Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
Dubois stood rigid beside me, fists clenched so tight her knuckles whitened.
A long, suffocating moment later, she turned and stormed offstage, nearly tripping over a power cable.
But she didn’t get to disappear just because she wanted to.
I saw a man block her way.
They exchanged words in a tense undertone.
Then the man walked onto the stage.
He gave me a smile that was weirdly ingratiating before he turned to face the audience.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Tristan Hadley, the executive director of this competition. We’ve confirmed that Dr. Ali?nor Dubois accepted a bribe and deliberately sabotaged the scoring process. The results were compromised. We’ve contacted the police. She’ll be investigated, along with whoever put her up to it.”
Gasps and muttering rippled through the room.
Dubois looked like someone had yanked the floor out from under her.
Her knees gave slightly, and she grabbed the edge of a speaker to stay upright.
She didn’t even have time to form a denial before two officers entered from the back aisle.
They moved straight to her, snapped cuffs on her wrists, and marched her out with no ceremony.
The room buzzed with whispers.
Some phones were still raised, still filming.
I glanced at Tristan.
I was pretty sure I’d never seen him before.
I turned, scanning the audience until I spotted Sebastian. (1)
When our eyes met, he gave me a smile and nodded.
The noise faded enough for Tristan to gesture towards the crew.
The screen behind me blinked, then lit up with my original design.
Tristan cleared his throat.
“This design also belongs to Miss Vance. Because of Dr. Dubois” interference, she was forced to submit two drafts under ridiculous time constraints. Even so, both entries were complete and technically flawless. It’s obvious she’s working at a level far beyond what we expected from this competition.”
The audience clapped. Loudly.
He kept going.
“If she’d had the time she deserved, the results would’ve been even stronger. It would’ve been a shame if this set had been buried.”
The applause picked up again.
“There’s an old saying about a single rotten apple spoiling the bunch. That’s what Dr. Dubois did to this event. But I hope everyone understands her actions don’t reflect the competition as a whole.”
He turned to the judges.
“We’re going to rescore Miss Vance’s entries. I expect fairness this time.”
That got the comments moving again.
[That’s more like it.]
[No need to score. Just hand @MVanceJewels the damn trophy.]
[Give her both first and second place. Those designs crushed the rest.]
[Stop wasting time. Announce it.]
Tristan stepped aside, gave the crew a signal, and the judging resumed.
“Will you come with me, miss?” he sidled up to me and whispered.
He pointed downstage.
Sebastian’s seat was empty.
I followed the man backstage.
Sebastian was waiting there.
Tristan approached.
“Mr. Laurent, just checking if the arrangement’s to your satisfaction?”
Sebastian stared at the giant screen for another three seconds before he spoke.
“When’s the award being announced?”
Tristan hesitated.
“The judges are scoring live now. After that, there’s a closed session where they’ll finalize the rankings. It’s a weighted system. Two phases of scoring combined for the final result-“
“So the answer is no,” Sebastian cut in.
“We’re not getting a result tonight.”
“Normally, no. We release the final rankings online within three business days. That’s always been the practice.”
“This is tedious. The event’s already a mess. I want the result tonight.”
“Right-yes-I understand, but…” Tristan swallowed.
“It’s a long-standing protocol. We’ve never announced a winner on the same day-“
“Kian Al-Ahmad said this was under my authority. If I want the process changed, are you planning to stop me?”
“Absolutely not!” Tristan backed up half a step, waving his hands quickly.
“Not at all. I’ll inform the committee now. We’ll announce the result immediately.”
He didn’t wait for a reply.
He turned and disappeared.
Seven minutes later, the host returned to the mic While the host droned on about the change in protocol, I turned to Sebastian.
“Octavia told you?”
He nodded.
“The Hadley guy works for a friend of mine. I asked him to look into it. Dubois took a payment. Six hundred thousand, wired two days ago. Offshore account. She’s the one who ordered everything. The sabotage, the switch-up, all of it came from her.”
I frowned.
“I don’t even know her. Never met her before today.”
“She’s just the hired gun. Hadley only had enough time to find out about the payment but couldn’t trace the sender. It’s buried. Whoever did it knew what they were doing.”
“Huh. I wonder who it could be.”
But there was no time to dig into it at the moment.
The host’s voice boomed, “The final score is in. First place goes to… Miss Eleanor Vance!”
A staff member waved me back onto the stage.
After the award ceremony, we hit another snag.
“Miss Vance, quick question-about the rights to your designs.” A staff member, who’d probably been roped into this against her will, approached me with an apologetic smile.
“What about them?”
“As per the contract, the designs submitted during the competition belong to the organizers. That includes both sets.”
“Wrong.” I shook my head.
“I submitted one set. The second one only went in after your colleague sabotaged my original entry. This set’s yours. The first one stays with me.”
“We’d really appreciate your cooperation-“
“Not happening.”
She tried again.
I didn’t budge.
After five more minutes of back-and-forth, she gave up and walked off.
I pulled out my phone and sent the files to Priya,
[Necklace goes premium. High-grade stones, higher price tag, position it as affordable luxury. Rings, bracelets, earrings-use budget-friendly materials. Keep the designs clean, price low, wide reach. The views just hit two hundred thousand. Let’s ride the wave.]
She replied instantly. [On it!]
“Eleanor!”
I turned and spotted Octavia making her way through a gap between the curtains.
“Congrats! You got what you came for.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let them bury me.”
I meant it.