Caught In His Embrace: A Second Chance Romance

Although the Flynn family had provided living expenses during those years, Sienna had been just a young girl when she gave birth to Josiah's child. Joyce's health was fragile. Josiah wondered if Sienna had ever cried or thought of him during those difficult times.

Sienna froze for a moment, then shouted angrily, "No, what's the point of telling you? Can you turn back time and change the past?"

After all these years of indifference, asking now would serve no purpose. The suffering she had endured, deeply etched in her memory, would remain unchanged.

She abruptly pushed him away. "Josiah, I hate you. I hate you so much. Get out. Get out of here right now!"

"Sienna..." Josiah mumbled.

"Sienna!" Cedric had just arrived outside the door. Noticing the door was ajar and hearing Sienna's cries, he rushed in and saw her pushing Josiah.

Cedric frowned and pulled Josiah away. "Josiah, stop bothering Sienna."

"Cedric, get him out of here. I don't want to see him." Sienna clung to Cedric's hand, her voice filled with desperation.

"Okay," Cedric responded without hesitation, positioning himself protectively in front of Sienna. "Josiah, Sienna's made herself clear. Please leave."

Josiah hesitated, unable to bring himself to leave just yet. He glanced back at Sienna, but she turned her face away, making her refusal unmistakably clear.

"All right." Josiah's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced himself to calm down. "I'll go now." He turned and left the apartment, his heart and mind filled with bitterness.

He scolded himself, 'What was I thinking? How could I have forgotten? I promised Sienna I would never bother her again. I was doing so well, but the moment I saw her tears, I couldn't stop myself...'

He turned back and peeked through the apartment door that was slightly ajar. He could vaguely see Cedric helping Sienna sit down on the couch. Cedric raised his hand and gently brushed away her hair, caressing her face.

A sharp pain shot through Josiah's heart. He quickly looked away, panic overtaking him, and fled.

*****

After driving out of Sunshine Neighborhood, Josiah called Tara and informed her, "It's me. Everything's fine now. You can bring Joyce back."

He hung up, pondered for a moment, then dialed Howard's number. "Howard, are you at the office now?"

"Yes, what's up?" Howard asked.

"I need to ask you a favor," Josiah replied.

"Why don't you come over to my office and we can grab something to eat together?" Howard suggested from the other end of the line.

"Okay." Josiah turned the steering wheel and drove toward Flynn Tower.

Tania was a menace. To prevent her from causing more trouble, he had to find someone to keep an eye on Sienna and keep Tania away from her.

As Josiah entered Flynn Tower, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him. He hadn't set foot in the building since Miranda had kicked him out.

Since it hadn't been made public, only those close to him were aware of it. The employees of Flynn Group still treated him the same. He made his way to the top floor and entered the CEO's office.

"Howard," Josiah called out.

"Hey." Howard nodded slightly. "Have you made a decision? Are you coming back to work?"

Josiah was taken aback. He shook his head, struggling to find the right words. "No... Actually, I'm here to ask if I can borrow Chester and James."

Chester and James had always been his close bodyguards. However, since they were on Flynn Group's payroll, Josiah hadn't requested their assistance during this period.

"Borrow?" Howard frowned and shot Josiah a stern look. "Do you really need to be so formal with me?"

Without questioning Josiah's need to borrow Chester and James, Howard simply sighed and said, "You are my brother. Always."

Josiah was touched. "Thank you, Howard."

"Take them," Howard said, shaking his head. He then emphasized, "Next time, don't bother asking. Just like before, the Flynn family is still half yours to manage as you see fit..."

At that moment, the door was swung open.

Howard and Josiah looked up to see Miranda standing there, her face a mask of fury.

"Manage as you see fit?" she scoffed, glaring at Howard. "What a load of nonsense! When was it ever up to an outsider to run the Flynn family?"

"Grandma, what are you doing here?" Howard felt a chill running down his spine. He hadn't expected her to show up.

Miranda had gone out for a walk that afternoon and was about to return home when she passed by Flynn Tower. On a whim, she decided to stop by, never expecting to witness this scene.

Miranda sneered, locking eyes with Josiah. "Good thing I showed up. Otherwise, I'd never have known that your so-called departure from the Flynn family was just empty talk."

"Grandma..." Howard tried to soothe her.

Josiah took a sharp breath, his face draining of color as he explained, "Grandma, it's not. I just came to ask Howard to—"

"What?" Miranda interrupted, refusing to listen to his explanation. "I heard everything. Chester and James work for the Flynn family. What right do you have to order them around?"

"Grandma, Josiah just came to ask if he could borrow them from me," Howard interjected, alarmed.

"Borrow?" Miranda pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Howard, if that were true, why would you say the Flynn family is still half his to manage?"

"Grandma..." Howard murmured.

"Howard, he's just pretending to back down. Deep down, he still has his eyes on Flynn Group," Miranda said.

"Grandma, that's enough!" Howard couldn't bear to listen any longer.

Josiah forced a smile. "Howard, don't raise your voice at Grandma." His gaze fell, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly.

With a bright smile, he continued, "It's my fault, Grandma. I shouldn't have come. I'll leave now. Don't worry, Flynn Group belongs to

Howard, and no one can take it netnoveldrama

away. I grew up with the Flynn

family and would never do anything ungrateful."

He abruptly turned around and, without a moment's hesitation, hurried out of the

CEO's office.

"Josiah!" Howard shouted.

"Howard." Miranda grabbed Howard's hand just as he was about to run after

Josiah.

Howard rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Grandma, it's been so long. Why can't you understand?"

"You're the one who doesn't understand," Miranda retorted.

"No," Howard said, shaking his head slowly. "Grandma, you've always thought

Josiah was after the Flynn family and its assets."

"Isn't he?" Miranda insisted. "Who can resist such a fortune?"

"A gentleman earns his fortune honorably." Howard took a deep breath. "Josiah isn't like that. He's Andy's son. If he wanted, he could have the entire Evans family. He doesn't even want the Evans family,

so why would he fight me for this?"

Miranda was surprised upon discovering that Josiah was Andy's son.

*****

Josiah drove back to Sunshine Neighborhood. Since he couldn't borrow anyone,

he decided to keep watch himself. Although Sienna didn't want to see him, he couldn't help himself. He wanted to do something for her.

He sat in the car and looked up at the lights of the apartment upstairs. He recalled Sienna's words, "Josiah, I hate you. I hate you so much."

He closed his eyes and leaned back,

feeling the weight of Sienna's words. She genuinely despised him. That deep, searing hatred was all too familiar to him because he felt the

same way about Andy. Sienna's hatred for him ran just as deep.

"Ugh!" Josiah groaned, covering his temples as his head throbbed. He reached

out, opened the storage compartment, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. As he took

a deep drag, the burning nicotine slowly began to calm him down.