CHAPTER 131: CHAPTER 131: SHE IS MY CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART

"Adrian, if I believe your nonsense again, I’m a fool!"

SLAM! Sienna Johnson hung up the phone angrily and strode out of the phone booth.

Sienna’s chest heaved, and rage churned within her. I’m so incredibly stupid! I pressured Adrian so hard not to marry Melanie Carpenter, and yet they still got married in the end. How could I have been foolish enough to believe he’d actually changed, that he’d turned over a new leaf?

BEEP. BEEP.

As she crossed the road, several expensive sports cars whizzed by. Sienna didn’t notice and continued walking toward the middle of the road. By the time she realized, THUD! The car had already sent her flying.

A blinding white light, the piercing screech of brakes, her body hurtling through the air, pain... After a brief mental blank, her daughter’s adorable smile flashed in her mind.

Curly...

Falling, pain, the overwhelming scent of blood.

I’ve been in a car accident.

Curly, my daughter!

"Someone’s been killed!"

The driver of the sports car was a young Bonraca man. His Cadillac screeched to a halt, and two other flashy sports cars pulled up behind it. The drivers, also young men, stuck their heads out.

"Holm, are you stupid? Start the car and let’s get out of here!"

"But..." Holm hesitated, looking at the woman lying on the ground, her eyes wide and vacant, blood spreading from the back of her head and matting her black hair.

He was usually just mischievous, not malicious. But this woman was severely injured. If he left, she would die.

"No, I have to take her to the hospital!"

"Holm, if your dad finds out you killed someone, he’ll beat you to death! Let’s just run. She’s just an Agaia woman, probably an illegal immigrant. If she dies, she dies. It’s no big deal."

That remark swept away Holm’s hesitation. He glanced at the woman on the ground, then backed away and got into his car. He started the engine, paused for a thought, then got out again. He pulled all the cash from his wallet and stuffed it into Sienna’s hand.

"I’m sorry!"

The three red, black, and blue sports cars whizzed away, leaving the injured and unconscious Sienna behind, lying pitifully on the cold, foreign ground.

About five or six minutes later, a black business car drove by. The driver saw the woman lying far ahead on the ground and said to the suited man sitting in the back seat, "President Phillips, there’s a woman lying on the road ahead."

"Oh?" The man’s voice was pleasant.

"She seems to be injured."

The car slowed down and, upon drawing closer, stopped.

The driver, still in his seat, peered through the window at the woman on the ground and reported to the man in the back, "President Phillips, it’s an Agaia woman. She’s been hit by a car. The driver probably fled the scene."

The man in the back seat got out. Seeing this, the driver quickly exited the car as well, reminding him, "President Phillips, we have a flight to catch. If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss it."

They were in a foreign country, after all. If they were mistaken for the ones who hit her and her family came after them, it would mean trouble.

"We can’t just leave her here."

The man wore a dark woolen overcoat. He was tall and slender, his hair impeccably styled, and his handsome face held a hint of warmth.

"But..."

Seeing the pool of blood, the man ordered the driver, "Call an ambulance."

"Yes, President Phillips!"

The man slowly squatted down and gently brushed aside the long hair covering half of her face. When he saw the woman’s face clearly, the gentle expression on his face fractured. He stared at her, stunned, and called out in a voice thick with disbelief,

"Baby..."

「One month later, City A.」

Noah Phillips bought lotus flowers and went to the hospital to visit the comatose Sienna Johnson.

Noah Phillips had been searching for Sienna for years. Shortly after his biological parents took him back, Sienna was also adopted. When he finally tracked down her adoptive parents, he learned that Sienna, too, had been taken home by her biological parents.

So, neither of us was an orphan after all, he realized.

A year ago, he had finally discovered that his "Baby" was now Miss Sienna Johnson of the Johnson family. He was about to find her when he heard the news of her tragic death.

Ever since learning of her supposed "death," Noah Phillips had never quite gotten over the shock.

He had never imagined that during a business trip to Bonraca, while passing through Bluzell City, he would unexpectedly encounter Sienna Johnson.

As soon as Sienna’s condition stabilized, Noah brought her back to City A. He was too busy to remain in Bonraca for an extended period, yet he couldn’t bear to leave her behind, so he had brought her back with him.

"Baby, I’m here to see you. I bought your favorite white lotus flowers. I also brought the lotus seeds you love... If you don’t wake up, I’ll eat them all by myself."

Life in the orphanage had been harsh. The children were considered fortunate just to get their fill at mealtimes; unlike children with parents, they didn’t have snacks to enjoy.

In summer, a nearby pond would be full of lotus flowers, and its lotus seeds were Sienna’s only "treat."

"If you really don’t want any, then I’ll eat them all myself."

Noah Phillips popped a lotus seed into his mouth. "Mmm, delicious," he murmured, savoring the sweet taste. "The lotus seeds are very fresh. It’s a shame you’re not eating them."

Noah’s close friend, Dr. Holly Andrews, came by on his rounds and was surprised to see the impeccably dressed man by the hospital bed, holding a green lotus seed. Holly couldn’t resist a teasing smile.

"President Phillips, you’re always so busy, day in and day out. I’d wager even a head of state isn’t as swamped as you are. How do you manage to find time every day to visit your ’Baby’?"

Noah looked at his friend, dapper in his white coat, and asked with a grave expression, "You’re an excellent doctor, aren’t you? So why is she still unconscious?"

Holly, slightly irked that his medical skills were being questioned, nevertheless explained, "She suffered severe head trauma, and there are still residual blood clots in her brain. These clots are pressing on her nerves, which is why she’s comatose."

"Then why not operate?"

"Noah, brain surgery is incredibly risky. We prefer physical therapy and try to avoid surgery if possible."

"So, she’s just going to be a ’Sleeping Beauty’ indefinitely?"

Holly walked over to the bed and glanced at "Sleeping Beauty." "We just did a CT scan of her brain today," he said. "The bruising has actually lessened quite a bit. Let’s give it a little more time. After all, she’s only been comatose for a month. If she doesn’t wake up in a few more months, then we’ll consider surgery to remove the blood clots."

"Okay."

Noticing Noah’s affectionate gaze fixed on the woman in the bed, Holly pulled over a chair, straddled it backward so he was facing Noah, and rested his chin on the chair back. "Are you sure this woman is your childhood sweetheart?" he asked.

"Of course!"

"You two haven’t seen each other in over ten years, have you?" Holly asked.

"Sixteen years," Noah replied, his memory sharp.