Chapter 237
He stood beneath the corridor lights, his black dress shirt accentuating his cold, handsome features.
His face was like a masterpiece sculpted by the gods, every angle carved to absolute perfection.
Yet at this moment, a storm of agonizing emotions surged violently in his dark eyes.
It was as if thousands of unspoken words were lodged in his throat, rendering him entirely speechless as he stared intensely at her.
Dr. Vance’s gaze flickered, instantly reading the taut, suffocating tension between the two of them.
He discreetly glanced beside him at the still, impassive Sienna.
Sienna’s expression was utterly detached. She stared straight ahead, treating the emotionally turbulent man before her as completely invisible, as distant as a total stranger.
Supporting Dr. Vance, she stepped sideways to bypass him, but her wrist was suddenly captured by a forceful, unyielding grip.
A knowing glint flashed through the older man’s seasoned eyes.
He chuckled and patted Sienna’s hand. “It seems he has something to say to you. My car is right downstairs, I can walk myself. Remember what you promised—come visit me this weekend p>
“Dr. Vance Sienna tried to insist.
The older man waved his hand, signaling his assistant to help him. He turned and stepped into the elevator, his strides steady and vigorous, completely unlike a man in his seventies.
The air in the corridor froze.
Sienna slowly raised her eyes, her gaze dropping to the wrist trapped in his tight grasp. A cold, mocking smile tugged at her lips.
“Mr. Sterling, what is the meaning of this p>
Endless ripples of emotion churned in Jarred’s deep eyes. A thousand feelings crushed down on his throat, tumbling over one another until they condensed into a single, hoarse whisper. Sienna p>
His hand clamped down painfully tight, refusing to yield even a fraction of an inch.
Sienna looked up slowly, a thin layer of frost settling over her features. “I thought we had made everything perfectly clear between us p>
She lowered her gaze, prying his fingers off her wrist one by one with deliberate force, parting her rosy lips to spit out four icy words, “Accept your loss p>
The second she was about to break free, Jarred’s grip tightened abruptly, chaining her down harder.
A flash of genuine annoyance crept into Sienna’s eyes.
She maintained her faint smile, but her gaze turned downright frigid. “What’s the matter? Can’t handle losing, Mr. Sterling p>
Jarred’s intense stare wrapped around her, as if trying to suck her entire soul into his bottomless dark eyes.
He said nothing, but his breathing grew ragged, his chest heaving violently.
It felt as though a massive tide of emotion was thrashing wildly inside his body, desperate to find an outlet.
That overwhelming intensity shattered the last of his reason.
Jarred suddenly lunged forward, throwing his long arms around her and forcefully crushing her into a tight, inescapable embrace.
His hands tightened around her again and again, radiating a terrifyingly obsessive possessiveness.
Resting his chin on the crown of her head, his scorching breath dusted her hair. “I didn’t know… I swear I didn’t know there was such a massive misunderstanding p>
He tightened his hold, as if terrified she would vanish. “I have never felt anything for Celeste. Never.
I had no idea Gideon and the others thought of us like that. No one had ever said those things to my face.
I thought… I thought everyone was just joking around, and that once the joke was over, it meant nothing. I never expected p>
His voice was hoarse and broken, carrying a profound, hidden panic.
Sienna was locked so tightly in his arms that her very bones ached.
She slowly tipped her face up, a mild, polite smile pooling in her eyes, yet entirely devoid of warmth.
“Why are you telling me this? First, I’m not the one you favor, and second, I’m not one of your loyal buddies p>
Staring into her absolutely apathetic eyes, a bolt of pure terror struck Jarred’s heart.