Chapter 13

Sienna lazily crossed her arms, a playful glint in her cool, indifferent eyes. “It seems, Ms. Lambert, that my words still haven’t sunk in. I can have you thrown out on a whim. This is my house. I sleep where I want. Understood?”

Linda’s face turned a pasty white. “How dare you!” she sputtered, speechless.

Sienna simply brushed past her, a faint, knowing grin tugging at her lips, as if daring the stepsister to endure what was coming.

But then, when she stepped into her old room, she stopped dead. It was completely transformed. Everything that had been hers was gone. She whirled around and grabbed Linda’s arm.

“Where are my things?” she demanded.

Seeing Sienna’s fury, Linda felt a surge of triumph. She smirked and mouthed two words, “Burned them.”

Smack! Sienna’s hand landed straight on her face. Linda shrieked as the blow sent her staggering. She crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

“Sienna, what do you think you’re doing?” hearing the commotion, Aiden came running. “Linda is your stepmother, my wife! Your mother has been dead for years. Why can’t I remarry?”

“Father, you wound me,” Sienna replied as she saw Vivian peek out from her room. “I didn’t do a thing. I was just asking her a question, and she threw herself on the floor and slapped her own face. She’s trying to frame me.”

“You’re lying!” The blatant lie left Linda shaking with rage. She quickly turned to Aiden, begging, “Darling, look at my face! She’s the one who hit me. It was her!”

“I saw it too,” Vivian stepped out, backing her sister up. “Linda hit herself and tried to blame Sienna.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Linda nearly burst a vein.

Aiden glanced between them, uncertain, but Sienna didn’t miss a beat. “Where are my things?” she demanded.

“In the storage room,” Aiden blurted. The icy fury in Sienna’s eyes made his stomach drop.

“I… I thought you were… The room was just sitting empty, so I let your stepsister move in,” he stammered, his voice softening under her stare. “Sienna, there are so many rooms in this house. Just pick another one.”

Sienna thought back to when her mother was alive. Her mother would go to work, and her father would stay home, cook for them, play with them.

She remembered how he’d once spent an entire week crafting a piece of art from autumn leaves just because she’d said she liked them. And now… he told her to pick another room when her own bedroom was occupied.

No wonder her sisters’ hearts had turned to stone. Their father from the past was gone.

Sienna let out a bitter laugh. “Have you forgotten, Father? You’re the one who told me that because I was your first child, this room would always be mine. You’re the one who decorated it. You said that besides me, this room would never have another owner.”

The words struck a chord deep inside Aiden. For a moment, he was lost in a memory, his eyes unfocused.

He had loved them so much, but then Selina died. And the whispers started, calling him a kept man, a gigolo.

He had his own pride, but all anyone saw was Selina’s shadow. They all mocked him, said he was nothing without her, that he wasn’t a real man. He had tried to bury those memories.

“Enough!” he snapped. “It’s just a room! Why are you making such a scene?”

Sienna’s smile was razor-thin. She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. “Right, it’s just a room,” she stated. “Guards! Smash this room!”

At her command, a team of guards armed with sledgehammers swarmed into the room. They began to demolish everything–the walls, the furniture, the bed, the windows.

“Sienna, are you insane?” Aiden roared.

“What are you doing?” Linda screamed in horror. She rushed into the room, trying to stop them. “Stop! Stop it! Don’t you dare touch my daughter’s things! Get out!”

Linda had coveted this room. It was spacious and bright, so she had insisted her own daughter move in.

Vivian and the other girls had fought her tooth and nail, but in the end, they were no match for her. She had punished them severely–locking them in the dark, denying them food and water–until they finally submitted.

She’d heard Sienna’s name tossed around before. In high society, people called her the standout–the sharpest, brightest, and most untouchable of all the rich girls in Vallaris.

Talented, beautiful, Sienna carried herself like she knew exactly who she was. At eighteen, she had been the moon that every man dreamed of touching. But Linda hadn’t thought she’d gone this far.

“I’m just redecorating my room,” Sienna watched the destruction with a detached air. “It seems some filth has been living in it, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”

She then turned to the guards, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “Keep smashing. If anyone tries to stop you, don’t bother being polite on my account. A hammer to the head should suffice.”

“You monster!” Linda could do nothing but scream.

Hearing such insult, the guards hefted their hammers and stepped toward Linda. Terrified, Linda’s face drained of color. She staggered back, let out a strangled gasp, and her eyes rolled back as she collapsed in a faint.

Aiden had no choice. He rushed forward and had her carried back to their room.

After the room was thoroughly smashed, Sienna was finally satisfied. She turned and pinched Vivian’s puffy cheek. “Alright. Time for bed.”

“Yay, let’s go!” Vivian chirped.