Sienna snapped to life.
"Why are you asking me? I should be asking you!" She cried and quickly turned him around to check the damage. His expensive suit was ruined while she only had a couple of droplets on her dress.
From the fountain, the girl screeched and thrashed around, her wet, limp hair clinging to her face.
"You bitch!" She howled, "You did that on purpose!"
The guests around them were drawn by the commotion and they watched, fascinated as the beautiful girl stood up and climbed out of the fountain.
Her make up was running and she was dripping water everywhere, looking very much like a drowned raccoon.
"You made me go into the fountain," She accused Sienna.
From the crowd, a clear voice rang out, "Didn't you trip into her? If that was an accident, how could she have expected it and purposely gotten you into the fountain?"
The muttering guests parted for a handsome young man in a fitted suit to step through. Zachary Cross was one of the most eligible bachelors in town. On top of that, he was famed for having built his own wealth and success, rising to the top at a tender age.
Beside Sienna, the girl had gone quiet.
Zach clapped his best friend, Damon, on the back and continued, "So are you saying it wasn't an accident?"
The girl mumbled something and shook her head.
Damon took this opportunity to speak, taking off his jacket so that there would be less damage to the shirt underneath.
"Don't you think you should apologise?"
Perhaps it was at that moment that she realised she had gotten wine on Damon Wright in a real accident because her eyes began tearing, "Mr Wright, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to dirty your suit!"
She reached for him and Damon moved out of her reach so obviously that someone watching coughed a laugh.
"I didn't mean for me," He frowned at her, "I mean for insulting my wife."
Her eyes flickered from him to Sienna as if registering their connection for the first time.
"I… apologise, Mrs Wright," She said stiffly and without an ounce of regret. Before anyone could say anything else, she turned and stalked off.
Damon's face darkened, but Sienna didn't want to escalate things further. She had gotten her revenge and didn't want things to get out of hand.
She placed a soothing hand lightly on Damon's arm and instantly, he turned to her, forgetting about the woman.
"Always gotta be in the spotlight, eh?" Zach joked easily. Damon cast him a narrow-eyed glance, but Sienna could see that it was teasing. She hadn't interacted with Zach much in the past, but she knew how close he was with her husband.
They were best friends, which was a surprise since Zachary was warm where Damon was cold and easy going where Damon was stern.
Still, they got along like a house on fire and any business deal that had their hands on it always turned to gold.
"Are you alright?" Zach repeated Damon's question to her and Sienna nodded.
"Thank you for speaking up," She told him with a grateful smile.
Zachary was a bit taken aback. The rumours were that Damon had married a sullen woman who stayed at home all day and didn't have a personality.
But this woman still had such a lovely smile even after such an incident, and her voice was mellow and bright.
"Someone should have," He looked in the direction that the woman had gone in, "She certainly tripped with a lot of accuracy."
Sienna hid a chuckle and then tugged on Damon's sleeve, "You should change. Come on, I'm sure there's a spare suit in this mansion."
***
"That stuck up bitch!" The girl in red screeched as she dried herself off, "How dare she do that to me? Me! Kyra Davies!"
Her friends tried to placate her, but it was useless. She was furious. Where had Damon Wright come from? Vivianne had assured her that he would have left the party early for work and that Sienna would be alone.
Not only had she failed to embarrass Sienna, she had embarrassed herself instead and even offended Damon Wright!
With a wail, she clutched at her soggy ringlets.
Then she sat up straight, her eyes burning with hatred. She was going to ruin Sienna Astor if that was the last thing she did.
With a cold laugh, she picked up her phone, "I heard Sienna Astor just started her own company. Get me the contact details for all the employees."
***
They were stuck in the same room to change. Sienna supposed it was because they were married but she was flustered nonetheless.
Thankfully Damon had turned his back to give her privacy and she had quickly slipped into the change of dress she had brought along.
When she turned around, she was confronted with the broad expanse of Damon's bare back, rippling with muscles as he stripped his shirt off.
For a second, she stared, wide-eyed at the strength contained in that frame, the power in those arms. Then she gulped and spun back around so fast she nearly lost her balance.
She was still hurting from the fact that he had cheated on her with Vivianne in her past life. But being cold and hating him didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a good view, right?
Moreover, who knew Damon would behave so differently this time? It confused her, the way he had somewhat thawed around her this time round.
It would have been so much easier to hate the cold, distant husband she had grown accustomed to.
Frowning, she turned around to find a fully dressed Damon, his expression unreadable and his eyes flicking up to hers as if he had been caught staring at her exposed back.
The dress she was wearing now had a deep V at the back, not too low that it would be inappropriate, but just enough to show off the smooth skin of her back and emphasise her slim waist.
She couldn't help but blush slightly, Damon had never taken an interest in her outfits. Although, she had mostly worn drab, matronly clothes in her previous life.
But he'd never that that spark in his eyes before.
"You didn't have to step in," She told him formally, clasping her hands in front of her, "We agreed to live separate lives, remember?"
"A 'thank you' would be enough," He didn't seem offended though, a hint of amusement shone through his blank expression.
"I don't need your help," She tried again. Stop being nice to me, she wanted to yell, stop making it harder to hate you.
Damon seemed to be considering something, "We were in public. It made sense for me to help my wife, otherwise people would gossip about our marriage."
Sienna sighed. He did have a point, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
"Fine, thank you," She looked him dead in the eye, "But let's just try to stay out of each other's way."
Without waiting for a response, she left first, heading downstairs to rejoin the party.
Alone in the fancily done up room, Damon was lost deep in thought, absentmindedly twisting the wedding ring on his finger.