They were chattering away: "Sienna, when did you switch boyfriends? This new one is so generous, buying you so many things."

"Exactly, I’m so envious of you."

"When did you change boyfriends anyway? A few days ago, that wealthy heir boyfriend of yours called me asking if I could reach you. Does this mean you’ve already broken up?"

Bathed in the envious gazes of her former classmates, Sienna was quite pleased with herself and answered them one by one:

"That wasn't my boyfriend just now, just a childhood friend who grew up abroad and recently returned to the country."

"We haven't broken up. I’ve just been too busy with work lately, and he’s a bit too clingy—if I don't reply to his messages for a second, he starts looking everywhere for me."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a girl pointed behind her: "Look, your childhood friend is here."

Sienna whipped her head around, a flicker of panic on her face, yet Julian walked up as if nothing were the matter.

The girls shrieked: "Sienna, you’re so popular with men. Even your childhood friend is this handsome! Introduce him to us, quick!"

Sienna’s face turned so ugly she couldn't speak.

Julian reached out and took her hand directly: "Excuse us, we are leaving."

In the car on the way back, Julian said nothing. Sienna grew increasingly flustered and tried to explain: "Julian, listen to me, it’s not what they were saying..."

"No need to explain. I heard it all," Julian said, incomparably calm, his heart devoid of even a shred of jealousy. "I divorced for you, but you? You can't even manage to break up with him."

Hearing this, Sienna became ashamed into anger and retorted:

"Julian Sterling, did you really divorce for me? If Celine hadn't initiated the divorce herself, I doubt you would have wanted to at all. What right do you have to judge me?!"

Sienna’s words were heart-piercing, not because she was wrong—on the contrary, she made a very valid point.

If Celine were still here, would he have truly initiated the divorce himself?

Julian’s expression grew uglier. He stopped the car on the side of the road and kicked her out: "Get out."

"You want to throw me out?" Sienna stared at him in disbelief. "Julian Sterling, you’re not human! Have you forgotten I lost half my life having a miscarriage for you?"

Julian’s expression remained indifferent, completely unmoved.

Seeing that playing that card no longer worked, Sienna panicked and crawled over to beg:

"Julian, I was wrong. I won't say it anymore. I’ll break up with him as soon as possible. After we break up, let’s live our lives properly, okay? I’ll never mention anyone else ever again."

Julian sighed. In the end, he didn't throw her out, but for the rest of the trip, he couldn't stop thinking of Celine.

If she were still here, she would never be as fickle as Sienna.

Her eyes held only him, and when she looked at him, it was as if she held the entire universe.

Chapter 12

In the vast Sterling estate, with Celine gone, Sienna had effectively become the mistress of the house.

She spent her days ordering the servants to replace all the decorations and even swapped out the kitchen staff.

She was someone who couldn't live without spice; she looked down on the various Western cuisines and hired a cook from her hometown to prepare her meals.

That evening, when Julian returned home, he was faced with a table full of fiery-red dishes. His expression soured, and he wanted to find an excuse to eat out.

But Sienna wouldn't allow it, insisting he eat with her: "Eating out is so expensive. These are all delicacies from my hometown. You’ve never had them; you’ll definitely like them."

She had already eaten quite a bit, and as she spoke, the smell of chili sprayed from her mouth, making Julian frown in disgust.

But he endured it and finished the meal with her.

At night, his stomach ailment flared up as expected. When he dragged himself up, gasping for breath, Sienna didn't notice at all, sleeping soundly beside him.

Covered in cold sweat, clutching his stomach while searching for medicine, he mistakenly wandered into Celine’s room.

The moonlight was like water, quietly spilling over her bed. Everything in the room remained unchanged.

Her discarded pajamas, her meticulously folded quilt, and on the nightstand, a half-drunk glass of water and a painkiller.

Everything was as it had always been, only now there was no one in the bed to walk over and gently stroke his belly with warm hands when he woke up in pain at night, asking with concern: "Are you okay?"

Julian’s heart ached with sudden, sharp stabs. As if possessed, he walked into Celine’s room, sat on the bed, and took the painkiller himself.

It felt as if she had left it there specifically for him.

Without realizing it, he curled up on Celine’s bed and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, details he had never noticed before flooded into his dreams.

When the Sterling family business failed and hit rock bottom, all his friends in the circle deserted him. Only Celine stood by him. At that time, she hadn't yet been worn down by the marriage, and her smile was radiant as she softly comforted him: "Things will get better."

On the day he proposed, Celine rejected the pursuits of others and publicly agreed to be his fiancée. At that moment, there was room for only him in her large eyes.

After they married, she willingly accompanied him to work late at the office and would carefully annotate the documents he was holding when he fell asleep from exhaustion.

Just like that, the Sterling family recovered, day by day.

Two years ago, her parents died in an accident. She had sat in the mourning hall, weeping heart-wrenchingly. When he rushed back from afar, tired and dusty, she had wiped her own tears first, asking if he had eaten.

In corners he never cared to look at, she had sacrificed so much, loving him for so many years.

Waking from the dream, Julian held the quilt, which still carried Celine’s scent. He felt increasingly lost and melancholy.

Everything he wanted was already by his side, so why did he feel this way?

Distraught and realizing he couldn't stay like this, he returned to his room, wanting to shift his focus to Sienna.

He sat by the head of the bed, eyes unblinking, watching the person on the bed.

Sienna’s phone suddenly rang. She was sleeping soundly and didn't hear it.

Afraid of waking her, Julian picked up the phone and stepped out of the room to answer.

A man’s voice came from the phone: "Miss Sienna, the abortion pills you bought from me last time worked well, right? According to our agreement, if they worked well, you should pay the balance."

Julian’s breath hitched, and the hand holding the phone trembled slightly: "What abortion pills? Speak clearly!"

The person on the other end realized something was wrong and hung up immediately.

Unfortunately, they underestimated Julian. After hanging up, Julian immediately called his assistant, ordering: "Investigate the source of this number immediately."

The assistant had never heard him use such a murderous tone and was terrified out of his sleep. That very night, he traced the number.

"The other side is a seller of abortion pills, a prohibited Southeast Asian drug—the exact same one you seized from Madam Celine not long ago. But this shows the buyer is Miss Sienna..."

Julian asked, trembling: "Is there proof?"

"Yes, they have the chat history."

His eyes turned utterly cold.

Chapter 13

Returning to the bedroom, Julian looked at the woman sleeping in the bed, feeling utterly alienated and disgusted.

He ordered the bodyguards to go up and shake her awake. Sienna was still half-asleep: "Julian, what are you doing? It’s barely morning."

The bodyguard slapped her awake without ceremony: "Get up. The Young Master has questions."

Sienna woke up completely, looking at Julian with terror and anger: "Julian, what is the meaning of this?"

"Meaning? You should go ask about that child you killed."

Julian’s face was cold, and his astonishing words frightened Sienna.

"Child... wasn't that child poisoned to death by Celine? What does it have to do with me? How could I possibly kill my own child? Julian, did you fall for the wedge Celine, that cheap woman, drove between us?!"

"This matter has nothing to do with Celine. She has already been driven away by you." Julian closed his eyes, looking extremely pained. "Even now, you’re still putting on a show."

Julian ordered the chat logs to be presented and threw them in front of her:

"This is the proof of you buying abortion pills."

Then, he had Celine’s personal maid brought in:

"This is the person who saw you framing Celine."

The maid fell to her knees before Julian: "Young Master Sterling, please investigate. All the bad things were done by Sienna, who then framed Madam. Even if I knew, I didn't dare say anything, because Sienna said if I did, she would have you kick me out. I have elderly parents and young children; I really couldn't afford to lose my job..."