Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
The moment they disappeared into the study, I tiptoed up after them, pressed my ear flat to the door, and held my breath.
Nothing.
The soundproofing was too good. I might as well have been listening through a brick wall.
I pulled out my phone and typed as fast as my thumbs could move,
(Don’t you dare say yes, I mean it. Don’t give him anything.]
[His logistics company’s a joke. Vance Overland’s never handled anything bigger than a garage move.]
[I don’t give a shit that he’s family. That doesn’t mean a thing to me. Don’t do this to be nice to me, because I will NOT be nice about it if you actually help him.]
[You let him in, he’ll bleed you dry.]
No reply.
I stared at the screen.
“Read” receipts were on. He’d seen everything and sent back nothing.
I stomped back to the bedroom, shoved the door shut with my hip, and rolled up my sleeves.
I started typing again.
Every shady deal, every corner Franklin had cut, every idiot decision he’d made that tanked the company’s reputation.
My phone screen blurred from the speed of my typing.
I didn’t stop until my thumbs ached.
Sebastian entered the study first and walked straight to the leather chair behind the desk.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t look up. He unlocked his phone, scrolled, tapped something, and stayed quiet.
Franklin hovered near the centre of the rug, hands twitching at his sides, eyes darting around like he couldn’t decide whether to sit or stay upright.
Eventually, he stayed standing.
Sebastian kept scrolling.
Franklin cleared his throat.
No response.
“I know Elean’s been… distant,” he started, his voice thin.
“She probably told you stuff about us. Some of it is true, I admit. But we raised her. She’s got a temper, sure, but she’s our daughter. Watching her do well now… it makes me proud.”Sebastian’s eyes flicked up, then dropped back to the screen.
Franklin kept going, his tone sliding into something meant to sound sentimental.
“She hardly comes home these days. I miss her. Her mother does too.”The corners of Sebastian’s mouth twitched.
Franklin perked up a little, mistaking it for warmth.
He launched into a nostalgic spiel about Eleanor’s childhood, a few half-hearted regrets, a few humblebrags.
The company had taken up his time, the weight of a thousand employees on his shoulders, but he’d done his best.
And now that Eleanor was married to Sebastian, she was in good hands.
Still, as her father, he’d like to provide something. Anything.
If only the company weren’t in such a precarious state…
He trailed off when all he got back was silence, and a sore throat from talking too long.
He was still standing; Sebastian hadn’t offered him a seat.
Franklin shifted his weight. Tried again.
“About that project Mr Maxwell used to handle… I was wondering who’s overseeing it now-
Sebastian dropped the phone onto the desk with a soft thud.
Franklin stopped mid-sentence.
“So all that touching nonsense about Eleanor, that was just the warm-up. You are not here for her. You’re here to sniff around for contracts.”Franklin stiffened.
“Of course I’m here for her. She’s my daughter. The project’s… well, a secondary issue.” He smiled ingratiatingly.
“But we’re family now, right? Families help each other. Might as well keep it in the family.”Sebastian gave a short, humourless laugh.
“Let’s not waste time. I brought you in here because I didn’t want to humiliate you in front of her downstairs. That doesn’t mean I’ve got patience for you. And you’re not family.”Franklin’s forehead had gone slick. Sweat clung to his temples, sl down his cheek.
He stammered.
“But… but you married my daughter-“
“And she’s a legal adult. She doesn’t owe you a thing. Neither do I. If you’ve got some grand play lined up, now’s the time to use it.”Franklin faltered.
Then, fist clenched behind his back, he tried one more time.
“I know I wasn’t always the best father. But I was working. I was trying to give her a future. That house, her school, the business -it was all for her. And no matter what, she’s still my daughter. Family fights don’t last forever-“
“That’s still the script you’re using?” Sebastian said coldly.
“I married Eleanor, not your entire circus. Keep your nephew Preston and your wife’s niece Serenna away from her. She forgives too easily. I don’t. Try anything, and I’ll make sure every door in Skyline slams shut on your family. You, Preston, Serenna-none of you will last a week. To me, you’re nothing. The only reason you’re still standing here is because you are her biological father.”Contempt flashed in Sebastian’s eyes as he said the last two words, but Franklin didn’t notice.
He stood blinking, chest heaving lightly, his fingers locked tight around the hem of his jacket.
Sebastian found the sight revolting.
A father who couldn’t even recognise his own child, who poured resources into a nephew while his daughter got nothing.
It disgusted him.
Franklin opened his mouth, shut it again.
What was there left to say?
Sebastian’s attitude couldn’t have been clearer.
He turned to leave.
“Stop.”Franklin halted mid-step.
“Who said you could go?”He turned back, slower this time.
“Is there something else?”
“Eleanor’s your daughter. You never raised a hand to protect her, never gave her a thing she didn’t have to fight for. That ends now. I don’t care what you piss away on your nephew, but Eleanor gets her share of the inheritance.”Franklin’s lips pulled tight.
“I’m not dead yet.”
“You will be. And I don’t trust your conscience to grow a spine before then.”Franklin scoffed, shedding the last traces of performance now that he knew sentiment wouldn’t work.
“She’s got you. She doesn’t need anything from me.”
“Needing and deserving aren’t the same. I’m telling you to draft a new will. Everything you own, everything in your wife’s name, all of it goes to Eleanor.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can. Do it and keep using the money until you croak. Or refuse, and I’ll bleed you dry long before then. You won’t even need a will.”Franklin’s mouth twitched.
“Thave another daughter. Catherine.”Sebastian’s lip curled.
“Are you certain about that?”Franklin frowned, confused.
I’m not negotiating. And don’t bother shuffling assets out of the country or handing them off to Preston behind her back. I’ve got eyes on you. They know where to look. Try and remember what happened to Vance Overland when it got flagged for tax evasion.”Franklin stared.
“That was you?”
“No. That was the IRS. But someone gave them a little nudge.”
“I need time.”
“Take it. Just don’t assume I’ll wait.”Franklin left without another word.
Sebastian pulled out his phone.
“Send the paternity test results. Anonymous delivery. Both Franklin and Caroline Vance.”Chapte r 143 Boycott Campaign I cracked the doot open the moment I heard footsteps.
Kept it barely ajar, just enough to see Franklin bolt down the stairs like his arse was on fire.
I couldn’t catch his expression. No clue if he’d gotten what he care for or if Sebastian had kicked him to the kerb.
I stepped out.
Sebastian came out of the study at the same time.
“Did you check your phone?” I rushed towards him.
“You didn’t actually give him that project, did you? Tell me you didn’t agree to work with that dodgy little shipping company.”He kept walking, straight towards the staircase.
What did that silence mean?
My stomach clenched.
I didn’t know the ins and outs of his business deals, but Franklin was slick and shameless.
“Wait-seriously? You didn’t fall for it, did you? If you trust him, he’s going to screw you over. You really didn’t see my messages?”Still nothing. Not a word.
He headed downstairs.