Chapter 2

2

My eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”

Garrett let out a harsh laugh. “Still playing dumb?”

“We’ve been married for seven years, and you never went public. Why release news of our divorce tonight, making the entire internet brand Sienna as a homewrecker?”

“Are you targeting her on purpose, or is this just another pathetic trick to stall the divorce?”

Throughout our seven years of marriage, I knew he felt only duty toward me, never passion.

Yet, he had never raised his voice at me like this.

Even when I threw temper tantrums and fired thirteen of his female secretaries, he had never batted an eye.

He had always been polite, composed, and utterly unbothered.

It felt as though even if I tore the sky apart, I could never cause a single ripple in his calm waters.

Now that Sienna was back, the truth was painfully clear.

He wasn’t an unmovable mountain.

He simply had never cared enough to move for me.

“I don’t have time for petty games,” I said numbly. “It wasn’t me.”

A hollow ache opened in my chest, letting the freezing draft rush in.

Garrett paused for two seconds, perhaps due to bad reception.

“Really?”

“With your resources, you can easily verify it yourself.”

Through the receiver, the tension in his breathing seemed to ease slightly.

Still, he gritted his teeth and warned, “You’d better hope I don’t find your name attached to this.”

I didn’t bother arguing. The driver had arrived outside, and when he signaled that we were ready, I nodded.

Garrett suddenly asked, “Where are you going this late?”

Before I could answer, a loud commotion broke out on his end.

A panicked voice cried in the background, “Mr. Hayes! Miss Pierce saw the online backlash and tried to harm herself!”

The call abruptly disconnected.

A chill ran down my spine, squeezing my chest so tightly I could barely breathe.

I stumbled back, my fingernails digging hard into the doorframe.

Three years ago, I accidentally locked myself in our basement.

Before my phone died, I managed to call Garrett upstairs, and he calmly promised he would come down right away.

I waited in the pitch-black cold until the sun rose the next morning, but he never showed up.

It was the housekeeper who eventually found me unconscious in my nightgown.

Ever since that day, I suffered from severe claustrophobia.

Garrett had spent that entire night in his study painting a portrait of Sienna, brushing off my trauma with a simple excuse that he had forgotten.

The driver gently called my name, snapping me back to reality.

I wiped away my tears, pulled my wool coat tight, and stepped into the car.

Looking out the window, I gazed at the snowy Chicago streets with quiet longing.

Suddenly, the screech of burning tires tore through the quiet night.

A black Bentley slammed directly into the side of our car.

Pain flared through my body before the world went completely black.

When I opened my eyes, the sterile smell of a hospital room filled my senses.

Just outside the half-open door, Assistant Miller was delivering a report.

“Mr. Hayes, the press release has been published as you instructed.”

“The public now believes you were coerced into the marriage seven years ago, and that you and Miss Pierce are the real victims. Public sympathy is shifting in her favor.”

Miller hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“However, sir... why did you order our driver to intercept Mrs. Hayes’s car? The icy roads made it extremely dangerous. It’s a miracle she only suffered minor bruises.”

Garrett’s voice sounded raspy, smelling faintly of cigarette smoke.

“I know Mara. If she found out about the PR strategy, she would never stay quiet.”

“Sienna is already emotionally unstable. I couldn’t give Mara the chance to speak out.”

The heart monitor beside my bed beeped steadily.

I stared blankly at the white ceiling, letting hot tears soak into my hairline.

My life, it turned out, was entirely worthless compared to Sienna’s spotless reputation.