Sienna's POV

I stared at my phone as it vibrated and rang on the nightstand. I curled myself on the bed, hugging my knees to ny chest.

The screen lit up with Stepmom’s name for the fifth time. Grandma had called for like...ten times and now it's Stepmom.

I didn’t want to answer. I couldn’t. Last night’s events still clung to me like a second skin. I felt so tight, suffocated and everything still felt surreal. The wedding that wasn’t mine. The man who held my hand at the altar. The way I signed my life over with ink that might as well have been blood. Although I liked Damien but I didn’t do this to get close to him.

Okay maybe I did, but then majority of it was because I was used to cleaning up after her. I had thought they would even thank me or appreciae the fact that I had tried to help them secure a future with the Lancaster family. But of course, nothing I ever did was good enough for them.

I was still in my nightdress. It was thin and silky, and barely enough to count as decent, but it was all I had besides the pale blue cocktail dress the butler had handed me last night. It must probably my sister’s. It was one of the few things in that house that actually fit me. There had been talk about shopping today. About fixing the situation. Dressing me up so I didn’t look like a stray in a stranger’s mansion.

But the phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. It was goddamn annoying. I groaned and then I sighed and picked it up.

“Hello?”

“You little witch!” Stepmom’s voice shrieked through the receiver. “Where the hell are you? You think you can just steal a dress and disappear like some common thief?”

I flinched, but I said nothing.

“Come back home. Now,” she barked. “And bring that dress with you. You had no right—NO RIGHT—to put your body in it! That dress was custom made, you filthy brat!”

Click.

I stared at the screen. The call had ended, but my hands were trembling.

I didn’t want to go. Every bone in my body screamed no, but my fingers were already moving, already picking up the borrowed dress and sliding into it like it had any meaning anymore.

They had told me to come. What did she want from me? Did she want to lock me in there? I didn’t think any more than that. I grabbed my phone and tiptoed into the hallway, my eyes scanning the area. Nobody.

Thank goodness.

I hurry out of the estate and then board a taxi.

~~~~

I stepped into the estate with my head down.

The familiar marble floors. The faint scent of lavender cleaner. The walls I used to press myself against when I was younger, just to stay out of their way. Everything felt the same, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Footsteps clacked toward me fast.

“What the hell were you thinking, Sienna?” Stepmom snarled, appearing from the hallway like a predator.

She was dressed to perfection. She was wearing a tight beige dress, get make up was flawless, heels that stabbed into the floor with every step. “You think this is some kind of game? You humiliated this family!”

Her eyes burned into mine. “That dress was made for her. For my daughter. Not you.”

Before I could say anything, another set of heels echoed.

Grandmother.

She looked older than last I remembered. Thinner. Colder. She studied me with disgust.

“You dare return here in that?” she spat. “Shameless girl.”

And then—crack.

Her hand whipped across my face so fast I saw white. My cheek stung instantly, skin already heating with the slap.

“You’ve always been a mistake,” she hissed. “Always. I should’ve sent you to a convent years ago. And now? You want to marry into a family like Damien Lockwood’s and drag us through the mud?”

“I didn’t mean—” I tried, my voice small and my throat dry.

“You didn’t mean?” Stepmom laughed sharply. “Then annul it. Today. Fix what you broke.”

“I can’t.”

“You can and you will,” Grandmother snapped. “Or I swear, I’ll make your life more miserable than you can possibly imagine.”

I felt it building inside me. I felt something dark and choked and bitter. But before it could rise to the surface, a sharp breeze cut through the room.

The front door creaked open.

Deliberate, powerful, heavy footsteps echoed in the room.

He entered like he owned the world...and maybe he did. Tailored black slacks, dark shirt rolled at the sleeves, that ever-present chill trailing behind him like a ghost. His presence swallowed the space.

Stepmom froze mid-rant.

Grandmother straightened, but even she said nothing.

He didn’t even glance their way. His eyes found mine.

Sharp. Cold.

“Let’s go,” he said simply.

“Wait—” Grandmother began.

He didn’t wait. He strode to me, took my wrist without asking, without a word, and pulled me out the door.

~~~~~

The car ride was silent.

Not awkward...not quite.

It just felt... loaded.

I stared out the window, unsure whether I was angry or just tired. His grip still lingered on my skin. It was possessive. Like I was his to drag away. Maybe I was.

“You shouldn’t have gone there,” he said suddenly.

I didn’t answer, my eyes fixed on my fingers on my lap.

He tapped the steering wheel. “Next time, I’ll break your legs.”

I turned my head slowly. “Is that supposed to scare me?” I asked, my voice tiny and almost a whisper.

“No.” His voice was flat. “It’s a promise.”

I looked away again. My fingers twisted the hem of the dress on my lap.

“You’ll find clothes in your room when we get back,” he added. “Shopping was handled.”

Of course it was.

~~~~~

The moment we stepped into the house, I could feel the shift. The calm that wasn’t calm. The way his energy stiffened. Mine did too.

Because someone was waiting in the living room.

A woman.

She was tall. Stunning. Raven-black hair in sleek waves, red lips that curled in amusement the second she saw us.

She was perched on the edge of the sofa like she belonged there.

Her eyes slid to mine, then to Damien, then back to me.

I didn’t know her.

But I knew her type.

“Darling,” she purred, standing. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing home company.”

My stomach dropped.

Damien’s expression didn’t change, but I could see the tension in his jaw.

I blinked, once. Twice.

“What are you doing here?” he asked coldly, his eyes sharp and trained on her.