\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 35\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 35\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna\u2019s heart skipped a beat. She hadn\u2019t expected that Clayton would remember all the gifts he had given her over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she had first received gifts from him, she had been over the moon and had taken great care to store every single one carefully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But one day, she realized Rowan had bought them all following his instructions. They were mere afterthoughts to placate her, and many were duplicates. In fact, she had received the exact same bag three times in a row. The identical and thoughtless gifts were completely devoid of any sincerity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From then on, she had shoved all those bags and jewelry into a corner, where they lay quietly and collected dust as time went by.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now that Clayton had come to question her about it, Sienna couldn\u2019t help feeling a little guilty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She blurted out a lie on the spot. \u201cMaybe I wore it out and accidentally lost it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turning to Rowan, Clayton went on, \u201cIs that so? Call the police. This is a ten-million-dollar theft.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait!\u201d Sienna hurriedly stopped Rowan, who was about to make the call. \u201cIt\u2019s just a necklace. If it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone. It\u2019s not\u00a0<\/p>\n
like you care about that one piece of jewelry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right on cue, Rowan handed over some documents and said, \u201cMrs. Hale, according to the transaction records at the secondhand goods store, your friend, Ms. Gill, sold this necklace to them. Could it be that she took your\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna cursed inwardly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, she had needed to hire a private investigator to look into Xavier Jaeger\u2019s whereabouts. It wasn\u2019t convenient for her to use the money in her own account, so she had casually picked a necklace and asked Michelle to deal with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who would\u2019ve thought that Clayton, that damned bastard, would notice that a piece of jewelry was missing from the stash?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told her to sell it,\u201d Sienna said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton lifted a hand, signaling Rowan to step aside. He looked at Sienna with a half-smile that wasn\u2019t quite a smile. \u201d Weren\u2019t you so adamant about leaving with nothing? But behind my back, you\u2019ve been secretly selling off our joint marital\u00a0<\/p>\n
property.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna held her ground and argued stubbornly, \u201cIt was just one necklace! Do you really have to be so petty? I gave you so many gifts over the past three years, and I never asked for any of them back! What about the ties, cufflinks, and watches? Why don\u2019t you count those too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton took a step closer. \u201cSorry. I\u2019m indeed a petty man. Especially since you said you\u2019d leave the marriage with nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He bent down, his breath brushing against her ear. \u201cEither return the necklace to me, or I\u2019ll call the police and have Michelle arrested. Pick one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna took half a step back, gritting her teeth. \u201cWhat if neither is possible?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton let out a short, mocking laugh and narrowed his eyes. \u201cNeither? Then what gives you the confidence to bring up divorce with me? Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re counting on the 40 million or so dollars in your bank account.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna\u2019s eyes went wide. \u201cHow did you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her daily expenses were all paid with Clayton\u2019s credit card. She spent money freely without batting an eye. Most of the money in that bank account had been allowance from Rupert, with the occasional bonus from Irene when she was in a good mood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was basically payment for good behavior, wasn\u2019t it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
YCLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 35\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna had always considered that money her \u201csalary\u201d and kept it in a separate account she rarely touched. She had agonized over whether she should return it after the divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After consulting a lawyer and confirming it was all gifted property that didn\u2019t need to be returned, she decided to shamelessly keep it for herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deep down, she was reluctant to give it up anyway. If the Winger family ever cut off her mother\u2019s medical expenses, that money would be her safety net.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had assumed Clayton, busy as he was, wouldn\u2019t bother with such details. Who knew she\u2019d be caught red-handed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton raised an eyebrow. \u201cChecking bank statements is easy. That 40 or so million counts as marital property too. Weren\u2019t you swearing up and down that you\u2019d leave with nothing? Don\u2019t even think about taking a single cent of that money. You\u2019d better get that necklace back too. After all, my next wife is waiting for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna was so furious that she started heaving. She wished she could burn a hole through Clayton with her stare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This bastard was incredibly generous when it came to his precious Melody. He had spent over two million dollars on that dinner without batting an eye. But with her, he was counting every penny. Wasn\u2019t that 40 million dollars just the equivalent of 20 such meals?\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she left the restaurant earlier, she\u2019d casually taken the two unopened bottles of red wine worth roughly half a million from the table. Had he noticed that as well?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna took a deep breath and tried to play the emotional card. \u201cDo you really have to be this heartless? We\u2019ve been married three years. Even if I don\u2019t deserve that money, don\u2019t I at least deserve some compensation for my effort?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton suddenly smiled, a hint of amusement in his eyes. \u201cWhat effort? Wasn\u2019t I the one doing the hard work and serving you most of the time?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna froze for a moment. Then, she immediately realized what he meant. Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Certain images flashed through her mind. Every time, she was the first to complain that she was exhausted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clayton would chuckle by her ear and say, \u201cLet the man handle the physical labor.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI-I\u2019m not talking about that!\u201d Sienna shrieked, her ears turning red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She argued, \u201cDon\u2019t I take care of you in daily life? Have I ever let you go hungry or thirsty? I keep the house in perfect order! Doesn\u2019t that count as effort?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA housekeeper can do all that,\u201d Clayton said lightly.<\/p>\n
She got the divorce and bolted 35 \u00a0 Chapter 35\u00a0 1\/2\u00a0 Chapter 35\u00a0 Sienna\u2019s heart skipped a beat. She hadn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-she-got-the-divorce-and-bolted-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}