Chapter 8 - Sienna Came to Rosalie Without Adrian KnowingSienna appeared outside Maren's house at 11:40 that night.
Rosalie saw her through the front window.
No BMW.
No company driver.
Sienna stood alone beneath the porch light wearing jeans and a long gray coat.
Maren looked at Rosalie.
"Do you want me to call the police?"
"No."
"Do you want me to answer?"
"No."
Rosalie opened the door herself.
Sienna looked terrible.
"Can I talk to you?"
"No."
"I understand."
"Good."
Rosalie started closing the door.
Sienna said:
"He doesn't know I'm here."
Rosalie stopped.
"That doesn't make you more welcome."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
Sienna looked toward the street.
"Because Adrian thinks you know about Aster Ridge."
Rosalie said nothing.
Sienna swallowed.
"And because he's scared."
"So you've both noticed."
"Rosalie, I need to explain something."
"If you're here to tell me he said our marriage was over, save it."
Sienna's eyes changed.
"He did."
"Of course."
"He said you were basically separated."
"We sleep in the same bed."
"I know that now."
"You were in that bed yesterday."
Sienna looked down.
Rosalie regretted the sentence only because it gave Sienna the power to make her feel cruel.
She corrected herself.
"No. Actually, I don't care what he told you."
Sienna nodded.
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because he lied to me about you the same way he's lying to you about me."
Rosalie studied her.
Maren remained behind her.
Sienna continued:
"He told me you knew."
Rosalie laughed.
"That he was sleeping with you?"
"Not at first."
"When?"
"Last year."
"He said I knew?"
"He said you had an arrangement."
Rosalie almost admired the audacity.
"What kind?"
"That you stayed together for Lily and the company."
"And you believed him."
Sienna's shame answered.
Rosalie folded her arms.
"How long?"
Sienna closed her eyes.
"May 2024."
The photograph.
Miami.
So Adrian's "last spring" had been another calculated half-truth.
"Was Miami the first time?"
"Yes."
"October fourteenth?"
Sienna's hand went toward her bare neck.
The necklace.
"Our first trip together after he told me he loved me."
Rosalie felt the words physically.
Not because Adrian loved Sienna.
She no longer trusted Adrian enough to believe any declaration he made.
Because October 14 had been the night Lily was sick.
Rosalie had texted Adrian at 2:11 a.m. asking whether they should take their daughter to the ER.
He'd replied:
Trust yourself. You're an amazing mom. I love you.
Apparently while commemorating his relationship with another woman.
Rosalie opened the door wider.
"Five minutes."
Sienna entered.
They sat at the kitchen table.
Maren remained nearby.
Sienna placed her phone between them.
"There are things I need you to see."
Rosalie didn't touch it.
"What things?"
"Messages."
"Between you and Adrian?"
"Yes."
"I don't need intimate details."
"They aren't intimate."
Sienna looked at her.
"They're financial."
Rosalie's stomach tightened.
Sienna opened a thread.
Adrian:
Once the new structure is complete, R's shares won't be a problem.
Another:
We keep your name off Ridge until after filing.
Another:
The apartment closes next month. Use the company entity.
Rosalie looked up.
"What apartment?"
Sienna swallowed.
"Tribeca."
"For you?"
"For us."
Rosalie almost laughed.
"How romantic."
"I didn't know where the money came from."
"Did you ask?"
"No."
"Then you didn't want to know."
Sienna accepted it.
"Probably."
That honesty surprised Rosalie.
"Why are you showing me this now?"
Sienna stared at her hands.
"Because after you left yesterday, Adrian told me we needed to stop seeing each other."
Rosalie said nothing.
"He said I'd become a liability."
Maren muttered:
"Charming."
Sienna continued.
"I asked what happened to everything he'd promised."
"What did he promise?"
"That after the divorce, we'd be together."
"Anything else?"
Sienna hesitated.
Rosalie saw fear.
"What?"
"He promised me equity."
"In Blackwell?"
"Not exactly."
"Aster Ridge."
Sienna nodded.
"How much?"
"Thirty percent."
Rosalie understood.
Sienna wasn't just a mistress.
She was supposed to become Adrian's partner in the company receiving millions from Blackwell.
"What did Adrian say tonight?"
Sienna unlocked another message.
Delete everything related to Ridge from your personal devices.
Then:
Do not contact Rosalie.
Then:
If Daniel has spoken to her, we may have a serious exposure issue.
Rosalie looked at Sienna.
"You haven't deleted anything."
"No."
"Why?"
Sienna's eyes filled.
"Because I'm starting to think the woman he planned to leave with nothing wasn't only you."
Rosalie almost felt sympathy.
Almost.
Then Sienna took something from her handbag.
A second Montrose box.
She placed it on the table.
Rosalie opened it.
Inside was a diamond engagement ring.
She looked up.
May you like
Sienna whispered:
"He proposed to me six weeks ago."
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