Chapter 83
Sienna's pov
In the beginning, he’d always made it seem like I couldn’t live without him, but now everything he did only proved the opposite: he couldn’t live without me.
Confidence rose in my chest, sudden and sharp.
Why not gamble? Trust my instincts. As long as I held my ground, Harrison would fold eventually.
“You’re twisting things,” Harrison said, trying to step in close again. I slapped his hand away before he could touch me.
“Speak plainly, and don’t put your hands on me. I’m about to be your ex-wife, Mr. Blackwood. Are you really that desperate? Isn’t Elena enough for you?” I was genuinely confused.
With all this noise, why hadn’t Elena shown her face yet?
“She’s not here.” Harrison’s gaze turned colder. “I sent her and Adrian back to the Blackwood Villa. Right now, aside from Martha, it’s just us.”
I froze. “Back to the villa? Since when?”
He’d insisted on bringing Elena into Blackwood Estate, and now, with a single decision, he’d moved her out.
“A week ago. When I sent her away, you were there.”
Only then did it click.
“So she’s the one you love, and you still sent her off?” I let out a soft, mocking breath. “This place is huge. She could’ve stayed out of my way without being kicked out.”
Harrison didn’t flinch. My words slid off him like they were nothing.
“With her here, it’s inconvenient to handle our business.”
I almost laughed, the sound bitter in my throat, ready to fire back—but he spoke first.
“Sienna, competing with you isn’t my goal. If you want fairness, I’ll give it to you.” His voice was flat, measured. “For the next month, I won’t restrict what you do. But don’t forget who you are, and don’t forget our agreement. Cross my line, and we’ll settle everything—old and new.”
He didn’t look at me again. He stood, expression iced over, and went upstairs.
I called after him anyway. “Why are you going after the Price Group? Aren’t you afraid of hurting Elena?”
Harrison paused, but didn’t turn around. For a second I thought I heard a faint, humorless scoff, though I couldn’t tell whether it was aimed at me or at Victor.
“He took the money and didn’t deliver,” Harrison said. “He should’ve known this was coming.”
As for Elena, he didn’t spare her a single word.
His tall figure vanished up the stairs, leaving me alone in the vast living room until my thoughts thinned out into something blank and unsteady.
Harrison Blackwood—what are you planning?
At least I didn’t have to live under the same roof as Elena for now.
I didn’t stay downstairs long. I went back to my room, closed the door, and only then found the patience to look at the headlines I’d ignored for days.
Julian Vane Publicly Declares Love for Mrs. Blackwood—TV Drama Turns Real?
After the chaos that day, it wasn’t surprising it had made the news. What didn’t make sense was that it was still pinned to the front page after seven days. With Harrison’s influence, burying it should’ve been effortless.
And it wasn’t just that. The next headlines were still circling the same names—mine, Harrison’s, Julian’s—and they’d even dragged Elena into it.
I sneered quietly to myself.
Elena wasn’t new to being someone’s mistress. Everyone in our circle knew she was Harrison’s lover, and yet she’d never been splashed across headlines like this. So who was pushing it now, and why?
My phone rang.
When I saw the name, my emotions tangled so tightly I couldn’t tell what I was feeling first.
I swiped to answer, keeping my voice low. “Mr. Vane. What do you want?”
He hadn’t contacted me in a while, and now he was calling the day I got out of the hospital. Even if I knew his feelings were mostly performance, it didn’t mean I wanted to be toyed with.
“Sorry,” Julian said. “I’ve been dealing with something. I heard you were discharged today. Are you home?”
His tone was steady and polite—so convincing it almost made it hard to stay sharp.
My voice cooled anyway. “I’m home. If you have something to say, just say it. I’m tired, and I want to rest.”
He heard the edge in my words but didn’t push back. “Sienna, Harrison paid your debt, and I paid him back. Moving that money alerted my father. I’ve been explaining it to him, so I couldn’t come see you. I’m sorry.”
For a moment I didn’t know what to say.
I’d told him not to touch the debt.
“Sienna,” Julian asked, “are you listening?” He paused, then continued more carefully. “My father isn’t holding me responsible anymore, but he wants to meet you. I hope you’ll come with me to the Vane family.”
I couldn’t stop myself. “Are you out of your mind?”
Not just him—his father must be, too.
Harrison and I weren’t even divorced yet, and Julian wanted to bring me to meet his family. Wasn’t that a direct slap in Harrison’s face?
And the worst part was… that was exactly why the idea had a certain appeal.
But with Harrison clearly hiding things from me, could I really stand beside Julian without hesitation?
“Sienna, I know what I’m doing,” Julian said, calm and certain. “My father doesn’t care about the gossip. He just wants to see you. Seeing is believing. I think he’ll like you.”
It sounded too much like being led into some kind of future I hadn’t agreed to imagine.
I hesitated, then forced myself to speak evenly. “I’ll think about it. I’ll get back to you.”
If I went, Harrison would have to give me the divorce.
Julian seemed to catch the shift in my silence. “Sienna, I know you still have feelings for him. I get it. But when it comes to Nora, he can’t give you closure. He can’t give you trust.”
He took a breath, and when he spoke again, it was almost disturbingly sincere. “What Harrison can’t give you, I can.”
I didn’t answer. I ended the call.
Whether Julian’s feelings were real didn’t matter. I only cared what he could do for me.
He could help me leave Harrison. He could even help with money—
But I couldn’t keep taking his help like it was nothing. He’d already done too much.
I left my bedroom in a rush and nearly ran into Harrison as he stepped out of his study. He’d changed into casual clothes, and he wasn’t heading to the office.
“Where are you going?” I asked before I could stop myself. “To see Elena?”
Who else would it be?
“No.” Harrison shot me a cold glance, offered no explanation, and walked toward the stairs.
I didn’t know what came over me, but for the first time, I stepped into his path.
“Then tell me. Who are you going to see?”
For five years, I’d never stopped him from anything. Not once. But with the divorce so close, what was the harm in asking one more question, in blocking him a single time?
Harrison’s eyes darkened at once. “You dare stop me?”
“We agreed on fairness,” I said, holding my ground even as my pulse sped up. “Who knows if you’re going to see another woman?”
Wasn’t he the one watching the sunrise with someone else in Europe?
Harrison’s mouth curved, not quite a smile. “With Julian backing you, you’ve gotten bolder.”