The Cleaner's Return

At the mention of her eldest son, Sienna’s heart gave a vicious throb, a phantom pain ripping through her chest.

She smiled a bitter, hollow smile, staring out the car window at the passing city streets. "Someone is taking care of him back there. We might stay a little longer this time."

She had scores to settle.

Six years ago, she had believed with every fiber of her being in Roman’s love. Instead, he and Blair colluded to murder her while she carried a three-month-old life in her womb. As if tossing her to a watery grave was not vile enough, Blair shamelessly produced a forged will after her supposed death. The fake document framed her demise as a suicide driven by her own insurmountable guilt over a fabricated affair.

The true traitors roamed free, basking in wealth and adoration, while she bore the brand of a cheating, disgraced wife even in her grave. For the blood they drew, she would make them pay with their own. And then, there was Kian’s body…

Sienna drew a steadying breath and turned to Harper in the passenger seat. "How is the job opening I asked you to look into?"

Harper shifted in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel. "I pulled some strings and asked around, but right now, there are no corporate openings in the Knox Group. Nothing at all, except…" She winced, avoiding Sienna's gaze. "Except for a cleaner."

Without a second of hesitation, Sienna’s lips curled into a determined smirk. "I will be a cleaner, then."

"How can you do that?" Harper demanded, her voice thick with disbelief. She had held Sienna’s hand through the grueling reconstructive surgeries, watched her fight through agonizing physiotherapy after the twins were born, and witnessed her rise from the ashes. Sienna had built a lucrative, dazzling career as a renowned jewelry designer in Europe. Forsaking that newly established glory to scrub floors in Alden City felt like madness.

"There are plenty of prestigious design firms here begging for your resume," Harper pleaded.

Sienna shook her head. "I only want to infiltrate the Knox Group."

The apartment Harper secured belonged to a relative and sat empty most of the year. Located a short drive from the city center, it boasted a spacious living area and three bedrooms. Sienna and the twins spent the better part of the afternoon scrubbing counters, unpacking essentials, and making the stark space feel like home.

By the time the afternoon sun dipped lower in the sky, they had finished the brunt of the work.

Sienna grabbed her tailored black trench coat from a hook by the front door. "Nash, take care of your sister. I am going out to buy some daily necessities for the kitchen and bathrooms."

"Okay!" Nash called out, his small face giving nothing away.

The moment the front door clicked shut, dropping the silence of the empty apartment around them, the aloof six-year-old sprang into action. He marched to the coffee table and popped open his sleek silver laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up a recent video interview.

Hazel trotted over, clutching a fluffy brown teddy bear to her chest. She peered at the paused frame of Roman Knox.

"Nash, is this Daddy?" Hazel asked, her big eyes blinking at the screen. "You are right. Between the three of us, he looks the most like me."

Nash raised his gaze, studying the sharp, aristocratic lines of the man’s face. He squinted at the monitor. "Yes." Turning his head, he met his sister's wide eyes. "Do you remember what I taught you?"

Hazel nodded firmly. She balled her tiny, chubby fists, her childish voice turning dead serious. "I promise to act as best as I can!"

A short taxi ride later, Sienna stepped through the sliding glass doors of the bustling local department store. Cool air conditioning washed over her as she navigated the wide aisles, tossing fresh produce, milk, and toiletries into her metal shopping trolley. As she turned a corner near the cosmetics section, a familiar, sickeningly sweet voice echoed from a massive promotional screen mounted above the registers.

"I didn’t expect everyone to be so interested in my and Roman’s wedding."

Sienna froze.

On the brilliant LED display, Blair offered the cameras a modest, gentle smile. "We are both focused on our careers right now and have no time for a grand wedding ceremony."

The talk show host chuckled, leaning forward. "That is so understandable. Everyone knows you have been together with Mr. Knox for more than five years. Your feelings for each other run deep and sincere…"

Sienna’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the trolley handle. Her chest tightened, filled with a suffocating, simmering rage. Five years? The timeline Blair paraded in front of the media overlapped with her own marriage. It was a blatant confession of their affair, yet dressed up as a noble, devoted romance.

According to the forged will Blair pushed onto the public, Sienna’s dying wish was for Roman to marry Blair and take care of her forever. They used her name to sanitize their betrayal. Disgust clouded her mind, heavy and thick. She had lost her past, her original face, and almost her life, while they stood in the spotlight, celebrated by Alden City as a tragic, beautiful love story.

Blinded by the raging storm in her head and the deafening echo of Blair's lies, Sienna pushed her metal trolley forward without checking the intersection.

A solid thud jolted her back to reality. The metal basket crashed hard into a tall, imposing figure stepping out from an adjacent aisle.

"I am sor—"

She raised her head, and the apology died in her throat. Her breath caught, trapping the air in her lungs.

Roman Knox stood inches away.

Six years had etched sharper, more dangerous lines into his handsome features. He looked colder, more authoritative, and significantly more mature than the man she remembered. Dressed in a tailored charcoal suit that emphasized his broad shoulders, he radiated an oppressive, untouchable aura.

Roman narrowed his dark eyes, glaring down at her. "Do you not keep your eyes on the road?"

His baritone voice sent a chill down her spine, but not a shred of recognition flickered in his gaze. He possessed no clue that the woman standing before him was his murdered wife. Her near-fatal fall into the sea had left her original face battered, infected, and rotting. The extensive reconstructive plastic surgery gave her a flawless, unfamiliar beauty. She was a stranger to him.

Sienna sucked in a sharp breath, forcing her erratic pulse to steady. The frightened, obedient girl who used to beg for his crumbs of affection was dead.

Her lips curved into a slight, sarcastic smile. "I apologize. I was too distracted by your fiancé’s touching interview and accidentally lost my bearings."

Roman’s brow furrowed, his piercing gaze locking onto her features. "You recognize me?"

"You are Roman Knox. Who would not recognize you?" Sienna maintained her icy composure, tilting her head. She audaciously pushed the boundary. "To fulfill your promise to your deceased ex-wife, you agreed to take care of her sister forever. This sacrifice became a much-told story in Alden City. It is hard to miss such noble dedication."

Roman’s eyes darkened immediately, a storm brewing in his irises. From a distance, he had spotted her back. The shape of her shoulders, the exact cadence of her walk, the subtle way she held her posture—everything about this stranger perfectly mirrored Sienna. He had unconsciously altered his path to cross hers, driven by an unexplainable ghost of a memory.

But hearing her speak shattered the illusion. The old Sienna was soft-spoken, gentle, and eager to please. She never wielded words like sharp blades. This woman’s biting, sarcastic tone threw him off balance.

Before Roman could probe further into the strange encounter, a blur of designer fabric stepped into their periphery.

"Roman!" Blair’s sugary voice rang out.

She trotted over like a devoted little bird and intimately hooked her arm through his. Blair cast a brief, dismissive glance at Sienna before looking up at Roman. "What are you doing? Did something happen?"

Roman pulled his lingering gaze away from Sienna’s unfamiliar, striking face, locking the ghost of his past away. "Nothing."

Without another word, he turned and allowed Blair to lead him toward the exit. "Did you buy everything you needed?" he asked Blair, his tone flat.

"Yup!"

Sienna stood rooted to the polished tile floor. She watched their retreating backs, letting the cold aftermath of their first meeting wash over her. The battle lines were drawn.

Later that evening, the small dining table in their rented apartment overflowed with a sumptuous dinner. Sienna had spent the past hour chopping, searing, and seasoning, trying to cook the anger out of her system. She plated the food and forced bright, cheerful smiles for her twins.

Despite her efforts to mask the turmoil, the perceptive Nash caught the subtle tension in her shoulders. He watched the way her fork pushed the rice around her plate without lifting a single bite to her mouth. Nash said nothing, calmly finishing his meal while formulating a plan in his head.

After dinner, while Sienna washed the dishes, Nash slipped quietly into his bedroom. He booted up his laptop and pulled up a command terminal. Within minutes, his fingers danced across the keys, bypassing the local department store's rudimentary firewalls. He hacked into their surveillance system and scrubbed through the afternoon footage.

He watched the grainy video stream of his mother pushing her trolley. He saw the jerk step into her path, and then the arrival of the mistress clutching his arm.

A fierce, protective anger flared in Nash's chest. He gritted his teeth, glaring at Roman’s pixelated face. No wonder Mommy came home shrouded in gloom. She had bumped into the enemies on her very first day back.

Nash bit his bottom lip, closed the laptop, and slid off his chair. He padded down the hallway and squeezed through the cracked door of his sister's room.

Hazel was sitting cross-legged on her rug, brushing her teddy bear’s fur.

Nash crossed his arms, his young face set in grim determination. "We start our mission tomorrow."

Early the next morning, the apartment smelled of toasted bread and warm milk. Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, casting long shadows across the floor. Sienna set three plates on the breakfast counter. "Nash, Hazel, time for breakfast!"

Nash shuffled out of his room, exaggerating a wide yawn. He rubbed his eyes and climbed onto a tall stool. "Hazel stayed up late last night watching cartoons. Do not disturb her, Mommy."

Sienna sighed softly, pouring a glass of milk for him.

Nash took a deliberate sip and looked up. "Oh, right, Mommy. Are you not going to the post office to collect our shipped items?"

Sienna nodded, grabbing a slice of toast. "We will go together once the two of you finish eating."

They had accumulated a lot over six years in Europe, and several large crates needed to be retrieved. The post office had called her yesterday, urging her to collect the cargo.

"Why do you not just go right now?" The aloof boy continued eating, his tone casual but firm. He smoothly manipulated the conversation. "You can get it out of the way before the lines get long. We are not five-year-old kids anymore. I can watch the apartment."

Sienna hesitated, looking at his serious expression. She let out a helpless chuckle, grabbing her trench coat from the hook. Despite being only six, her son often acted more mature than most adults. "Fine. Lock the door behind me. I will be back soon."

The heavy front door clicked shut.

The second the lock engaged, Nash dropped his toast. He hopped off the stool and darted back into his room, his casual demeanor vanishing instantly. He flipped his laptop open, verifying the street-level surveillance footage to ensure his mother had boarded a taxi heading away from the city center.

Satisfied, Nash pulled a small black smartphone from his pocket. He dialed a number and pressed the speaker to his ear.

He murmured into the phone, "Hazel, are you there yet?"