Chapter 212
“Josiah waited for Howard to continue speaking.
But Howard paused, shaking his head. “Never mind”
“Howard“Josiah said, curiosity mixed with mild frustration, “Don’t do this. What’s going on? Why are you keeping things from me?”
Howard smiled and chuckled. “We’ll talk later.
“I’m heading to the hospital to see Yvette. You can keep Grandma company with dinner”
So she’s going to see Yvette, Josiah thought..
“Alright, Josiah nodded.
But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with Howard, something hard to talk about “What could it be? Why’s it so hard to even bring it up to him? Josiah wondered.
Josiah couldn’t sleep well that night, concerns of Sienna on his mind.
The next morning, instead of beading straight to the office, he went to the entrance of Sunshine Neighborhood.
He knew Sienna usually went to Lightning Dance in the afternoon, but he wanted to check on her before going to work, to see if she was feeling any better than yesterday
Josiah picked up his phone, hesitating. He wasn’t sure if Sienna had woken up yet.
He wanted to go up and check on her, but she’d said it wasn’t convenient.
Just as he was debating, he saw Sienna walking out of the gate, carrying her bag and looking a bit rushed.
“Hi, Sienna, Josiah quickly drove up and parked beside her. “Where are you headed? Let me give you a ride.”
“Okay.” Sienna didn’t hesitate, getting into the car right away.
As they drove, Josiah noticed she still seemed a bit drowsy and guessed, “Did you just wake up?”
“Yeah.” Sienna paused for a moment, nodding. She glanced at herself in the mirror, surprised at how obvious it was,
She’d struggled with insomnia at first, and only managed to fall asleep later in the night, so she woke up late,
Tara, not knowing that Lightning Dance was ori a break, had changed her work hours and hadn’t called Sienna
Sienna kept checking her phone, urging Josiah “Can you go Faster
Lightning Dance required clocking in, and being late would result in penalties, including losing out on a perfect attendance bonus
“Sure,” Josiah pressed the gas, speeding up. However, the morning rush meant there was some traffic.
He glanced at her anxious expression. In such a hurry. I guess you haven’t had breakfast?”
“No,” Sienna shook her head. At this point, she didn’t have the time to think about food.
Without missing a beat, Josiah grabbed his phone and dialed a number. “It’s me. Go to Seasonal Bakery and get some pies. Yeah, send them to Lightning Dance. Hurry up”
Sienna heard every word clearly. Is he buying this for me?’ she wondered.
Josials hung up and looked at her, giving a slight nod. “Wait a moment. They’ll be here soon.
“Your favorite pies, right?”
‘Right. But how could he remember so well? she wondered.
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Chapter 212
A strange feeling washed over her, and Sienna’s tongue felt a bit numb as she muttered, “Yes, that’s right”
The rest of the ride was silent
When they arrived at Lighting Dance, Sienna quickly thanked him. Thank you” She was about to get out of the car.
“Sienna,” Josiah stopped her, “Wait. The pies will be here soon!
“I can’t wait.” Sienna shook off his hand, her tone urgent. Thave to clock in 1 appreciate your kindness, but I can’t stay
Without another word, she waved him off and rushed inside.
“Why do you need to appreciate me?” Josiah shook his head in helplessness, muttering. “You can’t skip breakfast. It’s not good for you.
He was concerned about her health, more than anything.
The pies from Seasonal Rakery weren’t easy to come by, and after waiting for more than ten minutes, someone finally arrived with the order.
Hello, Mr. Flynn someone called.
“Here“Josiah took the bag, instructing the person, “Tell Mr. Reed 11l be about forty minutes late. If anything comes up, he can handle it first”
“Yes, Mr. Flynn” the person replied.
Josiah, having finished his words, carried the bag into Lightning Dance.
Thankfully, as the boss, he didn’t have to clock in like Sienna did.
Inside Lightning Dance, Sienna had clocked in and wasn’t in as much of a hurry anymore. She had made it with just two seconds to spare.
Now, she was leisurely changing her clothes in the locker room
Today wasn’t a weekend, and there were no morning classes for the children’s class, so it was their free time.
“Sienna,” someone called from the locker room door. Someone’s looking for you at the east side door
“Alright, thanks,” Sienna replied, expressing her gratitude before heading out toward the east side door. She wondered who could be looking for
her.
The east side door was for employers, and outsiders typically didn’t know about it. “Could it be someone I knew? she wondered.
After locking her locker, she made her way to the east side door.
Just as Josiah was approaching the locker room door, he bumped into Rosie. “Excuse me, could you help me find Sienna?”
Rosie went inside, only to return moments later. “Sienna Isn’t here. A colleague said someone was looking for her, and she went to the east side door.”
“Alright, thanks” Josiah gave Rosie a polite smile and turned to leave.
Rosie stood there, a bit stunned.
‘Oh, my… Mr. Flynn really is quite the looker, especially when he smiles. It has a certain captivating charm. No wonder Sienna may get caught up with him, she thought.
At the east side door, Sienna craned her neck, looking around to see who was looking for her.
There was no one in sight, but there was a van parked nearby. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages, covered in a thick layer of dust.
Then, Siena noticed the van didn’t h
have a license plate.
“This doesn’t look right, Sienna thought, her instincts immediately signaling danger. She turned to run
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Chapter 212
But just as she did, the van door slid open with a loud screech, and a man in his twenties stepped out. Without warning, he grabbed Sienna.
“Le… go…” Sienna began to speak, but the man quickly clamped his hand over her mouth.
The man was strong, his body full of muscle. He easily lifted Sienna and tossed her into the van.
“Gag her,” a woman’s voice called from inside the van.
The woman shoved a towel into Sienna’s mouth and tossed over a rope. “Tie her up.”
Then the woman took the driver’s seat and started the engine.
As the van began to pull away, the man slammed the door shut.
In that brief moment, Sienna saw Josiah running toward her, and he saw her too. “Sienna
“Mmm“” Sienna’s heart raced as she saw him coming toward her, desperate to respond.
She instinctively leaned toward the van door, but the man held her shoulder tightly.
He glared at her. “Stay still. You’re not going anywhere. No one can save you”
Think you can run? You’re a joke. The woman floored the gas pedal, speeding up.
“Sienna!” Josiah screamed, pushing himself harder, but all he could do was watch as the van sped off.
But he didn’t stop, not for a second. There was no time to think.
He gritted his teeth and kept running, using every ounce of strength in his legs to keep chasing after the van.
While running, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Where are you? Get back here now. I’m at the east side door of Lightning Dance. Hurry
The call was to his subordinate, the one who had delivered the pies earlier. The man couldn’t have gone far, and he was the closest person to Josiah.
Josiah hung up the phone and pushed himself even harder. “Sienna, don’t be scared. Hang on…”
Inside the van, the man was stunned. “This guy’s still chasing us? How’s he running so fast?”
Not only was he surprised, but Sienna was too.
Could Josiah really be so good at running? But looking at his gritted teeth and strained face, it was clear he wasn’t making it look easy. He can’t keep this up for much longer, she thought.
