Sienna’s Version
Chapter 04 - Sienna’s Version
Sienna Vale had been given a version of Lena that made betrayal feel almost respectable.
Grant said his wife was cold. He said Lena had not touched him in a year. He said she lived from his income while criticizing every ambition that paid for the penthouse. He said the marriage had become a legal arrangement waiting for signatures.
Sienna wanted to believe him.
At thirty-two, she was Carter Holdings’ public-relations director, clever enough to control a scandal and lonely enough to become one. Grant listened when senior executives interrupted her. He praised her instincts in rooms where praise functioned like currency. He made her feel chosen.
The first time he kissed her, she pushed him away.
The second time, he showed her a draft divorce agreement.
The third time, he said Lena already knew.
By the night of the gala, Sienna believed she was walking into the penthouse to witness the final honest conversation of a dead marriage. Instead, she found Lena holding forged papers and Grant speaking with a cruelty Sienna had never seen directed at her.
When Lena refused to sign, Grant tore the photographed page from her hand. The bouquet struck the floor during the struggle. Lena stepped backward, caught her heel against the rug, and Grant shoved her shoulder with enough force to send her down onto the marble.
He immediately called it an accident.
Sienna knew it was not.
She stood behind the sofa, body locked between fear and shame, while Grant told Lena she had forced him to react. The sentence sounded practiced.
Then Lena reached for her phone.
Sienna saw the bruising along Lena’s cheek and realized it was older than tonight.
“How long?” she asked.
Grant turned. “Stay out of this.”
Sienna’s stomach dropped.
Lena did not answer. She was speaking to someone on the phone, voice breaking on one word.
Dad.
Grant’s phone rang.
When he showed the screen without meaning to, Sienna read the caller’s name.
Mason Carter.
Personal.
The room changed shape.
May you like
Sienna looked at Lena on the floor and understood that Grant had lied about more than a marriage.
He had built his entire future on not knowing who his wife was.
