I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 228

Sienna was momentarily stunned. A strange sensation fluttered in her chest, but she quickly pushed it aside.

"I don't mind, but aren't you..."

"There are no 'buts'," Silas cut her off smoothly. "It's just a title. I have no objections."

Sienna felt even more bewildered by the situation, though she couldn't quite articulate why.

Finn watched Sienna and Silas standing side by side.

They looked incredibly right together.

Silas was flawless in every way, a much better fit for Sienna than he ever was.

Most importantly, Silas possessed the absolute power to protect her.

That realization felt like a jagged dagger twisting deep into his chest.

He fought through the suffocating pain, desperate to escape.

"York, let's go."

Silas turned to Finn.

"Since we ran into each other, join us for lunch."

Finn's footsteps halted. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to leave.

Yet, his shattered heart stubbornly yearned to spend just a little more time with her, regardless of how torturous the setting was.

"Alright."

Sienna desperately wanted to decline, but she didn't dare.

Silas wasn't asking for her opinion; he was issuing a directive.

She followed quietly behind him. Maya held her hand tightly, while York clung to Finn's.

Sunlight poured through the massive glass windows, casting four elongated shadows on the floor that overlapped and drifted apart with their steps.

The restaurant was located on the third floor of the arts center, offering a panoramic view of the sprawling city skyline through its floor-to-ceiling windows.

Felicia had already arrived. When she spotted Sienna and Finn, she stood up and offered a warm smile.

"Dr. Sterling, wonderful to see you again."

Sienna nodded politely.

Felicia's gaze shifted from Sienna to Finn.

"Finn, you're here too."

Finn offered a brief greeting to his sister-in-law and pulled out a chair to sit.

Sienna was seated directly across from Finn. Separated by the round table, all she had to do was slightly lift her eyes to see him.

She told herself a thousand times to act natural, to stop overthinking everything.

A heavy silence fell over the entire table as everyone froze in shock.

The skin on five-year-old York's upper arm was a horrifying canvas of deep purple and blue bruises.

Sienna's heart plummeted. These weren't from a simple fall or a bump.

They were unmistakable finger marks.

The dark, violent impressions of an adult's hand—some deep, some fading—evidence that someone had forcefully and brutally grabbed and pinched him.

Sienna's heart sank like a stone.

"York, who did this to you?"

York snatched his arm back, his crying intensifying.

Silas took one look at the bruises before shifting his gaze away.

Felicia immediately stood up. Now that she was pregnant, she found it physically unbearable to witness such cruelty.

Even young Maya understood what was happening.

"York! Tell the adults who bullied you! Stop crying and say something!"

Finn dropped to one knee, gripping York's other hand firmly.

"York, tell me. Who hurt you?"