Sienna looked between the crumbling mansion, the uniform of the sheriff’s deputy, and the man she had believed was her golden ticket to a life of perpetual luxury. The realization hit her like a physical blow. The private jets, the Bahamian beach resort, the diamond necklace—it was all an illusion built on stolen funds from a woman who was now systematically stripping every piece of it away.
“You lied to me,” Sienna whispered, her voice shaking with rage. “You used me! You brought me into a federal crime scene!”
“Sienna, please!” Grant begged, his voice rising in desperation as the heavy machinery behind him crashed through the front entryway of the house, sending a massive cloud of stone dust into the sky. “I love you! We can get through this!”
“Get away from me!” she screamed, retreating toward the idling taxi. She snatched her luggage off the pavement, threw it into the back seat, and slammed the door before Grant could even reach the handle. The taxi accelerated down the street, leaving Grant standing alone in the cloud of dust, holding a stack of court papers in his hands.
He turned back toward me, his composure entirely shattered. “You ruined my life, Victoria! Over what? A mistake? A lapse in judgment? I gave you ten years of my life!”
“You didn’t give me ten years, Grant,” I replied, my tone devoid of anger, left only with the cold weight of absolute truth. “You collected a salary off my labor. You lived in my house, drove my cars, and wore my grandmother’s heirloom while pretending you were the master of the universe. But the performance is over. The curtain has fallen.”
The deputy stepped closer, tapping the legal papers in Grant’s hand. “Mr. Mercer, you have twenty minutes to collect your personal clothing items from the designated storage lockers listed on page four. After that, you are barred from entering any property associated with V.A.M. Enterprises. If you attempt to contact Mrs. Mercer, you will be arrested immediately for violating the protective order.”
Grant stood rooted to the pavement as I turned on my heel and walked toward my car. Behind me, the final support beam of the grand entryway snapped with a thunderous crack, bringing down the front facade of the house in a cascade of rubble.
He had believed that destroying my heart would leave me weak and broken in the dark. He had forgotten that I was the one who built the empire in the first place—and I had no problem tearing it down to the ground to ensure he was left with nothing.
