Seventeen

 SUSPICIONS. 

JULIAN'S POV

The week has gone with meetings upon meetings, calls for clarity, teaming up with employees and even holding board meetings too consistently, both impromptu and planned. And now just this board meeting was already a disaster. There was no trust or even patience. The company was already losing funds as payment for researches and even the shady deal signed got their way to exhorting the company's recent gains. 

Numbers didn't lie, the report showed clearly the company was bleeding money from every corner that I knew and did not as presented by the financial team. I clenched my fist to my side, jaw tight in frustration as I stepped into the quiet street with gaze darkened except from the sky outside that was painted with already fading purple but it did nothing. 

It was still what it was. I was losing the company. 

The whispers from the board room replayed in my mind, the hints of sarcasm in that voice, their almost void emotion that were so taunting on its own. 

Pretense! I gritted my teeth at the realization. Someone inside was pulling us out and whoever the traitor was, they kept their mouth shut, not even a single voice in the room, they all stayed silent while I raised suggestions and findings — even Dominic. 

And that silence! 

I clicked my tongue. It wasn't just nothing. It was not just anything I could ignore, I had to look into it just because that silence at that crucial moment was nothing but conspiracy. 

Well coordinated and calculated. 

I trembled at my conclusion, a wave of heat suddenly hitting on my skin. 

I alighted from the car as I loosened the tie's grip on my neck as I stepped inside the hallway of the mansion. I was taken aback by the warmth of the house — not welcoming or even the usual. It was eerily quiet. Too cold just like an already built stage waiting for the next act. As I walked on, my shoes clicked against the marble floor with the echoes fading off behind me but not without standing as a shadow that persisted. Although I felt odd, it never stopped even as I headed towards the living room. 

And then I stopped in my tracks just when I got to the door. Everything fell off from the cologne, a man was indoors. Rage punched me in the face and I jerked the door open ready to hit the man inside until I froze. Shock evident on my face. 

There, he sat comfortably on the cream colored couch with a glass of wine clutched in his hands. There he was Dominic, sitting across from Sienna who sat looking almost pale, he'd knuckles whitening. 

I walked away from the door towards them as I grinded my teeth, my gaze not leaving sienna who shifted uncomfortably. My suspicions grew, she could not be having an affair with my brother right? 

My eyes darted to Dominic from where he sat — relaxed to the chair. 

“Well, if it isn't the busy husband.“ Dominic's voice cut through the questions in mind and that was teasing. I reacted, surprised as if to ask what on earth was going on here. 

I tried to respond when Sienna quickly stood and in the process lost her balance and almost knocked over the wine glass on the small sized stool before her until Dominic caught her. 

That was calculated. My mind is brewed with a lot of questions. Were they hiding something??

Her voice keeps me back to the present. “Aham! Julian… you are back early.“ She said, forcing a smile. 

I ignored her as I turned over to meet Dominic, “what are you doing here?“ I questioned, voice threatening. 

My attention faltered to sienna..

“Was there a party?“ I asked, utterly confused. 

“Just came to see how my sister in law is doing. By the way, has she told you her…?“ 

Sienna cuts him off abruptly as if there was a secret I knew nothing about as I saw her legs tremble. 

“He asked for a glass of wine since he was close by. I tried to call you but the server was bad.“ She muttered defensively as she bit her lips constantly but why did it all sound like lies? 

Dominic stood from the couch and walked towards me, “I hope the company is not taking a toll on you already.“

He said, his voice thick and lacing with sarcasm or maybe he was just teasing but all I heard were threats and I just couldn't shrug this one off as he patted my shoulders and walked off dismissively. 

And Sienna, she stood while biting unto her finger like a child reprimanded for stealing. My gaze fixed on her, I wouldn't take it off because this woman was something else. 

“Julian… I.. uhm” I heard her stutter her words but I was not interested. My focus shifted to the company because as at the moment, that was the only thing that mattered and her issues would not be burdened on me as I fought for my legacy and position. 

I turned my back away from her, my shoes clicking against the floor like another round of reminder the last week was already knocking on the door. I let out a cold breath as I headed towards the bedroom and once I walked in, I took off my suits and entered the bathroom with a towel draped around my waist. 

With the shower turned on, I wished every work load died easy and not take a toll on me like it was now. I got out, dressed in casual wear and walked off to study and there, as my eyes scanned the documents on the mahogany desk, my mind would often drift to Dominic's presence in the mansion. 

And although I tried to act oblivious, everything was strange. I took out my phone dialing a number. 

“Track every of Dominic's movements and his sudden association with my wife.“

My wife! Once I said that word, the cold bit hard to my skin almost causing me to freeze at the word I had just said.

There, my wife was with my brother forno reason I could figure. 

Sienna..

Her name trailed on in my mind