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Whenever Sienna shed a single tear, Winona was blamed and berated.

Sienna was painted as fragile and kind.

Winona was labeled manipulative and fake.

Winona's perfect world was shattered. Natalie assumed the girl would be crushed.

Instead, Winona kept revolving happily around Zachary, seemingly oblivious to the malice directed at her.

Zachary never showed up to pick them up that day. Winona called him again, only for him to say that Sienna had fallen ill and he had to rush her to the hospital. He had dispatched another driver to get Winona and told her to wait.

Walking beside her, Natalie had felt the crushing weight of Winona's disappointment.

But Winona healed herself almost instantly. "It's not his fault. Sienna is just really fragile. We only talk for a few minutes and she faints, so of course everyone pays attention to her. I'm strong, so... it is what it is."

Her voice had trailed off, growing quieter and quieter, revealing just how many times she had forcefully swallowed that exact same excuse.

Even after that, Natalie and Winona weren't incredibly close. When Winona became the target of school-wide isolation, Natalie watched from the sidelines, feeling a heavy knot of discomfort in her chest.

It wasn't until college, when they shared the same major and dorm room, that their bond truly solidified.

Now, Natalie's voice on the phone dripped with exasperation. "Are you actually going through with the divorce this time? I swear, if you cling to a man like Zachary Shaw again, I'm going to lose all respect for you."

Though she hadn't been intimately involved in every chapter of Winona's life, she had watched their relationship from high school onward.

It had always been a one-sided devotion. Zachary only had to throw Winona the barest crumb of attention, and it was like she was injected with pure adrenaline, willing to forgive and forget everything in a heartbeat.

When Winona got married, Natalie didn't even attend the wedding. In her own words, showing up would have only pissed her off.

Now that a divorce was finally on the table, Natalie was ready to pop champagne.

Because what kind of husband abandons his wife on the second day of their marriage to comfort his stepsister, and doesn't come home for an entire week?

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