Chapter 4

Before I could turn around, Julian had already grabbed my wrist.

"I went to that motel to look for you, but you weren't there. I called, but you didn't pick up. I was literally about to text you when I spotted you here!"

Julian's eyes drifted down to the counter and locked onto the bespoke silk tie.

"Is this for me?"

"Sienna, you got kicked out of the house, and you still managed to scrape together money to buy me something this nice? You really are amazing to me."

Julian smirked, reaching out to drape the tie around his own neck.

I yanked it out of his grasp, my face cold as ice.

"This isn't for you. Don't touch it."

Julian's expression instantly darkened.

"Not for me? Who else could it possibly be for?"

"Sienna, did you cheat on me while I was away?!"

Before I could even speak, Chloe, who was standing behind Julian with her baby bump slightly showing, chimed in venomously, "She totally cheated! Julian, look at what she's wearing—it's head-to-toe couture! She was kicked out by her parents; how could she afford that? She probably paid for it on her back!"

"She never even checked into that motel you booked. She's definitely shacking up with some sugar daddy!"

"That tie is for her side piece!"

Disgusted by Chloe's filthy mouth, I grabbed the packaged tie and moved to leave.

Julian caught my wrist in a vice-like grip, blocking my path.

"Hold on! Chloe hit the nail on the head, didn't she? That's why you're running!"

"Sienna, don't push your luck. Tell me who the hell he is right now! If you confess, maybe I'll let it slide and we can still have a future. Otherwise—"

I glared right into his eyes. "Get your hands off me. I am married. My husband is Vincent Sterling—your father!"

Hearing this, Julian let out an enraged, mocking bark of laughter.

He tightened his grip until my wrist bruised under his fingers.

"Sienna, stop dragging my dad into your pathetic lies! Let me tell you the truth: my dad was so disgusted by you making a scene at the wedding that he’s already preparing to marry someone else! Stop dreaming about climbing the social ladder."

"Besides me, who the hell would ever want you?!"

I wrenched my arm free and marched toward the descending escalator.

"I told you, he's your father! If you don't believe me, call him yourself!"

Julian had no intention of letting me walk away.

He chased after me, grabbing my shoulder right as I stepped onto the moving escalator.

"Stop right there! You're still trying to take that tie to your sugar daddy?"

"Sienna, leave the tie, and tell me who the bastard is!"

Chloe waddled over, using her pregnant belly as an excuse to shove her way into the fray.

The two of them flanked me on the narrow escalator steps, pulling and shoving.

Stumbling under their aggressive tugs, my footing slipped, and I teetered dangerously on the edge.

Right then, my phone buzzed in my bag. I reached down to grab it, but Julian's hand was faster. He snatched the phone right out of my fingers.

He glared at the lock screen and read the preview aloud through gritted teeth:

"['The butler said you went to the boutique. I wrapped up early today and I'm coming to pick you up. — Hubby']"

"['Wife, I miss you. — Hubby']"

"You actually saved his contact as 'Hubby'?! Sienna, have you no shame?!"

That was the contact name I set for Vincent. I lunged forward to snatch my phone back.

In the chaotic struggle on the moving stairs, a hard, deliberate shove hit me squarely in the chest.

"AH—!"

I lost my balance completely.

With a terrified cry, I tumbled down the steep, descending metal steps.

Julian froze, his hand still suspended in the air in mid-push. Only when he saw me crumpled, motionless on the hard floor at the bottom of the escalator, did the horror of what he had done finally dawn on him.

Panicking, he raced down the stairs. "Sienna?! Sienna!"

Someone was faster.

A dark figure bolted past, dropping to his knees beside me. Vincent looked up at Julian and Chloe, his face twisted in deadly fury.

"Julian, have you completely lost your mind?!"

Julian went pale. "D-Dad? What are you doing here?"

Vincent didn't waste a single second on him. He leaned down, carefully checking the gash on my forehead, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Watching Vincent's tender, protective gestures toward me, Julian froze, bewildered.

Then, a horrifying realization hit him.

"Dad... the woman you said you were marrying... it can't be..."

Vincent swept me effortlessly into his arms, then lifted his head, glaring at Julian with eyes full of murder.

"Yes!"

"It's Sienna!"