Chapter 2

2.

Julian told me he had the firm’s courier service handle it. But Sienna later sent him a LinkedIn message, thanking him for "personally" taking care of the urgent matter.

That kind of vague wording made me suspicious.

What bothered me even more was how preoccupied Julian seemed when he got home. He said Sienna had mentioned on the phone that her father was "very pleased" with their collaboration, implying it could affect his promotion to partner.

I tried to suppress my anxiety, telling myself that everything Julian did was for his goddamn career.

But just a few days later, on a Saturday, Julian attended a client appreciation event in the Hamptons.

He came home very late that night, and I happened to see a few notifications from Sienna on his phone.

On instinct, I opened them. It was a photo she had posted in the company's internal Slack channel with the caption, "Thanks to Julian for his brilliant presentation at the client event today!"

In the picture, Sienna was wearing a professional yet slightly sexy dress, standing by the pool. Julian was in the background, talking with several clients. It looked normal.

But then I received a private message from Julian's former assistant: "Chloe, Sienna 'accidentally' fell into the pool today, and Julian jumped in to help her. She's been telling everyone about it. Feels a little... intentional."

When I confronted Julian, he became defensive. "It was the shallow end, she slipped, and I just gave her a hand! There were five or six other people right there! Why do you always have to make normal workplace interactions sound so sordid?"

His defensiveness only made me more suspicious.

That was the first time we had a massive fight over Sienna.

He sat across from me, roaring like a misunderstood victim.

"Chloe, stop thinking everyone sees the world through your soap opera lens!"

"Sienna is an Ivy League grad. She's sharp and savvy. She knows how to survive in this industry, something you could never learn!"

His words sent a chill through my entire body. Julian didn't bother explaining any further.

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