Chapter 310: Could Mija have been reborn?
Eli yelped. Sienna jumped in to separate the siblings, while Elias laughed so hard the nearly doubled over. This was a family picture he would be framing and showing everyone.
Sienna spent ten minutes convincing the cubs to forgive each other, and then they were off to get he picture printed. Elias made ten copies of the same picture that showed everything: his kiss, Sienna’s startled blush, Ali’s mid-punch, and Eli mid-yelp. It was chaotic, imperfect, and utterly theirs.
Sienna held one copy in her hands, staring at it, and for the first time since hurricane Owens, she felt a strange, fragile hope. Perhaps the fever had burned away most of her doubts, leaving only the raw truth of her reality.
As the left the flower institute., the artificial butterflies still fluttering on the distance, Sienna leaned into Elias’s side. His arm tightened around her, protective and sure. The children bickered about the butterflies, flowers, candies and everything they could see. They didn’t stop until they reached home, going their separate ways to show off the souvenirs they had brought back.
**
The next morning, Sienna reported to her office for duty as usual. She was much happier and brighter than ever. A new case was scheduled for hearing, but before she could get to work, she turned to Mija, who was re-arranging the shelves absentmindedly.
On the walk to the office, she had heard the guard whispering about a scandal: a fight between Mija and another beast woman over Wayo, the panther she had a crush on. As it turned out, the other woman was his cousin.
Sienna folded her hands on the desk, her gaze steady. "Mija," she called loudly, "Why are you so obsessed with him? You have reached a point of fighting in public for Wayo. As your friend, I am concerned for you. I sit in this office and hear the stories of others all day. I want to hear yours."
Mija turned, the scales on her cheek shimmering faintly in the morning light. Sienna was waiting for the sharp retort followed by a smug smile.
Instead, Mija hesitated, then spoke, voice trembling. "This may sound crazy to you but I had a dream." She moved to a chair opposite Sienna and sat down. "After I met him, I had this dream that felt so real. It felt like another life. He was mine in that life. In that dream we were not friends, in fact we did not know each other at all. I don’t recall anything about you but I know the fox lord was a widower."
Sienna raised her brows. If they were thinking of the old Sienna, then yes, Elias was in a way, a widower.
Mija tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling. "In that dream, I met him in Greenhaven, where he was tracking a fox that escaped from this city after murdering someone. We met in a bar and I fell in love at first sight. I pursued him relentlessly. He was aloof at first, but I wore him down. We walked a road of romance and passion that was so fierce it burned against the will of my family.
My parents rejected him, because they don’t support inter-tribal marriages. But I didn’t care. They threatened to disown and exile me and I didn’t give in. I convinced Wayo to give up everything--the fox clan, his family, his job, his honor and run away with me. He didn’t want to. He was convinced that my parents would come around but I didn’t want to wait.
I threw a tantrum. He gave in and we fled to the North, believing love alone could sustain us. And it did, for about a year. We lived in fragile bliss. We rented a small apartment, he took on a job as a security guard at a mall and I worked as a sales assistant. We survived on low earnings and laughed at our poverty, dreaming of the future where we would rise again."
Sienna couldn’t imagine Mija going from wealthy heiress to sales assistant. Not after she had seen those assistants on the bridal shop doing everything necessary to keep the client comfortable.
Mija sighed. "But fate was cruel. One night, the mall was attacked, and Wayo was struck across the eyes. He was blinded by a strange poison. He stayed in the hospital for five months, I struggled to pay the bills. The blindness made him depressed, it shattered his pride and became a prison. He began to waste away, refusing food, refusing hope.
I stuck with him, tried to cheer him up, even though I was wasting away too because I was working three jobs to keep us afloat. It was hard and there was ho hope. And then my family came around, offering money for his treatment as long as I left and married the man they chose for me. They would give him ten million to rebuild his life, as long as I didn’t keep in contact with him. I said yes. I thought I was making the best decision for both of us."
Sienna could hear the ’but’ coming.
"But I was wrong," Mija continued. "When I left him, I said it was because I was tired of the way we were living. I said some things...really nasty things. I thought it would be better if he hated me and moved on with his life." She rose, running her hand through her hair. The agitation was written all over her face. "I was taken home immediately and given a month to recover my old looks before being let out into society again. After that month, I married Lord Bram Phillips, a White snake noble and heir of Bram holdings and CEO Phillips watches.
Every once in a while, my brother would give me updates on Wayo. The treatment had been successful, he had chosen to stay in the North and start a security company. He had even reunited with his adoptive fox family and real black panther family.
On my wedding night, I found out in passing that Wayo had taken his life the very day I left. My family had been hiding it from me. There had been no treatment, no company, no family reunion. I..." She took a deep breath. "I was overwhelmed with grief and guilt. I couldn’t stop blaming and resenting myself. How could I not know? That very night, I chose to follow Wayo."
Sienna gasped. "You killed yourself!"
Mija nodded. "In the dream." She laughed softly, "I would never kill myself or give up my wealth to run away with a man. It was just a dream."
Sienna watched her friend in silence. Maybe it was a dream, or maybe Mija had been reborn and she just didn’t realize it. Or, perhaps Mija was simply lost in obsession that it had driven her to this point. "Mija, dreams can be warnings. This could be an ill-fated relationship, so you have to decide if the dream was meant to guide you or destroy you. Love can be devotion, but it can also be chains. If you want my opinion, stay away from Wayo. He has worked hard to achieve what he has. If he does get involved with you to a point of seriousness, it is entirely possible that he will lose it all."