Chapter Fourteen
1050 Words
Chapter Fourteen
(Sienna’s POV)
Adrian was still staring at the divorce papers.
The way he looked at them bothered me.
He should’ve been dismissive. He should’ve laughed at Nia’s arrogance, signed the documents, and moved on with the woman who had always belonged beside him.
Me.
Instead, he looked as if something had been ripped out of him.
I stood near his desk, watching the way his thumb pressed into the edge of the file. He wasn’t reading the file. He was staring at it with a hollow expression.
Her.
It was always Nia.
Jealousy slid through me, hot and vicious.
No.
Adrian Blackwood didn’t love Nia Caldwell.
He couldn’t.
Nia had always been good at making people pity her. The lost daughter. The poor orphan. The wronged wife. Every room bent toward her sadness eventually, and I was sick of watching it happen.
She had taken enough from me.
Dad’s business.
Mom’s love.
I was the one who dad had molded into the head of the Caldwell group. Nia had come in with her ideas and tricked dad into believing she was some sort of genius.
I was the one who was supposed to marry Adrian. I had been raised by his side. I knew everything he loved and everything he hated. I was made for him. But Nia had stepped in and the Blackwood family declared the marriage would only go through with true heiress.
I looked at Adrian’s face and knew one thing with absolute certainty.
If Nia left quietly, he would never stop thinking about her.
So, I couldn’t let that happen.
A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.
Daniel entered with his phone in his hand.
“Mr. Blackwood,” he said carefully.
Adrian’s eyes lifted.
Daniel crossed the office and showed him the screen.
I moved close enough to see.
The photo was perfect.
Nia stood outside Caldwell Group while Callum Reed held her bag and opened the car door for her. His posture was protective. Familiar. Too familiar.
Nia’s hand rested near his.
To anyone else, it might’ve looked innocent.
To Adrian, it looked like betrayal.
His face changed.
Good.
Adrian said nothing.
He only took the phone and stared at the image.
I let the silence grow until it became useful.
Then I stepped closer. “Adrian…”
He didn’t look at me.
His attention was fixed on Nia and the man beside her.
That should’ve pleased me.
It didn’t.
Because even now, even through anger, Nia still had his focus.
I looked at Daniel.
He was watching Adrian with the nervous loyalty of a man who wanted to be useful.
“Daniel,” I said softly.
His eyes flicked to me.
“Can I speak with you outside?”
He hesitated. “Miss Caldwell, I should stay in case Mr. Blackwood needs me.”
“He needs a moment.”
Adrian didn’t object.
He barely seemed to hear us.
I walked into the hall, and Daniel followed.
The moment the door closed behind us, I let my expression crumble just enough.
“I’m worried about him.”
Daniel’s shoulders loosened. “Mr. Blackwood is under a lot of pressure.”
“He won’t listen to me when he’s like this.” I glanced toward the closed office door. “But you see everything. You know how badly this is hurting him.”
Daniel looked down at his phone.
I stepped closer.
“Nia knows exactly what she’s doing,” I whispered. “First the divorce papers. Now Callum Reed parading her around.”
“That may not be what happened.”
I smiled sadly. “Your kind to think that, but I know my sister.”
His face softened.
There it was.
“You care about Adrian,” I continued. “I know you do. And you care about the truth. Don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then send me the photo.”
His eyes widened. “Why?”
“I’m not asking you to hurt anyone.” I touched his sleeve lightly. “I only need to understand what we’re dealing with. Adrian is too angry to think clearly, and someone needs to help them both.”
Daniel swallowed.
I moved closer, lowering my voice.
“You’ve always been someone I can trust.”
The words landed exactly where I wanted them.
His grip on the phone loosened.
“Please,” I said. “For Adrian.”
A moment later, my phone buzzed.
I let my smile warm.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
He looked relieved and embarrassed all at once.
I leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“You don’t know how much this means.”
He froze.
Men like Daniel were never difficult.
They just wanted to believe the affection was real.
I left the building with the photo already open on my screen.
By the time my driver pulled away from Blackwood Group, I had decided how to use it.
I sent the image to a society account that survived on whispers from people too rich to be named. Then I sent another picture, cropped carefully from the divorce file. Just enough for the name and filing date to be visible.
Nia Caldwell Blackwood.
Divorce petition.
I included only what the article needed.
Pregnant.
Separated.
Seen with Callum Reed.
No confirmed father named.
Let them do the rest.
By evening, I was sitting in my parents’ living room with my legs curled beneath me and my phone in my hand. Mom was at dinner with her friends and Dad was at his club. When the news broke, they would feel the embarrassment their lost daughter brought to them. I couldn’t wait to see what they did to her.
My phone refreshed.
Nothing.
I waited.
Refreshed again.
Then the headline appeared.
Breaking scandal!
Pregnant Caldwell heiress seen leaving work with longtime confidant Callum Reed only days after filing for divorce from Adrian Blackwood. Sources say the pair have been inseparable, raising questions about the child’s paternity.
I read it once.
Then again.
A slow smile spread across my face.
By midnight, the article would be everywhere.
Nia Caldwell had wanted to disappear with her dignity intact.
I stared at the headline glowing on my screen.
Now the whole world would know her name.
- Writer
