Chapter 2

"Ryan, I heard you won a new car yesterday. Congratulations! I picked out these cufflinks for you. They'll go nicely with your new car. Do you like them?" she said.

Ryan took the box and opened it. His eyes lit up immediately. "Mariyah, you really understand me."

He immediately put on the cufflinks, lifting his wrist under the light and turning it slightly. The admiration on his face was impossible to hide.

The three of them were chatting and laughing in perfect harmony, as if I were the only outsider who didn't belong there.

Jolene watched Ryan and Mariyah interact with obvious satisfaction before turning to me. "Sienna, look at Mariyah; so thoughtful. And you? After being with Ryan for so many years, have you ever given him anything decent?"

I lowered my gaze and stayed silent. What had I ever given him?

I had once given him a scarf I knitted myself, but he said it was too outdated and never wore it even once.

I had also bought him a game console with an entire month's living expenses, but he dismissed it as something only kids would play with.

I had even given him the first small program I ever wrote that made money; all the earnings went to him. He used it to buy drinks for his friends.

To Jolene and Mariyah, none of those things would probably even count as proper gifts.

Mariyah asked casually, as if it were an afterthought. "Ryan, I heard about yesterday's bet. Sienna isn't upset, is she?"

Ryan's expression shifted slightly. He shot me a warning glare, silently telling me not to say anything out of line.

Then he smiled at Mariyah and said, "Of course not. Sienna is very understanding; she knows I was joking around with my friends."

"Really?" Mariyah covered her mouth and laughed softly. "That's a relief. I thought Sienna might have taken it seriously. After all, something like a proposal is such a big deal; if it were me, I'd totally lose it."

Jolene chimed in from the side. "Ryan just likes to have fun. Young people should have a bit of romance and playfulness. Not like some people, sitting in front of a computer all day; so dull and lifeless."

Her eyes swept over me with open contempt. The hands resting on my knees slowly clenched.

Ryan took out his car keys and dangled them in front of Mariyah. "Let's go. I'll take you for a drive and let you try my new car."

"Sure!" Mariyah stood up in pleasant surprise.

The two of them walked out together, intimate and unbothered, right in front of Jolene and me. In the living room, only Jolene and I were left.

She lifted her coffee cup and took a sip, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "Sienna, I've said everything I needed to say. Think it over carefully."

She added, "Being allowed into the Sutton family is already a great privilege for you. Don't be ungrateful. And from now on, stay away from Mariyah; you and she are not from the same world."

After saying that, she stood up, straightened her clothes, and walked out as well.

I sat alone on the sofa for a very long time. It wasn’t until the sky outside had darkened that my phone finally rang.

I answered the call. "Hello?"

On the other end came an urgent male voice. "May I speak with Ms. Sienna Mills? I'm Bobby Dean, the Director of the Technical Department at Sutton Group."

I paused, surprised. "What is it?"

"Ms. Mills, it's a major crisis! Our company's core servers have been attacked by an unknown hacker. The entire system has gone down!" Bobby's voice was almost breaking with panic.

"Mr. Sutton asked me to come to you. Your technical skills are exceptional. Please, we're begging you, help us!"

I held the phone in silence. The Sutton Group's system, the very one now crashing, was built by me three years ago.

Back then, I had already told Ryan that the system had a backdoor vulnerability that needed to be fixed immediately. But he never took it seriously.

He had said, "It's just a lousy system. If it works, it works. Stop acting like the sky is falling all the time."

Now, the sky had indeed fallen. I let out a faint, almost ironic laugh. "Mr. Dean, you've come to the wrong person."

"I'm just a nobody programmer, glued to my computer all day; totally dull. I'm not capable of handling something as important as saving your company." With that, I hung up the call directly.

Not long after, Ryan's call came through.

He exploded the moment I picked up. "Sienna! What do you think you're doing? The company is in this state, and you're still throwing a tantrum?"

He added, "I'm ordering you; now, immediately, to get your ass to the company! If you can't fix the system, don't even think about showing your face again!" His voice was full of rage and impatience.

He acted like I was supposed to fix all his problems, like it was my job. I listened to his angry rant, not feeling a thing inside.

"Ryan," I said softly. "Have you forgotten what day it is today?"

He paused for a moment. "What day?"

"April Fool's Day." I laughed, and the sound grew louder and louder, almost unhinged.

"You played a joke on me, so I played one back. Fair enough, don't you think?"

On the other end of the line, there was only a deathly silence.

"Sienna, are you out of your mind!" Ryan's furious voice came through the phone, loud and sharp enough to sting my ears.