0927 Was Her Birthday, Not Ours Chapter 07
7 p.m. A text from Megan at reception.
[Sienna, there’s a woman here claiming to be your best friend. She’s got an attitude.]
I went down to the first-floor conference room. Paige’s eyes were swollen and red. She shot up
the second she saw me.
“Why are you trying to destroy me?”
I closed the door and started recording.
“You sent that letter to Dylan’s office. His parents are forcing me to abort the baby. Making him
cut me off!”
“Sienna, you used to be so soft.”
“Weren’t you the one who couldn’t stand seeing anyone uncomfortable?”
“Weren’t you the one who split every lunch check because you didn’t want me to feel bad about money?”
I looked at her. “So you two picked me on purpose.”
She gritted her teeth. “Dylan doesn’t love you!”
“Every day with you was suffocating for him! That baby you lost, he never wanted it in the
first place!”
Someone’s footsteps stopped outside the conference room.
She got louder. “You know what?”
“That night you were crying in the hospital, he was in my bed. from being a dad.”
The air stopped for a beat.
Paige looked at me, her eyes full of vicious delight.
“You done?”
She froze.
He said he was finally free
I picked up my phone.
Played the last part of the recording.
Her face went white. “You recorded that?”
She lunged for the phone.
I stepped sideways and opened the conference room door. “Want me to call the cops for you?”
Paige got shaky. “Sienna, you wouldn’t dare!”
I stepped closer. “You were so good at asking lawyers questions on your livestream last night”,
“Tonight you get to answer to a cop.”
She finally looked scared.
“Sienna, I was just talking.
Dylan lied to me. He said you two had already broken up.”
“He said his parents gave him the money for the house. He lied to me!”
Security walked her out. She was still yelling, “Sienna, you won’t win!”
I stood in the doorway. “You two better stick together tight.”
She stopped. Turned back.
Her eyes were full of hate.
The day of the pre-trial mediation, Dylan showed up early.
Suit, tie, and the watch I’d given him on his wrist.
There was a scratch on the bezel.
The year I was pregnant, I’d been craving the wonton soup from a place on the east side.
He crashed the scooter. Scratched the watch. Spilled the soup.
He’d held me and said he’d never let me suffer again.
In the mediation room, Larry sat beside me.
Dylan had his parents and the company’s legal team.
Paige wasn’t there, but her lawyer was.
The mediator flipped through the documents, frowning the whole time.
“Mr. Reese, Ms. Vance is requesting return of the hundred twenty thousand dollar loan, plus an additional thirty-five thousand in other transfers, plus medical losses, emotional distress, and reputational harm.”
Dylan’s lawyer spoke up. “We acknowledge the hundred twenty thousand loan.’
Helen yanked at his sleeve.
The lawyer ignored her. “But the other transfers were gifts made during the relationship.”
Larry slid a stack of documents across the table.
“Every transfer aligns with Mr. Reese’s fabricated stories, fake debts, fake bankruptcy, fake creditors.”
“Todd Simmons’s recording admits he was paid by Mr. Reese to stage debt collection visits.”
“The fake appointment link logs and IP address trace back to Todd’s workstation.”
“Paige Holloway’s livestream consultation shows she knew about the house sale, the miscarriage, and the fake page — and still helped manage and cover it up.”
–
Paige’s lawyer went pale. “Ms. Holloway is also a victim.”
I looked
“Want me to play the recording where she calls my parents stupid?”
He shut up.
Dylan had been staring at me since he walked in.
His under-eyes were bruised. “Sienna. Let’s talk alone.”
Larry said, “I wouldn’t recommend that.”
Dylan’s voice cracked. “I’m begging you.”
Helen’s eyes went red instantly. “Sienna, I’m begging you too.”
“The Reese company can’t survive this kind of scrutiny.”
I looked at her. “Could my family survive losing our house?”
Helen choked.
Dylan’s father spoke for the first time. “Ms. Vance. We’ll pay the money back.”
“But withdraw the claims for reputational harm and marriage fraud.”
