She Took My Seat, He Took Her Side, I Took Another Man Chapter 07

She Took My Seat, He Took Her Side, I Took Another Man Chapter 07

The venue was a hillside estate in the suburbs, booked by Sebastian. In the dressing room, I sat facing the mirror as the makeup artist applied my last touch of lipstick. Four of my fingers were still wrapped in bandages. Sebastian had asked the florist ahead of time to make a one-handed bouquet, so I could hold it naturally without straining. He’d quietly told the artist about it the night before.

This dress wasn’t the other one. I didn’t even know where that one had gone anymore. This one, Sebastian had picked out within a single week. No elaborate embroidery, no heavy, dragging pearls. But the fabric was exquisite-light and flowing, so that wearing it didn’t feel like something pressing down on me. It felt more

like being held up.

As the music began and the ceremony started, before Dad could take my hand and give me away to Sebastian, an utterly out-of-place figure appeared in my line of sight.

“Sienna. Come back with me.”

Dominic, his face dark with fury, rushed toward me, grabbed my hand to drag me away-and it was exactly

the hand wrapped in bandages.

A jolt of searing pain shot up from my fingertips. I gasped sharply and stumbled back half a step, my body moving before my mind could catch up.

“Let go.”

My voice was far steadier than I’d expected.

Dominic looked down at my four fingers, still wrapped in gauze. His expression grew complicated, and he paused for a beat. But he didn’t let go. He just shifted his grip, seizing my wrist instead. The pressure was fierce-the same force he’d used every time he pulled me back over the past seven years. Certain. Absolute.

Unquestioning.

“Sienna. Come home.”

The music had already stopped.

Sebastian bounded down the steps, closing the distance in a few strides. He shot a look at an assistant nearby, signaling for him to take me away. I glanced back at him and shook my head, just slightly. This was

something I wanted to finish on my own.

Sebastian paused where he was, nodded, and stepped back.

I turned and met Dominic’s eyes again. “Dominic. If you’re here to apologize, save it. He’ll never forgive you.”

My voice was calm.

“Sienna, come back. Pick any position in the company. Whatever you want.”

The words hung in the air, and for a moment, the space around us seemed to solidify.

The day he’d crushed my hand, he’d driven off with Nina, and the entire wedding had fallen apart. Every

person of influence in New York had been there that day-not for him, but for me. I’d only been at his

company for two months, and performance had already tripled. What I traded on was my ability to keep my

head down at the banquet table, to grit my teeth with sheer determination and never make a sound. That was

exactly what everyone in that room had seen at those business dinners, and that was why they’d come. A

relentless worker who could bring in money-who wouldn’t want that?

On the wedding day, when the bride didn’t show, everyone dispersed on the spot. And when word spread that

I was marrying Sebastian, nearly half of Dominic’s deals dried up overnight.

So he was panicking.

“And then?” I asked.

“Then I figured it out.” Dominic stepped half a pace closer. “Sienna, come with me now. I swear I’ll treat you right. As for Nina-if you don’t want to see her, I’ll send her abroad. I guarantee she’ll never appear in our

lives again.”

“Dominic.” I cut him off. “You want me to come back? Fine. There’s a storm rolling in tonight. Drive your car

here, let me crush both your hands in the door, and leave you out there. If you survive, I’ll say yes.”

I lowered my eyes and met his gaze head-on.

Dominic’s brow furrowed. “You know that’s not what I meant-”

“Then what did you mean?” I shot back.

He had no answer.