Chapter Six

Sienna’s Pov

I stood in the center of the giant private room that Dominic’s staff had made just for me. My suitcases sat on the floor, looking small and lonely in a place that looked like a cold, expensive museum.

I looked at the grey curtains and the stiff, boring furniture. Dominic chose all of it without even asking me. He thought he could just buy a wife and control my whole life like he controlled his big company.

“Oh, no,” I whispered to myself, crossing my arms. “I am not living in a place that looks like a boring office.”

I got right to work. I pushed a heavy chair out of the way. I picked up a super expensive-looking metal sculpture that was sitting on a shiny glass table and put it in a dark corner. Then, I pulled out one of my mother’s old, bright flowered vases from my suitcase and put it right in the middle where the cold sculpture used to be. It looked messy and colorful, and it finally felt like someone actually lived there.

The heavy door opened, and Dominic walked in. He stopped dead in his tracks. His dark eyes darted from the moved furniture to the ugly flowered vase.

“What are you doing to my penthouse?” Dominic asked, his deep voice sounding totally shocked.

“I am making it look like a home instead of a robot factory,” I snapped back, putting my hands on my hips and glaring right up at him. “You don’t get to decorate my space without my permission, Dominic. I am your wife, not your employee.”

“That sculpture cost more than most cars, Sienna,” he said, shaking his head like he could not believe what he was seeing. “And you shoved it in a corner for a cheap ceramic vase?”

“It’s not cheap, it was my mom’s,” I argued, stepping closer to him. “Just because you have billions of dollars doesn’t mean you have any taste. Or any personality! You live in this big, empty glass box because you are too scared to let anything real touch you.”

“You don’t know the first thing about me,” Dominic shot right back, his voice cold and sharp. “You’ve been here one day, and you’re already an expert on what’s wrong with my life?”

“I don’t need a week to see a man who hides behind glass walls and price tags,” I said, refusing to back down even though my heart was pounding. “Tell me I’m wrong, Dominic. Go on.”

“You want honesty?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “Fine. That sculpture was the last thing my mother ever gave me before she passed. I kept it out because it was the one thing in this apartment that actually meant something. So forgive me for not explaining that before you exiled it to a corner.”

The anger in my chest cracked, just a little. “I… I didn’t know that,” I said quietly, glancing at the sculpture sitting in the shadows. “You could have just told me instead of yelling.”

“I wasn’t yelling,” he said, though his jaw was still tight. “I was reacting. There’s a difference.”

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered, crossing my arms tighter. “Maybe if you actually talked to me like a person instead of another asset in your portfolio, things wouldn’t go sideways so fast.”

“Is that what you think this is? An asset?” His voice dropped, quieter now, almost wounded. “You’re my wife, Sienna, whether either of us wanted it that way or not.”

“Then start acting like it,” I whispered, my voice shaking despite myself. “Talk to me. Actually see me.”

For a moment, he just looked at me, deciding whether I was worth an actual answer. “Fine,” he finally said. “You want something real? I hate this penthouse too. I bought it because it was efficient, not because I liked it. I never once cared what color the curtains were.”

“Then why does it feel like nobody’s allowed to touch anything in here?” I asked, softer now.

“Because nobody stayed long enough to want to,” he admitted, something raw flickering behind his eyes before he shut it down. “Don’t read into it.”

“Too late,” I said, a small smile tugging at my mouth. “I already did.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened. He took a long step forward, towering over me. His chest was almost touching mine. The air between us suddenly felt hot and heavy, like lightning right before a storm.

“You think I have no personality?” he whispered, his voice dropping low and rough, staring down at my lips.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. I couldn’t breathe. I looked up at his dark eyes, noticing how close we were standing. For one crazy second, I wanted to reach out and touch his sharp jawline.

Then we both realized what was happening. We jumped backward at the exact same time, our faces burning hot. Dominic cleared his throat and looked away, pulling his suit jacket straight.

“Dinner is in the kitchen,” he muttered quickly, turning on his heel and walking away fast. “You didn’t eat anything all day, so just eat it.”

Later that night, I walked into the big kitchen. Sitting on the marble counter was a warm plate of my favorite spicy chicken and rice, covered with a silver lid. I knew Dominic ordered it. Even though he pretended not to care, he made sure I had food. I bit my lip, wondering if maybe there was a real heart hiding underneath all that cold arrogance.

Right then, Dominic’s phone started ringing loudly in the hallway. I heard him pick it up.

“Yes… make sure everything is ready,” Dominic said into the phone. A minute later, he walked back into the room.

He looked at me with a strange, heavy look in his dark eyes. The room went totally quiet.

“Tomorrow,” Dominic quietly tells Sienna, “you stop being my fiancée on paper and become my wife in front of everyone who matters.”