Chapter3

Ding-dong.The doorbell rang. I pulled the front door open, and there stood Mark, Asher's executive assistant.

He held a velvet Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry box in his hand, his chin tilted up slightly. "Here, sign for this."

I didn't take it. I just looked at him coldly.

Mark rolled his eyes and shoved the box forward. "Sienna, there should be a limit to your temper tantrums. The boss and Miss Chloe went through hell and back together in London for three years. If you hadn't stubbornly clung to your title, they would have been married by now. Now the boss is being generous enough to coax you with a seven-figure custom piece. Don't push your luck."

I flicked the jewelry box open with one hand. Inside lay a diamond-encrusted necklace. On the authentication card tucked underneath, the name "Chloe" was crossed out with a black line, and my name was scribbled clumsily next to it.

Was he offering me his mistress's secondhand trash as some grand favor?

An abrupt alarm blared in my mind: [System Alert: Warning! The 'Humiliated Evil Female Supporting Character' plotline has been triggered! Host, please immediately grip the doorframe, fall to your knees, and cover your face in bitter tears! Reward: A shred of Asher's guilt! Failure to comply within ten seconds will result in immediate electroshock punishment!]

I didn't even bat an eyelid. Right in front of Mark, I tossed the box and the necklace straight into the trash can outside.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Mark yelled, pointing at the garbage. "That's the boss's—"

"Go back and tell your boss," I said, pulling out a disinfectant wipe and cleaning my fingers. "If he wants to deliver used, secondhand trash to my house, he has to pay a waste disposal fee. Get lost."

I slammed the front door shut directly in his face.

[Electroshock initiated!]

The next second, a sharp spike of pain pierced my brain. I clutched my head and leaned against the door panel for a few seconds. The pain came fast, and it left just as quickly. I took a deep breath and straightened up.

[System Alert: Forced correction failed. Host's willpower exceeds the projected threshold. Warning level +2.]

For the first time, a trace of shock tinged the System's voice, though it quickly returned to its eerie calm.

I twitched the corner of my mouth and brushed off this "punishment." Compared to the crippling contractions I endured during pregnancy, this little jolt of electricity was nothing.

At noon, the law firm sent a message, informing me that my husband's team was already waiting in a private room at Le Bernardin for me to sign a supplementary agreement for a cross-border M&A. Too lazy to head down to the garage and pick out a car, I called an Uber to the three-star Michelin French restaurant, Le Bernardin. Just as the car parked, a Rolls-Royce scraped past and stole the space. Asher stepped out in a navy blue suit. He walked around the hood, extended a gentlemanly hand, and helped out a woman who was dripping in designer labels yet exuded an air of timid weakness.

It was Chloe.

She linked her arm through Asher's. Asher turned his head and spotted me just as I shut the Uber's door.

He looked stunned for a second, before a mocking smirk hooked the corner of his lips.

"Playing hard to get by rejecting my necklace, only to secretly follow me here? Sienna, this little game of yours is really losing its appeal."

I didn't bother to reply and walked straight toward the entrance, but Asher took a long stride and directly blocked my path.

"Why so quiet? Did I hit a nerve?" He scanned my logo-less pure black silk dress from top to bottom. "Come on, drop the act. Watching you step out of an Uber told me everything I need to know. During the three years you left me, your family was probably completely marginalized by Wall Street, wasn't it? You can't even afford a decent car anymore?"

Asher sneered and pointed at the restaurant doors behind him. "With your current status, you probably don't even qualify to grab a glass of water in there. When security throws you out for not being able to pay the bill later, don't expect me to foot it for you."

I truly wondered what kind of twisted logic filled his brain.

"Sienna, don't walk so fast..."

Just then, Chloe tottered over in her stilettos and pressed herself against him.

Her eyes were slightly red. "Are you mad at Asher because of that necklace? You two haven't seen each other in three years. He didn't have time to buy something nicer, so he just gave you the one he recently won at auction for me. Don't blame him, Asher was just anxious to see you."

She shrank pitifully into Asher's embrace. "Asher and I are just soulmates in business, but you're the one he promised to marry. I only want to see you two happy. Please don't be angry with him."

"Chloe, why are you apologizing to her?" Aching for her, Asher tightened his grip on Chloe's shoulder, before turning his head to glare at me. "Sienna, I thought after three years of suffering out there in the real world, you would have finally learned how to behave. I didn't expect you to be just as arrogant as before!"

He pointed at the ground. "Do you have any idea how much misery you've put Chloe through? Apologize to her right now! If you swallow your pride, considering how destitute you are, I'll make an exception and take you inside for a meal today."

My gaze shifted from their intertwined arms to Asher's pretentious face. My eyes were ice-cold.

In my mind, the System's warning boxes popped up frantically again, flashing a blinding red light:

[Host, attention please! Immediately grab the valet's bucket of soapy car-wash water and viciously throw it over Chloe! Fulfill the hysterical evil female supporting character quota! Failure will result in severe punishment!]

"Move aside," I spat out coldly.

"What did you say?" Asher frowned.

I didn't spare them a single extra glance. Bypassing that pungent cloud of perfume, I stepped up the stairs toward the restaurant entrance.

The security staff didn't even try to stop me. Instead, they bowed respectfully and pulled the heavy doors wide open for me. One of them murmured in a low voice, "Ms. Sienna, the gentlemen upstairs are already waiting for you."

Asher's expression froze.

I had barely stepped into the lobby when my footsteps were forced to a halt.