Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
“I know about the attempt on your life, and what happened at your studio. Do you know who was really behind it?” Daniel spoke with a serious intensity.
I frowned.
“Thanks for your concern. I know. My husband has already looked into it for me, so you don’t need to bother.”
“Eleanor, I know you hate me, you don’t want to talk to me, but this isn’t what you think. On this, Sebastian is lying to you. It wasn’t Catherine,” he said, deadly serious.
“What are you talking about? If it wasn’t Catherine, then who was it?” I was wide awake now.
“Do you really want to know? I’ll be outside your studio at lunchtime. Meet me, and I’ll tell you. I promise you won’t regret it. And Sebastian didn’t just get it wrong, he did it on purpose. He already knew who wanted to hurt you. He’s protecting them by using Catherine as a scapegoat.” Daniel still sounded utterly convinced.
“That’s not possible.” His words made my heart clench.
“He wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t about other things. He treats you well, he protects you, he’d probably give you anything you wanted to make you happy. But on this, he really is lying to protect someone else. Do you understand?
Don’t be so naive, don’t just trust him unconditionally. He might be laughing at you for being such a fool.”
“How can you say that? I don’t believe you,” I said, flustered and angry.
But inside, I felt a pang of doubt.
“I have proof. If you want to know the truth, then meet me for lunch. I won’t try anything, I just want to see you.
I miss you.” Daniel hung up then, not giving me a chance to say no.
“Is it true?” I muttered, my brow furrowed.
“Sebastian… who is he trying to protect?”I shook my head, talking to myself again.
“No. It can’t be. Sebastian wouldn’t do that to me. Daniel must be lying.”
I got out of bed, paced, then paced some more.
“I won’t go. I won’t see him,” I decided.
But then I felt like I’d just be deluding myself if I didn’t.
“Damn it, what should I do?” I sighed.
“Fine. I’ll go and see what Daniel is up to, I’ll see what so-called proof he has.”Over breakfast, I asked Sebastian, “How did you find out it was Catherine?”He looked at me.
“I put Harry and Dominic on it. They reached out to some contacts in the police force, plus… you remember Kylian and Olivier?”I nodded. They were Sebastian’s old business partners, the ones who now ran Titanova Corp, mostly out of Europe.
Sebastian said, “They made a few calls, found out which organisation the gunman worked for. From there, it was straightforward.”
“So… everything points back to Catherine.”Sebastian nodded.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. What about the studio sabotage? How’d she manage to hire a hacker? She said she paid for one, but I still can’t quite figure out where she got the contacts, or even the money. From what I heard, Daniel left her with almost nothing after the divorce. Last I knew, she was leaving Skyline with Mu-with Caroline.”Sebastian set down his fork and looked at me properly.
“She did leave, but that was a while ago. I didn’t mention this, but they-Caroline, Catherine, and Serenna-moved back to Skyline last month.”I pressed a hand to my temple.
“Right! I forgot. I saw Serenna at the party. I should’ve been more surprised. It just slipped my mind.”
“Harry has the full file-everything he found, names, dates, payments. If you want, I can have him send you a copy.”I shook my head.
“There’s no point. I was just wondering.”Sebastian held my gaze for a long moment, quiet and steady.
I looked down at my plate.
The morning dragged on, painfully slow.
Finally, noon rolled around. The second it did, I hurried out of the studio.
There, parked not far away, was Daniel’s familiar car.
A slight smile touched Daniel’s lips when he saw me. ‘You came.’
He quickly got out of the car and came to my side. ‘Eleanor… you still trust me, then.’
‘I don’t trust you. I just want to see what game you’re playing,’ I said, my voice cold.
“That’s alright. You’ll believe that I’m not playing games this time. You’ll believe coming to lunch with me was worth it. Where would you like to go?’ His eyes were soft, his tone gentle.
‘The restaurant across the road,’ I said. I was only here for the truth, not for him.
‘Alright.’
The restaurant was fairly busy. I asked for a private booth.
Once we’d ordered, I got straight to the point. ‘Where’s this proof you mentioned?’
‘Are you really in that much of a hurry?’ Daniel looked at me with wounded eyes, but I felt nothing.
‘Yes, I’m in a hurry to find out what you’re scheming. I also don’t want to be here with you. You know that. If you hadn’t said it was about this, I would never have come.’
Daniel gave a bitter smile. ‘Fine. I understand.’ He handed me a folder. ‘Someone gave this to me. See for yourself. There are some photos in there, too.’
He pointed to a picture of a man. “This guy’s a low–level hustler. Does nothing all day, but his computer skills are decent. He makes a living from shady jobs. If you pay him, he’ll do pretty much anything. He’s the one who hacked into your studio’s network and messed with your database and job sheets.’
I looked at the photo. The man was maybe in his late twenties, and completely unfamiliar. I was sure I’d never seen him before.
‘This isn’t enough proof,’ I said. “This could just be a random guy’s photo you downloaded online.’
‘Wait, there’s more.’ Daniel tapped his phone. ‘I just sent you a video.’
I opened it on my own phone. In the clip, the hacker confessed to altering my studio’s orders.
‘How did you get this? And how can you prove this man wasn’t hired by Catherine?’
‘Look at these.’ Daniel sent me another file.
It was a record of transactions. Payments received by the hacker, sent by a middleman, who in turn got the money from…
‘Genevieve,’ I muttered.
Daniel nodded. “That’s right. The hacker never met Genevieve face to face, but the money he was paid ultimately came from her.’
My chest felt tight, my heart pounding with anger and disappointment.
So, the person Daniel said Sebastian was protecting… it was Genevieve?
‘Are you saying the person who wanted to hurt me is Genevieve, not Catherine? Then why did Catherine confess?’ I asked, my eyes fixed on him.
Seeing that I was finally starting to believe him, Daniel gave a faint, humourless laugh. ‘For money. She’d do anything for money.’ His smile was cynical. ‘Sebastian paid her to take the blame.’
‘That’s not possible,’ I shot back.
Daniel’s expression shifted to one of pained sympathy. ‘Do you care about him that much? You won’t even believe solid evidence right in front of you?’
‘He’s my husband. Of course I care about him.’
My heart was trembling, aching. Why would Sebastian protect Genevieve like this?
‘Why should I believe you? You say Sebastian paid Catherine and she just agreed? How do you even know that?
You’re divorced. And besides, Sebastian said he’d hand Catherine over to the police. Would she really take money just to go to prison?’ A part of me was still desperately trying to defend him, hoping everything Daniel said was a lie.
‘You think Sebastian actually called the police?’ Daniel’s tone was mocking. ‘Look… see who this is? Isn’t it Catherine? She left Skyline last night. This is her at the airport. You think Sebastian would really hand her over?
You’re so naive.’
He continued, ‘I’m telling you, he lied to you. He never called the police. He gave Catherine ten million. Quite generous, really. Ten million, just like that. You know Catherine as well as I do. She’s vain. When we divorced, she fought me for every penny because it was never enough for her. She doesn’t even have a job now. How long would it take her to earn ten million on her own? Of course she was tempted.’
He wasn’t done. ‘Look, here’s the transfer record. The proof. It wasn’t Sebastian himself who sent it, but if you look into this account, you’ll find the guy works for Ryan Fenty.’
I stared at him. ‘Ryan Fenty? What does that have to do with
‘With Sebastian? What if I told you Fenty transferred the money as a favour to Sebastian? Don’t look so shocked. It’s standard practice in our world. People use names they’re not directly linked to when a transaction is… inconvenient, or just plain illegal. If you don’t believe me, go ask Fenty yourself.’
The blows just kept coming. ‘And these photos. This man is Sebastian’s assistant, right? Harry, or something. He was the one who personally approached Catherine. With all this evidence, how can you still not believe me?’
Daniel stared at me. ‘Eleanor, don’t be a fool.’
‘Maybe Harry meeting Catherine doesn’t prove anything on its own,’ he pressed on, ‘but this evidence is more than enough to show that things aren’t what Sebastian told you.’
I bit my lower lip, my hand clutching the folder tightly. ‘How did you get all this? How do you have photos of
Catherine meeting Harry? Or the transaction records between Genevieve and the hacker?’
‘Of course I didn’t have the means to get this myself,’ Daniel said. ‘Someone gave it to me. Someone who clearly doesn’t want you and Sebastian to stay married. But that’s not the important part, is it? The important thing is that this is the truth.’
‘Who? Who doesn’t want me with Sebastian?’
“Genevieve, of course. Who else?” Daniel didn’t hesitate to tell me.
“So, Genevieve gave you all this?” I frowned, staring at him in disbelief.
“She’s the one who gave it to you?”
“Yes, she did. She wants to drive a wedge between you and Sebastian. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s all true.” He seemed past caring about hiding it.
“I guess she was testing Sebastian too. She wanted to see who he would choose to protect-her or you. And she won.”Yeah, she won. That truth was a bitter pill to swallow.
“At least in this, Sebastian was completely on her side. He shielded her, even found a scapegoat to take the fall. She gave me this because she wanted to taunt you. She’s basically telling you to bow out.”Every word felt like a knife twisting in my chest.
“Stop it!” I said, unable to take any more.
“Denial doesn’t help. This is how it is.” Daniel sighed.
“Eleanor, don’t be naive.”
“What’s in this for you? What did Genevieve promise you?” I watched him closely, my eyes narrowed.
“I don’t believe you’d just tell me all this out of the goodness of your heart.”
“Nothing. Genevieve didn’t offer me anything. I just didn’t want you to be lied to, that’s all. I didn’t want you kept in the dark. There’s no other motive.” His blue eyes were intent, sincere.
“You really expect me to believe that? You’re here to ruin things between me and Sebastian too, aren’t you? If you truly had my best interests at heart, you would never have told me.”
“Eleanor, stop deluding yourself. Wake up! What good does it do you, lying to yourself? He was willing to lie to you for Genevieve. He could betray you for her, too.” His gaze was earnest, a warning.
Hearing that felt like another sharp stab to the heart. Could it be true?
“Eleanor, leave him. I’ll marry you. I love you. I know what I did was wrong, and I know I hurt you. I promise I’ll never do it again. I’ll treat you right, I’ll make up for everything.” Daniel reached out and gripped my hand tightly.
I looked at him with pure disgust and pulled my hand away.
“You think telling me all this will make me divorce Sebastian? Dream on. I could never be with you, even if my marriage fell apart.”
“Eleanor, I’m the one who told you the truth. Why does it seem like you’re angry with ME? Shouldn’t you be mad at Sebastian? He’s the one who betrayed your trust.” Daniel looked genuinely confused, and a little hurt.
“Go tell Genevieve that no matter what she does, it’s useless. I will never leave Sebastian. As long as I live and breathe, she will never have him, and she will never become Mrs Laurent.” I stood, grabbing my bag to leave.
“Eleanor!” Daniel quickly caught my arm.
“Can’t you see how naive you’re being? What good does it do to live in denial? Sebastian doesn’t love you. If he did, he wouldn’t treat you like a fool, lying to you and being unfaithful.
Why would you want to be with someone like that? You’re only making yourself miserable. And Genevieve is no pushover. If she’s tried to hurt you once, she’ll do it again and again. You’re no match for her.”My expression was blank.
“Let go of me.”
“Alright, alright, I’m letting go. I know you’re upset. Just go home and think this over. If you need my help with anything, you know where to find me.” He released my arm but continued, “Take these documents with you.”Daniel gathered the scattered papers from the table and pressed the folder into my hand.
“Stop being so foolish, please, just listen to me. And I’ll always be here waiting for you. I love you. No one could love you more than I do.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t look back.
I wasn’t thanking him for his declaration of love; I’d long learned to take anything he said with a massive pinch of salt.
I was thanking him for giving me the truth, however manipulative his motives might have been I walked out of the restaurant in a ze. What was I supposed to do now? The person I trusted most had lied to me.
“No. This might not even be true. I need to get some real answers.” I wiped my eyes fiercely.
I picked up my phone to call Sebastian, but hesitated.
Even if I asked him, he’d probably just lie to me again. He’d just come up with another story.
Then I remembered what Daniel had said about Ryan Fenty.
The problem was, I didn’t know the man. I’d only met him once, at that party.
But I did know his wife, Naomi Fenty, and I had her number.
Maybe I could reach out to her?
I made the call before I could talk myself out of it.
“Hello? Eleanor! This is a pleasant surprise.” Naomi sounded genuinely pleased to hear from me.
“Naomi, are you free?” I asked, carefully keeping my voice light and steady.
“Free? I’m stuck at home every day, of course I’m free! What’s up?” Then she complained, “Ever since I got pregnant, I’ve been cooped up here. I’m practically growing mould. Last time I managed to get out, I almost… well, let’s just say Ryan has me on house arrest now.”
“Well, how about dinner tonight? There’s something I need your help with. But could you please not mention anything to your husband?”Naomi sounded puzzled.
“What is it? So mysterious that you can’t even let me tell Ryan?”I’ll explain everything over dinner. You’re the only one who can help me with this.”
“Okay, okay, don’t worry. I won’t say a word. Where shall we meet? Naomi could tell I was serious and quickly agreed.
“You choose. But are you sure it’s alright, in your condition?” I knew how protective Ryan Fenty was about her and their unborn baby.
“It’s fine, really. Let’s meet at The Galleria. I’ll go there this afternoon to look at some baby things, and we can have dinner when you finish work.”
“Alright, but please be careful. I wouldn’t bother you like this if I had anyone else to ask. I feel terrible asking you to come out while you’re pregnant. Ryan would probably blame me if he found out.”But I needed to know the truth. Even though a part of me suspected Daniel was right, I still clung to a sliver of hope that Sebastian was innocent, that he wouldn’t do this to me.
“Don’t be silly. I’m glad to help,” Naomi reassured me.
“I’ve been so bored stuck at home. Ryan’s probably going mad with me around all the time. He might be glad to see me go out for a bit.”
“Okay. Thank you, Naomi. See you tonight.”
“Sure. I’ll have a nap and then head out. I’ll call you later.”
“Sounds good.”I ended the call and let out a long, weary sigh.
The afternoon dragged on, and I found it impossible to focus.
At one point, Sebastian called.