The Price of Late Realization and Neglecting Your Loved One

Sienna's POV

Tears streamed down Maia’s face, drawing murmurs from the crowd around us.

“Sienna, you’re in the wrong here! You knew he was taken, so you can’t blame her for wrecking your house!” someone said.

I turned to Lance, a cold smirk tugging at my lips. “Quite the little power play you two cooked up. So, are you paying for the damages, or is she? You’re aware of how much that porcelain set costs, right?”

Lance’s face twisted with visible pain as he stared at the shattered remains of the priceless vase.

But Maia, still crying, turned her fury on him. “You knew she was trying to seduce you! Why did you still go up there to see her alone?”

Lance immediately ran to her, wrapping her in his arms. “Maia, listen. She said if I talked to her one last time and made things clear, she’d leave me alone for good. You saw me reject her—I’ve made it obvious there’s nothing between us. If I wanted her, don’t you think we’d have been together by now? Please, stop crying.”

Maia blinked up at him, her tears subsiding as she swallowed his lies like gospel.

Meanwhile, I stood there, stunned, watching their performance. Unable to help myself, I started clapping slowly, the sound cutting through their theatrics.

Part of me wanted to tell her the truth—reveal what kind of person Lance really was. But before I could, her eyes landed on the faint lipstick stain on Lance’s collar.

Her demeanor shifted again in an instant. Like a lioness provoked, she grabbed the bat again and continued smashing anything in her path.

The things she was destroying were treasures left to me by my parents, so I couldn’t let her keep going.

“Maia, stop this right now!” I shouted. Then I turned to Lance, my voice sharp. “You! Get your lunatic fiancée and get the hell out of my house!”

With my sudden panic, Maia figured out my weak spot, and her swings grew wilder. I tried to grab the bat from her hands, but she turned and swung it at me instead.

I barely dodged the blow and nearly fell. Yet, she lunged forward with so much force that she stumbled and knocked me to the ground. My back hit the floor, and shards of broken porcelain dug into my skin. Pain quickly shot through me and tears welled in my eyes.

Despite that, Lance didn’t even glance my way. Instead, he scooped Maia into his arms, inspecting her for injuries.

“Maia, are you okay? Does it hurt?” he asked frantically.

She only had a small cut on her arm from the broken glass, yet, Lance, looking like a man possessed, picked her up and rushed her out the door, heading straight for the hospital.

And just like that, I was left lying among the wreckage.

After someone helped me to the hospital and I’d gotten my wounds treated, a string of unfamiliar text messages popped up on my phone.

[Sienna, consider this a warning. Stay away from Lance if you know what’s good for you. Don’t make me ruin your reputation in this city. By the way, all those handmade gifts you gave Lance? They’re dog toys now—literally. My dog plays with them. I only kept them because I felt bad for you. Otherwise, they’d be in the trash.]

The messages stung like a slap to the face.

No wonder Lance always dodged my questions about where my gifts went, claiming he had “stored them carefully.” Turns out they were in his fiancée’s dog’s mouth.

My heart sank as the realization hit me: In his eyes, my feelings were worth nothing.

Fine. If that’s how they wanted to play it, I wouldn’t hold back.

Without hesitation, I dialed the number of Lance’s uncle. “Sir, your nephew and his fiancée trashed my house and injured me. I'm now in the hospital. How are you going to settle this?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

The thought of Howard Sharp’s icy face made me nervous, but he was the head of the Madron family. Ever since his grandfather adopted him and handed over the reins of the family business, his word had been law. Even Lance, the biological grandson, had to toe the line.

And as an employee of Apex Solutions Group, I had every right—both professionally and personally—to bring this to his attention.

“I’ll take care of it,” came his curt reply.

As such, the call ended abruptly, leaving me staring at my phone.

After a while, I figured Howard wasn’t planning to follow up. Frustrated, I lay on the hospital bed, cursing out every branch of Lance’s family tree in my head. Of course, I didn’t spare Howard from my rant either.