Chapter 90

Sienna clasped her hands over her mouth, unable to believe what she'd just heard. "Is something wrong?" Brenda chuckled lightly. "Aren't you going to thank me? From now on, I'll be your teacher."

"Huh?" Sienna snapped out of her daze, her cheeks turning bright red. "Thank you, thank you, Ms. Scott?"

Brenda studied her for a moment before smiling again. "You've got a great physique," she said, pointing to Sienna's waist. "Your waist is soft, but it could be a little smaller. Watch what you eat. Don't overindulge."

"Yes," Sienna's eyes turned red, but she smiled and nodded. "I'll remember that, Ms. Scott."

Brenda then turned to Josiah. To be honest, when his close friend initially asked for this favor, she had resisted and remained wary of Josiah. But after seeing Sienna and observing her talent firsthand, Brenda's reservations vanished.

"Mr. Flynn, I'll take her on as my student. Is there anything else you'd like to say?" Brenda asked.

"Ms. Scott, a… please don't tease me," Josiah replied with an unusually warm smile. "Sienna is in your hands now. Thank you. If nothing untoward happens, or she causes any trouble, please be patient."

Brenda raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. Clearly, there was more to their relationship than met the eye. Otherwise, Sienna wouldn't have been able to count on Josiah's support. Brenda couldn't help but wonder why, with someone like Josiah backing her, Sienna had ever endured the kind of treatment she received at Flirty, but she chose not to ask, nodding with a smile. "Right."

As they left Liglaning Dance, Sienna remained silent. Josiah glanced down at her. Right now, she reminded him of a hedgehog with all its spines raised, defensive and quiet, without a trace of her usual sharpness.

"Why so quiet?" Josiah couldn't resist teasing her. "Not giving the cold shoulder anymore? You were pretty mad at me on the way here."

Sienna kept her head down and didn't respond.

"What's wrong?" Josiah finally noticed something was amiss and reached out to her.

"Don't touch me." Sienna turned her face away, avoiding his hand.

Josiah didn't press the matter. Her voice sounded different, like she was crying.

"Are you…" He hesitated. "Are you crying?"

Sienna didn't answer. She turned her back to him, but from his angle, he could see her shoulders trembling slightly.

"You really are crying?" Josiah stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder to turn her toward him. "Let me see…"

"See what?" Sienna suddenly lifted her head. Her red, swollen eyes brimmed with tears as she glared at him. "What's there to see? Never seen a girl cry before?" She tilted her face defiantly toward him. "You like watching so much? Fine, take a good look!"

Josiah was taken aback by her outburst and quickly withdrew his hand. "No, no, I won't look." He muttered an explanation under his breath. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was just… worried about you."

"Worried?" Sienna's voice wavered between a sob and a bitter laugh, her eyes still red. "You're so strange. Why would you set this up for me?"

"Oh, well…" Josiah hesitated, then asked cautiously, "Did I do something wrong? You don't want to work with Ms. Scott?"

Sienna stared at him intently, saying nothing, though the tears continued to fall. Her expression stayed fixed.

"You really don't like it?" Josiah asked, now certain she hated the idea of training under Brenda.

"I didn't know you'd dislike it so much," Josiah said quickly. "I'll go talk to Ms. Scott right now and tell her you won't be studying here anymore."

He turned to leave.

"Josiah." Her voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Huh?" Josiah turned back, looking at her in confusion. What now? What am I supposed to do? he wondered.

Sienna's lips trembled slightly as she wrestled with her thoughts. She knew full well that studying under Brenda would open doors to a bright future. For a dancer, making it to the stage of the performing arts was the ultimate dream. No one wanted to spend their life performing in nightclubs. But Sienna had no connections. If it weren't for Josiah, she wouldn't have even stepped foot inside the dance studio. This was about her career, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity she couldn't refuse. Yet, the fact that it was Josiah who had handed it to her filled her with a mix of frustration and unease.

"Why?" she thought bitterly. He never saw me before. Why is he suddenly doing me this huge favor? I should be grateful, but what about those four years? What were they worth?

Taking a deep breath, Sienna clenched her fists and finally spoke. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," Josiah replied with a faint smile. Inside, he thought, Finally, after all this time, I get to hear her say something nice to me.

But before he could savor the moment, Sienna, her face pale, continued. "I appreciate your help, but that doesn't mean I'll agree to what you want. Like I've said before, there's no future for us."

Like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, Josiah felt his heart go cold in an instant. "Why?"

"You really don't know!" Sienna lowered her gaze slightly, standing under the streetlamp, her entire being cloaked in an air of sorrow.

Josiah felt a sudden, sharp ache in his chest. His lips parted hesitantly. "Is it because of those four years?"

"Shouldn't I resent them?" Sienna shot back.

"Four years ago…" Josiah's brows furrowed, his gaze darkening as memories surfaced. "Howard was gravely injured and in a coma," he began, his voice heavy. "The doctors said his chances of waking up were slim. Yvette was carrying his only child."

To Josiah, Howard was more than a mentor; he was like a father and a brother rolled into one. Without Howard, Josiah wouldn't be where he was. In his mind, anyone could hurt him, but no one was allowed to hurt Howard. If he could have taken Howard's place, he would have done so without hesitation.

Sienna could understand his reasoning, but she could never understand why he refused to trust her. She almost blurted out, "You trusted Yvette so much?" But the words caught in her throat, and she held them back.

"What? Trusted what?" Josiah pressed, sensing she had more to say.

Sienna shook her head, thinking. Forget it. He didn't believe me four years ago, and he won't believe me now. Besides, four years ago, Yvette was lying in a pool of blood, and I was standing right there, watching from above…

Instead of speaking her thoughts, she changed the subject. "Remember when you asked me how I knew you had blacklisted me in the industry?"

"Huh?" Josiah raised an eyebrow. "Mr. White told you that?"

"No," Sienna said quietly, biting her lip. Then she dropped the name. "Yvette. She's the one who told me."

"What?" Josiah froze, his mind racing as he wondered, Her? But how would she even know?

"Let's go," Sienna had said all she needed to. What Josiah chose to do with that information was now up to him. Sienna wasn't the reckless, naive girl she had once been. She had learned a thing or two about how the world worked. Some matters didn't need to be shouted from the rooftops. Otherwise, even if she was in the right, she'd end up looking like she was the one making trouble.

Josiah dropped Sienna off before heading back to his car. But her words lingered in his mind. He scrolled through his call history, trying to find something out of place, but nothing caught his eye. Without hesitation, he opened an app, logged in, and performed a few operations to restore all the deleted call logs. His expression darkened as he scanned through the records. His jaw tightened. Picking up his phone, he found Yvette's number and pressed the call button.