I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 79

"Yeah, it's pretty urgent," Seraphina replied, her tone laced with panic. "If you could help speed things up, I'd really appreciate it."

Sienna was lounging at home with a sheet mask on. Reading the text, she peeled the mask off, tossed it in the trash, and grabbed a tissue to wipe her hands. "Got it. I'll go talk to her right now."

Hanging up, Sienna sat on the couch and pondered her approach.

The last time she had interacted with Nora was that deleted social media post. Neither of them had reached out since.

Nora liking that post had genuinely spooked her at first, but on second thought, it wasn't a big deal. Nora had always been a total pushover. A few sweet words and some groveling would bring her right back into line. It always worked whenever they fought in the past.

She dialed Nora's number.

Back at the diner, the phone on the table began to ring. Nora glanced at the caller ID, and the soft smile on her face instantly froze.

Bonnie set her fork down, her sharp intuition picking up on the sudden tension. "Nora, what's wrong?"

Nora pulled a napkin from the dispenser and gently dabbed the corners of Bonnie's mouth. "It's nothing. Keep eating. I just need to step aside and take this. Wait right here for me."

Bonnie looked up and offered a sweet, obedient nod.

Nora grabbed her phone, walked to a quiet corner by the window, and hit answer.

Sienna's voice poured through the speaker, dripping with an exaggerated, artificial sweetness.

"Hey, girl! Where are you?"

Nora didn't answer. She had no idea what Sienna was playing at, but she absolutely refused to let her know she was with Bonnie. Dragging an innocent child into this mess was out of the question.

She replied with a flat, icy tone. "What do you want?"

"Come on, don't be mad at me. I even bought you a present! Let's just meet up. I actually have something super important I need to talk to you about."

Nora's knuckles turned white. She knew damn well Sienna had nothing genuine to discuss. There was absolutely nothing left for them to say to each other.

Suddenly, maintaining the facade of this rotting, hollow friendship felt violently exhausting. But she couldn't afford to burn the bridge completely. Not yet. She couldn't risk losing the cash she was owed.

"When are you paying back the fifty grand you borrowed?"

A dead silence fell over the line before Sienna's voice spiked into a shrill, defensive screech. "Are we seriously being this petty? Have I ever not paid you back? Do you really have to hound me for it like this? Wow. I am so disappointed in you."

The line went dead.

Nora found the sheer audacity of it almost comical. A bitter smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes remained stone cold.