I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 386

'Sienna, I had no idea your connections with Zachary ran that deep. He's notoriously difficult to work with.'

Ethan had built a thriving empire overseas, and when the AI boom hit, Zachary was his first target. To his dismay, he couldn't even score a preliminary meeting with the man.

Swallowing his pride, Ethan had relentlessly hounded Zachary's assistant, only to be told to wait.

And wait he did—until they ghosted him entirely.

Being the fiercely arrogant man he was, Ethan had snapped. He shoved his overseas operations onto his vice president and flew back home, determined to pivot into a new sector.

Sienna realized Ethan was completely unaware that Zachary had already backed out of the Easton deal. Terrified that this news would cause Ethan to pull his own investments, she had to play along.

Puffing up her chest to save face, she smiled softly.

'You're too kind. Zachary and I actually go way back. We met while studying abroad. He was a senior at the time and always looked out for me.'

'When he launched his company, he even offered me an incredibly lucrative position as his financial advisor. I was seriously considering it, but then Hayden swept me back here to get married.'

Sienna feigned a look of fond regret. Ethan had merely brought up the topic to ease his own embarrassment over accidentally outing Hayden and Zoe's marriage.

But hearing Sienna reminisce about the past naturally brought Zoe to mind, and Ethan scoffed.

'If Zoe hadn't pulled those filthy stunts back then, you and Hayden would have been married years ago. She ruined everything.'

Sienna lowered her head to hide her triumphant smirk. She had officially secured one of Hayden's inner circle. Now she just needed to win over Quentin Muir, Ian Varley, and Asher Kendall.

She wanted the unanimous blessing of his elite circle before she finally walked down the aisle.

Zoe would never stand a chance again.

'That's all in the past,' Sienna sighed graciously. 'Zoe is still like a sister to me. Mr. Montgomery, I know you're Hayden's friend, but please don't speak ill of her in front of me.'

Her overwhelming capacity for forgiveness left Ethan in awe. It made him question if he had been too harsh in his judgment.

People always pitied Zoe's tragic, unrequited devotion to Hayden, completely ignoring the fact that Sienna was the true victim in that mess.

Maintaining her demure facade, Sienna shifted the topic to what was really bothering her: why Hayden had gone out with Ethan today without taking her along.

'Did you and Hayden have important business earlier?' she asked innocently.

Ethan curled his lip dismissively.

'Nothing major. We just had a brief meeting with Director Yates, but we ended up running into those two from Sterling.'

His vague phrasing was all Sienna needed to piece it together. Her eyes widened.

'Zoe was there?'

Why would Hayden attend an event where Zoe was present, yet deliberately exclude her?

Ethan nodded. 'Garrett must be losing his mind. Dragging Zoe into a classified military sector just so she could sit in on the meeting... Even Hayden knew better than to bring you to a place like that. Garrett is risking his entire empire just to impress a pretty face. Mark my words, she's going to be his downfall.'