"That man looks a lot like Curly. Who is he?" Pauline Briggs asked, her voice sharp with suspicion. Sienna didn’t want anyone else to know about her past with Adrian Desmond, a past she had completely forgotten. "It doesn’t matter!" she said. "He’s Curly’s father, isn’t he?" Pauline guessed. "Let go!" Sienna refused to discuss it with Pauline. Whether he was or wasn’t, it was none of Pauline’s business! In the dead of night, exhausted from the day, Sienna Johnson felt weary in body and mind. She’d never had much luck with parental affection; she didn’t expect her mother to dote on her, but could she at least not always hold her back? During their struggle, Pauline’s sharp nails tore the document envelope, and everything inside spilled out. RUSTLE... A few photos fluttered in front of Pauline. She instantly recognized the woman in them: her adopted daughter. "...This is?... Sabrina?" Both women squatted down simultaneously. Sienna scrambled to gather the scattered documents, while Pauline tried to confirm if the woman in the photos was indeed her adopted daughter. Their heads bumped. Sienna frowned, but Pauline, oblivious to the pain in her forehead, snatched up a few photos, her eyes glued to the woman in them. "Why do you have photos of Sabrina? And who is this man?" Pauline demanded, agitated. Sienna gathered the remaining evidence from the floor, stuffed it into the torn envelope, and held out her hand to Pauline. "Give me the photos!" "Sienna, answer me first! Why do you have Sabrina’s photos? What is going on?" "Give them to me!" Sienna said coldly, like an emotionless robot. "Sienna, are you planning to harm Sabrina?" This was her so-called ’good’ mother, always biased. In her heart, there was always a scale with Sienna and Sabrina on either end, and Pauline’s heart always tipped towards Sabrina. It had been since they were children; she never bothered to learn the truth, always choosing to believe Sabrina. "Give me the photos!" "Sienna, she’s your sister!" Sienna couldn’t be bothered to argue and lunged for the photos. Pauline, however, held them fast. "Sienna Johnson, Sabrina is your sister! If you dare do anything to hurt her, I’ll disown you!" A cold smile touched Sienna’s lips. "Madam Johnson, we disagree on many things, but on this particular matter, for once, we see eye to eye. "Three years ago, I stopped considering you my mother. "Today, you can stop considering me your daughter!" "Your daughter is Sabrina Johnson!" "Sienna..." Pauline’s earlier words were merely spoken in anger; she only meant to threaten her. She never expected Sienna to be unfazed by her threat, let alone turn it back on her, forcing Pauline to disown her. Catching her off guard, Sienna snatched the photos. Pauline was so stunned she forgot to even cry. "Mom, Sis, why aren’t you sleeping? What’s all this commotion?" Awakened by the noise, Samara stood at the top of the stairs, rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawning. Samara had grown taller in the past two years and looked more and more like Sienna. When Adrian Desmond first saw the two Johnson sisters, looking at Samara, then at Sienna, it was like a journey through time; Sienna had suddenly blossomed into a captivating woman. "Samara, I’m sorry I woke you," Sienna said. Towards Samara, her icy demeanor instantly melted, replaced by the gentle warmth of a spring day. "Sis, did you work overtime again?" Samara asked, her sleepiness vanishing. There was worry and a touch of guilt in her eyes. "Just a bit busy recently." Sienna walked towards her, her smile as gentle as a breeze. "Go back to sleep. Don’t you have class tomorrow?" "Okay, Sis. Let’s go to sleep together." Just as Sienna was about to take Samara to bed, Pauline suddenly lunged, snatched the document envelope from her hand, and darted downstairs. "I won’t let you sisters destroy each other!" "Who says that woman is my sister?!" "Give it back to me!" Pauline was exceptionally quick today. Before Sienna could react, she had already run into a guest room on the ground floor and locked the door from the inside. Sienna pounded on the door, shouting furiously, "Madam Johnson, give me back my envelope!" "Sis, what happened?" Now wide awake, Samara wondered what her mother and sister were fighting about this time. "Samara, this has nothing to do with you. Go to sleep!" Instead of leaving, Samara joined Sienna in pounding on the door. "Mom, open up! Give Sis her things back!" Seeing Pauline’s resolute refusal to open the door, Sienna grabbed a stool to smash it open. The commotion woke the family’s Old Madam. The Old Madam, a light sleeper due to her age, had only just fallen asleep when she was startled awake. Thinking something serious had occurred, she sent Kathryn to investigate. Kathryn found the formidable Miss Johnson trying to smash the door with a chair. When that failed, the incensed young woman fetched an axe from the tool shed and began hacking at the solid wooden door. Thoroughly frightened, Kathryn pulled Samara aside. Not daring to get closer, she pleaded, "Miss Johnson, please, let’s talk this over calmly! Don’t be rash!" The longer Pauline remained holed up inside, the more anxious Sienna grew. That evidence was obtained by selling her body; how could she let the muddle-headed Pauline Briggs destroy it? THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! With each swing of the axe, Sienna cursed her ancestors for building the house so damned solidly. Hearing the relentless chopping, the Old Madam grew anxious, wondering what was happening and why Kathryn hadn’t returned. Throwing on some clothes, she went to see for herself, only to find Sienna hacking at the door. "Sienna, what are you doing?" Seeing the Old Madam, Kathryn quickly brought Samara over to support her. "Old Madam, I don’t know what happened either! When I arrived, Miss Johnson was trying to break down the door. When that didn’t work, she got an axe and started chopping." Samara explained, "Mom snatched Sister’s document envelope and locked herself in that guest room. She won’t come out." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoveI-Fire.ɴet She had never seen Sienna so furious before. Completely frightened, she started to cry silently. "Sienna, stop that right now!" the Old Madam commanded. Left with no choice, the Old Madam told Kathryn to call the male servants to stop her. But just then, Sienna forced the door open...