"I know you're trying to take my husband because you're jealous of what I have, Sierra. But could you at least wait until I'm dead?"Callie's question shattered the silence between them.Sierra, who initially planned to stay quiet upon realizing there was a misunderstanding between Axton and Callie, now felt she couldn't remain silent. She always believed that the two of them should resolve misunderstandings between husband and wife, which was why she rarely interfered. But now, it seemed Callie was deeply lost in a grave misunderstanding."Ask yourself—are you really sure I have such bad intentions, Callie?" Sierra raised her head and met Callie's gaze, who was still standing next to Axton."Why should I ask myself when I've already found the answer by seeing you seduce my husband at the party I threw for the two of us?" Callie shot back, her eyes sharp. She turned to Axton, who remained silent in his seat. "Are you really going to leave me for her?""That will never happen, Callie.
Initially, Sierra thought she was dreaming when she heard Axton’s voice. But when she opened her eyes and saw him standing right in front of her, she realized it was no dream.The question was, why was he in her room at midnight? Wasn’t this... wrong somehow?“What—”“I’m sorry for waking you up at this hour, but can you get up? We need to go to the hospital now.” Axton spoke cautiously as if afraid to startle her.Sierra squinted and reached for her phone. It was 2 a.m., and she had just managed to fall asleep.“Is something wrong?”Axton nodded.“My father?” Her voice trembled as she asked.Axton nodded again.Oh God. Instantly, Sierra felt something collapse inside her.***Sierra still couldn’t fully grasp what was happening as Axton helped her prepare and then drove them to the hospital.At first, she kept thinking this had to be a dream.“Callie?” she murmured softly as Axton drove the car past the mansion gates.“She’s probably exhausted. I’ll call her later, and she’ll come wi
Axton didn’t know how much longer he had to wait while the doctors were treating Sierra in the ER. It felt like he was going to lose his sanity if he didn’t receive some good news soon. However, he tried his best to remain seated calmly despite his hands shaking from worry.He looked at his own palms and noticed bloodstains there—Sierra’s blood that had gotten on him when he was carrying her.“Callie, could you come to the hospital?” His voice might have clearly shown that he was holding back tears. However, he honestly couldn’t hold them in anymore.“Callie, please,” Axton spoke again when Callie didn’t respond.“Are… you okay?” Callie’s voice cracked as if she was shocked and worried.Somehow, he was able to explain, even though he wasn’t sure exactly what was happening at that moment.“Sierra,” he closed his eyes and glanced again at the door before taking a deep breath. “She’s bleeding. There’s so much blood that it got on her clothes and mine. I don’t know what her condition is r
Flashback9 Months Ago"Which one do you think is better?" Callie knelt in front of him, holding her hands. Her face was filled with tears, and Axton hated it with all his heart."What?" He reached for Callie's face and guided her to sit on his lap while he wiped away the tears from her face."Marrying again and embarrassing me in public, or having a child with Sierra and saving me from all of this?"He couldn’t believe Callie was saying this. He froze in place, still holding her face."I beg you, Axton." She clutched his hand, resting her head on his chest, crying there. Axton truly couldn’t understand what it was that she wanted."You can ask for anything, but not those two things.""I beg you.""And I’ll beg you too, so that we don’t have to do either of those things." Axton took a deep breath, holding Callie tightly—hoping that they could stop time for a moment, staying in this position for just a little longer.They had sacrificed so much to stand firm in this position. Axton was
Axton couldn't believe what he had managed to do in mere seconds until he heard Callie's sobs in his arms.Her body trembled while people began to gather around them.The truck driver rushed out of his vehicle in a panic as Axton lay on the hard asphalt. He couldn’t remember if his head had hit the ground hard or if any part of his body was injured. Honestly, he didn’t care."Are you okay?" the truck driver asked loudly as hospital staff and doctors ran to provide assistance, thinking something serious had happened.Axton took a deep breath, still holding Callie tightly in his arms.Seconds ago, he had run as fast as he could, not caring that he might get hit by the truck if he was even a second too late. But he had managed to pull Callie and protect her. They had fallen together on the side of the road, and Axton used his body to shield her.Now, she was crying in fear in his embrace while Axton remained lying on the road, his breathing labored."I’m fine," he said with difficulty as
Sierra woke up later because she was falling asleep much later than usual. She didn’t remember what time she finally drifted off, but it must have been well past midnight after she saw Axton asleep on the couch a little distance from her. It had been three days since she’d been admitted to the hospital, and Axton had stayed by her side every night. He only left when it was time for work, but he always showed up during her meals and returned at 10 p.m. after a brief stop at home before coming back to sleep in the hospital.Truthfully, this made her uncomfortable. However, the doctor had recommended someone stay with her at night in case she needed assistance.“How are you feeling this morning? Any complaints?” a nurse asked as she entered the room to perform her routine checkup. That was when Axton woke her up.“I think I’m okay.”“You’ll need to see the obstetrician today; after that, you might be allowed to go home. You can walk, right?”Sierra nodded. “Yes, I can.”“Your blood press
Sierra nearly let her heart stop when she saw Axton walking closer. But suddenly, someone called out to Axton, drawing his attention, and they began talking at the far end of the corridor, away from the garden.Axton seemed surprised when he saw who had greeted him, and so did Sierra. Even from a distance, she could see that the person speaking with Axton was... Mr. Smith.Before Mr. Smith could notice her standing in the garden, she quickly turned her back to them. Meanwhile, Andrea scoffed at her reaction but didn’t say anything.Andrea walked over to the gazebo, sat down, and patted the spot beside her. "Come sit here while they talk. I think they’re just as surprised to meet as we were," Andrea said.Sierra stayed rooted to her spot, but Andrea let out another scoff. "They won’t come here because Axton knows you don’t want to meet Mr. Smith. But he can’t stop me since I got to you first." Andrea smirked slightly as she turned to look at her. "Sit down, Sierra. I know you have ques
“Callie, can we talk?”Callie nodded, “Of course we can.” She smiled, and Axton realized how much he missed his wife’s smile after all the chaos that had happened. “I’m glad you made time for dinner with me. It’s been so long since we’ve done this. As I recall, we stopped having dinner together since my last treatment.”Axton held her hand on the table as he gazed at her beautiful smile, which looked so radiant. “I don’t want to ruin all of this. But I realized that this is the only chance I have to talk to you about it because I think you’re calmer now than before.”As if knowing what Axton wanted to discuss, she turned her face away and took a deep breath.“Is it really worth ruining our perfect evening over a problem I decided on three days ago?”“Callie,” Axton shook his head in disagreement. However, he remembered that Sierra had warned him to speak gently with Callie if he wanted to resolve the issue.The only thing he knew was that Sierra couldn’t accept it if their agreement e
Lately, Sierra had grown fond of gardening. She enjoyed planting flowers, and since she had a spacious backyard, she was free to do whatever she pleased there.After returning from their honeymoon across various countries, she had already planned a beautiful concept for her backyard. Her mother used to love gardening, even after coming home tired from work, though they didn’t have an adequate plot of land to do so. Now that Sierra had better opportunities than her mother ever had, she wanted to honor that hobby—bringing something her mother loved into her new home.When Sienna was with her grandmother, Sierra found herself with free time to indulge in something she enjoyed, keeping herself entertained so she wouldn't feel bored. Occasionally, she would step out to purchase gardening tools and thoroughly enjoyed those moments.In the past, she couldn’t afford this kind of relaxed lifestyle because she always had a demanding schedule. Since college, she’d been accustomed to working part
Axton made Sierra leave the United States for a honeymoon in Europe one month after their wedding. He didn’t tell her where they would go or how long they would be on vacation, leaving Sienna with her grandparents. He only said that he had everything planned but wanted it to be a surprise, so the only thing Sierra had to do was to look beautiful every morning and look forward to each surprise he would give.This morning, they woke up in Norway after spending the night watching the beautiful Aurora Borealis. It felt like a dream—a place so beautiful it seemed unreachable by humans. But Sierra was there with Axton, and it was a truly wonderful experience.Then, in the night, they traveled to Switzerland and stayed there for an unknown number of days, visiting places they would explore.“I can’t believe I’m unemployed and traveling the world with you,” she commented while standing near the window of the villa they were staying in.The view of nature there was so soothing to her eyes. Eve
Sierra and Axton had agreed to host a simple wedding celebration attended only by close family and friends. Most of the guests were Axton’s family and friends, as Sierra didn’t have either.Well, she had invited Andrea—if the woman could even be categorized as a friend. And Damian…Actually, Sierra wasn’t the one who invited Damian. It was Axton, which had completely surprised her.“To my daughter-in-law, Sierra Scott, I love you, pretty girl,” Axton’s mother said, blowing an air kiss and smiling warmly. Sierra laughed as she stood next to Axton.After all the formal wedding, it was time for speeches from the couple’s closest people. Sadly, Sierra had to remind herself once again that she had no parents or close friends to speak for her.“I always wished I could have met Sophia, Sierra’s mother because she raised such an incredible woman with all her strength,” Axton’s mother began. “Sierra is a passionate woman with a beautiful perspective on everything in the world. She loves everyo
Sierra stared at her reflection in the mirror, disbelief evident in her eyes.It was hard to accept that all of this was real. But of course, she wasn’t dreaming as she stood there in her wedding gown, her face adorned with flawless makeup. She was almost too afraid to touch her own skin, worried she might ruin the carefully applied look.“You look absolutely stunning,” Axton’s mother said, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes as she admired Sierra standing in front of the mirror. “You are the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”Sierra smiled and turned her head slightly. “Don’t exaggerate, Mom,” she replied, taking a deep breath. “I feel unsure about walking out there. What if people judge me?”The woman immediately took her hand, looking at her with genuine warmth. “When Callie—the most important person in your life—gives her blessing for what you’re about to do, why should you care about what anyone else thinks?”Sierra had read the letter Callie had given her. She must have
“I’m here,” Sierra said softly.A week after receiving Callie’s letter and all the gifts the woman had sent her, Sierra finally decided to visit Callie.“I also stopped by the store you worked with, just to thank them,” Sierra said, taking a deep breath as she sat down on the damp ground of Callie’s grave, ignoring the possibility of her skirt getting dirty. “They were confused, looking for me at your old house. I don’t live there anymore, Callie. I moved after giving birth because Axton thought it would be better for us to find a new home. Staying there made it hard to move on, constantly reminded of you.”She glanced at Axton, who was walking toward her from a distance.Today, she wasn’t alone. Axton and Sienna had come with her. But when they arrived, Sienna wanted to breastfeed, so Sierra left them in the car. Axton could handle her to help her drink her milk, and it wasn’t an issue for him.“I’m sorry I didn’t realize how much you cared for me and Sienna. I thought you were angry
Sierra couldn’t blink, and it felt like time had stopped for a moment. Her body felt stiff, even though the only thing she desperately wanted to do was run away.What Damian had said entirely left her at a loss for words. If she were honest, those words moved her deeply, making her feel even guiltier toward him.That wasn’t what he should have said. Damian should have angrily cursed at them for causing a scene in front of his apartment in the morning. He should have... He could have said something harsh to her if he truly wanted to show how upset he was with everything.But instead of doing that, Damian chose to say something kind—words that should never have come from someone who had been wronged.Thankfully, Axton could read her mind well enough to step forward, grab her hand, and lead her away from there.“Let’s go home!” he said, walking briskly.Of course, Sierra followed Axton. She walked without turning her head because she didn’t want to see Damian again.“I never knew that Da
This morning, Sierra cooked breakfast for everyone because she knew that the maids in her house must be exhausted after participating in last night's party. She didn't just prepare breakfast for her family but also for the entire staff."This is a simple menu, but I hope you'll like it," she said with a quick smile. "I'm not great at cooking, but I made sure it's safe to eat." She brought the food to the dining table near the kitchen. Usually, the maids and workers gathered there to eat together, which is why Sierra had come in now."You really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble. You must be exhausted after last night's party," said one of the staff.Sierra waved her hand with a playful smile. "Please, don't be so stiff when talking to me. If I'm tired, then you all must be tired too. This is just a small thing I can do. But this afternoon, I'll ask Axton to buy food for us all so you don’t have to cook.""Oh God, looks like this party made you happy," Percy commented casually, un
Sierra felt much more relaxed once she was back with Axton and Sienna. Of course, they were still the center of attention since it was their party, but now she didn’t have to stand alone in the middle of it all.“I don’t know what to give her, but she seems to like everything I give her,” a middle-aged woman, whom Axton introduced as his aunt, handed Sierra a large paper bag with the logo of a luxury brand.Sierra was quite stunned by this, but she quickly nodded and offered a polite smile. “Thank you for taking the time to visit Sienna. I hope you enjoy the party tonight.”“Well, of course, I’m enjoying it,” the woman smiled. “Isn’t Alicia the one who organized all of this? I’ve been to every one of her parties, and I can always tell which ones she’s organized. And I can say this one is definitely hers.”Sierra turned her head toward Axton and smiled again. “She put this together in just three days, and it amazes me.”“She’s a legend when it comes to parties in New York,” the woman c
Sienna’s bedtime routine often started with the family gathering in the living room after dinner. Percy and Bethany would prepare light snacks, and once Sienna fell asleep, Axton’s parents would head back to their home.“I’ve been thinking about this since Sienna was born,” Axton’s mother began with a warm smile, holding Sienna close in her arms. “But things have been quite hectic lately. I just wanted to spend as much time as possible with this beautiful girl. However, all our relatives and acquaintances keep asking about her, and I don’t want us to waste too much time hosting them one by one.”Sierra frowned slightly, resting her head on Axton’s shoulder as he held her hand and played with her fingers.“Some family members managed to visit the hospital, but others haven’t had the chance yet. They keep asking me when they can come, but I don’t know when to let them. I’m worried they’ll take up too much of our time.”Sierra’s frown deepened, but she remained silent.“So, what are you