Sienna rolled her auburn hair and then applied some makeup. Today was a small dinner at Papa’s place, and she wanted to look good.

Ruby and Tom were also invited, but now she was no longer scared of the man.

"Ready?" Brian’s head popped into the doorway, "Should we leave?"

Hunter had already told her that he would join her late. Brian was supposed to drive her off. Sienna picked up her purse and turned around on her heels.

Brian bowed and gestured for her to walk ahead, "After you, Ma’am."

Sienna smiled and headed out after a subtle nod. On the outside, she might be mad at Hunter for hiring Brian, but in her heart, she had accepted that he had made their lives quite easy.

Tonight, he was her chauffeur for the evening.

Once the car stopped in front of her father’s house, Sienna thanked him before turning around to open the door. But Brian was quick to jump out of the car and open the back door for her.

"Thanks, Brian. You can leave now," She fixed her off-white satin blouse that she had paired with gray straight-cut pants.

In her previous life, she never tried anything but skirts. Her family used to tell her constantly that her figure looked weird, no matter what she wore.

"You look amazing, Miss," Brian said shyly, giving her a tight-lipped smile, "And I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here. Let me know if you need me."

A faint unease settled in Sienna’s chest. Right now, Brian was acting more like a bodyguard. He didn’t say, if you need anything... he straight up said if you need me.

Or am I being paranoid because of my past experiences?

***

"Sienna. What are you thinking?" her mother’s shrill voice pulled her into the present, "Go and pour the salad dressing on the chopped veggies," She told her while taking a seat beside Ruby.

Not much had changed in this life.

Even when she was Tom’s wife, her mom used to bark orders at her. Midway through dinner, Tom would interrupt and send her off to fetch things for him.

Once it was feta cheese, then it was a spoon, and then once he even asked her to make him some herbal tea as his digestive system was off.

He could not even wait to let her finish her dinner.

She exhaled a frustrated sigh when she found that there were no chopped veggies in the kitchen.

As always, her mom expected her to do the tasks of cutting veggies and preparing the dressing.

Patience, Sienna. Patience. She told herself.

She couldn’t afford to upset everyone at the same time. They still thought that Papa lost his leg due to her innocence.

Her family was still angry at her.

She wore the apron and started cutting the vegetables placed in the basket.

"Oh. Chef Sienna is here," Ruby, who was here to get a water bottle, stopped in the doorway, "The one who is poor deserves to do all the chores," she rolled her tongue inside her cheek to keep herself from laughing, "At my place, there are servants for every chore."

Sienna smiled sweetly and kept doing her work. She was not aware of how Tom was treating his wife in this life.

But right now, she needed to stay cool if she wanted every one of them to believe that she was still that naïve Sienna.

Ruby stiffened when the door to George’s study room opened, and he came out along with Tom.

Sienna fought back a smile as she saw her father struggling forward on crutches.

None of them knew what they were discussing in the study room. However, Sienna had this uneasy feeling that they were concerned about George Mason’s business. The same business that no longer belonged to him.

"Ruby!" Tom’s cold voice reached their ears, "Bring me a napkin!"

Sienna wasn’t surprised by the demand. Napkins were placed right there on the dining table, and still, he expected his wife to bring them to him. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Sure, sweetheart," Ruby tried to smile, and Sienna felt sad.

She never discussed her marital problems with her parents, but once, when she told them how Tom beat her last night, none of them believed.

"You must have done something wrong, Sienna," Her father had said, "Tom is a good boy."

Now the same uncertain smile was pasted on Ruby’s face while tending to her husband.

In her previous life, when Papa invited them for dinner, Tom kept mocking her, drawing laughter from everyone.

He gave more attention to Ruby while Hunter stayed busy scrolling his phone.

She jerked when her mom placed her hand on her shoulder, "Tom needs to have dinner now. Where is Hunter? And why are you taking forever to assemble the salad?"

Before Sienna could speak, the doorbell rang.

A gentle breath slipped past her lips as her mother walked away to answer the door.

Ruby had returned to the kitchen and was now ramming a cabinet. Sienna went to the sink to wash her hands when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

"Hey," Hunter’s breath brushed against her ear. Though she knew that it was for the show, his touch still sent a shiver down her spine.

Her eyes raised and found Ruby looking at her with resentment in her eyes.

She was jealous, Sienna realized.

"Hello," She turned around in his arms to ask him about his day, but he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

For a few moments, Sienna forgot where she was and closed her eyes.

Just when she thought that his lips stayed there for too long, he straightened, "How was your day?" He asked her gently and started rolling a bunch of hair strands around his index finger.

"I ... I’m good..." She said with a chuckle without noticing that Ruby had left the kitchen.

He threw his arm around her shoulders, "Then let’s have dinner. Come on."

He pulled a chair for her and then sat beside her. Sienna couldn’t ignore the fact that he was being a perfect gentleman and was fulfilling his part of the contract too well.