The following morning in Silver City.
7:45 AM
Her brain processed the numbers slowly.
Then—
"What the heck... I'm late!" she screamed in shock.
Quickly, she threw the blanket aside and jumped out of bed, as if the mattress had caught fire.
She ran toward the bathroom.
"I'm dead. How can I be late for such an important meeting with Sterling Capital? I'm just asking for Angie to punish me!" She lamented, frantically beginning to brush her teeth.
She had a morning meeting at nine. Normally, she would be halfway to the metro, but the previous day's events had left her so exhausted and drained that her brain had shut down, causing her to oversleep.
Unfortunately, real life didn't pause just because she needed time to recover from her ordeal. Her boss, Angie Feliz, wouldn't understand her. She was an impatient woman who only cared about getting results.
Within ten minutes, Sienna was fully dressed. She hurried down the street, immediately hailing down a passing taxi.
"Thank you, universe," she whispered as she quickly opened the door and slipped inside. "Mister, please rush to the Imperial Hotel! I'm late for work!"
The driver glanced at the clock on his dashboard and gave a small, understanding nod. The taxi moved quickly into the morning traffic.
She leaned back in her seat, reaching for the cell phone. She didn't want to turn it on because she knew that once she did, she would have to deal with her father causing chaos for her. Knowing him, she expected hundreds of missed calls.
In addition, he would most likely be spewing lies about her in the family group chat, causing her extended family to call her names. Some of them might even be furious enough to look for her in the capital!
But she couldn't do her job without a working phone.
With a heavy sigh, she pressed the power button.
The phone lit up.
And almost immediately, it began vibrating.
Sienna watched the screen fill with notifications without much surprise. Missed calls stacked one after another, followed by message alerts, emails, and even a few social media notifications she hadn't expected.
'Well,' she thought as she glanced at the list of missed calls, 'it looks like the entire Adams family held a meeting about me last night.'
Her father's number appeared repeatedly on the screen. Right below it were several calls from her aunt Jenny. A few cousins had also tried to reach her, which meant the news had probably spread quickly through the family.
Without hesitation, she opened the contact list and began blocking them one by one.
However, just as she finished blocking them, a text message caught her attention.
She hesitated for a brief moment before opening it.
"Sienna, I know I haven't always been the perfect father. But everything I've done has always been for your own good. A father only wants to protect his daughter's future."
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
The message continued.
"You misunderstood what happened yesterday. You ran away before we could explain things properly. You embarrassed me in front of important people, and now the situation has become very difficult for me."
Sienna stared at the screen for a moment, feeling a mixture of disbelief and irritation. Her father had tried to sell her to a gangster boss… and now he was talking about embarrassment?
Just as she was about to delete the message, another text message caught her attention.
"Sienna, my daughter, this might be the last message you ever receive from your father. Boss Juan is extremely angry now. He said if you don't come back, he will kill me."
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
"You are a kind daughter. I know you won't let something happen to me. If you return and meet him, everything can be resolved. A daughter should help her father in trouble. Don't let your father die because of stubbornness."
If she hadn't overheard the conversation in the hospital room the previous day, she might have believed every word of his text.
She might have rushed back to Evercrest immediately, terrified that something terrible would happen to her father.
That was exactly the reaction he expected.
But things are different now.
Yesterday had changed something inside her.
The image of her father laughing casually about selling her to settle his gambling debt was still clear in her mind. That single moment had erased years of excuses she had made for him.
Sienna locked the phone and slipped it back into her bag.
Her gaze drifted toward the window as the taxi continued moving through the hectic streets of Silver City.
A bitter laugh echoed in her chest.
'If Boss Juan kills you, then so be it. I won't shed a tear. I won't even look back.'
The weight of those thoughts should have horrified her. Instead, they set her free.
Sienna leaned slightly forward and glanced at the digital clock displayed on the taxi's dashboard.
'Gosh! I'm definitely late...'
She straightened in her seat and looked toward the driver with urgency.
"Sir, if you could drive a little faster, I would be extremely grateful."
Being chased by gangsters the previous night had certainly been stressful.
But arriving late to a morning meeting with a major client like Sterling Capital? Somehow, that seemed like a disaster on a different level. The driver stomped on the accelerator and began to weave through traffic, and Sienna held on for dear life.
Thankfully, he managed to get her to the office right on time. She passed him a handful of bills.
"Thank you, keep the change!" Sienna exclaimed, dashing into the office building after slamming the door. Her life depended on it.
By the time Sienna reached the Imperial Hotel's administrative office, she was slightly out of breath. She reached for the handle of her office door, only to be interrupted by a familiar male voice.
"Big boss, why the rush? Didn't you hear that the meeting was canceled?"
It was Riley Davis. He worked in the same department as her and was also her best friend. He was two years younger, cheerful and talkative, with a talent for cracking jokes at the worst possible moments.
Slowly, she turned to face Riley. "Your joke is not funny!"
"I'm not joking. The meeting with Sterling Capital is canceled," he repeated casually, looking far too relaxed for someone delivering such devastating news. "You've rushed here for nothing."