Chapter 4: Flirting Right in Front of Her
"Your home?" Sienna laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Evelyn, have you not grasped the situation yet? Soon, this will be my home."
Sienna was smiling, but her eyes were as cold as a venomous snake.
She took two steps forward, her gaze falling on the design sketches spread across the coffee table.
These were the fruits of Evelyn's labor these past few days, her only chance.
Sienna's smile suddenly turned malicious.
"Well, what do we have here? The little canary Damian keeps at home has started drawing? What, trying to go back to your old profession as a designer?"
She bent down and picked up one of Evelyn's most satisfactory drafts, waving it disdainfully.
"This looks... like absolute garbage."
With that, she released the paper, letting it float to the floor.
Then, she lifted her foot, that expensive red high heel studded with crystals, and stomped on it hard.
"Don't touch that!" Evelyn shouted almost instinctively, her body reacting before her mind could, reaching out to protect the papers.
But it was too late.
Sienna acted as if she hadn't heard Evelyn, or rather, she had done it deliberately.
Seeing Evelyn's fury, she wasn't afraid at all. Instead, her smile grew even more smug.
She lifted her foot and ground the tip of her shoe into the drawing.
"Oh my, are you angry? I am so sorry, I was so careless. But then again, this kind of trash belongs in the garbage bin, does it not?"
"Is this little thing worth getting so worked up over?"
Sienna's laughter was sharp and grating. "I thought it might be some masterpiece. A housewife who has stayed at home for eight years actually thinks she can still be a designer?"
She turned around and leisurely strolled to the floor to ceiling windows, gazing out at the meticulously maintained garden.
"Speaking of this garden... isn't the style terribly outdated? These roses and hydrangeas are things my grandmother would have planted in the last century. I can hardly believe Damian has tolerated such poor taste for so many years."
Sienna's tone was full of criticism.
Evelyn's heart sank heavily.
This garden was designed by her own hands.
From selecting each seedling to planning every pebble path, it was the result of her countless hours of dedication.
Damian had once said it was the most beautiful garden he had ever seen, their Eden.
But now, that man was sprawled like mud on the sofa, and his lover was trampling on her hard work, from a drawing to an entire garden.
Sienna walked back to the sofa and called to the man in a flirtatious voice, "Darling, did you hear me? I hate that garden. Can we change it? Replace it with something I like, filled with blue irises. What do you think?"
The man on the sofa uttered some vague mumbling, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.
"Mmm... yes... Whatever you like... change it all... all to what you like..."
Evelyn's heart seemed to skip a beat.
She held her breath and stared hard at Damian.
She had thought that even if their love had rotted away, those memories they built together would still retain some warmth.
It turned out there was nothing left.
It turned out that their so called Eden could be demolished and rebuilt for another woman at any time.
She had lost, completely and thoroughly.
Sienna's face bloomed with the smile of a victor. She glanced back at Evelyn, the gloating and pity in her eyes like a sharp knife stabbing into Evelyn's heart.
Evelyn did not look at them again.
She slowly bent down, picked up the dirtied design from the floor, gently smoothing out its creases, trying to wipe away that filthy footprint.
But it could not be erased.
That mark, like her eight year marriage, had left an indelible stain.
She held the drawing, not saying another word, turned, and walked into the guest room, closing the door behind her.
She suddenly smiled, a soft laugh with a hint of self mockery.
This was for the best.
There was nothing worth cherishing anymore.
She pulled out the chair and sat down, picked up a pencil, spread out a fresh sheet of paper, and held the pencil tip suspended over it, pausing briefly.
Then, she began to draw.
This time, the lines she drew were sharper and more decisive than ever before.
The anger and disappointment, as well as her crushed dignity, all poured through the pencil tip onto the paper.
...
Night deepened.
Evelyn did not know how long she had been drawing until the stiff, sore feeling in her neck made her stop.
The draft had taken initial shape. The lines were sharp, the style bold, filled with rebellious energy, completely different from her previously gentle design style.
Just then, faint, suppressed strange sounds came from the direction of the master bedroom.
It was the rhythmic sound of a bed frame hitting the wall, mixed with a woman's deliberately raised moans and a man's heavy breathing.
They were in her bedroom.
On the bed she and Damian had bought when they got married.
Evelyn's hand clutching the pencil suddenly tightened, her knuckles turning white from the force.
With a "crack," the lead broke.
As if burned, she threw down the pencil and covered her ears tightly with both hands.
But the sound seemed to have penetrating power, seeping into her mind through every pore.
She did not know how long it lasted, perhaps an hour, or perhaps two, until those nauseating sounds finally ceased.
Evelyn leaned against the chair back, her body cold, like a soulless shell.
Just then, there was a gentle knock on her door.
Evelyn's heart seized. She neither moved nor made a sound.
"Evelyn, I know you are in there." It was Sienna's voice.
Evelyn remained silent.
The person outside seemed to lose patience. The doorknob turned, and the door was pushed open directly.
Sienna was barefoot, wearing only a loosely fitting men's shirt that barely covered the tops of her thighs. Several buttons at the collar were undone, revealing a generous amount of suggestive skin and ambiguous red marks on her neck.
Her hair was damp against her cheeks, her makeup smeared, her whole being exuding the air of someone who had overindulged in pleasure.
Sienna leaned against the doorframe, surveying everything in the room like the lady of the house.
"Hi, still busy?"
Evelyn looked at her coldly, as if looking at disgusting garbage.
Sienna did not mind her coldness and walked in on her own.
"Just now... was the noise a bit too loud? I could not help it. Damian... he is always so passionate."