Part 3Passing Through His World

Sienna really moved in.

In the house Cole and I had shared for five years, the scent of another woman began to linger.

When we first moved in, Cole gave me the master bedroom with the best sunlight.

He had said, Our Cindy deserves the best of everything.

Now, I was kicked out, and the room was given to Sienna.

With a simple claim of being "allergic to pollen," Sienna had Cole throw away all the flowers I had carefully cultivated for years.

Sienna loved spicy food. Suddenly, every meal on the table was loaded with chili peppers, completely ignoring the fact that I couldn't handle spicy food at all.

My best friend was furious when I told her. "Why haven't you dumped him yet?"

"Cole just misunderstands me," I replied, a bitter taste in my mouth.

I firmly believed he was doing this purely out of spite.

It was just like when his mother abandoned him for another family. Years later, no matter how much she begged him to visit her, he refused. Even on her deathbed, Cole never showed up.

He was a man of extremes.

During this time, I was quietly investigating who took those photos.

The photographer was incredibly opportunistic.

Gabriel brushing a bug out of my hair was framed as him caressing my face. Gabriel pulling me out of the way of a speeding scooter was framed as him embracing me.

The most ridiculous one was the "kiss" in the car. Gabriel was just leaning over to check the side mirror, but the angle made it look like a kiss.

The motive was clear. Someone wanted to destroy my relationship with Cole.

Following the digital footprints, I finally found the person who hired the photographer.

I never expected it to be Sienna.

I found them sitting in a cafe. Sienna was taking something from the man's hands.

She smiled, a malicious glint in her eyes. "I want more photos. As many as possible. I want Cole to completely loathe that bitch Cindy."

In that moment, fury eclipsed my reason.

I marched up to their table. "So it was you who hired someone to stalk me!"

Sienna paused, looking at me with wide, innocent eyes. "Cindy? What are you talking about?"

I looked down at the flash drive she had just taken. I lunged forward to grab it, but she pulled back quickly.

"Cindy, this is mine! What are you doing!"

In the struggle, Sienna fell to the floor.

Suddenly, a furious roar echoed through the cafe.

A strong force shoved me aside. My lower back slammed hard into the sharp corner of a nearby table. The blinding pain brought instant tears to my eyes.

"Cindy, have you lost your mind!"

Cole stood protectively in front of Sienna, glaring at me with raw anger. "Why are you bullying Sienna!"

I swallowed the pain, looking at Cole with red-rimmed eyes. My voice shook with grievance. "She hired someone to stalk me! I just heard them talking about it!"

Cole frowned, looking back at Sienna for an explanation.

Sienna handed the flash drive to Cole, her eyes welling up. "I didn't do anything. This is the photographer I hired for you. He took pictures of your last race for the club's website."

The photographer immediately chimed in, opening his laptop. "You can check the drive right now, sir. We aren't lying. This crazy lady just showed up and accused me of stalking her."

Cole plugged the drive into the laptop. The screen lit up with high-quality photos of his race cars.

I was speechless. "But I heard them talking about me just a second ago. Cole, you have to believe me."

"Believe you? Why on earth would I believe you?"

"Because you're too busy sneaking around with other men?"

Cole's gaze swept over me, filled with contempt.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried perfectly to the onlookers.

Mocking, curious glances shot toward me like arrows. I felt as if I were standing naked in the middle of the room, swallowed by intense shame.

I had been in a situation like this before.

When I first started my writing career, a senior author falsely accused me of plagiarizing her work. No one dared to offend the industry giant, so they all pointed their fingers at me.

Public opinion crushed me.

At a prominent publisher's gala, everyone looked at me with disgust.

Just as I was about to flee in tears, Cole arrived like a knight in shining armor. He slammed a stack of evidence on the table for everyone to see.

He pulled me into his arms, his voice firm and unwavering. "Cindy did not plagiarize. She is the most dedicated writer I have ever met, and I will not allow anyone to slander her!"

That night, he fought the world for me.

But today, he was the one pushing me into the fire.

My heart contracted violently. For a second, I forgot how to breathe.