Chapter 75
They dragged her forward, her feet stumbling over uneven ground and smooth pavement.
She could feel them swapping cars twice, pausing for long stretches before moving her again.
Muffled voices drifted through the thick fabric of the hood, fragmented and tense.
“We’re being followed. Reroute… don’t take that street p>
A long time passed before the car finally rolled to a stop.
Sienna was hauled out. The crunch of gravel gave way to the solid thud of stone tiles, and the air shifted, heavy with the damp scent of soil and greenery.
She guessed she was in the back gardens of the Sterling Manor.
A moment later, the hood was violently ripped off.
The sudden influx of blinding light forced her to squint. As her vision slowly focused, a terribly familiar face came into view.
Celeste stood three steps away in a pristine white loungewear set, smiling radiantly at her.
Sienna’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
She tried to speak, but the filthy rag was still wedged in her mouth.
Celeste clearly soaked in her shock, her smile widening into a twisted grin.
“Sienna. It’s been a while,” Celeste purred, stepping closer in her stilettos. “Why the long face? Don’t recognize me p>
Scarface pulled the gag out and undid Sienna’s bindings.
She glared at Celeste, utterly bewildered. “Why are you here p>
Right before she escaped, she had smashed a chair directly into Celeste.
Coupled with crashing into the wine cabinet, the sheer force of the impact should have left her bedridden, if not comatose.
Yet the woman standing in front of her was impeccably dressed, her complexion glowing, without a single scratch on her. She looked entirely untouched.
Celeste covered her mouth and giggled, her sheer arrogance impossible to hide. “What a ridiculous question. I live here at Sterling Manor. Where else would I be p>
She paused intentionally, savoring the utter confusion pooling in Sienna’s eyes, acting as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh, right. You’re wondering why I’m perfectly fine after you slammed that chair into me, aren’t you p>
Sienna pressed her lips into a thin line, refusing to speak.
Celeste didn’t care. She just laughed harder.
She leaned in close, lowering her voice to a malicious whisper. “Because I wasn’t the one you hit p>
Watching the horror flood Sienna’s eyes, she enunciated every single syllable. “It was Jarred’s mother p>
Boom.
The words detonated in Sienna’s mind like a bomb.
She snapped her head up, scanning the massive courtyard.
Sure enough, Helena was nowhere to be seen.
Given Helena’s spiteful, overbearing nature, she would never miss a chance to watch Sienna be punished.
But Sienna distinctly remembered aiming straight for Celeste. There was absolutely no mistaking it!
Seeing the venomous triumph flashing in Celeste’s eyes, the truth finally clicked into place.
She had been completely played by that two-faced Bro-Bait.
Furious, Sienna raised her hand, fully intending to slap that fake, sickening smile right off Celeste’s face.
But before her hand could even connect, Celeste leaped back, her smug grin instantly morphing into an expression of sheer terror.
“Sienna, don’t p>
Splash.
A massive bucket of freezing water was dumped directly over Sienna’s head.
Sienna violently shivered, the shock of the icy cascade delaying her reaction.
The freezing water streamed down her hair, soaking through her collar, the agonizing chill biting all the way to her bones.
She looked up just in time to see Celeste pouring the last few drops of the bucket onto herself.
Then, the woman shrieked and sprinted backward, wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Sienna, please stop throwing water on me! I was just trying to tell you not to make Grandma angry! Grandma, help me p>
Sienna just stood there, completely drenched and shivering violently, yet she couldn’t stop herself from laughing bitterly.
She had seen this exact performance far too many times.
Seconds later, a crowd surged into the backyard.
The matriarch rolled forward in her wheelchair, her face livid, her knuckles white as she gripped her cane.