Chapter hundred and fifty four

Dallas

Jenna woke up a week after she fell into a coma.

I stood in front of her ward, clutching the lunch bag harder. I'd packed the soup Lisa made for me before she left for Korea earlier this morning. I had a feeling Jenna would appreciate some local food right now. It seems like the least I could do after everything she did for me.

I wanted to see her, to know how she was faring, but a part of me was dreading the conversation this meeting would undoubtedly bring up.

I could just check on her and leave without bringing it up. There was no use having such discussion when she was still in the hospital.

I raised my fist to knock when the door flew open and I was met with an unfamiliar face. He looked to be in his late thirties. I quickly scanned his body for a tattoo, or anything that might reveal if he was a Brother. After my encounter with them, I would probably be paranoid for life.

I found none. But some people knew how to hide it well. I would have never suspected Jenna was one of them if she hadn't revealed it herself.

“Dallas?” Jenna called, a hint of surprise in her voice.

I blinked, realizing that I had been glaring at the man while blocking the exit.

My gaze flickered to her and my chest tightened. She looked fine, except for the bandage wrapped around her thigh.

“Dallas, meet Brady, my agent. Brady, that's Dallas. She's my–” she paused, probably contemplating whether to reveal our relationship to the man. Her eyes darted to me, a silent question in them.

I decided to save her from the making the decision and stepped forward. I stretched my hand out to the agent.

“I’m an old friend of hers. Nice to meet you, Brady. And I'm sorry for blocking your path. I'm just a little stressed out seeing my friend in the hospital.” I said and immediately shifted from the exit.

He accepted my handshake and gave me a small smile.
“It’s fine. I completely understand. Nice to meet you too.”

He seem nice but I wasn't going to be fooled. I've learnt alot about people's masks in these past days.

He glanced back to Jenna.
“I'll take my leave. Take care of yourself.” Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

“An old friend?” Jenna asked, an eyebrow arched. Her face was squared into her usual poker face, but I caught the hint of smile she was trying to fight.

“Would you rather I say I'm your long lost sister and have you explaining our complicated relationship to your agent?” I asked, my facial expression mirroring hers.

“Fair enough.” She shrugged.

I strode further into the room and perched on the chair beside her bed.

“Why was he here though? Does he know about what happened?”

Is he a Brother?

I managed to hold back the last question but she must have read it on my face. I was curious about how he knew she was hospitalized when not even her mother knew.

“Brady is not one of them.” I didn't the subtle way her nose scrunched up about the mention of the Brothers.

“I called him when I woke up and asked him to come. He knows about the Brothers so he just assumed it was a mission gone wrong. I needed to check things at work and I wanted to know what he told my mother.”

I wanted to ask how her agent knew about her secret job, but I pushed my curiosity aside and asked the question that was burning in my mind.

“How are you feeling now? Does your leg hurt a lot?” I asked, my voice softening as I stared at her bandaged thigh.

“I feel fine.” She said with a shrug.

But I wasn't entirely convinced. She must have noticed because my gaze was still fixed on her wound.

“I've survived worse, Dallas. I'll be fine.” She offered me a smile.

I nodded and dragged my gaze away from the wound. I set the lunch bag on the table beside her.

“I brought you some soup. Lisa claimed they had healing properties.” I chuckled, my best friend's words filtered into my mind.

“You brought me soup?” She said with so much disbelief. It was almost as if this was the first time someone was doing something like that for her.

“Yes. I can be nice sometimes. It's not that unbelievable. Besides, it would be cruel to let you suffer eating hospital food.” I joked.

She actually chuckled this time. She seems so relaxed. So unlike this Jenna Jang I've come to know in the past months.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“No problem.” I brought out the flasks and set them on the small eating table. I watched in silence as she began eating.

She devoured the whole thing in a few minutes. I didn't know much about modeling but I knew they followed a strict diet. So I was sure she wasn't used to eating like this. The sight of it brought a smile to my face that I tried to fight.

“I should tell you everything now.” She said when she finished eating.

“We don't have to discuss anything now. It can wait till you're out of the hospital.” I countered immediately.

“No, I have to say it now. I don't think I'll be able to later.” She tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear, seeming nervous.

She seem like the exact opposite of the lady who had killed her way out of a building few days ago.

“I knew about you way before Father came here. After our first run-in at Oliver's house, I looked into your background and found out you were my sister.” she said, lifting her head to meet my gaze.

I tried to hide my surprise at her words but it was too late. That was months ago. How could she have known for that long?

“I asked Father about it and he didn't deny it. But he warned me not to approach you and simply focus on my mission. That was to make sure Oliver married me. It had been my ultimate reason for relocating to New York.

I had no intentions of approaching you. I was pissed at him for birthing a child and abandoning her without a care in the world. I knew my father was cruel but that seem extreme even for him.

I kept the news from my mother. I knew she would probably do something that would anger my father. I started looking into your life, curious about how you've fared without our father. Maybe a part of me was also curious about how I would have turned out if he hadn't raised me. Life with him…wasn't great.”

I could tell there was more to those words but I didn't push. I could only imagine how horrible he must have been go her growing up.

“I continued my mission with Oliver so he wouldn't be suspicious of my secret stalking, but it also served an extra purpose. You hated me because you thought I was after him. I clung onto that hatred an it kept me from getting close to you. If I had, he would have noticed and gotten rid of you.” She swallowed hard then as if suddenly angry at the thought.

“I stayed away quite well until I couldn't.” A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

My brows furrowed as I tried to piece her words together. Realization dawned on me as I remembered the first time we'd met outside of Oliver's mansion.

“You came to the jewelry store on my birthday.” I breathed. The smile on her face was the confirmation I needed.

I had thought she came to flaunt her engagement on my face, but she had been there for my birthday?

I assumed it was a coincidence that she showed up at the store the same time as me and my friends, but she has been stalking me? I had no idea how to feel about it.

“Well, you have a very shitty way of wishing someone on their birthday.” I muttered, trying to make light of the situation.

Her face was heavy with sadness and regret.
“I'm really sorry for everything. I don't have any feelings towards Oliver like that. Not anymore. I want you to know I didn't enjoy it as I portrayed but I had to do what he said. Especially after you showed up at our house with him. He thought I was failing and that's when he targeted you too.

I don't know how, but he found out about my secret stalking. That's why he got me to lure you out that day. It was much a punishment for me as it was for Oliver.”

I felt the sincerity in her words. Her recent actions have proved her words to be true. While I was so busy hating her, she had been trying her best to shield me from our father's attention.

“I'm sorry for contributing to your kidnapping. I'm sorry for driving a wedge between you and Oliver. I'm just so sorry for everything I did to you. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you.” Her head hung low with regret.

“I've never had a sibling. The twins I grew up with see me more as their competitor than sibling. I don't know how being a sibling works. But I'm willing to try if you are.” I said.

Her face lit up as she raised her head. She smiled widely.
“I'd love that.”

I returned the smile. Despite everything that had happened between us until now, I wasn't a bit hesitant about my decision.

I wanted to get to know her. Not the Jenna Jang the world knew, but just Jenna. My sister who had ran headfirst into danger for me even when I hated her. My sister who had taken a bullet for me with no hesitation.

I'd never been more excited about anything as I was about having an older sister. A family who accepted me at last.