From Exile To Queen Of Everything - Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Sienna draped her coat over Amber's shoulders once more. "Let's go home," she commanded, taking Amber's hand and leading her away.
Amber trailed behind Sienna with mincing steps, muttering under her breath, "Who do you think you are, ordering me around? Just because you tell me to go home, I have to obey?
"You're not that important. You hit me and I haven't even settled the score with you yet. If it weren't for this damn rain, I wouldn't be following you at all. Hmph, you are so annoying."
Amber reluctantly climbed into the car with Sienna. The blasting heater warmed her from head to toe, gradually thawing even the frost around her stubborn heart.
Sienna stole a glance at the adorable short-haired girl beside her, who was squinting contentedly in the warmth. Amber's skin was delicate, though her cheeks bore a faint tan, clear evidence of recent time in the sun.
They all shared the family's complexion, delicate and smooth.
Amber's long lashes fluttered over those eyes. Staring at her, it occurred to Sienna that their grandmother had those same enchanting eyes.
Back then, their grandmother was a legendary, talented beauty, a national sensation, and the dream girl of a generation. Practically every household owned her records and posters.
Noticing Sienna staring at her, Amber huffed in annoyance and deliberately turned her head away, presenting only the back of her head to Sienna while stubbornly fixing her gaze out the window.
'I won't talk to her first. That'd make me look desperate. She slapped me, and I remember it perfectly. I'm only eighteen, not eighty, so of course I remember every detail,' Amber wondered.
'That slap was meant for Vivian, a sharp smack right across my cheek, and Sienna still hasn't even apologized to me. It didn't hurt at all. It was feather-light,' Amber thought.
When Jocelyn hit Amber, it hurt ten times more than this, yet none of those blows stung as much as this did now. A thousand needle pricks of pain spread through Amber's chest.
Sienna seemed to read her thoughts. After a pause, she said quietly, "I'm sorry."
Amber froze, her whole body trembling. She bit her lip and refused to turn around, struggling to suppress the grievance and the urge to cry.
But her traitorous body refused to obey. No matter how hard Amber tried to hold back, her shoulders trembled uncontrollably as quiet sobs escaped her lips.
Before she knew it, despite her efforts to hold back the tears, Amber's face was already streaked with silent trails she hadn't even noticed.
Sienna reached out, wanting to pull Amber into her arms, but was cut off by Amber's stubborn voice. "Don't you dare touch me."
Sienna's hand froze in midair for a moment before she slowly drew it back, her expression clouded with guilt and sorrow. Fixing her gaze straight ahead, jaw clenched, Sienna tried to suppress the turbulent emotions welling up inside her.
Sienna didn't even try to comfort Amber. That just made her feel even more wronged.
'See? She is so phony,' Amber thought bitterly. 'She never had any intention of comforting me from the start. She's so tyrannical and unreasonable.
'She just hits me and then brushes it off with a half-hearted sorry, like it means nothing. I can't stand this kind of behavior from her. What a half-hearted apology. At the very least, she should have hugged me.'
She continued wondering, 'Whatever, it's not like I'm desperate for her hugs anyway. But at least she still has Jocelyn. Jocelyn isn't like Sienna. At least when she hits me, she says more than just a half-hearted sorry.
'Sienna must have just wanted to see if I was dead out there. If anything happened to me, Vivian would be blamed as a murderer. It was all for Vivian.'
At that thought, Amber couldn't hold back anymore. Tears flooded down her face, unstoppable. No matter how hard she wiped, the tears just wouldn't stop.
'Amber, you're such an idiot,' Amber thought bitterly. 'To her, the only sister that really matters is Vivian. I never even counted. All this trouble was just for Vivian's sake. How hard for her to endure sharing a car with me.'
Sienna sneezed, likely from catching a chill earlier in the breeze.
Lana's heart skipped a beat as she wondered, 'Miss Enna is getting sick?' She immediately made arrangements for the doctor to be on standby.
Amber's tears stopped abruptly for a few seconds when she heard Sienna sneeze.
'Don't even think about turning around,' Amber told herself. 'She's totally doing this on purpose, even though she braved the storm and pouring rain just to come find me and gave me her coat to wear.
'She even apologized to me, all gentle, and asked if it still hurt. But none of this changes one thing. She only did it for Vivian.'
Sienna had no idea her simple sneeze would trigger such a cascade of thoughts in Amber's mind.
Looking at Amber's back, Sienna noticed she seemed to have stopped crying.
Regardless of the circumstances, Sienna did strike Amber, but she never regretted her actions.
What was done was done. There was no point in dwelling on her decisions. Overthinking only brought a heavy mental burden. It was only natural that Amber resented her now.
Sienna knew Amber needed space to cool down. She made sure not to disturb her, quietly withdrawing her gaze and fixing it on the intersection ahead. Traffic was paralyzed by the heavy downpour, and the road was completely gridlocked.
Lana said, "Miss Enna, we might have to wait here for over an hour. There's a convenience store nearby. Would you like me to get you anything?"
Amber felt a surge of excitement as she wondered, 'Is she going to ask about me now? Should I answer her? No way. She only slapped me because of Vivian.
'But if she talks to me and I ignore her, wouldn't that make me look ridiculous? I'd just be making a fool of myself.'
In the very next second, all of Amber's excitement and anticipation were dashed, leaving her chilled to the bone.
"No need," Sienna said.
Amber's mind was in turmoil. 'Amber, you're just being delusional. Would she ever care about you?' she thought. 'She treats you like thin air, as if you don't even exist. Even asking you a question would be too much for her.'
A sour pang tightened in her chest. Amber hung her head, silently cursing herself for being so pathetic. Here she went again, on the verge of tears.
"Lana, you go back first and let Vivian know I'll be home a bit later. Amber and I are going downstairs to grab a bite to eat," said Sienna.
The rain had stopped. As the door opened, a fresh scent filled the air. Along the roadside, some wildflowers had weathered the downpour, displaying vibrant violets, cornflowers, and crimson blossoms.
Others, unable to endure the rain, lay peacefully along the pavement, their fallen petals adding color to the rain-washed scenery.
Sienna opened the car door, but Amber stubbornly turned her head away, putting on her most defiant act to refuse to go with her.
'Who does Sienna think she is, making decisions for me?' Amber fumed inwardly. 'She just announces we're getting out to eat, without even asking me, so typical of her, always bossy and self-important, never caring about what I actually want.'
'Did she even ask me? Does she even know how unwilling I am to get out? It's freezing, even with this coat on. Hmph.'
"Let's grab something to eat, Amber. Aren't you coming?" Sienna asked.
Amber snorted, but her feet had already stepped onto the pavement.
'It's not like I'm following her orders. I'm just hungry, and it's only natural to grab a bite when your stomach's growling,' Amber wondered.
Sienna watched Amber acting all high and mighty while clearly contradicting herself, and couldn't help but chuckle, "Come on, Amber. What do you want to eat?"
"I'm ordering the most expensive items on the menu," Amber declared, determined to eat her out of house and home.
If Sienna knew what Amber was thinking, she'd probably burst out laughing. 'Eat me out of house and home? Not even in a hundred lifetimes could you pull that off,' Sienna wondered.
"Okay," Sienna said.
Sienna took Amber to an upscale restaurant, where Amber, without a hint of hesitation, immediately started ordering the most expensive dishes on the menu.
Sienna watched Amber's food preferences, recalling how she'd always loved seafood since childhood, and clearly, nothing had changed. Amber ordered one of every seafood dish on the menu.
After ordering the most expensive items on the menu, Amber shot Sienna a defiant look. "Don't think buying me dinner will make me forgive you. Not a chance."
Sienna replied with a gentle, indulgent smile, "Alright, I know."
Amber crossed her arms and lifted her chin haughtily. 'At least she knows her place,' she thought.
"Want my forgiveness? Go slap Vivian, and then we're even," Amber added.
Sienna looked up from her phone, her eyes radiating the commanding presence of a born leader. One glance was enough to make anyone feel intimidated.
Sienna fixed Amber with a stern look. "Amber, do you truly not see your mistake?"
Amber flinched under Sienna's piercing gaze, but jutted her chin defiantly and snapped, "I didn't do anything wrong."
'Vivian totally deserves every bit of scolding. She's such trash,' Amber thought. 'She doesn't even deserve to be related to me by blood.'
Sienna's voice was firm and commanding. She looked Amber straight in the eye. "No, you're wrong, Amber. I don't regret slapping you. Whether you forgive me or not, you crossed the line with your words. Do you understand that?"
Upon hearing Sienna's cold, stern voice, Amber's eyes instantly filled with tears again. Defiantly, she shouted back, "I'm not wrong.
"Vivian is trash. She doesn't deserve to be my family. She's disgusting, despicable. She hit Mom and even cursed at her."
Sienna felt anger surging within her, but she forced herself to keep her temper in check. "Amber, don't you realize you're making another mistake right now?"
Sienna's gaze held not a trace of warmth, cold as an arctic wasteland, piercing enough to freeze someone to death on the spot.
Amber's heart gave a sudden jolt, her face paling with fear. She didn't dare say another word.
"Amber, do you even know your mother's name?" Sienna demanded, her voice cutting through the silence.
"I—" Amber faltered, suddenly at a loss for words. Ten years ago, her father brought Linda home, claiming she was Amber's mother.
Linda had been so kind and caring that Amber truly believed she'd regained a mother's warmth.
Sienna's voice was icy yet razor-sharp, her eyes glinting with cruelty. "Amber, remember this. You have only one mother, Selina Bayer. If I ever hear you call anyone else Mom again, I won't hesitate to slap you again."
Sienna's words brooked no argument. Amber dared not retort, her eyes brimming with unshed tears as she bit down hard on her lower lip.
Sienna's lashes fluttered as she looked away, her tone softening. "Amber, do you know? When you were little and got kidnapped because you wandered off, Mom took three stab wounds to the abdomen rescuing you.
"She was drenched in blood, leaving crimson footprints in the snow as she dragged you to safety. You may not acknowledge me as your sister, but you can not deny your mother."
"I—" Amber's eyes went vacant, lost in her thoughts. Absentmindedly, her arm knocked over her water, spilling it all across the table. Calmly, Sienna discreetly signaled for a waiter to clean up the mess.
Amber remained lost in thought, the image of her mother's gentle, white-clad figure surfacing in her memory, her hair lifted by the breeze, ethereally beautiful.
"Amber, you're so adorable. Promise me you'll always stay this cute, okay?" a voice sounded.
Sienna continued sternly, "I don't know what happened between you and Vivian, Amber, but when you said those things, did you feel proud?
"Or were you humiliating your sister? Or is this what you wanted to see, Vivian bullied, forced, empty-eyed and broken?"
Amber's pupils contracted violently as images of Vivian being bullied flashed unbidden through her mind. 'No, I never wanted this to happen to her,' she thought, her hands trembling uncontrollably. 'I—'
"Let's eat first. When we get home, you'll apologize to Vivian for what you said today. Got it?" said Sienna.
Amber sulked, in no mood to apologize to Vivian because she absolutely couldn't stand her.
The next second, Sienna's voice rang out again, gentler this time. "Only good girls admit when they're wrong and make amends. Say you're sorry, and I'll take you out for some fun this weekend."
Amber's eyes instantly brightened at those words. The slight pout still playing on her lips betrayed her lingering petulance.
"Fine, just for you. What's the big deal about saying sorry? I'll just pretend I'm pitying her," Amber murmured.
Sienna smiled faintly, "Dig in now."
Sienna brought Amber back, which inexplicably annoyed Jocelyn. Forcing a sweet smile, she said, "Amber, you're back. Let me check."
Amber instinctively started walking toward Jocelyn, but halfway there, she hesitated and turned back to look for Sienna, only to find her already heading upstairs.
Jocelyn noticed Amber staring at Sienna, a shadow of malice flashing in her eyes. 'That little bitch,' she thought venomously.
Jocelyn continued, "Amber, where did you go just now? I really wanted to come find you, but you know how the rain always makes my joints ache, so I had to rest.
"And Sienna, honestly. What was she thinking, hitting you for no reason? That was completely unacceptable. Since she made you unhappy, why don't we just ignore her from now on, hmm?"
Jocelyn reached out and ruffled Amber's hair, flashing her a bright, almost triumphant smile as she spoke.
Listening to Jocelyn's words, Amber felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest. 'Should I really ignore Sienna?' she wondered. 'I guess I should do the same.'
Jocelyn watched the obedient girl with immense satisfaction, her smile smug.
Jocelyn sneered inwardly, 'So what if you ran out desperately searching for Amber, Sienna? With just one word from me, I can turn her into your enemy in an instant.'
"Sienna, you're back?" Vivian was reading when she saw Sienna walk in. Instantly, she jumped up, ran over, and wrapped her arms around Sienna's arm.
"Sienna, Lana told me you went to see Amber?" As she spoke, Vivian looked up at her. Sienna gave a firm nod in response.
"Has she come back yet?" Vivian pressed further.
Sienna said, "She's back. I'll make sure Amber apologizes to you in a bit."
"Okay," Vivian murmured.
Vivian felt a stab of disappointment, obsession flickering in her eyes. 'Amber, why did you have to come back? Aren't you just Jocelyn and Linda's lapdog? Then stay their lapdog forever, and keep your distance from us. Sienna belongs to me.'
"Linda just said Dad was hospitalized. She went to visit him at the hospital. Sienna, should we go too?" Vivian said.
Sienna ruffled her hair gently. "Do you want to go, Vivian?"
Vivian shook her head. "No." She'd long since lost faith in this father of hers. He was nothing but a willfully blind fool who kept hurting her.
'Good riddance that he's hospitalized. Best if he stays there for weeks and never comes back,' Vivian wondered.
"If you don't want to go, that's fine, Vivian," Sienna said gently. "Whatever happened between you and Amber before, I won't allow any fighting at home.
"Remember, you'll always be sisters. She's still young and naive. Try to be more patient and look out for her, okay?"
Vivian's heart lurched. 'Amber must've poisoned Sienna's ears against me,' she fumed. 'Typical Amber, back for a few minutes and already spreading lies. How utterly vile.'
"Sienna, I understand. Tonight, I'd like to visit Anya," said Vivian.
"Alright then, why don't you take Lana with you?" Sienna suggested.
Vivian offered a gentle smile. "No need, Sienna," Vivian said softly. "I can manage on my own."