden’s hospital. Aiden’s doctors. Aiden’s superiority. All of it scraped his pride raw.

He forced himself to walk back toward Sienna’s room just as the doctor entered.

“The baby is fine,” the doctor announced calmly. “Sienna is stable. She needs rest. No physical stress.”

Gabriel nodded stiffly, relief passing through Sienna’s features so quickly it almost didn’t look real.

He stepped into the hallway again when his phone rang. He answered impatiently. “Yes?”

It was security from the Blackstone estate.

“Sir, we located Madam Aria’s car on the highway.”

Gabriel frowned. “Found? What do you mean found?”

“The driver’s door was open,” the guard explained. “And… sir… there is blood inside the car.”

Gabriel’s whole body went still.

“Blood?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

For a second… just a second… something triggered in his chest. Something like fear or guilt. But he crushed it quickly.

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “She must be trying another trick to get back into the house. I won’t fall for it.”

The guard hesitated. “Sir… I don’t think this is a trick.”

Gabriel didn’t respond. He didn’t want to.

If he let himself believe Aria was truly hurt, then he would have to face the possibility that he had been wrong.

And Gabriel Blackstone refused to be wrong.

He ended the call.

And he convinced himself that Aria was bleeding, missing was still trying to manipulate him, to manipulate herself back to the mansion, like she always does.