"Prepare for the first session of the second stage of your treatment in one week."
Early the following morning, Sienna sent the message to Isaac, and his reply came almost immediately as if he had been waiting by the phone. "Okay."
With that, she shoved her phone into her bag and got busy preparing for work.
Within thirty minutes, she emerged from her room with a refreshed early morning smile, dressed and looking so professional.
"Good morning, Doctor." Ava greeted, standing by the door like she always did.
"Good morning, Ava." Sienna replied then paused mid-step, her expression flickering as if remembering something. She gave Ava an awkward smile, walked to the refrigerator, picked an apple, and headed for the door.
"I packed your food for you, Doctor," Ava said, almost rolling her eyes.
Sienna turned back and smiled brightly. "What a big heart you have, Ava. Thank you."
Ava shook her head, a gesture that said 'As if I would let you starve after the disaster you made of my kitchen last night.' She followed Sienna out the door, locking it behind them.
They walked toward the car in comfortable silence. Then, as they reached the vehicle, Ava spoke.
"Subrind released a statement this morning." Her tone casual "Their hidden crown prince is getting married. I couldn't help but admire their guts. In the middle of a war."
Sienna stopped walking.
Her foot froze mid-step, hovering above the pavement. Ava stopped too, turning to look at her mistress with confusion.
"Subrind's crown prince is getting married?" Sienna's voice came out strange, as if she were asking about something that had happened in another lifetime.
"Yes." Ava's brow furrowed. "The official statement claims it's to his longtime fiancée."
Something squeezed Sienna's heart. So tight that it stole her breath, pressed against her ribs like a hand reaching through her chest to grip something vital. She stood there, frozen in the morning light, and felt the world tilt slightly beneath her feet.
She wasn't supposed to feel this way.
It wasn't her business. It had nothing to do with her. He was only her patient. Nothing more. A man she had met by accident, been blackmailed by, and kissed against her better judgment. A man whose condition she had agreed to treat under duress. There were no feelings involved. There couldn't be.
And yet.
Longtime fiancée.
Had he been engaged that night at the hotel? Had he been engaged when he kissed her in her office, pressed her against the table, and made her forget her own name? Had he been engaged when he teased her?
"Are you okay, Doctor?" Ava's worried voice cut through the fog.
Sienna blinked. Forced her expression into something resembling normalcy. "I'm fine. I'm just... pissed." She turned toward the car, her movements sharper than intended. "Their crown prince can get married while our wounded citizens are still on the brink of death?"
She didn't wait for Ava's response. She climbed into the car and stared straight ahead, her apple forgotten in her hand, her jaw tight.
Ava slid into the driver's seat, her eyes flicking to Sienna in the rearview mirror. She didn't know whether to believe that excuse. But she also didn't know what not to believe.
She started the engine and drove.
---
For the rest of the day, Sienna tried to behave as normal and unbothered as possible.
She failed.
Her smiles were forced, her laughter hollow, her attention fractured. She reviewed patient files but took in nothing. She conducted consultations like a machine, her mouth forming the right words while her mind drifted somewhere else entirely.
The staff noticed. The nurses exchanged glances behind her back. Even the patients sensed something was off, though none could point out what.
Ava watched from a distance, more confused with each passing hour.
---
Rowan had seen the audio recording Ava had sent him.
The words had cut deeper than he wanted to admit. "I don't plan to get married. And certainly not to the director. That would be cringe." Her rejection was like a sword piercing into his heart.
But he refused to be deterred.
If anything, the rejection only hardened his resolve. He would continue to be Sienna's knight in shining armor whenever she was distressed. Who knows she might have a change of heart at the last minute. After all, she was going to be his wife soon.
He ordered her favorite food, and at lunch break he took it to her office.
Sienna was sitting at her desk when he walked, a document open before her, her eyes unfocused. She looked up as he entered, and for a moment he saw something in her expression, sadness or confusion. Something that made her look more vulnerable than the composed doctor the world knew.
It was gone in an instant, replaced by a forced smile.
"Good afternoon, Director."
"How are you, Sienna?" He moved into the room, his arms full of food. "I heard you've been off all morning. I brought you something you love to cheer you up. And I'm offering listening ears, if you want them."
"Thank you." Her smile tightened. "But you really shouldn't have. I'm fine."
'You're not fine,' he wanted to say.
But he didn't say that. Instead, he smiled and began clearing her cluttered desk, laying out the containers carefully. The aroma filled the room, rich, savory, and familiar. It should have made her happy. It always had before.
Sienna watched him work, and something cold settled in her stomach. She should have felt excitement. Gratitude, at least. Instead, all she felt was a rising tide of irritation. He was doing too much, and it was beginning to look annoying.
But she said nothing. She maintained her forced smile and watched him arrange her lunch like a suitor presenting offerings at an altar.
"Dig in," he said, stepping back with a satisfied expression.
She picked up her fork and poked at the food, more rearranging than eating. Rowan didn't seem to mind. He pulled up a chair and sat across from her, his elbows on the desk, his chin resting on his hands.
"Now," he said gently, "would you mind telling me what soured your mood?"
Sienna's fork paused mid-air.
"I'm fine, Director." Her voice was suddenly colder. "And I would really appreciate it if you stopped mentioning it."
Rowan's smile faltered. The air between them grew heavy, weighted with something unspoken.
"Oh." He laughed, a short, awkward sound that died almost immediately. "I'm sorry."
He stood up, suddenly aware that he had overstayed his welcome. "I'll... I'll leave you to eat."
He walked to the door, pausing at the threshold. He wanted to say something else. Something that would fix whatever had just broken. But the words wouldn't come.
He left.
The moment the door closed behind him, Rowan's face turned dark.
Sienna didn't like him. He had known that for years. But she had always at least accommodated him. Today, she hadn't even spared him that courtesy.
What had happened? What had changed? What caused this?
He walked through the corridors with purpose; he needed answers. He went straight to the cafeteria, scanning the crowded room until he found Ava, sitting at a corner table, chatting with one of the nurses.
"Ava." He approached, his voice calm but insistent. "Can you spare me a minute?"
Without questions Ava excused herself and followed him to a quieter corner. Her expression was curious and cautious.
"You know what made her down, don't you?" Rowan asked.
Ava hesitated. "Sincerely? I have no idea." She crossed her arms, thinking. "I told her about the news this morning, about Subrind's hidden crown prince getting married to his childhood love. Her mood just... plunged. When I asked her why, she said it was because he's getting married after all the death Subrind has caused Dilrik."
Rowan's eyes narrowed. Just like it had been to Ava, the explanation made no sense. Sienna had never cared about news like that; it had never been her concern.
"And she doesn't know this crown prince?" he pressed. "She has no connection to him?"
"How could she?" Ava's brow furrowed. "No one in Subrind knows him except his parents. So how could she know him?"
It was out of the question. Absurd.
"Thank you," Rowan said abruptly. He turned and walked away before Ava could say anymore.
His phone was in his hand before he reached the end of the corridor. He typed a message.
"I want information on Subrind's hidden crown prince. Specifically, anything connecting him to Doctor Rivers."
Sent it to a number and pocketed the phone.
He had a serious gut feeling.