Chapter 385: A loss, but whose?
Having watched enough, Linera took it upon herself to carry Numia away. But as soon as she unleashed her wings, Numia did the same. Of course, she didn’t forget to cradle her belly as if she was eight months pregnant and showing. "I dare you to touch me Linera," she challenged. "I will drop from the sky and kill myself."
Everyone was caught off guard by her threat. Jess even covered her mouth because she never thought the blackmail could be taken to this extent.
"She is really crazy!" Cadelaria exclaimed. "Call the enforcers. Don’t touch her. Sienna, do you hear me? None of you should touch her or she will claim you tried to harm her."
Sienna took a step back, widening the gap between herself and Numia. Linera backed off, while Selra looked at her husband and mouthed, "call Christo."
Christo had gone out with the butler to buy winter holiday decorations. Considering what was happening with his wife, they all thought it would be best for his to return.
Elias scoffed as everyone took a step back from Numia, as if they were afraid of her. "Can’t we just restrain her?" He asked, gesturing at Liman to move in.
But Sienna shook her head, stopping Liman. "If she bleeds, she will call every reporter and blame you for hurting her child. If she has a mental break, you will be investigated. Even if it’s not your fault, your opponents might use it as an opportunity to discredit you. Just let her run crazy. When she is tired, she will go back to her room and sleep."
Numia’s face twisted with rage. "I can hear you and I am not crazy." She waved her hands around, looking at the small crowd around. "All of you are crazy. You pretend to be blind when you know the truth: that Sienna is a heartless bitch. She has always looked down on me, always made me the villain. That is why you all looked on silence when she slapped me."
Sienna’s tone sharpened. "No, Numia. You made yourself the villain. Every time you fake tears, every time you cry wolf, every time you demand what isn’t yours--you dig your own grave. If I was such a heartless bitch, I would have thrown you out the very first time you disrespected me shortly after you arrived. My mother told me to endure and I have suffered for it. You are like a bug that just keeps stinking up the room."
The courtyard buzzed with tension. Servants paused, watching the confrontation unfold. Grandma Byra tried to urge both parties to remain calm.
Numia lunged, her hands clawing for Sienna’s face.
Elias shot his foot out, but Sienna pulled him out of the way, while sidestepping neatly, at the same time. "Elias, don’t touch her."
Gasps and relieved sighs followed. If that kick had landed on Numia, the consequences would have devastating.
Sienna looked coldly at Numia and said, "Stop embarrassing yourself."
But before anyone could laugh, Numia’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Blood stains appeared on the back of her long white pants.
The courtyard fell silent.
The children clutched each other tighter. Soren stepped away from them and moved to Sienna, alarmed. He spread his arms out. "My sister did not touch you." He said quickly, defensively.
The Rocland elders and aunt Selra hurried to Numia’s side. Jess was yelling for a doctor.
Numia staggered, clutching her stomach. "Sienna...what have you done to me?" she whispered hoarsely.
Sienna’s eyes narrowed, heart pounding. She hadn’t touch Numia, but it was not surprising that she was the one being blamed in the end. "I should have kicked you out on the day I slapped you."
"You have killed my baby." Numia screamed.
Sienna scoffed. "How? With what magic?"
Elias said coldly, "Find yourself another scapegoat. My wife did not lay a hand on you."
Mrs. Miller pushed walked forward, pointing to the small camera mounted on her shoulder. "I have been recording this confrontation from the beginning. My daughter did not touch you. She reminded you that the doctor recommended bed rest because your pregnancy is risky. You tried to attack her. If you have a miscarriage, you only have yourself to blame."
Numia collapsed to her knees, blood pooling beneath her.
The courtyard erupted in full blown chaos. Children screamed, servants rushed forward, and Numia’s cries echoed like a curse.
Sienna stood frozen as the woman was rushed away finally. Her mind was racing. Was this another of Numia’s schemes? Or had the universe had mercy on the poor child she was carrying and decided to send it back into the reincarnation cycle?
Elias squeezed her shoulders. "Don’t you dare blame yourself."
Sienna almost laughed. "Why would I blame myself? I want that crazy woman off my property within a week, pregnant or not." She looked at the servants that had remained and said, "What are you waiting for? Take our luggage to the ship. No matter what is going on, we are leaving for St. Vitts. I have earned my vacation." More importantly, she had her own problems to deal with. Problems that mattered to her more than Numia’s current state.
Shalin hesitated, seeming unsure. Her eyes sought grandma Jess for instructions on how to proceed.
Instead of Jess, Cadelaria was the first to react. "What you all waiting for? Didn’t you hear my daughter-in-law? Move the things to the ship. Sienna is not responsible for Numia. She is not her mother, sister or personal caretaker. She is also not a doctor, and there is nothing she can help with by sticking around." She smiled at Sienna and Elias, waving her hand dismissively. "Hurry up and leave before that crazy woman demands to leave with you despite the fact that she is bleeding."
Elias carried Sienna and their children followed along, with Soren herding them as if they were sheep. Soon, the ship set off, with a heavy silence in the air. The enthusiasm they had expressed while packing and moving things was dampened.
Sienna looked over at the children, worried about how they were fairing. But, they seemed okay. Soren had connected them all to an animated movie which they were watching while snacking.
She turned her head, snuggling into Elias’s arms. All she could do was watch the clouds, but her ears caught every word of her mother’s hushed conversation from the front.
Her mother was explaining to Chase, her voice trembling with guilt. "I know it looks heartless," she whispered, "but if we stay, it will only make things worse. Numia....she is determined to pin all her problems on Sienna for some reason. The woman is fixated on my daughter."
Chase sighed, his tone heavy with concern. "But leaving now, while she is that condition--it feels cruel. What if she doesn’t make it?"
Mrs. Miller laughed. "Numia is one of those people that will live long enough to torture others in old age. People like her don’t die young. She’ll survive. She always does. And if she doesn’t...it won’t be because of us."
Sienna closed her eyes, pretending to nap, but the words gnawed at her. Chase was right. It did feel cruel because child Numia was carrying was her cousin. Yet Sienna also knew her aunt’s venomous nature--staying would only invite more accusations, more drama, more pain.
Sometimes, distance was the only shield.
Meanwhile, back on the compound, the rest of the relatives stood outside the medical room. Not just the Rocland’s but the Veythar elders too. The corridor of the medical room smelled faintly of antiseptic, but the air was thick with tension.
Numia’s voice rang out, shrill and furious, cursing Sienna’s name over and over. "She did this to me! She harmed my child because she is jealous of me."
Her cries were so loud that even guards shifted uncomfortably, exchanging uneasy glances.
"Someone should stuff a sock in her mouth." Cadelaria commented.
A few eyes looked her way. Marius agreed with her, but he still narrowed his eyes because they were supposed to be showing some support for their in-laws. Numia was bad, but she was carrying their blood.
But he shouldn’t have worried about that because grandpa Corven muttered, "She is tearing this family apart. Even now, she can’t stop blaming Sienna. The one person that has been nothing but nice to her when Numia had nothing."
His wife shook her head. "It doesn’t matter who she blames. She has lost too much blood, I don’t think the baby can be saved. I don’t know if I should be relieved or sad."
When the door finally opened, the doctor stepped out, his face pale and drawn. He didn’t need to say much. His weary shake of the head was enough. "I’m sorry," he murmured, voice low but firm. "There was nothing we could do. She has not been eating the foods I advised her to eat. She has not been taking the supplements I gave her. She failed to control her emotions and moved around more than necessary. It was bound to happen. There was nothing more we could do."
Inside, Numia’s wailed, her curses turning into sobs, her sobs twisting back into curses. "Sienna will pay! Her children will pay! All of them will suffer for this!"