I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 236

She refused to start a screaming match in her father's hospital room.

Seeing her silence, Lydia assumed she had won, crossed her legs again, and shifted her tone from hostility to condescending advice.

"You don't want him to meet me. Is it because he's a bit old? Short, fat, and ugly?" She frowned. "But it's fine. Old is fine. A man with this much power probably just likes you because you're young and pretty. You need to seize this opportunity. Next year you'll be thirty, your value will plummet, and nobody will want you. Get married now while you still have some leverage."

Every single word was a blade, carving into Sienna's heart.

Sienna's eyes burned, a massive lump formed in her throat, and her fingers trembled.

It was grief, but more than that, it was pure rage.

The sheer fury of being treated by her own mother as a commodity up for sale, a piece of merchandise rapidly approaching its expiration date.

"Mom."

Her voice was quiet.

"Say one more word, and I walk away from Noah. He can rot for all I care."

Lydia's face drained of color.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Keep talking and find out," Sienna stared at her, her expression terrifyingly cold. "See if I'm bluffing."

Lydia's jaw dropped, the words dying in her throat.

She knew her daughter would follow through.

When Sienna was eighteen, they demanded she attend the local teachers' college so she could stay close and take care of the family.

Sienna had agreed to their faces, but secretly changed her applications to a top medical university in the capital.

She had hidden it flawlessly.

She never said a word, even when the acceptance letter arrived. She just boarded a train in the middle of the night before orientation and vanished to the capital.

Lydia knew perfectly well that underneath her obedient exterior, this girl had an iron will.

For the sake of her son, she dutifully shut her mouth.

A few seconds later, she muttered under her breath,

"Fine, I'm done."

Sienna turned and walked out of the suite.

She moved so fast the nurses in the hall didn't even have time to stand before she swept past them.

Sienna gripped the phone, completely at a loss for words.

This overwhelming level of favor made her skin crawl.

The crushing weight of this debt.

She simply couldn't afford it.

"Mr. Hayes, thank you for my father and Noah," her voice was tight. "But I don't need this much help. You've already done more than enough."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"And so?"

"So... I will pay you back every cent. Thank you for stepping in, but I can handle the rest myself."

Silas didn't try to convince her otherwise.

He didn't say 'you don't have to pay me back' either.

He simply stayed quiet for two seconds before murmuring,

"I'm at The Concord Hotel, Room 1806. Are you coming over?"