Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
No red flags so far.
I called Priya.
“How’s the studio?”
“Fine. We had some walk-ins wanting custom jewellery. I told them you were away on business, took their numbers, said we’d get back to them.”
“Good. What about online orders?”
“Still coming in. New orders have slowed, though. The manufacturer says they need more time to source the stones for our designs. So we might get a backlog. I’ve reached out to other OEMs.”
“I know. But don’t rush. The current manufacturer’s reliable. Their quality is consistent. I’ll need to vet any new ones myself.”
“Got it.”
“How are the new assistants doing?”
“Still getting the hang of things. Admin and customer service are fine. I still have to handle most of the custom orders-it’s the jargon.” Priya hesitated.
“I’ve been studying jewellery design books. Trying to get up to speed. But when the manufacturer said “Dora polish”, I knew he didn’t mean the fish, but that’s about it.”I laughed.
“It’s fine. You’ll get there. Look up Oppi Untracht’s book-it’s basically the jeweller’s bible.”
“Will do.”
“Has anyone been bothering you?”
“No. If you mean Prescott-he hasn’t been back since he found out you were in Paris. Though…” She lowered her voice.
“I don’t think he’s given up.”Ignore him. If he shows up, call the police. I’ll be back in two weeks. Hold the fort.
I promised her a commission bump and hung up before she got emotional.
“Back to numbers,” I muttered, staring at the screen “Saking of numbers…”I closed the Valmont file and opened a different email.
When Sebastian returned, I handed him the freshly printed document.
“Take a look.”He picked it up.
“What’s this?”
“Prenup.”She said “prenup”. I heard “divorce”.
I stared at the document in my hands.
“Why?”
“Isn’t it standard practice? You gave me something to sign when we got fake married.”
“Exactly.
“Fake” being the operative word. This isn’t.” My voice barely rose above the roar in my ears.
What was she playing at? Drawing up an escape route before we’d even made it to the aisle? Did she really have that little faith in us?
“I thought you liked contracts.” She sounded genuinely baffled, even a bit hurt.
“It protects both our interests. I don’t get why you’re so worked up about it.”I kept my eyes on the document. If I looked at her, she’d see too much.
“Will you at least skim it? We can change anything you’re not happy with.”Skim it? All I wanted to do was rip the bloody thing into confetti and scatter it to the wind.
Still, I sat down and flipped open the first page.
Most of it read like a remix of the contract I’d made her sign for our fake marriage-clearly, Elean had studied my playbook.
But the real kicker was in the assets section. I had to re-read it to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
If we divorced on neutral terms, Elean would walk away with nothing-no settlement, no jewellery, no shares in Nyx Collective-and she’d buy out my stake in Elean Joie at market price.
A clean break.
It was all laid out in plain, emotionless language. To any outsider, it would look not just fair, but generous Amicable, even.
If I weren’t the one being cut out.
How long have you been working on this?” I asked, keeping my voice level.
“Not long Two, maybe three days? I got my lawyer frie to draft it. He did most of the work Finn Carter?
She nodded, smiling. He gave me the friends and family discount Brilliant Finn Carter. The same guy who took her bel who looked at her the he’d love nothing more than to against Bhys for free, who took her out to lunch, off his shirt and after her his heart on a platter.
Looks like Finn’s thought of everything. I said coollying down the bay rising in my throat.
We hadn’t even been psperly engaged for two weeks “He’s good at what he does, Mure said breezy. Elbet can still make changes she already has an exit strategy didn’t notice my tone or she didn’t care.
“But you “It says here that if I cheat, or if the break-up’s my fault, you get Nyx Collective. You think I’m going to cheat on you?”She gave a sheepish shrug.
“It’s just a safeguard. These things have to be comprehensive. It’s not personal. Look, there’s also a clause for if I cheat.”I tossed the document onto the coffee table.
“I’m not signing it.”
“Why not?” she asked, staring at me..
I didn’t have an answer I could say out loud.
Elean was only doing what I’d taught her-protect yourself first.
Wasn’t I the one who showed her the first contract? The one that turned love into a business deal?
So why did it feel like a slap in the face now that she’d learned to do it better than me?
My thoughts drifted to Lea. The contrast was jarring. When I met her earlier, she wouldn’t even let me speak to that violent bastard she married. The woman sobbing into her wine last night was gone. I had to pry information about the guy out of Kylian.
She’d had no prenup. Which made things messy. Even if Lea finally agreed to a divorce, it’d be a long, bitter slog. Kylian said Pierre’s family would fight it tooth and nail.
Elean, on the other hand, had everything locked down. Bulletproof.
Two women, two extremes. And somehow, both left me furious.
“Maybe we can talk about this later,” Elean said, backing down.
“Didn’t you say we’re seeing a designer today? I’m excited.”
“Are you really?” How could she be excited about wedding dresses when she’d already planned for the divorce?
“Of course. Who doesn’t like new clothes? I looked up his portfolio. Valmont & Cie might even collaborate with him. Haute couture and fine jewellery-natural playmates, right?”
“And if we divorce, do you keep the wedding dress?” I asked, sharper than I meant to.
“I don’t know. What’s the prenup say? She turned to mob, you’re still mad?”
Glad you’ve noticed”But I don’t get why And you won’t explain the back up now, I could tell. You know, the whole strong, slient contior’s out of fashion We prefer wen wo speak up these days. If you’ve got something to matred i brooding like you’ve forgotten by to use your outh say, hay When I gave you that contract last year, you took days think it user. This time, it took what-two days able the engaged for you to start working way! You callest your lawyer before you even picked venue I had” nght the dog, you have prat brought a dress all the rack? Thear that wonten find that an ind be this is about me njing the bedding? Mit her banda up. You and Yvaine both. What’s with this is that it the bar’s wing the hole thing, u ons she don’t care? It’s like saying il a woman doesn’t code down’t be la band Outdated crap. Fine, you want the truth? I don’t care much about the wedding. There. Happy?”She kept going.
“We’re already married. We’ve gone public. I don’t see the point of a big ceremony. But if it matters to you, I’ll do it, I’ll book the venue, send the invites, shout at the florists and caterers and whoever else until it’s all perfect. Is that what you want?”I pinched the bridge of my nose. The pressure behind my eyes was starting to throb.
“No. That’s not what I want. I’ll handle the logistics. I just don’t want you prepping the parachute before you’ve even boarded the plane.”
“It’s not a parachute!” she snapped, then caught herself. Took a deep breath.
“It’s like insurance. You buy it when you fly-you don’t PLAN to crash, it’s just common sense.”
“I don’t buy plane tickets. I have a plane.”That tripped her up for a second. Then she clenched her jaw.
“You know that’s not the bloody point.”
“I get your point.” I just didn’t agree with it.
“So you’re not signing?”
“No.”
“Fine. Your loss.”
“Will you still go to the dress fitting?”She rolled her eyes.
“I’m tempted to say no, but you’ll only twist it into proof I don’t care about the wedding, So yes. I’ll go.”
“The car’s “My phone rang.
I glanced at the caller ID. Declined it.
“We could grab dinner after-“It rang again. Same name. I declined.
Then it rang a third time. Relentless.
“You should take that,” Elean said, watching me.
“Looks serious.”I tore down Rue de Rivoli, swerved past Boulevard Haussmann, and headed for the 8th arrondissement, probably broke half a dozen traffic laws on the way.
My car screeched to a stop in front of the H?tel Plaza Ath?n?e. I jumped out, tossed the keys to the valet, blew past the smiling concierge trying to greet me, and abbed the lift button.
Lea’s screams still rang in my ears.
She’d sounded terrified on the phone. There hadn’t been time to think-just act.
The lift crawled upwards. Agonisingly slow.
When the doors finally opened, I stepped out into a softly lit hallway, carpeted, perfumed, and decorated to tasteful perfection.
But no amount of piped jazz or high-end fragrance could cover the drunken yelling or the reek of stale booze.
Pierre Marchand was slamming his fists against the door of room 602, knuckles bleeding onto his monogrammed shirt cuffs, not that he gave a shit.
I grabbed his shoulders and spun him around to face me Even flushed with rage and alcohol-and whatever else he’d taken-he still had that annoyingly textbook- handsome face: blue eyes, high-bridged nose, thin lips, strong jaw.