Chapter 177: Whatever it takes

Sienna was at work, checking through finished pieces for the launch, when her phone rang. It was one of the bodyguards from the house. She stepped aside eagerly and answered immediately. She had instructed them to report anything worth knowing with immediate alacrity.

"Yes?" Sienna said tightly into the phone.

"Ma’am, Stella Marchetti has left the house," the man said and Sienna heaved a sigh of relief instantly. The tightness she had been carrying in her chest since morning loosened by a degree. She let out a long, quiet exhale.

"Ma’am?" The man from the other end spoke up, not sure if she heard what he said given her silence.

"I heard you. Get back to work." She replied then ended the call.

For a moment she stared at the phone in her hand as if there was something she was seeing inside it but there was none. Her mind had wandered and left the office; since Stella was gone, the house was no longer hosting that particular problem. That alone should have been enough. Yet another thought followed quickly behind the relief, sharper... The discovery that Tom was going to leave the house soon.

Then an idea crept into her mind...

"He should like it."

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Tom returned from the club site, the house looked ordinary enough from the outside. Nothing about the exterior prepared him for what was waiting inside his own room.

He opened the door and stopped short. His eyes widened in disbelief. The room no longer looked like the same place... As if it wasn’t the room he had managed to make his, temporarily.

The bed was different, larger, and it was dressed in a cream and gray fcolored bed spread that looked far more expensive than what had been there before. A three-seater cream couch now sat against the wall with three gray throw pillows arranged neatly across it. The curtains had been changed. The chair and table had also been replaced with new ones.

A few carefully chosen artworks were hung on the walls to adore them, just enough to make the space feel carefully decorated rather than overdone. In the corner, around the bed, a compact bedside fridge had been installed.

Tom walked farther in, still taking it in. Even the air in the room felt different, less temporary, less like a space someone had been allowed to occupy out of convenience. He opened the fridge and found it already stacked with water and fruit. His mouth opened slightly in pure surprise.

A knock came at the door at that moment. Before he could answer, It opened slowly, and Sienna peeped in.

"Can I come in?" she said gently.

Tom glanced at her and narrowed his eyes at her face which was already in the doorway. "You’re already inside." he said flatly.

She gave a short chuckle. "No. Not fully."

Then she stepped in properly, closed the door behind her, and walked a few paces into the transformed room before turning to face him. Her eyes moved over his face first, searching for a reaction before she finally spoke.

"Do you like the new arrangement better?"

Tom did not answer immediately. His gaze traveled once more around the room, then returned to her.

"Why did you need to redecorate the room now?"

Sienna pressed her lips together. For a second she seemed to weigh how much truth to release.

"It should have been done a long time ago," she said. "I just never paid attention." She paused, then added more carefully, "For what you’ve been doing for me, you deserve better. I’m sorry I didn’t handle that from the beginning."

Tom studied her. The words were carefully chosen, chosen in the way Sienna chose most things she did not want to fully expose. Gratitude seemed to sit on the surface but beneath it, something else was there. He could feel there was a part she was not saying.

Before he could press further, Sienna spoke again.

"Do you like it? Is it up to your taste? I can change whatever you don’t want."

Tom shook his head, thoughtfully. "There’s no need. I’ll be leaving soon anyway."

Sienna blinked. The reaction was small, but he caught it. A brief flicker of sadness moved across her face before she forced it down, smoothing her expression back into control.

"Even if you’re leaving soon," she said, recovering quickly, "you can still live comfortably until then. I’ll make sure of that."

She did not wait for his reply before she added quickly; "Good night."

Then she turned and walked out.

Tom remained where he was, his gaze fixed on her retreating steps even after the door was closed. The room around him looked better yet the gesture itself left him thoughtful. People did not suddenly become attentive without reason. Whatever sat behind the redecoration, it was not as simple as late consideration.

He finally exhaled and dropped onto the new bed. The day had been long, but at least the club was moving. There was concrete process.

As if answering that thought, the System brought a notification;

```

Host is required to begin selecting founding members.

Recommended first founding member:

Richard Hale, Josie’s husband.

One of the reasons Host was given access to Josie is structural.

Through her, Host can reach a man he would not meet under ordinary circumstances.

```

Tom read through the notification before his vision and nodded in understanding.

That made sense. Josie was not only a target. She was a door. The kind of door that opened into rooms money alone could not buy, rooms filled with men whose names carried weight in places Tom was only beginning to enter.

He leaned back against the headboard, already turning the problem over in his mind - how to use Josie to get to her husband whom she wasn’t in good terms with.

Tom could tell it wasn’t going to be easy. And that was the only way.

He was on that thought when his phone started ringing. He pulled the phone out from his trouser and saw the caller was Stella.

He sat up and answered the call immediately, curious about what she could be calling for.

"Hey, you." He said, his tone coming out with concern.

"Hi... Uhm, there’s something I was going to tell you when I was there but I allowed unnecessary stuff made me forget." Stella said quickly. Tom could tell she had just remembered whatever it was.

"What’s that?" He asked.

"Adrian is the one behind your problem with L×L." She told him. Tom’s face scrunched up with fury. His nostrils flared.

"I guessed as much..." He muttered.

"I’m sorry, Tom. I really-" Stella started but Tom interrupted her.

"No, don’t be sorry, Stella. Really. This isn’t your fault. It’s that nitwit who just doesn’t know when to stop and let go honorably." He maintained firmly.

"I just have to let him know that I’m not someone he can toy with as he wishes. I was going to let go of L×L but knowing that he was behind it, I will do everything to have it back." He said sharply.

"Whatever it takes!"