Chapter 48
Sienna's pov
He didn’t give me a reason, so I hit decline without hesitating.
What could Victor Price possibly want from me now?
With Nora gone, he was probably over the moon.
I hadn’t even put my phone down when Victor sent another friend request.
[Ungrateful daughter! Accept it now, or you’ll regret it!]
No matter how many times he messaged me, my response stayed the same: decline.
He was so relentless that I blocked him. But then an unknown number called the very next second.
It had to be Victor.
When he’d tried to force me to step aside for Elena, he hadn’t been this “enthusiastic.” So what was so urgent today?
I answered and put it on speaker. A middle-aged man’s furious shouting nearly pierced my eardrums.
“You ungrateful little— Since you won’t give Elena your place, you’re going to get Harrison to invest in Price Group. That’s your responsibility!”
He didn’t explain anything. He just shoved the burden onto me like he’d always done.
My voice stayed cold. “Harrison doesn’t love me. You won’t get anywhere through me. Go ask Elena.”
Victor didn’t want Elena to deal with the humiliation of begging for money, so he came to me instead.
He knew Harrison despised me, and he still expected me to go grovel.
“You and Mr. Blackwood are married! Naturally, it’s your job!”
The entitlement in his tone made a laugh slip out of me.
I let it turn sharp. “I’ve been kicked out of the Price family. Price Group has nothing to do with me. Figure it out yourself. I’m done.”
I’d been too soft with Victor before, and I’d let him get used to using me like this.
With Nora gone, whatever ties I still had to the Price family were severed for good.
I hung up and blocked the number. A knock sounded, and a nurse came in with an IV stand.
She set a meal tray on my bedside table.
“Please eat something,” she said gently. “It’ll make the IV easier on you.”
I didn’t feel hungry.
When I didn’t move, the nurse tried again. “You haven’t eaten in three days. You’ve been relying on nutrient fluids, and that’s not okay. Your husband specifically asked us to bring this. If you don’t eat, I can’t report back to him.”
Harrison arranged this?
My chest tightened in a way I didn’t like. After a brief hesitation, I pulled the tray closer.
The food was light and low-fat, bland enough to be safe.
I smirked and muttered, “So plain… does he think I’m dieting?”
“Light is better,” the nurse said as she hung the IV bag and started preparing the medication. “You haven’t eaten in three days. Anything greasy could upset your stomach, especially since you’re pregnant.”
She worked quickly, checking the line. “Mr. Blackwood may look cold, but I think he cares about you.”
The faint warmth that had flickered in me died the second she said pregnant.
‘Sienna, who do you think you are?’
I let out a humorless breath. “He cares about the baby, not me.”
I wasn’t going to be impulsive anymore. I needed the calories, so I forced myself to eat at least a little.
But the moment the word baby settled in my mind, the questions came right after.
Harrison already had Adrian. So why did he want me to have this one? Why make it a condition for divorce?
His disgust for me wasn’t subtle. He’d made that painfully clear.
I couldn’t figure it out, and I refused to pretend it meant he liked me.
If I was carrying a Blackwood child, the Blackwoods could afford to raise it.
I was the least important part of the equation.
That thought made my throat tighten. I set the tray down, half-eaten.
The nurse gave me an update while the IV started to flow. “Pregnancy is good news, but your body is weak. When you were brought in, you were showing signs of a threatened miscarriage. Stay in the hospital a few more days. After discharge, you need to be careful. You might not be so lucky next time.”
My free hand drifted to my stomach on instinct.
Flat. Quiet. No movement. Just like always.
Was there really a life inside me?
My mind ran away before I could stop it. If the baby hadn’t been saved when I got here, what would Harrison have done?
If I’d died with the baby… would he have mourned me?
‘Don’t be stupid.’
Outside, hurried heels clicked down the hall. Luna Reed burst into the room, breathing hard, eyes locked on me.
“How are you?” she demanded.
She braced a hand on the wall, still catching her breath.
“I’m fine now,” I said. “You don’t need to panic.”
The nurse left with her cart. The medication slid into my veins, and the worst of the ache eased, though I couldn’t tell if it was the drip or my mind grabbing at relief.
Luna shut the door and dropped into the chair beside my bed, her expression tight with anger. “How can I not panic? If Nora had stayed with me, none of this would’ve happened. Harrison took her and didn’t even take care of her. How is that not basically murder?”
I froze for a beat, then shook my head. “My mom’s suicide wasn’t Harrison’s intention. Without her, how would he control me? I think Elena said something to provoke her.”
Luna’s face shifted, confusion flashing in her eyes. “How can you still defend him? It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t his intention. If it weren’t for him, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I’m not defending him,” I said, my voice rougher than I meant it to be. “I’m analyzing—”
I stopped.
Even after everything, some part of me still wanted to believe Harrison wasn’t behind this. That trust—stupid, stubborn—hadn’t fully died.
But reality didn’t care what I wanted.
He protected the Blackwoods. He protected Elena. He protected everyone who’d been there.
Just not me.
“I know what you’re trying to say,” Luna cut in, her gaze hard. “That the main responsibility isn’t his. But he’s the one insisting Nora killed herself. And that’s him protecting the real culprit.”
“He’s already on the culprit’s side. Don’t you see how ridiculous your so-called fairness is?”
I couldn’t find a word.
Her voice felt like a blade, clean and exact, slicing open wounds I’d convinced myself were closing.
Fairness? Harrison had never trusted me.
Mutual betrayal. That was fair.
My eyes burned.
“Nora is gone, Sienna,” Luna said, each word hitting like a strike. “No matter what the truth is, the Blackwoods—and Harrison—are your enemies.”
She was harsher than usual today, pressing on every fragile nerve I had left.
Tears slipped down before I could stop them.
“Stop,” I whispered.
If my love with Harrison had ever been real, it was past tense now.
Now, the person he loved was Elena.
And no matter who the culprit was, he was covering for them.
I would find the real culprit. For Nora.
‘Harrison and I are done.’
Luna didn’t push anymore. I caught the guilt in her eyes, like she regretted forcing me to face it head-on.
“Luna,” I said softly. “Thank you.”
She shook her head fast. “I didn’t help. If I’d brought more people when we went to get Nora, those two jerks wouldn’t have gotten away with it. I’m to blame too.”
I gave a small smile and shook my head, letting it drop. There was no point in circling guilt.
“Enough about me,” I said. “What about you? Is Alexander giving you a hard time?”