Chapter 29: First victory

The bathroom door swung open, and Sienna emerged humming along to the music playing from her phone. She brought her phone closer to her face as she sang along the lyrics:

I don’t chase men, men chase me,

I make the ocean part for me~

Lalalala~

Venus stole my face, the sun stole my glow,

If beauty were a crime, I’d never see parole~

Lalalala~~

Sienna’s hair was wrapped in a towel, another one secured around her body as she hummed and swayed to the beat.

She twirled once.

Then again.

By the third twirl, she was clearly no longer walking anywhere in particular. Her phone became a microphone.

Her shoulders moved with the music, her hips followed, and she threw in another graceful spin as she made her way toward the bed.

Callahan watched from where he sat against the headboard, utterly silent.

Sienna had just twirled again when her gaze shifted from the lyrics and suddenly, her eyes twirled again.

The flow of her twirl broke as she screamed, "AHHH!"

The phone nearly flew from her hand as she stumbled backward, clutching her towel with her other arm.

Callahan didn’t even move. He simply looked at her with the faintest trace of amusement.

"Please," he said calmly, "don’t stop on my account. I was particularly enjoying the part about Venus stealing your face."

Sienna’s face went scarlet.

"I—"

She looked at her phone.

Then at him.

Then back at the phone, as though it had somehow betrayed her.

Callahan’s smile deepened.

"You know, I never realized the sun rose every morning just to see you."

"Don’t."

"And apparently the ocean parts for you."

"Callahan."

He laughed softly.

Sienna hurriedly stabbed at her phone, trying to stop the music, only to accidentally turn the volume up.

I’M THE PRIZE, I’M THE PRIZE—

Her eyes widened in horror.

She fumbled with the screen again and finally managed to pause the song.

Silence descended over the room.

Sienna stood there, breathing heavily, hair towel slightly crooked, dignity somewhere near the bathroom door.

"Why are you here? I thought you weren’t coming over to sleep..."

"It’s my room. Why shouldn’t I?"

"_" Sienna gave him a look and walked to the dresser. Sitting in front of the mirror, she started her skincare.

She couldn’t understand what the man was thinking.

When she told him it was his room and she could move out if that made him more comfortable to sleep here, he looked offended.

Now, he was sulking again after she asked him why he changed his mind.

Sienna looked at the man’s reflection in the mirror. Callahan was leaning back on the headboard as he held a file in front of him.

It seemed to be something important because the man was fully focused on it, flipping one page every two minutes.

The conversation with Ava flowed in her mind: ’What do you mean you are together? Have you joined some demonic cult? This won’t do... I will send you the time and venue. Bring him with you.’

After finishing her skincare, Sienna climbed into her side of the bed and thickened the pillow wall between them.

Probably because of Callahan’s presence on the other side of the bed, the pillow wall looked a bit flat.

She added another pillow atop it. She was so engrossed in fixing the pillow wall that she did not notice that at some point, Callahan had put his file aside.

Now, the man had tilted his face as he quietly observed her actions.

Satisfied with the pillow wall, Sienna raised her head and got startled by the man’s intense gaze.

"Do you sleepwalk?" Callahan asked.

Sienna fell silent about it for a moment before she shook her head.

Callahan glanced at the pillow wall and then at her face, amusement flickering in his gaze, "Are you worried you won’t be able to control your desires?"

Sienna’s face turned black, "I am worried you will start sleeping outside again. Don’t be shy,’’ she deadpanned.

Callahan pursed his lips as a vein throbbed on his forehead. The man switched off his sides of the lights and laid down on the bed.

Sienna followed suit and turned off her side of the lights.

Two hours later, Sienna turned on the bed.

"Can’t sleep?" Callahan’s voice sounded in the darkness.

"You are awake as well," Sienna remarked, "It cannot be that... you really feel shy, right?"

The man did not say a word for a minute before he opened his mouth, "What do you think?"

Sienna thought about it for a second and then laughed at how absurd it sounded, "That’s impossible.

The room fell in silence again and neither of them uttered a word.

"Callahan, my friends want to meet you," Sienna spoke up.

A few seconds passed and he did not respond.

"It’s fine if you find it inconvenient..."

"When?"

The remaining words got stuck in her throat, "I... am not sure," she pondered over it, "Actually, you don’t have to. I will find a chance and talk to them. Let’s just forget it."

’Silence’

"Callahan?"

There was no response, leaving Sienna speechless, ’How could he doze off in the middle of a conversation?’

Sighing, she turned to the other side.

It wasn’t until daybreak did her eyes finally close, and her breathing evened out.

8 am sharp, Sienna woke up by the sound of the alarm.

There were faint dark circles under her eyes but it was an important day so she did not linger on the bed for long. But she had just stepped out of the bed when something caught her attention.

There was a small sticky note stuck to the headboard of the bed. In strong cursive letters, there were a few words written on the paper:

Congratulations on the first victory.

Sienna grabbed her phone and went through the news. Overnight, the video of Seth and Kira heading to a hotel room together had gone viral and the truth of the matter had climbed to the undisputed rank #1 trending news.