0927 Was Her Birthday, Not Ours Chapter 08
“He’s young.”
I smiled. “My baby was younger.”
Dylan’s face went white. He finally lowered his head. “Sienna. The baby. I’m sorry.”
I looked at the watch on his wrist.
“Take it off.”
He froze. “What?”
“The watch.”
He slowly unbuckled it and set it on the table.
I picked it up. On the back, two letters engraved: D.P.
At first, he told me it stood for ‘Dylan + Sienna.’
Later, on a screenshot from Paige’s stream, his chat background showed the same watch.
Paige had asked him: Why D.P.?
He said: ‘Sienna’ doesn’t flow, and ‘Paige’ is too obvious. I’ll feed her that for now.
I slid the watch over to Larry. “This counts as joint fraud evidence too.”
Dylan’s head snapped up. “You even know about that?”
Paige’s lawyer suddenly spoke. “Mr. Reese, Ms. Holloway has provided a statement.
He pulled out a document.
“Ms. Holloway states that she only knew about the fake appointment and the use of funds
because Mr. Reese told her. She never actively participated in deceiving Ms. Vance.”
Dylan slammed the table. “That’s bullshit!”
The mediator frowned. “Order.”
Dylan grabbed the document. His hands were shaking. “She lives in the house. She drives the
car. She spends the money. And now she says she didn’t know?”
He turned to me, eyes desperate. “Sienna, she’s the one who told me you’d only want me for my money if you knew who I really was. And she came onto me when you were working nights.”
“I was going to tell you the truth. I swear.”
Mediation failed.
After the court accepted the case, word spread.
Someone at Dylan’s company photographed the cease-and-desist letter and posted it in the
employee group chat.
Clips from Paige’s livestream started circulating.
She used to love doing “relationship advice” streams. Her followers called her “The Clarity
Queen.”
Now the comments were brutal.
[Clear-eyed all the way into someone else’s bed.]
[A real home doesn’t need a certificate, but it does need a face.]
[You really said that about her losing the baby?]
Paige turned off comments overnight.
Then she posted a long statement.
[I was deceived by a man for a long time. I have retained a lawyer to protect my rights.]
I read it and forwarded it to Larry. [She just admitted he deceived her.]
Dylan showed up at my building that night.
He was holding an appointment confirmation.
The real kind, searchable on the Clerk’s Office website.
He held the paper out. “Sienna. This time it’s real.”
I didn’t take it.
He stepped closer. “I made Paige end the pregnancy. Gave her money. Cut her off for good.”
“I sold her place. The money’s going to your parents.”
“Let’s go get the license. Okay?”
His eyes were bloodshot. Stubble on his jaw.
“Sienna, I messed up. Just give me one chance. I love you, okay? I’ll be there every day. You can
have everything, all the money. You’ll never have to bust your ass again.”
“And we can have another baby. Okay?”
“The night you lost the baby, you said you were going to pay. You never came back. I called you
over and over. No answer.”
“You didn’t answer.”
“The nurse asked where your family was.
Dylan’s lips were trembling.
I said he was busy making money.”
I opened the birthday feed from that year. The one with Paige’s cake.
“You were blowing out candles.”
“Sienna. Give me one more chance. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll make it up to the ba-”
Smack.
I slapped him.
The sound echoed in the stairwell.
His head stayed turned. He didn’t move.
I shook out my hand. “You don’t get to talk about that baby.”
His eyes went red. “Hit me again. Hit me until you feel better.”
“Dylan. I don’t want you anymore.”
Behind me, a sound like a sob. But I didn’t look back.
