A week later

Declan bought a private yacht he named Sienna and gave it to her as their wedding gift. The wedding was also to take place on the yacht as they sailed towards Mauritius, where it would be their honeymoon. Declan secretly had Sienna’s parents, brother, and Kim-Hae fly in to surprise her when they boarded. It was 2 days away from the wedding when the yacht took off with all the guests and the engaged couple. 

“Oh, Sienna, I think there are some people here to see you,” Declan stated and led her to the upstairs deck. 

“Me? Why me specifically?” Sienna asked, confused but trusting the billionaire, she let him lead the way. Sienna walked onto the deck and gasped when she recognised the familiar faces. Both Kim and Hanuel lit up and ran over to her with their arms open wide. 

“Sienna!” Hanuel happily shouted and hugged his sister. 

“Oh my gosh, girl, I miss you so much!” Kim added. Sienna hugged them both then went to say hello to her parents with tears in her eyes. This meant so much to her, and it just made her love Declan even more. 

Declan introduced himself, and everyone was happy to finally meet him, except Kim, who glared at him. She was fairly cautious around him and didn’t like him for how he treated Sienna initially. 

“I’ll like you to meet my parents now,” Declan smiled and took her over to an elderly pair with whom Aideen and Caleb were chatting to. “Mom, Dad, this is my lovely fiancé, Sienna.” He introduced Sienna and gave his parents each a hug. Their eyebrows raised when he spoke, but they seemed happy to meet Sienna.

“Hello, Mrs and Mr Foster.” Sienna greeted.

“Hello, my dear daughter.” Mrs Foster smiled with tears in her eyes and pulled Sienna into a hug. Declan had never called his adoptive parents Mom and Dad before, so it made Mrs Foster quite emotional. Sienna had truly helped change him and made him accept love again; even Mrs Foster couldn’t over all these years. She felt grateful that Declan finally found someone to love him.

“Welcome to the family, dear!” Mr Foster added and also gave her a hug. Declan left Sienna with his parents and walked over to Kim.

“Kim, can we talk?” He asked, and she nodded, so they stepped aside from the guests. “I know you don’t like me, and you have everything reason not to. I promise I will never hurt Sienna again…” Declan started to say.

“Let me just stop you there. I don’t trust you at all, so your word means nothing to me. Sienna is happy; that’s the only reason I am tolerating you.” Kim interrupted. 

“Okay, thank you,” Declan stated, and Kim-Hae walked off, so he walked over to Sienna’s parents.

“Oh, my boy. Hello, hello,” Mr Chae-Soo smiled and pushed out a chair for Declan to sit down. 

“How are you feeling, Mr Chae-Soo?” He asked.

“Good, yes. Very happy.” The old man replied. His English wasn’t the best, but Declan could understand what he said. 

“I wanted to apologise,” Declan remarked and switched to Korean. “I never asked to take Sienna away from you or even ask for her hand in marriage. I truly apologise for not respecting you.” 

“I didn’t know you could speak Korean. My boy, I just wanted Sienna to be happy and get away from Samjiyon. You made that dream possible, and we are all benefitting. I give you all my blessing to marry my daughter and want to thank you for taking care of her.” 

“Thank you, Mr Chae-Soo.” The billionaire smiled.

“I heard that Sienna is expecting. I can’t wait to be a grandmother!” Mrs Chae-Soo added and smiled at Declan. 

“No one else knows, so can we keep it a secret? We will announce it to everyone on the day of the wedding.” Declan replied still in Korean, and both of Sienna’s parents agreed. He walked away and went to speak with more of the guests. Declan constantly looked over at Sienna to check if she was okay and saw she was lost in conversation with his parents. It made him happy that they were getting along, and the day felt perfect already until he noticed Ryan Hoffman walking towards him. 

“Wonderful day, don’t you think, Declan?” Ryan smiled and breathed in the salty air. The yacht had departed and sailed forwards to their destination. Seagulls called as they flew above the boat, but the background music drowned out their shouts. 

“What do you want, Hoffman?” Declan snapped. He had never liked Ryan and partially blamed him for what happened to his sister all those years back. They had an agreement to protect Aideen, but that was the only thing that stopped the billionaire from telling Hoffman to fuck off.

“Listen, I know we don’t get along, but we have common interests. First it was Aideen, now Sienna. I want to keep her safe as much as you do….” 

“Don’t you dare talk about my fiancé. We had one common interest, Aideen. We took care of the bastard that hurt her, and now he is gone.” Declan interrupted, and his hands clenched into fists. “We,” He emphasised, then continued, “… do not care about Sienna. I care about her. I am her fiancé and soon to be husband. I love her!” He hissed and felt his anger starting to boil over.

“We are a team. I had those fucking journals delivered to me, and I’ve been protecting you since you left the military! Whoever you care for, so do I.” 

“I don’t know why I wanted to keep those journals. They are the one thing that could destroy me if they were seen by anyone else. Burn them, Hoffman. Get rid of them.” 

“Wait…” Ryan called, but Declan had already walked away. The billionaire scanned the room for his fiancé and stared at her beautiful smile. This control came over him, and he took hold of his anger. He couldn’t lose his temper again and just needed to look at Sienna to calm down. He was changing and finally realised that he couldn’t let his anger take over. 

Declan had done some awful things and spent 19 years planning his revenge. It had all boiled down to that one moment, and after that, he wasn’t sure what to do with his life anymore. For a year, he felt lost until he met Sienna. She had helped him in ways he never admitted and had become his reason to push on. The billionaire believed Sienna was his purpose in life and truly didn’t know where he would have been today if she had never come into his life. 

He smiled at Sienna when she looked his way, and her face just lit up more. He walked over to her and stole her away from his parents to spend more time together. 

“I missed you,” Declan mumbled and held onto her waist. He rested his head against hers and felt so at peace. 

“We’ve been in the same area this whole time.” Sienna laughed and touched the side of his face. 

“Yeah, but it’s not the same. I want to have you next to me at all times. I’m crazy about you, Sienna. I feel that I can’t focus on anything else when you are not around because all I think about is you.” 

“You sound obsessed.” She giggled and placed a kiss on his lips.

“Mabe I am. You are the one good thing in my life, and I can be unapologetically myself with you.” Declan whispered and felt like he was super cliché, but he didn’t care. Everything he said was the honest truth. 

“Of course, you can be yourself. I love every part of you, and I would never judge you.” 

“You… you love me?” Declan questioned and felt ecstatic. This excitement bubbled inside of him, and his heart exploded with joy. 

“Yes, I love you, Declan Foster.” Sienna smiled, and the billionaire spun her around in his arms. Everyone turned to look at the happy couple and smiled as they kissed. Declan couldn’t hide his excitement and called for everyone’s attention. 

“This woman right here loves me.” He announced and then added, “We are going to be parents.” Everyone cheered and congratulated the couple. Sienna felt like she was the luckiest woman alive to have won over the billionaire’s heart and that the world could never break her down again. She was so happy and excitedly bounced up and down in Aideen’s arms. Life could not be any better. 

Everyone got to know one another for the rest of the day, and all celebrated the great news. Having a baby on the way made everyone happy, especially Mrs Foster. She wanted Declan to have a family of his own and learn how it feels to love a child. Aideen and Declan weren’t her biological children, but she believed they were meant to be part of her life since the day she lay eyes on them. He was a young boy about 4 years old, playing and looking after his baby sister. 

She knew at that moment that both were meant to be hers and decided to adopt them even though the orphanage warned her of Declan’s past. At times, he was challenging due to his temper and got into many fights at school, while Aideen was like a little angel. Mr Foster loved Declan even more because he stood up for himself and could protect his family. There was just something about that boy that made him proud. Declan had never accepted them as his parents, but he did show that he loved and appreciated them. 

A memory flashed in Mrs Foster’s mind of that awful year her family went through back in 1998.

***

“Aideen, your date is here!” Mrs Foster shouted from the passage and sent her 16-year-old daughter into a rush to finish braiding her cinnamon red hair. Aideen straightened her dress and took one last look in the mirror. Her ocean-blue eyes complimented the soft shade of pink material that her dress consisted of. It was a simple summer dress matched with a pair of white sandals. Aideen had a petite frame and stood at an average height. She looked beautiful, like an angel that stood in a meadow full of white daisies. She had flawless skin with freckles that danced across her shoulders and nose, with neatly plucked eyebrows and soft pink lips.

She had made a major effort for her first date with Taro Reed. A boy she had liked for 3 years. 

In 1995, Aideen was in standard 5 (grade 7) when she met Taro. He was part of the group of the first black children at her school. She knew what it felt like to be at a new school since her parents were often transferred to different towns. This encouraged her to show Taro around, becoming his first white friend.

Aideen grabbed her purse and headed to the lounge.

“Where are you going all dressed up?” Her brother Declan inquired from the couch. 

“On a date.” She replied and stuck out her tongue.

“With who? To where? How are you getting there? Do we know…” 

“Shh, man Declan. Your sister needs to get going; Taro is already outside.” Mrs Foster interrupted. Declan cringed at her strong Afrikaans accent. He was relieved Aideen and him didn’t develop her accent but rather their fathers soft British one.

“Taro? Taro Reed?” He asked, surprised. Taro was an uprising rugby star in a lower grade and was a pretty decent flank for his age. He was also part of the “popular” crowd. What was he doing with his dorky sister?

Aideen rolled her eyes and glanced over to Declan’s friend on the next couch. He was absorbed into the PlayStation game she recognised as Crash Brandicoot. He was a new friend of Declan’s who moved to Port Edward due to his father’s death. Aideen had never spoken to him before, nor did she know his name. ‘The boy with the sad hazel eyes’ was what she used to reference him. She thought he was cute but not as cute as Taro. The thought of Taro reminded her he was at the door.