Chapter 5
Sienna‘s pov
In the end, Victor and I parted on bad terms, and I didn’t let Luna pick me up either.
The housekeeper set my suitcase down, and I sank onto the couch, exhausted.
Thinking about everything that had happened five years ago left me both defeated and unwilling to accept it.
At eighteen, I’d been the girl everyone envied, the pampered daughter of The Price Family. By twenty two, I’d turned into the pathetic loser thrown out of her own home.
That was the year I got married. It was also the year my own husband started despising me.
And now, just so I wouldn’t lose quite so miserably, I had to raise another woman’s son.
A quiet laugh slipped out of me.
‘Sienna, you’re really pathetic.’
“Mrs. Blackwood, Ms. Blackwood is here.”
I frowned and pushed myself up.
What was Ophelia Blackwood doing here?
All these years since I’d married into The Blackwood Family, I’d never been welcome.
Especially Ophelia. It was like she had some kind of obsession with her brother and loathed me, his legal wife, on principle.
I was reluctant in every possible way, but I still went out.
What I didn’t expect was to see Elena with her.
And she was holding Adrian’s hand.
I understood instantly. She’d found herself a powerful backer.
She was also making something very clear to me: no matter how hard I tried to win over The Blackwood Family, it would never work, while she could do it with almost no effort at all.
Ophelia looked at me with that familiar disgust in her eyes.
“You’re still as shameless as ever. Elena, let’s go in.”
She walked past, deliberately bumping me aside as she led Elena in.
I brushed it off and followed. Ophelia pulled Elena straight over to the center of the living room and sat her down on the main couch like she owned the place.
Then she lifted her eyes to me and said coolly, “What are you standing there for? We have guests. Aren’t you going to serve us some water? You really are low born. ”
I answered just as coolly, “Ophelia, did you forget Elena and I share the same mother? We’re both from The Price Family. If you call her low born, she might take it to heart.”
Ophelia’s face darkened, and she let out a cold laugh.
“Since when did you get so good with words?”
“I didn’t know you could be warmer to a mistress than to your brother’s lawful wife.”
“Since you’re just here to drop off the kid, you can go now.”
Ophelia had always been arrogant. There was no way she could swallow being treated so coldly.
“Sienna, what’s with that attitude? My brother is never going to love you.”
“Oh. But my name is the one on the spouse line. ”
I folded my arms, my voice flat.
Elena hid the jealousy in her eyes and gently said, “Ophelia, let’s just go. As long as Sienna can take good care of Adrian, I’m fine.”
I only spared her a bland glance.
They were too alike.
She was just as fake as her mother, Classic Whitmore. And of course men everywhere ate that up.
Ophelia patted her hand.
“Elena, you’ve been wronged. Don’t worry, she won’t be by my brother’s side much longer.”
I watched them with a cold gaze and didn’t bother arguing.
Adrian, who had been sitting on the couch, suddenly bolted toward me. He grabbed my hand and sank his teeth into it.
For a child, his strength was nothing to underestimate. Blood welled up on the back of my hand almost immediately.
My first instinct was to yank my hand away, but when I saw those eyes so painfully similar to Harrison’s, I stopped struggling.
This child’s very existence was a constant reminder of how ridiculous and humiliating the past years had been.
I turned my head away. The pain in my hand didn’t come close to the stab in my chest.
If, from the beginning, I’d only married Harrison for his money, I wouldn’t be this heartbroken now.
Ophelia pulled Elena to her feet and let out a derisive laugh.
“Didn’t Sienna want so badly to be a good stepmom? For a woman who will do anything for money, this kind of pain is nothing.”
“Let’s go.”
Elena nodded reluctantly. As she passed me, she leaned in and lowered her voice.
“Sienna, the show is just getting started.”
I ignored her. Adrian glared at me from the side.
“Bad woman!”
“Martha, go get a room ready for the boy.”
I pretended not to see his hostility.
He was just a child.
If I took his attitude to heart, I’d only make my already humiliating situation even worse.
I wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of laughing at me.
Martha stared at the blood on the back of my hand, her face full of worry.
“Mrs. Blackwood, your hand…”
“I’m fine.”
“Take him downstairs.”
I went back to the bedroom, suddenly drained. My hand burned, but I didn’t put anything on it.
Only this almost self inflicted pain could make my heart feel a little less stifled.
I had no idea how much time passed before I opened my eyes. One look at the clock told me it was already midnight. I headed downstairs, where Martha was busy in the kitchen.
“Harrison isn’t home yet?”
“No, Mrs. Blackwood.”
I nodded, picked up the hot tea on the counter, and took a sip.
“And the boy?”
“He’s already asleep.”
I didn’t linger. I went back upstairs and fell straight into bed.
Until Martha shook me awake, panic on her face.
“Mrs. Blackwood, The Blackwood Manor just called. They want you there immediately.”
“Right now?”
I pressed my fingers to my brow.
“Got it.”
It was probably about the child. I didn’t dare waste time. I changed quickly and headed to The Blackwood Manor.
There weren’t many old families in Skyview City. The Blackwood Family was one of the few.
Their fortune had been built over four generations. Even the manor itself carried the marks of time.
The massive structure was steeped in inherited power.
The moment I stepped into the main hall, I felt that familiar hostility.
Harrison’s mother, Catherine Bennett, sat in the center. Ophelia was right beside her.
Ophelia rolled her eyes.
“Mom, look at her. She’s getting more and more out of line.”
Catherine looked at me, none of her usual gentle expression left.
“Sienna, you were the one who insisted on bringing Adrian into your home. I actually thought you were smart, but it turns out you’re just foolish.”
“Kneel. Butler, bring it in.”
Her voice carried that particular authority only she possessed, completely devoid of emotion.
My fingers curled into my palm on instinct.
The Blackwood Family still clung to some of the old traditions. Including family punishment.
“Mother, I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.”
“You don’t know?”
Catherine’s eyes were icy.
The butler had already brought in the instrument of punishment.
It was a wooden board, except there were nails hammered into it that weren’t fully driven down.
She gave a slight nod.
The servants grabbed me without a word and forced me to the ground.
Catherine turned her back.
“Then we’ll keep going until you figure it out.”
The sting across my back came with the sound of air splitting. I was knocked flat almost immediately.
The nails drove into my flesh, the leftover force ripping at the skin around them. The pain was so sharp I nearly blacked out.
It didn’t take many blows before sweat drenched me, my whole body feeling like it was about to be beaten to death right there.
Of course. The Blackwood Family had enough power to kill me without consequence. My death would be nothing to them.
Victor would never stand up for me. He’d only be happy for Elena.
As for my mother… I could only hope that in her next life she wouldn’t have a useless daughter like me.
And Harrison, he…
The torture on my back went on.
Through my blurred vision, I thought I saw his face.