Chapter 698
Back then, her eyes were round and bright, sparkling with innocent joy.
Jarred straightened up, his gaze slowly sweeping over every piece of furniture in the room.
He walked over to the sofa and sank into the cushions.
Leaning his head back, he stared up at the chandelier.
He suddenly felt incredibly grateful.
Grateful that his sheer stubbornness had afforded him this opportunity.
He and Sienna had known each other for so long, married and divorced, yet he had never truly stepped into her world.
Now, he was finally standing in the place where she grew up.
Every wall here silently told the story of who she was, where she came from, and why she had become the woman she was today.
Jarred closed his eyes.
From the direction of the second-floor study, he could hear the faint hum of machinery.
It was the sound of Sienna working away in her hidden sanctuary.
His chest felt incredibly full.
So full that it ached, so full that he had to swallow hard just to keep the tidal wave of emotion at bay.
He had never been struck by such an absurd realization before.
He had loved her for so long, but only today was he truly beginning to know her.
He wanted to walk through this entire house, from top to bottom, inside and out, taking it all in.
He wanted to touch the traces of her childhood, to read the history of her past.
He wanted to piece together all the years of her life he had missed.
Driven by the thought, he slowly made his way up the stairs.
Down in the lab.
Sienna pushed aside all distractions, throwing herself entirely into the next phase of the trials, not daring to lose focus.
Silas remained unconscious, though his vitals were blessedly stable.
Sienna had to race against the clock, finishing the tests before his body started showing severe stress reactions.
Any delay would just invite disaster.
Jarred strictly adhered to their three rules, never once daring to barge in.
But around meal times, he would sporadically knock to check on her.
Knowing he meant well, Sienna didn’t want to snap at him.
“I’ll come out to eat when I’m hungry. You popping in every five minutes is breaking my focus p>
Jarred stood at the door, holding an insulated lunchbox, condensation already forming on the rim of the lid.
He opened his mouth to argue, but ultimately just said one word: “Okay p>
Then he walked away.
He returned to the ground floor, setting the container on the coffee table.
Every time Sienna claimed she wasn’t hungry, he brought the food right back.
He’d leave it on the table, wait a few minutes, and carry it back up again.
While he waited, he sat on the couch, examining the old relics of The Sloan Estate.
He studied every single photograph under the glass on the table.
Then he moved on to an old radio in the corner.
The tuning dial had a piece of clear tape stuck to it, with a frequency scribbled in blue ink.
The handwriting was small and rounded—clearly a child’s scrawl.
He didn’t know how old Sienna was when she wrote it, but he found the crooked numbers incredibly endearing. He stared at it for a long time.
Sienna didn’t emerge for hours, so long that the food in the container grew ice cold.
Jarred eventually had his men prepare a fresh, hot meal, keeping it simmering gently on the stove over a low flame.
In her hidden lab, Sienna remained entirely oblivious to all this.
All her attention was hyper-focused on Silas and the antidote.
It wasn’t until the latest round of trials wrapped up and the final toxicological data was verified.
Sienna let out a long breath massaging her stiff neck, when she noticed her phone screen lighting tin on the workstation.
Two hours ago, Jarred had sent a text: [Food is keeping warm on the stove p>