He Buried Me But I Painted My Own Resurrection novel Chapter 38

A terrifying wave of agony ripped through her body, relentless and suffocating, pushing her to the brink until cold sweat broke out across her forehead.

She curled herself into a tight ball, forcing herself to breathe shallowly so she wouldn't make a sound.

But as the pain escalated, even her teeth began to chatter violently.

Sienna pressed the back of her hand hard against her mouth, curling up even tighter as violent tremors wracked her shoulders.

She tried to roll over, but her body completely refused to obey her.

The sofa was too narrow, restricting her legs, and her lower back throbbed relentlessly.

Yet the phone conversation on the bed carried on without end.

Lyla giggled softly, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.

"Grant, did you use to stay up chatting with other women like this, too?"

"No, only you."

Grant's response was unhurried, his tone completely nonchalant.

"You're the highest maintenance."

Lyla immediately cooed, "Then why haven't you hung up yet?"

"Didn't you say you couldn't sleep?"

"Then keep me company a little longer. I just want to hear your voice."

Grant let out a low murmur of agreement. "Fine, I'll stay on the line."

He stayed on the phone with her straight into the early hours of the morning.

Sienna tried several times to just close her eyes, but the agonizing flare-ups only worsened with every passing minute.

Biting down on her lip, she clenched her hands into fists, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

She could hear Grant lowering his voice to coax Lyla, hear Lyla whining, and hear his occasional, breathy laugh.

That quiet laugh was light, yet it was enough to shatter the very last shred of hope she had left.

She didn't know how much time had passed before the call finally ended.

The room plunged back into total silence.

Grant tossed his phone onto the nightstand, lay back down, and immediately rolled over to go to sleep.

Still curled up on the sofa, Sienna was in so much pain that her vision was swimming with dark spots. She didn't even have the strength to sit up and pour herself a glass of water.

A moment later, a fresh, vicious spike of pain hit her, and unable to hold on any longer, her body convulsed violently.

Her blanket slipped to the floor, her hands trembling severely.

She had weaponized his grandmother's authority to throw her weight around, turning the entire family upside down.

Even if she was freezing, she brought it on herself.

At that thought, Grant's face instantly turned frigid again, and he resolved to completely ignore her.

Yet Sienna was in so much distress that her endless trembling and the constant rustling of the sofa cushions kept him awake.

Finally, he just grabbed a pair of noise-canceling headphones, shoved them over his ears, and rolled over to face the wall, entirely shutting her out.

Having talked to Lyla for most of the night, he rarely slept in, not waking up until nearly noon the next day.

Glancing over, he saw that Sienna was still fast asleep.

Muttering "lazy pig" under his breath, he got up to wash his face and didn't spare her another glance.

It wasn't until lunch that Eleanor, noticing Sienna hadn't come out, sent a maid to check on her.

The maid had knocked for a very long time before Sienna finally stirred.

Waking up, she felt completely drained of energy, her head throbbing with a brutal, splitting ache.

Only after checking her temperature with a thermometer did she realize she was burning up with a severe fever!

She hadn't just been sleeping—she had actually passed out for hours.