CHAPTER 134: CHAPTER 134: AFTER ALL, IT WAS ONE STEP TOO LATE

Holly Andrews suddenly realized that Noah Phillips was no longer his original name, so Sienna Johnson surely wouldn’t remember it. Holly explained, "Noah Phillips is actually Drew Rafael. His original name was Drew Rafael. You must know Drew Rafael, right?"

"Drew?"

She had silently repeated this name in her heart for so many years, and now, for the first time, she heard it from someone else’s lips. Was the "Noah Phillips" this man spoke of truly her little Drew?

"Ah? Drew? Is that Noah’s nickname?" Holly Andrews was somewhat puzzled.

Noah Phillips rushed over, still wearing disposable slippers. From a distance, he yelled loudly, "Babe!" heedless of the hospital rule against making loud noises.

"Babe, wait, don’t go!"

When Sienna Johnson heard the man call her that, even though his features had changed, she knew who this man was.

In this world, aside from her little Drew, no one else would call her "Babe." Not even her own mother had ever called her that.

When she was in kindergarten, other parents often called their children "Babe," but no one called Sienna Johnson "Babe." One day, she came home crying, and that was when Drew Rafael started calling her "Babe."

Noah Phillips reached her, looked at her, and said excitedly, "You just woke up. Who told you it was okay to run around?"

The corridor lights bathed him in a surprisingly warm glow. Clearly, the word "handsome" was insufficient to describe his appearance; even "graceful and elegant" felt inadequate. His was a face that, once seen, was hard to look away from—smooth lines with an undercurrent of strength, and deep-set eyes that held a simple yet profound mystery.

This man... was he her little Drew?

Sienna Johnson could hardly believe her own eyes.

Realizing she might not recognize the man he had become, Noah Phillips met her gaze and introduced himself, "Babe, I’m your little Drew."

Tears streamed down her face, and Sienna Johnson instinctively sought refuge in his embrace. When they were young, he had been her sky, her protector. No matter what injustices she faced, she could always find solace with him.

"Brother..."

Having bottled up her pain for so many years, Sienna Johnson finally had someone to confide in, someone to vent to. Just like when she was a child, she threw herself into Noah Phillips’s arms and wailed, while Holly Andrews, standing nearby, watched with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

This isn’t going according to script, is it?

This wasn’t some joyful reunion of childhood sweethearts, crying tears of happiness. It was more like a trafficked woman finally seeing her family again—an explosion of accumulated fear, terror, and resentment bursting forth all at once.

"Has our Babe been wronged again? Who bullied you? Tell me, and I’ll avenge you." Noah Phillips gently patted Sienna Johnson’s back, his unique voice soothing her incessant crying.

She knew he wasn’t joking. If anyone bullied her, her little Drew would definitely avenge her.

However, she was no longer that helpless little girl. She could protect herself now. She just needed a proper outlet for her emotions.

A thorough catharsis with someone she trusted, someone who wouldn’t tire of her tears.

After crying her fill, she would still hold her head high and face the grim realities of life.

「In the hospital ward」

Sienna Johnson told Noah Phillips what that despicable pair, Frederick Stewart and Sabrina Johnson, had done to her. In turn, Noah Phillips shared the information he had about her.

The news of Frederick Stewart and Sabrina Johnson’s marriage didn’t surprise Sienna Johnson. The fact that she was considered "dead" also didn’t surprise her. What did surprise Sienna Johnson was that it wasn’t 2010 anymore; it was already 2011, and 2012 was fast approaching...

Also, when the doctor had examined her, he discovered she had given birth... The child was still very young, only a few months old.

"...Are you saying I have amnesia?" Sienna Johnson, barefoot and hugging her knees on the bed, asked in shock.

Noah Phillips’s heart was also heavy. He had only recently learned from Holly Andrews that Sienna Johnson had given birth and that her uterus wasn’t recovering well.

Holly Andrews, aware of Noah Phillips’s feelings for Sienna Johnson, had advised him that if Sienna woke up with any cognitive issues, such as amnesia, he shouldn’t tell her about having given birth.

Noah Phillips had his own selfish desires, but he wasn’t a bad person, so he told Sienna Johnson the truth. Sienna had grown up without a mother, and Noah didn’t want her child to suffer the same fate.

If he had acted so selfishly, it wouldn’t just be the poor child who suffered, but Sienna Johnson as well.

Because Sienna Johnson had once said that if she became a mother, she would never let her baby become an orphan.

They both carried a similar heartache.

He wouldn’t let this "knot" in her heart become an unbreakable one.

"Holly Andrews said it’s just a cerebral hematoma pressing on your nerves, causing traumatic amnesia. Once you’ve recovered, your memories should return. If that doesn’t work, surgery is an option, but it comes with risks." Noah Phillips held Sienna Johnson’s cold hand, comforting the terrified woman.

"...Brother, what about my child then?" Sienna Johnson’s primary concern at that moment was her child’s whereabouts.

Noah Phillips shook his head and said regretfully, "I didn’t know you had a child back then, so I only brought you back."

"Hasn’t the child’s father come looking for me?"

Sienna Johnson’s memory was a blank; she couldn’t recall the man at all. But she must have loved him deeply. Why else would she have had his child?

"I was only in Bluzell City for a week at the time, and I didn’t see anyone looking for you."

"Brother, could I trouble you to send someone to Bluzell City to help me look for my... husband and child...?"

After speaking, Sienna Johnson glanced at Noah Phillips, her eyes unreadable. The man she had once dreamed of marrying was her little Drew. Now, it seemed they were truly fated to be apart.

No matter how much Sienna Johnson might be drawn to a man, she could never abandon her own child, leaving them motherless. She suppressed the stirring in her heart. From now on, this man, now named Noah Phillips, could only be her "Brother."

They had once known each other better than anyone. One look into Sienna Johnson’s eyes, and Noah Phillips knew she had relinquished any romantic feelings between them.

He was, after all, a step too late.

"Alright, I’ll have people look for them. Do you... remember the man’s name, what he looked like, or any other useful information?"

Sienna Johnson’s mind was a void; she truly remembered nothing. She couldn’t even recall what her own child looked like.

The baby was so young, surely still nursing. She had been missing for three months—what had happened to her child?

"I’ve been missing... he must be looking for me..."