Chapter 2

"I owe you twelve million? Where's your proof?"

"Cut the act!" The man's voice dripped with menace even through the phone. "Your company filed for bankruptcy last month, but that doesn't erase a single cent of what you owe! The contract has your name in black and white. You can't run from this!"

Sienna didn't rush to respond. She pulled up all the information on CF Building Materials Inc.

The company had been registered on January 12, 2026.

That was the second month after she'd been brought back to the Stone family.

At the time, Vanessa had said she needed to set up a family trust fund and had taken a photocopy of Sienna's driver's license.

Turned out, she'd been setting a trap.

"The money will be repaid," Sienna said, her eyes fixed on the screen, stopping at CF Building Materials Inc.'s last transfer record. "But you're looking for the wrong person. The one who owes you isn't me. It's Vanessa."

The man froze, then erupted in fury.

"Stop lying to me! You're the one who owes the money!"

"I've got your signature and a copy of your driver's license. If you don't wire two hundred thousand in interest today, I'm bringing my guys to your door!"

Sienna ignored his threats and sent him a screenshot of the account with the bank transaction history.

"The screenshot on your phone shows where that eight million dollars ultimately went. Less than ten minutes after it hit the account, it was transferred to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands."

"The account holder is Vanessa."

Silence on the other end.

The man's voice carried disbelief. "How did you get my phone number?"

He'd been using a virtual network number. It shouldn't have traced back to him.

"That's not important."

Sienna didn't dwell on the topic, her voice sharp with warning. "The contract signature you mentioned is forged. The debt is fake. If you keep harassing me, you'll regret it."

The man's breathing hitched.

If she could track down his real phone number without him knowing and send him screenshots, she could just as easily hack into the company's backend.

His bad luck, running into someone he couldn't mess with.

Seeing his silence, Sienna knew she'd shaken him. She gave him Vanessa's address directly.

"Vanessa has money. If you want to collect, go to Cloudhill Villa, Building 1, Block A."

She hung up.

Sienna packaged and archived all the invoices and financial records related to CF Building Materials Inc., along with Sunstar Microfinance's backend data.

This material was enough to put Vanessa behind bars for a few years.

Vanessa had dug such a massive pit for her. Of course she'd return the favor.

Cloudhill Villa.

Vanessa sat on the living room sofa, holding a bowl of tonic soup, tear tracks still visible at the corners of her eyes.

"Marcus, what if Sienna gets into trouble out there alone? I don't want the algorithm anymore. I can't let her be destroyed because of me."

"Nessa, you're too kind." Marcus's heart ached. "Sienna's too stubborn. If she doesn't suffer a little, she won't realize she's wrong."

Andrew set down his magazine with a cold snort. "Marcus is right. She signed the severance agreement herself. Who's fault is that? Once she's had enough of being looked down on out there, she'll naturally come back and apologize."

"Don't worry about her. Focus on preparing for your onboarding at the Research Institute."

Nessa lowered her head, hiding the upward curve of her lips.

Sienna would never turn her life around, not in this lifetime.

"Mr. Stone, we have a problem!"

Leo rushed into the living room, panic written across his face.

"There's a group of thugs from a debt collection agency outside. They've blocked the gate with their cars, saying the Stone family owes money and won't pay..."

Andrew shot to his feet. "Where's security? Get them out of here!"

"They said if we kick them out, they'll livestream and expose the Stone family, make the Stone family trend on social media..." Leo was sweating profusely.

Andrew's face darkened. "We don't owe anyone money. Why would a debt collection agency come after us?"

"I don't know." Leo looked equally confused.

"Fine. Let them in."

The neighborhood was full of Riverton's elite. Having those people making a scene at the gate would only humiliate Andrew.

A few minutes later, three burly men swaggered into the living room.

The moment he entered, the lead man, Joey, locked onto Vanessa. "You Vanessa?"

Vanessa's hand trembled, and the bowl crashed onto the carpet.

"Marcus, I'm scared..."

Marcus immediately shielded her, his voice sharp with reproach. "Who are you people? What do you want with Nessa?"

"Collecting a debt."

Joey gave a cold laugh and planted his foot on the expensive hand-carved antique mahogany desk.

"She owes me twelve million and won't pay up. I had to come collect in person."

Andrew's expression changed drastically. He strode up to Vanessa. "When did you borrow that much money?"

"I didn't." Vanessa immediately denied it.

Joey sneered. "Denying it won't help. CF Building Materials Inc. borrowed eight million from us. The money all went into your account. Pay up!"

Vanessa's face went pale, her mind buzzing.

She'd registered that company under Sienna's name. How had the debt collectors come after her?

"You're lying! I've never even heard of that company."

"Still want to deny it? Fine, take a look at this."

Joey pulled out his phone and showed her the transfer screenshot Sienna had given him.

Vanessa's face went ashen. She'd deleted that record long ago. How could it still exist?

"If you don't pay today, I'll have to call the police and let them help investigate." Joey pulled his phone back and prepared to dial.

"Wait!"

Seeing Vanessa's expression, Andrew realized this might actually involve her. He pressed urgently, "Nessa, what's going on here?"

Tears spilled from Vanessa's eyes as she choked out, "Dad, I don't know. A while back, Sienna said she wanted to make an investment and asked to borrow my account."

"I didn't think much of it and gave it to her. I had no idea she'd use it to borrow from loan sharks..."

Marcus believed her completely and cursed furiously. "Sienna ran away from home and still won't leave us alone, leaving this mess to hurt Nessa! She's vicious!"

"Enough with the chatter. Pay up!"

Joey slammed his hand on the desk, his face full of menace.

Seeing Andrew hesitate, Marcus stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Dad, Nessa's about to start at the Research Institute. We can't have complications now. Once we deal with these thugs, we'll settle the score with Sienna!"

The Stone family had recently lost several major projects. Their cash flow was already tight.

Pulling out twelve million dollars was like cutting flesh for Andrew.

It would drain half of Stone Group's liquid assets.

But for the sake of the Research Institute connections and projects Vanessa would soon bring, Andrew could only grit his teeth and sign the check.

"Take the money and get out!"

After the thugs left, Andrew was so furious his eyes had turned red.

He grabbed his phone to call Sienna.

At that moment, Sienna had just logged out of Riverton's top financial conglomerate, the Hearst Group's internal network.

Seeing an unknown number come in, she answered casually.

A voice as cold and deep as an icy spring came through.

"Who put you up to hacking into Hearst Group's network?"