Chapter 75: That son of a bitch

"What? Who are you even talking to?" Sienna said, a small, tired laugh finally slipping out despite everything. "Hell yeah, I can."

She reached for her old laptop, the same one she had carried with her through every version of chaos over the last few days, and opened it, fingers already moving fast across the keys. It took her only seconds to find her way into Simon’s cloud storage, old habits and old memories of his passwords still sitting somewhere in the back of her mind, useful now in a way she never imagined they would be.

And there it was.

Compromising pictures. Not just of Lily, either. There were others. Other girls, other moments, tucked away in folders Simon clearly thought no one would ever find.

"That son of a bitch," Aria breathed, leaning over Sienna’s shoulder, staring at the screen with wide eyes. "Perfect." A slow, wicked smile spread across her face. "I have an idea."

Sienna felt something loosen in her chest at that smile, something that had been wound tight for a long time, finally beginning to ease. She smiled back, small but real, and turned back to the screen, her fingers already moving again.

The two of them worked together for the next hour, heads bent close over the laptop, whispering ideas back and forth, Aria’s laughter breaking the quiet every so often as one plan gave way to a better one.

It felt strange, sitting there in the middle of everything falling apart around her, to laugh at all. But it felt good too, in a way Sienna hadn’t let herself feel in a long time.

Like some small piece of the old version of herself, the one from before Viktor, before mafia meetings and locked bedroom doors, had come back just long enough to remind her she was still in there somewhere.

Eventually, the ideas slowed, the laughter softened, and exhaustion won out over both of them. They talked a little longer, quieter now, about smaller things, safer things, before finally curling up on opposite ends of the couch and letting sleep pull them under, the laptop closed and set carefully aside, waiting for morning.

The next morning came too fast.

Sienna woke to the smell of coffee drifting through the house, sunlight pouring in through tall windows, and Aria already up, moving around the kitchen in a robe, humming something under her breath like the night before had never happened at all. They got dressed slowly, carefully, choosing clothes that would let them blend into a crowd without standing out, and sat down together for a quick breakfast before heading out the door.

Lily’s office wasn’t far. Aria drove, tapping her fingers against the wheel the whole way there, a small, satisfied smile tugging at the corner of her mouth every few minutes, like she already knew exactly how the morning was going to go.

They arrived just early enough to see Simon walking in beside Lily, the two of them close together, Lily clutching a folder against her chest, clearly nervous about whatever presentation waited for her inside.

Sienna felt something tighten in her stomach at the sight of them together, but she pushed the feeling down, deep, the way she had gotten so good at doing lately.

She and Aria found a quiet corner near the entrance, tucked half behind a large potted plant, close enough to see, far enough to stay unnoticed.

They didn’t have to wait long.

It started with noise. A ripple of murmurs moving through the office, then louder voices, then the unmistakable sound of a door being thrown open too hard.

Sienna and Aria exchanged a quick glance before easing closer, just enough to catch sight of the boardroom down the hall, its glass walls giving everyone inside a perfect view of whatever was happening.

Lily’s presentation had opened on the screen exactly as planned. Only it wasn’t sales numbers, or graphs, or whatever boring quarterly report she had spent the last few weeks preparing.

It was pictures. Very intimate pictures. Simon, Lily, and other girls Sienna had found buried in his cloud storage the night before, all of it now stretched wide and bright across a screen in front of what looked like half the office.

Lily’s hands flew to the laptop, frantically clicking, trying to shut it off, trying to click away from the images, but nothing worked.

The file simply would not close, would not minimize, would not do anything except sit there, glowing on the screen for every single person in that boardroom to see.

Sienna watched Lily’s face crumble in real time. Watched her stand up so fast her chair nearly toppled over behind her, watched her hurry out of that boardroom with her hand pressed over her mouth, tears already streaking down her face, embarrassment radiating off her like heat.

She didn’t get far before she spotted Simon standing near the hallway, clearly having just heard the commotion himself.

Sienna grabbed Aria’s arm, and the two of them slipped further behind the plant, close enough to hear every word.

"Did you do this?" Lily demanded, her voice shaking, mascara smudged beneath her eyes.

"Do what?" Simon asked, his voice carrying the particular flat calm of a man who had absolutely no idea what was happening, and even less patience for finding out.

"Take pictures of us," Lily snapped. "And you’ve been cheating on me, too. Simon. How could you?"

Simon’s face shifted, annoyance flickering across it fast. "Stop. What do you even want from me right now?" he said. "You knew I was with Sienna. That didn’t stop you from fooling around with me, did it? So why are you suddenly mad?"

"Are you kidding me?" Lily’s voice cracked, disbelief mixing with fury. "That’s your excuse? Everyone out there is calling me names right now, and that’s what you have to say to me?"

"Keep your voice down," Simon said sharply, glancing around the hallway. "We’re still at work. Fix your own problem. Don’t drag me into this." He turned on his heel and walked away without looking back, leaving Lily standing alone in the middle of the hallway, humiliation written plainly across her face.