Chapter 3

Sienna POV

Long after Marcus disappeared back into the party, I stayed on the terrace, turning his words over in my mind. 

Someone who understands infrastructure, regulation, timing. Could you be that someone?

Three years. That’s how long I’d poured myself into Apex Industries…sleepless nights over spreadsheets that weren’t mine to claim, ideas that built an empire under Damian’s name while I stayed folded neatly into the background as ‘the secretary,’ thinking I was helping to build an empire for us and our kids.

I was so caught up in the love thing that I failed to realise I was only a pawn all along.

His words echoed again in my mind.

“I’m a public figure, Sienna. I wouldn’t want you to tarnish my image by telling everyone we were once sleeping with each other.”

My jaw tightened, my stomach twisting into knots.

Three years ago, Apex Industries couldn’t even make it out of the shores of Washington.

All of a sudden, he’s a public figure, and we were only having sex.

I was so stupid.

If I could take such a risk with Damian, then I might as well take another risk to fight for and cement mine and my child’s future.

Barcelona wasn’t just an offer. It was the first door anyone had opened for me in three years that didn’t require me to shrink a little more of myself to walk through it.

Maybe his idea wasn’t as reckless as it sounded.

But that was a decision for another day. Right now, I had a more immediate problem…figuring out where I was even going to sleep tonight.

It was almost midnight. I made my way down through the building and out into the cold night air, hailing a cab at the curb. 

Once inside, I gave the driver my address and sank back into the seat, pulling out my phone to check my account balance.

Ten thousand, two hundred and forty dollars.

I stared at the number until it blurred. That was what three years had left me with. 

It would carry me for a week, maybe two, if I was extra careful. 

Not enough to start over, but enough to breathe while I figured out what came next.

I needed to get my things out of Damian’s penthouse before he and Chloe made it back. 

Before I had to stand in that living room and watch them settle into the life I’d just been erased from.

The cab pulled up outside the building faster than I wanted it to. I paid the driver and rode the elevator up in silence, bracing myself before I even opened the door.

Chloe was already there.

She was curled up on the couch like she’d lived there for years, clearly enjoying wealth she never suffered for, with a glass of wine in hand, watching me over the rim of it as I stepped inside.

“You’re quick,” she said, arching a brow. “Most women take longer to accept they’ve been replaced.”

I said nothing, heading straight for the staircase. At the top, I found my suitcase already packed and sitting outside what used to be my room. 

It had to be Chloe’s doing, judging by how carelessly my things had been shoved inside, sleeves and fabric spilling out from the edges of the zipper.

“I figured I’d save you the trouble,” Chloe called up after me, following just far enough to watch. “Wouldn’t want you lingering somewhere you’re not wanted.”

I gripped the handle and started down the stairs, refusing to give her the reaction she wanted.

“You know,” she continued, swirling her wine, “I actually feel sorry for you. Three years, and what do you have to show for it? A signature on an NDA and a check you weren’t even given.”

She let out a soft laugh.

“Oh… that was my doing. I’m sorry, there’s this Birkin bag I just want to buy.”

“I don’t need your pity,” I said, not slowing my pace.

“Of course,” she agreed, “you need a plan. Because from where I’m standing, you have nothing. No money, no job—”

My phone chose that exact moment to slip from where I’d tucked it against the folder in my hand, and with it, the folded pregnancy report I’d been keeping to show Damian after the celebration. 

They both hit the floor and the report  unfolded just enough for the header to show.

I reached quickly for it, but  Chloe got to it  faster than me.

“What do we have here?” 

She slowly unfolded it, even as I tried to stop her. 

Her eyes scanned the report, and slowly, they widened in shock, shifting from amusement to something sharper, colder.

“You’re pregnant,” she said, not a question.

“Give it back, Chloe.”

“This is Damian’s,” she said, more to herself than to me, her grip tightening on the paper like she could crush the truth out of it.

I straightened my shoulders, done pretending otherwise.

“Yes. It’s his.”

Something flickered across her face, fear perhaps, but it’s quickly buried under her fury. 

“Are you afraid he’ll change his mind about you if he finds out?” 

She let out a humorless laugh, but I could see through her.

“Your bastard child changes nothing, Sienna. Damian is mine.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” I said quietly, a smirk tugging across my lips. “I can see you’re scared, Chloe.”

“Damian is mine.”

“He’s not, actually.”

She stepped closer, shoving her hand into me with full force. “I said Damian is mine.”

A sharp cry tore from my throat as I was unable to catch the railing in time to anchor myself.

I plummeted, my heart pounding heavily in my chest, arms flailing in the air in an attempt to grasp onto something, anything, to stop my descent, but it failed. 

I tumbled down the stairs, finally falling to the floor, my body covered with blood  and bruises.

Everything around me blurred into a dizzying whirl of motion. In a flash, I could see three figures of Chloe downstairs enjoying the sight of my struggle for life.

“Help me,” I whispered, my voice barely audible as I battled to stay conscious.

“Damian will always choose me over you, even if you were carrying his child, Sienna.”

I heard her say as darkness slowly closed in.