20 I can fight my own battles

Sienna placed a soothing hand on Alison's shoulder, "Let's focus on training our employees better and staying on track. We just turned the situation around so let's not get distracted."

With that, she casually walked out of the room.

Alison remained still, only her chest was heaving in anger. Of course, being in this social circle, drama and backstabbing were not uncommon.

However, Sienna had done nothing wrong and had always been good to her family.

She remembered how Sienna had doted on Vivianne even though Vivianne was spoilt rotten by her parents already.

Vivianne had always acted nice to Sienna, but Alison knew that Sienna still somehow always got the short end of the stick.

The one good thing that they couldn't take away from her was her marriage to Damon Wright since the agreement had specified the eldest daughter.

Moments later, she burst into Sienna's office, "We can't just sit back like nothing happened!"

Sienna smiled so serenely that Alison got scared, "Oh, I don't intend to sit back at all."

But Alison wasn't Sienna's best friend for nothing. She responded with glittering eyes and a grin that gleamed.

"Count me in."

Sienna threw her head back and laughed. So this is what it was like to have a good friend.

In her previous life, she had spent all her time and energy chasing Damon and changing herself to please others that she had lost contact with almost everyone.

She had missed Alison's brash humour and fearless loyalty.

Getting up, she hugged Alison tightly and without hesitation, Alison hugged back equally as tightly.

"You're buzzing," Alison pulled away and patted at the phone vibrating in Sienna's pocket.

Sienna frowned at the message. Damon had sent several links to her without any explanation so she clicked on one and her mouth fell open at the headline.

'Davies Heiress in Scandalous Affair with Newspaper Owner!'

Hurriedly, she clicked on the next link: 'Homewrecking Heiress Slept with Married Man!'

The next link proclaimed: 'Davies Heiress Fabricated News with Media Mogul's Aid.'

Completely dumbfounded, she showed them to Alison who hooted triumphantly.

"So that's how she kept manipulating the media," Alison chuckled, "Sleeping with a married man just to write the headlines she wanted…"

Sienna was still in shock, surely Damon couldn't have exposed Kyra Davies for her. She had been planning to dig up some dirt on Kyra before making her move, but who knew her husband would move so fast!

***

"Did you do this?" Sienna asked the moment she stepped through the doorway and saw Damon who had probably also just gotten home.

The servants gaped at her. The master hadn't even taken off his jacket or sat down, but the mistress had just started interrogating him without greeting him.

Everyone braced themselves for some explosion of anger or cold war.

Damon chuckled and shrugged off his jacket while turning to face her. Now the servants gaped in shock at the cheeky smile on his face.

Who knew the master could smile like that? Some of the younger maids felt their heart beats pick up just looking at that face.

The older servants glanced between husband and wife in awe. Who was Sienna Astor who could make Damon Wright smile like that?

In all their years serving the master, he had rarely even cracked a smile, but for this woman… The impossible seemed to come true.

"Are you unsatisfied?" He asked in a serious tone, coming over and starting to help her with her coat.

Sienna stepped away from him to take her coat off by herself and caused another ripple of surprise among the staff.

Wendy, the housekeeper, rushed forward to take both their coats and shooed the staff away to get to work, but many of them shot backward glances at the husband and wife.

"No- I'm not- Just why?" Sienna folded her arms.

"Can't I do something for my wife?" Damon asked. Sienna shook her head sternly and Damon coughed a laugh.

"I'm taking revenge on her for spilling wine on me?" He tried and Sienna relented, but she still looked a little disbelieving.

She took a deep breath, "I can fight my own battles."

Damon blinked at her. All his life, he had been taught that the Wright wealth and status had to be guarded closely against those who wanted to use it for their own purposes.

Never had he expected to marry a woman who rejected his help.

"I never said you couldn't," He stepped closer to her and she took a step back, it was a strange dance.

"I don't like feeling like I owe you anything," Sienna told him, taking another step back as Damon approached again, "We're supposed to live our own lives, remember?"

Damon took one large step towards her and Sienna moved backwards only for her back to collide against the door.

The air was tense between them as Sienna stared up at him with large, unblinking, green eyes that shone in the dim light.

Damon took a final step and now, he was so close to her that he could feel the warmth pouring from her, he could feel her exhales ghosting along his neck.

His hand twitched with the desire to touch her, this untouchable woman who was his wife.

"What if I don't want to live separate lives?" He asked in a low tone, his hand coming up to brush the wisps of her brown hair on her forehead.

Her lashes fluttered as she inhaled sharply. Part of Sienna wanted to melt, to return to her old ways and throw herself into Damon's arms.

She wanted to cling to him and try her best to make him love her in a way he never did before.

Staring into Damon's deep blue eyes was like drowning in an ocean.

She wanted to let go and lose herself in them, but she remembered what had happened the last time - she had let herself flounder in an ocean without knowing how to swim.

That part of her remembered the feeling of the rain on her skin and the pain in her heart and in her body as her step sister laughed at her folly.

Slim hands came up to Damon's hard chest and shoved. He didn't budge a single inch so Sienna sighed and tried to assume an unaffected expression.

"That's not possible," She made her voice as icy as she could, "I'll find a way to repay you for this."

By then, Damon had a bemused look on his face and he stepped back a little to give her space.

"I have a way for you to pay me back," He held out a hand, "Promise me you won't leave my side at the party this weekend."

Sienna paused, realising he referred to Vivianne's birthday bash this weekend. Why would he want Sienna with him throughout?

In her previous life, he had arrived with her for appearances sake, then left to go to work and she had endured her parents' thinly veiled criticisms and the mocking of other guests alone.

Maybe he hadn't even gone to the office back then, she thought bitterly, he could have been having an affair with Vivianne and I didn't know about it.

She looked at his earnest face and the hand he had extended for her to shake.

If she could stick to him like glue, use him to get back at some of the guests who were mean to her previously, prevent him from meeting a mistress and pay off her debt, it wasn't a bad deal for her.

"Deal," She stuck out her pinky and he looked confusedly at it.

Realising he had no clue what she wanted, she grabbed his hand and maneuvered his pinky to link hers. Then she brought her thumb up to kiss his.

"It's a pinky swear, haven't you done it before?" She asked, "It's more binding than a handshake so don't even think about going back on your words."

In one smooth move, Damon grasped her hand, flipped it over and kissed the inside of her wrist, sending tingles all the way up her arm.

"Sealing it with a kiss is more effective, don't you think?"