Chapter 71\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s none of your business!\u201d Sienna set the bowl down, shoved Clayton out of the way, and bolted up the stairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sweetness from the candy spread over her tongue, and her heart thumped wildly in her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why would Clayton make such a misleading move if he didn\u2019t love her? It had taken so much for her to finally let him go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna first saw Clayton at Rupert\u2019s birthday party when she was 12. His chiseled features aside, Clayton had been a recalcitrant, arrogant boy who behaved as if everyone were beneath him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the party, Olive, in her typical wicked fashion, shoved Sienna into the pond. Sienna didn\u2019t know how to swim, so she flailed helplessly in the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The icy water filled her mouth and nostrils. Her vision started to blur when she saw a figure leap into the water without\u00a0<\/p>\n
hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton hauled her out of the pond and onto the lawn. He was soaked, yet it didn\u2019t diminish his intimidating presence in the slightest as he pointed at Olive and called her out in front of everyone, \u201cYou pushed her in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, one look at Daphne glowering at her was all it took for Sienna to lie helplessly, \u201cNo, I fell in by accident.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton scowled, then said sharply, \u201cYou deserve to get picked on if you can\u2019t even stand up for yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that, he turned and left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that moment, Sienna felt like her heart had seized up. It was the first time someone had sided with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was like spotting a lighthouse after spending too long adrift on the dark ocean, and she began to fervently, clumsily chase after that beam of light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She secretly took note of his favorite sports teams and pretended to be a fan like he was. She worked on her chess skills extensively, hoping it would give her a hall pass to stay at his house longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She even staged run\u2013ins with him by frequently taking the longer route to school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She did plenty of stupid things to get his attention. Alas, Clayton\u2019s behavior toward her was nothing short of lukewarm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was until Melody showed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna could never forget the torrential downpour that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
School was out, and she saw Clayton holding up an umbrella as he met Melody. A smile curved his lips, and his eyes held an indulgent gleam that Sienna had never seen before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The umbrella was mostly tilted over Melody\u2019s head, leaving Clayton\u2019s shoulder exposed to the rain. He didn\u2019t even realize\u00a0<\/p>\n
that his shoulder was soaked with rainwater.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They left, all smiles and friendly conversation, while Sienna stood in the downpour. Tears mixed with rain streamed down\u00a0<\/p>\n
her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was no better than a gutter rat, spying others\u2018 happiness through the grates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That day, she learned that love was having someone tilt an umbrella over one\u2019s head to keep one dry from the rain. Clayton\u2019s actions during Rupert\u2019s birthday party were driven by a sense of justice\u2013there was nothing more to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet, that didn\u2019t stop Sienna from stubbornly chasing after that beam of light. In the end, all she had to show for it were the bruises and scars on her heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had endured three years of marriage and gotten neither love nor warmth in return. Her baby hadn\u2019t even been formed in her womb before it turned into blood and loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 71\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she were given a chance to choose again, Sienna figured she would still fall for the boy who had jumped into the pond to save her. She simply wouldn\u2019t ask for more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna lay curled on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. The sweetness from the strawberry candy had vanished, leaving only the astringent aftertaste of the herbal supplement. Much like Clayton\u2019s occasional show of warmth, it was good for only a moment, but it made the heartache worse over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day, Sienna headed over to Michelle\u2019s set to assist as usual. She was passing through the lounge when a bright voice rang out. \u201cHey, you over there! Come here for a second!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna\u2019s steps ground to a halt. She followed the sound of the voice and saw Carson, the mega\u2013celebrity himself, waving at\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After making sure he really was talking to her, she walked toward him at a leisurely pace. \u201cIs there something I can do for you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carson handed her an iced latte, beads of condensation already forming on the cup. \u201cThis is for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had noticed Sienna and her rather interesting bearing a few days ago. She was confident and perfectly at ease, unlike the other regular employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna couldn\u2019t very well reject Carson\u2019s generous gesture when he was being so courteous. With equal politeness, she accepted the latte. \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you Michelle\u2019s assistant?\u201d Carson leaned back in the folding chair and pointed out nonchalantly, \u201cYou\u2019ve been here for a few days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I was called to help at the last minute,\u201d was Sienna\u2019s clipped reply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 72\u00a0<\/p>\n
She got the divorce and bolted 71 Chapter 71\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s none of your business!\u201d Sienna set the bowl down, shoved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-she-got-the-divorce-and-bolted-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}