The gothic mansion was as quiet as a museum at 1:00 a.m., except for the light in the study at the end of the second-floor hallway, where Grayson Cole placed his encrypted cell phone on the ebony desk, and the screen read like a hardened dagger from his assistant, Liam, who had sent him a full report on the investigation into Sienna Monroe's birth mother. Caroline Monroe is not only the founder of Empire, but her will states that when her daughter turns twenty-five, she will unlock the original 32% of the group's shares held in trust. Sienna's 25th birthday is in three days' time.
"That's why she had the nerve to short Lawrence's shares on her wedding day." Grayson rubbed his swollen temples and ran his fingertips over the words "Monroe Family Trust Administrator: Lawrence Monroe" in the investigation report. Lawrence Monroe, the first pawn in his plan to bring down, turned out to be just a clown, and the real player was his 'wife'. The real player was his 'wife'.
The door to the study was gently pushed open, and Sienna stood in the doorway in a silk robe, her curves silhouetted by the moonlight." Mr. Cole working on my family tree?" She shook the glass of whiskey in her hand, the clinking of ice cubes was especially clear in the silence, "Unfortunately, it wasn't in the research report that my mother's last phone call before she died was to Edward Thompson."
Grayson jerked his head up and crashed into the sly smirk in her hazel pupils. Not only did she know her identity, but she knew exactly how his investigation was progressing." What the hell do you want?" He rose and pressed closer, the cedar scent mingling with the mellow scent of whiskey enveloping her, "Marry me just to take back Empire Group on your birthday?"
"Take back?" Sienna tilted her head back to look at him, her lashes casting fluttering shadows in the light, "Mr. Cole, who do you think owns Empire Group?" She ran her fingertips across the tie on his chest, "I've been buying up evidence on the dark web of Lawrence and Edward moving assets when they falsified my parents' plane crash report ten years ago."
Grayson's heart skipped a beat-he'd always thought Sienna was just some ordinary orphaned girl adopted by Lawrence, but he had no idea she'd set the net in motion ten years ago." So the stock price crash at the wedding was your doing, too!"
"It was just the first gift to Lawrence." Sienna shrugged and passed the glass to his lips, "Try it... Laphroaig 30 year old, my father's favorite whisky when he was alive."
The woman haunted him like an enigma, stepping precisely into his cognitive blind spots every step of the way, from the tit-for-tat at the wedding to the intimate feeding of the drink at this very moment." You know I'm not the real Grayson Cole?" His tone was icy as he gripped her wrist.
"I know." Sienna drew back her hand and sat on the edge of the desk shaking her legs, "The real Grayson Cole died in the yacht accident three years ago, and the one who stands here now is a pawn planted by some mysterious organization." She shook her cell phone, a blurry picture of a diver on the screen, "Want to see a picture of the scene of your ' accidental death'?"
Grayson's pupils constricted suddenly. The secret was the core of his identity, even his assistant Liam only knew him as the chosen 'Enforcer', how could she ..." you investigate me?"
"Mutually." Sienna jumped down and stepped barefoot on the Persian carpet, "When Lawrence told me I was marrying the CEO of Empire Group, I had someone check you out. Unfortunately, Mr. Cole, your disguise is full of holes in the eyes of a professional." She pointed to the scar on the tiger's mouth of his left hand, "The real Grayson Cole is left-handed, and you shoot more standardly with your right hand."
The air in the study seemed to freeze.Grayson looked at the woman who stood barefoot before him like a graceful cheetah, easily tearing through his carefully constructed disguise." What do you want?" He forced himself to calm down as his hand crept to his sidearm in the desk drawer.
"Take it easy." Sienna let out a soft laugh, then pulled a recorder from her robe pocket and placed it on the desk, "I just want to renegotiate the contract with you." She pressed play and a conversation between Edward Thompson and Lawrence came out, "When Sienna marries Grayson, we'll be able to freeze her shares as guardian ..."" That Grayson kid thinks he's getting revenge, but he's just a knife in our hands ..."
Grayson's face was getting ugly. It turns out that the board of directors knew who he was, and that the marriage was a double trap from start to finish -- he thought he was using Sienna to get revenge, but he didn't realize that he was the pawn being used, and that Sienna was playing everyone for a fool.
"Now you understand, Mr. Cole." Sienna turns off the recorder, "Lawrence and Edward want to use you to get rid of the dissidents and take control of the Empire. And I ..." She stepped closer to him, the tip of her nose almost touching his chin, "I need an ally strong enough to help me take back what's mine on my birthday."
Grayson watched the twinkle in her eyes, the confidence that belonged to someone who was truly in control. He'd always thought his plan for revenge was seamless, but he hadn't realized that from the first day he'd stepped into the Empire Group, he'd walked into a chess game that Sienna had already laid out." What makes you think I'll help you?"
"Because of this." Sienna held up her cell phone, and on the screen was a picture of her biological sister, Emma, at the London College of Music. "Emma's graduation recital next month is going to require a significant amount of sponsorship. Oh yeah, and it looks like she's running out of her asthma medication, the German specials aren't very good on the market."
Grayson's fists clenched; Emma was his only weakness, and Sienna had even found out." You're threatening me?"
"It's cooperation." Sienna tilted her head at him like a cat who'd stolen a fish, "You help me clean up Lawrence and Edward, and I'll give you enough money and contacts to accomplish your true purpose--whatever that may be." She paused, her tone suddenly soft, "Besides, we're already married, aren't we?"
The word "couple" ran through Grayson's body like an electric current. He looked at Sienna's face close at hand, and could clearly see the cunning and a hint of imperceptible seriousness under her eyes. Not only was the woman smart and ruthless, she could always hit him at the right time.
"Deal." Grayson heard his voice rasp, "But I have one condition."
"Go ahead."
"From now on, no more investigations into my past." He stared into her eyes, "Including Emma."
Sienna was silent for a few seconds, then held out her hand, "Deal." Her palm was warm and soft, a far cry from the forcefulness of her earlier.
Grayson took her hand, but felt a palpitation the moment it touched. This woman was like a poppy, beautiful and deadly, and he knew once he got his hands on it, he'd never get out." It's late and time to go to bed, I have to go to the office tomorrow and deal with those old foxes."
"Yeah." Sienna turned and walked towards the door, halfway there she suddenly turned back, "By the way Mr. Cole, it's time to change the sheets in your bedroom, the smell of cedar mixed with the smell of blood isn't very pleasant."
Grayson's eyes flickered. It was amazing that she knew he'd dealt with a henchman who'd tried to leak information last night. How many more of his secrets did this woman know?
As he watched Sienna disappear down the corridor, Grayson walked over to the window and looked out into the night. His cell phone vibrated with a new message from Liam: "Got it! The yacht accident three years ago was planned by Edward Thompson, the real Grayson Cole may still be alive!"
Seeing this message, Grayson violently smashed the wine glass in his hand on the desk next to him, the glass shards pierced into his palm, and blood dripped onto the Persian carpet. It turns out that not only is he a pawn, but even his own identity may be a lie. And Sienna Monroe, the woman he should have considered an enemy, has become his only ally.
As the night deepens and soft footsteps sound in the mansion, Sienna stands in the doorway of Grayson's bedroom and listens to the low, suppressed roar and sound of water running inside. She pulls out her cell phone, and on the screen is a picture of Grayson as a young man, when he was still called Nate, with a big smile and clear eyes.
"Father, this chess piece you've arranged seems to be more complicated than we expected." She murmured softly, running her fingertips over his face in the photo, "But it's okay, this game is just beginning."
In the bathroom, Grayson looked at himself in the mirror, a cold sweat covering his forehead. Liam's news had just exploded in his head like a thunderbolt, the real Grayson Cole might still be alive? What was he then? An impostor who had taken over the nest, or a victim of some larger conspiracy?
He turned on the faucet and the cold water washed over the wounds in his palm, but it couldn't extinguish the flames of his anger... Sienna's face flashed in his mind, her smile, her provocations, the secrets in her eyes... ... The woman was like a great mystery that drew him in, but warned him of the dangers involved.
"Grayson Cole ... No, maybe I should call you Nate?" said Sienna's voice suddenly in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with a medical kit in her hand, "It takes a professional to handle something like a wound."
Grayson turned around, droplets of water slid down his naked chest and dripped onto the floor. He watched Sienna approach, smelled the stronger scent of gardenias on her, and was suddenly struck by a delusion -- that the woman who should have been eliminated from his plans might be his only salvation in this conspiracy.
"It seems we need to add a new line to our contract." Sienna took out a cotton swab, dipped it in iodine, and gently wiped the wound on his palm, "In the future, if you get hurt, you have to tell me first."
Grayson looked at her lowered eyes, her long lashes fluttering like butterfly wings. He suddenly reached out and cupped her chin, forcing her to look up at him, "Sienna, what do you really want?"
Four eyes met, the smell of iodine and each other's breath filling the air.Sienna's eyes flickered for a moment, then resumed their usual slyness, "What I want, Mr. Cole, you can't give back right now." She broke away from him and placed a Band-Aid on his wound, "Well, get some early rest, my ... husband."
Watching her back as she left, Grayson leaned back against the cold tiled wall, feeling lost for the first time. His revenge plan, the mystery of his identity, and this elusive woman in front of him, all of these were like a huge net that trapped him firmly.
What he doesn't know is that at the same time he's in a state of confusion, Sienna returns to her bedroom and pulls out an old photo album from her nightstand. In the photo, a young Caroline Monroe is holding a baby, and the man standing next to her is smiling gently - a picture of Grayson's father, one of the original founders of the Empire Group, in his youth.
"Mom, Dad, I finally found him." Sienna stroked the photo, tears glistening in her eyes, "The man who can help us take it all back."
Outside the window, the night sky over New York is cloudy, and a bigger storm is brewing, as Grayson and Sienna's covenant marriage moves from being a pretend couple who test each other's mettle to a deeper sense of bonding and uncertainty. They are both allies and rivals, attracted to each other and on guard against each other in a business war full of lies and betrayal, destined to walk an unpredictable path on the edge of love and hate.