He Buried Me But I Painted My Own Resurrection novel Chapter 57

Sienna managed to sleep for less than three hours in the apartment.

When she woke up, there was a glass of warm water on the coffee table, resting next to a sticky note: Soup is in the kitchen. Take your meds at the times marked on the bags.

The handwriting was sharp, yet clean at the edges.

Just then, her phone buzzed. Hadley Hale's name flashed across the screen.

She answered it, but before she could even say hello, the line practically exploded.

"Sienna Sawyer! Have you lost your damn mind?!"

Hadley's voice battered her like a hailstorm. She was yelling so loudly that Sienna had to pull the phone a few inches away from her ear.

"Lucas told me everything. What kind of life were you living in that house? Were you in prison? Even an inmate gets treated better than that!"

"You gave up absolutely everything for some garbage man?!"

Sienna leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, a faint smile touching her lips.

"Hadley, take a breath."

"I will not take a breath," Hadley snapped, her voice dropping into a deep, long-simmering fury.

"Who does that bastard think he is, treating you like that? He's a piece of trash! A complete scumbag!!"

Hearing someone finally curse Grant out brought an irrepressible smile to Sienna's face.

"Don't worry, I won't let it happen again." Feeling that wasn't enough, she added softly, "Never again."

There was a two-second pause on the line. When Hadley spoke again, the fiery rage was gone, replaced by a profound, almost pleading sincerity.

"Tonight at eight, I'm sending you an address. I've set up a meeting with someone. You need to be there."

"Who?"

"You'll see when you get there." Hadley paused. "Sienna, the last thing you need right now is to hide away and paint in the dark. You need to make this industry remember who you are. I've already paved the way for you. Trust me."

"All you have to do is show up."

After hanging up, Sienna stood there for a long time, gripping her phone.

He had silver hair and wore round gold-rimmed glasses, exuding the effortless ease of a seasoned academic.

Hadley stepped forward to greet him. "Professor Yates, over here."

She guided him straight to Sienna. "Sienna, this is Sebastian Yates, a doctoral advisor at the Fine Arts Academy and last year's curator for the Venice Biennale."

She turned to Sebastian. "Sebastian, this is the girl I've been telling you about."

Sebastian adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping over Sienna with a mix of scrutiny and genuine curiosity.

"Ms. Hale rarely praises anyone. To have her talking about you non-stop for eight years, you must be truly one of a kind."

Sienna offered a polite handshake. "It's an honor to meet you, Professor Yates."

"I've seen your Abyss Series," Sebastian said, shaking her hand. He spoke slowly, weighing every word. "The third piece. The hand of the drowning figure."

He paused.

"That hand wasn't reaching out for help. It was letting go. I stared at it for a long time before I realized. Someone who can paint something like that at seventeen... In my thirty years in this industry, I've only met two people like that. One lost his mind, and the other is you."