Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
“What is it?” Sebastian’s expression told me he felt the same way.
I hesitated, lips dry.
“There was a woman, someone who… You’ve been in love with her for a long time, haven’t you? It was before you came back to Skyline.”The second I said it, I felt both lighter and heavier.
Finally, I’d gotten it off my chest.
But saying it out loud didn’t make it better.
It made it worse.
A wistful look came into Sebastian’s eyes.
It softened all his facial features.
His eyes crinkled with a genuine smile, like whatever he was thinking of had brought him real joy.
And it brought me real pain.
The nod he gave was without hesitation.
“Yeah.”I’d prepared myself.
Still, it felt like I’d been kicked in the ribs.
I forced my expression steady.
“What’s she like?”
“She’s-” He paused.
The look he gave me was surprise mixed with confusion, like he didn’t understand why I would ask that.
He swallowed whatever he was about to say and instead asked, “What do you think she’s like?”Why would he ask me that?
The man had just proposed to me less than two minutes ago, and now he didn’t even look the slightest bit embarrassed talking about his ex-flame.
Was he that thick-skinned, or was I missing something I recalled what little intel I’d gathered from Prescott.
“She’s a dancer, from Wessexia. Isn’t she?”
“What?” Sebastian shot to his feet.
The baffled look on his face must have mirrored my own We stared at each other.
He finally exhaled hard.
“Where the hell did you hear tha? That’s-Jesus, that’s not even close. What dancer? There’s no such person.”
“There isn’t?” I blinked.
“But… you just admitted there was someone. Someone you’ve been in love with for years. If it’s not the dancer, then who-“
“No.” He spun around and started pacing!
It was rare to see him this agitated.
He paused abruptly in front of me, leaned down close until all I could see was his face.
“The person I’ve been in love with this whole damn time is you!”
“Me?” I searched his eyes, saw nothing but my own reflection and his absolute conviction.
Now I wanted to pace.
“I’m not talking about now,” I said.
“I meant before. Before we got married. Before we knew each other.”
“I’m talking about before too!”
“So there was never a dancer in Wessexia?”
“No.”
“You didn’t marry me because you couldn’t have the woman you actually wanted, and needed a stand-in-“
“Fuck, no!” He looked like he was about to combust.
He spun in another tight circle.
“Tell me, who told you this? Who made up that bullshit about some dancer? Who is out there writing me a fake love life?”Okay, we definitely had our wires crossed.
Was it Gwendolyn?” He fired names off like they were of a hit list.
“My father? Geoffrey? Dominic? Yvaine? Daniel? Or was it Cassian?”
“Calm down,” I said quickly.
“It had to be Cassian.” He yanked his phone off the charger.
“He’s the only one who knew how long I’ve felt this way about you. Of course he’d twist it. Typical bloody Langford, inventing some ballerina out of nowhere.”
“It wasn’t him!” I lunged up, legs still tangled in the sheets, trying to grab his arm.
“Don’t call him. Sebastian, don’t-“Too late.
The call connected.
Sebastian hit the speaker button, breathing hard.
Cassian’s voice drifted out, slow and sleepy.
“Sebastian. What’s up?”
“Did you tell my wife I had some other crush before I married her?”
“What? What are you on about? When would I have-“Apause. Cassian sounded more alert now.
“Wait. You mean before you two got hitched?”
“Yes!”
“Well, let me think… Yvaine asked something about your love life once. Ages ago. I said you’d been into someone for years. You never told me to keep it under wraps, so I just mentioned it. Why?”
“Did you tell her the woman I liked was a dancer?”
“What dancer?” Cassian genuinely sounded confused.
“Why the hell would I say that? Since when is she a dancer?”
“So that didn’t come from you?”
“What didn’t? Are you high?”
“I’m not. Are you?”
“What? No!”Sebastian exhaled sharply.
“Tell me exactly what you said to Yvaine.”
“What I just told you. That you’d been carrying a torch for some woman.”
“Did you name her?”
“No. Back then, I didn’t know it was Eleanor.” Cassian’s tone turned sly.
“If I had, I’d have told Yvaine the whole lot. That you were sniffing around even when she was still with Daniel. That you faked your grandfather’s dying death to get her to marry you. That you bought the flat opposite hers just to stalk-“
“That’s enough.” Sebastian ended the call with a sharp swipe.
He turned to me.
“You heard that?”I nodded slowly.
My head felt weirdly light, as if my brain had floated slightly out of place.
“So you know there was never a dancer. Now tell me, where the hell did that come from?”
He stepped closer, his gaze pinning me in place.
I looked away.
“Prescott Williams told me. He probably male it up.”Sebastian muttered a curse.
“Of course it was that dickhead”His eyes turned cold and were fixed somewhere over my shoulder, like he was mentally choosing which wall to slam Prescott through.
Before he could get that far, I asked, “So the dying grandfather story? Your family pressuring you to settle down? That was all rubbish?”Some part of me already knew. Ever since that hospital visit, after watching the way Sebastian treated his grandfather.
He looked me dead in the eye.
“Yes. I lied. I lied because I wanted you, and I didn’t care how I got you.”
“But why?” I stared at him.
“Don’t tell me it was love at first sight. I know I’m not hideous, but I’m also not delusional enough to think I have that kind of impact on men.” Especially not on a man like Sebastian.
“When did we first meet?”I tried to remember. Any glimpse of him, any flicker of recognition from before all this.
He sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand.
“Seven years ago. You were still in school. You flew to Florence for a design competition.”I nodded.
“I remember.”My first competition, also my first win.