Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
Turned out, the answer was yes.
The only thing worse than running into your ex was running into him with his new girlfriend, while you stood there pathetically alone.
At the welcome ball, which was basically a singles” mixer, I had wanted to turn and leave the moment I saw them. But the crowd behind me a pack of college kids-pushed forward, and I was carried with them.
Lea wore a wine-red dress with a flaring hem, auburn hair pinned in an elegant knot. She clearly loved red, and I had to admit, it suited her,
She wasn’t clinging to Sebastian’s arm, but the way she leaned in close, whispering now and then, made it clear enough they were together.
I kept my distance, though I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.
He must have felt it.
The moment he turned his head, I ducked behind a column.
Then I cursed myself. Why was I hiding?
“Hi there.” Lea appeared in front of me, glass of wine in one hand, the other extended.
“I’m Lea Lopez.”I shook her hand briefly.
“Eleanor Vance.”She smiled.
“I know. We should have met a long time ago, in Paris.”
“Yeah,” I said drily.
I knew exactly what she meant. Her arrival in Sebastian’s life had marked the beginning of the end of ours.
I glanced past her. Sebastian had disappeared.
“Didn’t expect to run into you here,” she said.
“Same here.” I wanted to slip away, but she blocked the exit.
Then, suddenly, she said, “I envy you.”
“Huh?”Her voice was gentle, oddly at odds with her striking looks.
“I was an orphan. People said my birth father was a murderer. I was bullied for it. Later, I was adopted, but it wasn’t the life- changing gift I’d imagined. It was…” Her voice faded.
I frowned, baffled by why she was telling me that.
People raised in loving families can’t understand those like me. Luckily, I met others with similar backgrounds. Sebastian, Kyllan, Olivier. At first, we looked out for each other. Then we started running… operations. Not exactly on the ght side of the law, but it brought in money. And money meant independence, Freedom from the families we despised. That was all we wanted.
I shifted on my feet. What was this? A sympathy id? A boast that she had known him longer than 1 had? I already knew that.
Lea’s tone softened.
“I get why he was drawn to you. You had difficult parents too, but you turned out differently from us. You’re not bitter or vindictive, You’re… normal. Opposites attract, I suppose.”My brow furrowed.
Her smile brightened again.
“But it never lasts. Sooner or later, you realise you and Seb don’t share the same outlook. You’re too different. The relationship was doomed from the start.
Ah. There it was. She was here to gloat.
“Sebastian and I are over,” I said evenly.
“The relationship has already failed. Are you telling me this just to congratulate yourself on predicting it Before she could reply, a man’s voice cut in.
“May have this dance?” He was looking at her.
She smiled, took his hand.
“Of course.” She threw me a gracious smile before gliding onto the dance floor with him.
“May I have the pleasure of this dance, my lady? French-looking man in a white tuxedo bowed before me, hand extended.
He was handsome in a dandy way, with a smile that called to mind a young Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.
I’m not good at dancing.”
“I could teach you,” he said.
Persistent, but not pushy.
I nodded But before I could take his arm, an iron grip closet round my wrist.
“She’s taken.”
“That’s a shame.” The man glanced between us, rugged, and walked away.
“What are you doing here?” I pulled free of Sebastian’s grasp.
I could ask you the same thing. His voice was as hard as his expression.
“I don’t owe you an answer. I stepped back, putting space between us, “If you’re looking for your girlfriend, she’s over there, dancing”Sebastian frowned, following my pointing hand. T’s!
“Not my concern. I’m hungry.”I fled.
Damn it. I stuffed myself with prawns in garlic butter, muttering curses in my head. Why couldn’t I act normal around him? I had thought could, Smile politely, treat him like any other man, maybe ask how he was and wish him and Lea well,
But the words refused to come,
I couldn’t bear to hear him say her name, could bear the end of that unfinished sentence.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
I was the one who broke up with him. So why was still so hung up?
Maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I just hated the thought that he had already moved on while I was still stuck in the past.
Determined to prove otherwise, I accepted the next man’s invitation to dance,
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lea now dancing with Sebastian. The music swelled, the pace quickened. They drew closer to where I stood.
Someone bumped me from behind. I faltered, triped on my heel, and heard the rip of fabric.
Lea gasped. Her hand flew to her chest. I had stepped on the hem of her dress, and one of its narrow straps slipped from her shoulder, baring ven more skin.
Sebastian immediately shrugged off his tuxedo Jacket and draped it over her.
“You all right?” he asked.
I’m fine.” She straightened, clutching the Jacket he glanced at me.
I opened my mouth to apologise, but the Words froze as I stared at his jacket around her shoulders.
I kept staring as they left the ballroom together.
“You’ve really changed,” Lea said, turning to look at me.
“When you said you wanted to go on a cruise, I thought you were joking.”
“Yet here we are.” I stood at the railing, gazing out at the Mediterranean. September dusk had painted the sea in shifting shades of violet and gold, the horizon glowing as the sun sank lower.
Not everyone had gone to the ball. Out on deck, clusters of young passengers mingled and laughed. Some were taking selfies against the pink sky, others pointed excitedly as dolphins arced from the water. Music drifted faintly from the ballroom doors, but out here the sound was mostly laughter, the slap of waves and the click of cameras.
Lea inhaled deeply.
“It’s beautiful. Thanks for bringing me out here.”I said nothing.
“We should have stayed and said hello to Eleanor,” she added, testing me.
“I will,” I said.
“Just not now.” I would speak to Elean once I had dealt with Lea.
The thought of Elean’s face propelled me away from the railing.
“You need to get changed.”She was still wearing my jacket.
“Step inside for a moment,” I said when we reached my suite.
Lea arched a brow but followed me in.
“A nightcap?” she asked lightly.
“I’d prefer a glass of-” Her words broke off as I flicked on the light.
“What’s this?”We weren’t alone.
Two chairs sat in the centre of the living area. In one, an old man with thinning grey hair stared at the floor, resignation etched across his face. In the other, a man in his early thirties with golden hair looked shifty and ashamed.
“Don’t you recognise your own husband?” I asked “Say hello to Pierre.”Lea stumbled back, but I blocked the door.
“Sebastian, what is this? Why is Pierre here?!
“My men spent weeks getting the truth out of him,” I said.
“So there’s no point lying anymore.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, Lea,” Pierre rasped, his voice hoarse. had to tell them. They’d have cut me off.”Her chest heaved.
I pressed on before she could spin another lie, her greatest talent.
“I found the drug you used to control him. My men turned the same method back on him-comply, or suffer a cold withdrawal. It took three days before he cracked.
“Sebastian, I can explain-“
“Pierre’s a wastrel, yes. A playboy, useless with money. But he’s not violent. His parents swear it, his friends swear it, even his mistresses do. Only you claim otherwise. He says he never laid a hand on you. One of you has to be lying.”Her face drained of colour.