Chapter 235

“If it’s my identity that bothers you, I don’t have to be your brother. I’ll change my name, my whole identity, whatever it takes.”

Sienna struggled, but he held her so tightly she couldn’t break free. “Let go of me, Thorn,” she snapped, her voice brimming with anger.

Thorn was desperate for Sienna. He longed for even the tiniest place in her heart, even if it was so small it barely mattered at all.

He continued, “Hazel, even if marriage isn’t in the cards for us, I can still be your lover–your secret lover, if that’s what you want. Even if you get married someday, I promise I’ll never get in your way."

“Hazel, don’t you have desires, too? I can’t believe you don’t. You’re only human. Why keep holding yourself back? I’ve never been with any other woman. I’m all yours. Please, just let me stay by your side, even if it’s only in the shadows.”

Bang. Sienna kicked him away, then fired. A bullet ripped right through his shoulder blade.

Thorn doubled over in pain, stumbling backward.

Sienna raised her eyelids, shooting him a cold, condescending look. The air around her was icy, and her voice was ruthlessly sharp.

“Thorn, are you trying to get yourself killed?” she snapped.

Thorn fell with a thud and crawled closer to her. “Hazel, you’re right. Without you, what’s the point of living? Maybe you think I’m crazy, and honestly, I am. I completely lost it the moment you left Meridia without a word. Hazel, what is it about me you can’t stand? Whatever it is, just tell me.”

Sienna took a deep breath. “Thorn, I’ve already told you. There’s nothing between us. It’s never going to happen.”

“I’ll change.”

“Nothing’s impossible. You’re just refusing to give us a shot,” Thorn pleaded, his voice raw with desperation. “Even when you buy shoes, you try them on first, right? Why won’t you even try with me? For five whole months, I’ve been digging into your past. I know you used to be close with some guy. Is it because you like him?”

Thorn’s words came out humble, almost begging, as he stared into Sienna’s cold, emotionless eyes.

“Get out,” Sienna snapped, her voice icy and merciless. “Get the hell out of here.”

Thorn clung to her leg, begging desperately. “Sienna, please, love me. I can make you feel so good. Let me be with you. Please, can we be together?”

Thorn lowered his voice, whispering something to Sienna–whatever he said, it made her so disgusted that she kicked him away without hesitation.

“Thorn, you’re fucking sick. Get out of here,” Sienna snapped, her voice full of fury and revulsion.

How could he even say something like that! Absolutely disgusting, she thought.

Thorn flashed a devilish grin. “So what? We’re not even related by blood. And even if we were..."

From beginning to end, the only thing Thorn ever cared about was her–not her status, not her identity, just her.

Sienna was the one who dragged Thorn out of that mind-numbing hell. “What right does she have to just cast me aside now?"

"If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here right now,” Sienna snapped, eyes turned cold as she leveled the gun at him.

Thorn crawled forward on his knees, moonlight streaming in through the window.

“It’s a bit dark. You might not have good aim. How about I strip down for you–make it easier to shoot, yeah?” he taunted, a twisted smile on his face.

Ignoring the pain from his wounds, Thorn shrugged off his jacket and violently tore open his shirt, rending it into rags in an instant.

“Sienna, doesn’t this get your heart racing?” he teased, his tone laced with a dangerous thrill.

Thorn’s eyes were like a deep, starry night–yet behind that beauty lurked a twisted, obsessive madness and a suffocating need for control.

“We–we should just–" Thorn was about to finish his sentence, his voice low and suggestive, when suddenly the door was kicked open with a bang.

Amber and Winifred stood there with their flashlights, completely dumbfounded as they stared at the scene in front of them.

Totally naked, a hot guy, blood, and a gun–What the hell, is this some kind of kinky cosplay? Amber thought, her mind spinning.

Amber’s mouth dropped open in innocent shock, like a kid seeing something she shouldn’t. She was clearly floored by what she saw.

Winifred quickly reached out and slapped her hand over Amber’s eyes. “Sorry, we’re just sleepwalking,” she said.

With that, Winifred shut the door in perfect sync, both of them pressing their backs flat against it as a heavy thud echoed. The sounds from inside were still all too clear to their ears.

Thorn coughed a couple of times, his whole face flushing red with embarrassment. Just as he was about to sit down on the bed, Sienna suddenly caught him by the arm.