Chapter 65

Everything was pitch black; nothing could be seen. Josiah quickly looked up toward Sienna’s apartment; it was the same there. She must be scared alone in her rundown place.

Without much thought, Josiah unlocked his phone and turned on the flashlight, moving forward. This time, he carried nothing, and with his long legs, he quickly climbed several steps at once, swiftly reaching the fifth floor.

Inside the apartment, Sienna held her phone, searching a drawer for candles. She was surprised by a knock on the door. “Who’s there?” she called, running to open it.

“Who else could it be?” Josiah’s deep eyes fixed on her in the darkness. “Do you have many visitors? Besides that grain seller from last time, who else?”

Sienna blinked, confused, and shook her head. “No one else.”

“Hmph,” Josiah scoffed, striding in and sitting on the couch. “What’s going on?”

“Oh,” Sienna explained, “the power’s out.”

“What?” Josiah couldn’t believe it. “Power’s out? In this day and age, in a booming place like Jeiacrity, there couldn’t possibly be a power outage.”

“That’s just how it is,” Sienna replied. “12th Avenue is an impoverished neighborhood, and many of the lines are outdated and frequently need repairs.” Such things were naturally beyond the understanding of Josiah, who had grown up in a wealthy neighborhood.

Josiah frowned in displeasure. “This rundown place… Why are you so stubborn about living here?”

Sienna avoided the question. “Did you come up for any particular reason?”

Josiah was at a loss. He couldn’t bring himself to say he was worried about her.

“Hmph,” Josiah grunted. “I just came to check things out and see what’s going on. Otherwise, if something happened to you, I wouldn’t know how to explain it to Grandma.”

Sienna nodded. “I’m fine; you can go now.”

Josiah’s eyes widened. She didn’t care about his goodwill at all. Feeling a tightness in his chest, he said, “Leave? In the pitch dark? How am I supposed to do that?”

“Don’t you have your phone?”

“My phone’s dead!”

“Oh, right,” Sienna remembered something and turned back to the cabinet. “Just a moment.” She rummaged for candles.

Josiah stood up, moving beside Sienna and leaning slightly forward. “What are you looking for?”

“Candles.”

“Candles?” Josiah was surprised. “You actually have those here?”

“Yeah,” Sienna replied naturally. “The power goes out a lot here. The landlord and agent told me when I was renting, so I prepared ahead.”

He was surprised she knew it was this kind of place and still rented it. Josiah’s frown deepened as he looked at her silhouette in the dim light. She felt so unfamiliar, unlike the once-spoiled and wild Sienna he knew.

“Ah-ha,” she finally found the candles deep in the drawer. Sienna smiled. “Look, I found them!” She handed one to Josiah. “Here, take this. Light it so you can see your way down the stairs.”

“Hmph,” Josiah glanced at her. “Thanks, but no thanks!”

“Huh?” Sienna was puzzled. “Why not? You said it was too dark out there.”

“It’s so ugly!” Josiah said with disdain. “You expect me to carry this downstairs? No way!” He pushed away Sienna’s hand. “Take it away!”

Sienna was speechless, muttering, “Fine, if you don’t want it, why get mad?” Suddenly, she froze, every hair on her body standing on end. She grabbed Josiah’s hand tightly. “Why?”

“Ah!” Sienna screamed, dropping the candle and jumping up in fright.

“Sienna! Sienna!” Josiah didn’t know what happened, but as she jumped, he instinctively reached up and caught her.

Sienna clung to him like an octopus. Terrified and unaware, she tightly wrapped her arms around his neck, babbling, “Ah!”

Josiah was taken aback. Such a soft figure was now clinging to him. His Adam’s apple moved as he instinctively supported her with one hand, while the other held the back of her head, pulling her closer.

His face was almost buried in her neck. Her unique, soft, sweet scent surrounded him completely. She smelled so nice and felt so soft. Without thinking, he softened his voice to gently reassure her. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Upon hearing this, Sienna suddenly froze, snapping back to reality. She had somehow fallen onto Josiah. She released her hold and tried to get down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

It was unclear whether Josiah noticed her intention, but he didn’t let go. He chuckled softly. “What scared you?”

Sienna hesitated. “I think it was a cockroach.” It was typical for houses like this to have cockroaches. She had bought cockroach spray but didn’t expect any to remain.

She gently nudged Josiah, murmuring quietly, “I’m fine now, you can put me down.”

“Okay,” Josiah replied, holding her but not immediately letting go. He carried her to the edge of the sofa, then bent over to gently place her down.

As his hands were about to release her, he hesitated. His throat suddenly felt very dry and itchy as he struggled to speak. “Sienna.”

“Hmm?” Sienna lifted her head, unable to clearly see his face in the dark. “What is it?”

He didn’t speak, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, making his breaths feel hot. Holding her, his grip slowly tightened as he lowered his head, inching closer. Even though he couldn’t see anything, he precisely found her lips. He wanted to kiss her right at this moment.