Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
“Do you want me to come with you?”I hesitated. Then shook my head.
“No. I can handle it.”I grabbed the door handle, then paused.
Fine. He deserved context.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. About Aunt Louisa. You were right-I shouldn’t let guilt steer my decisions just because chopts 30 pett she’s been… decent to me.”
I sighed.
“Marriage should be about me and the person I’m actually marrying. Not how charming his mun might be “He didn’t say anything Just gave me a slight nod.
“I gave Daniel the ring back ages ago. But there’s something else I forgot to return to the Grangers.”There’d been an exchange of gifts when our families arranged the engagement.
My dad gave the Grangers an heirloom gold fing.
Louisa had it now.
The Grangers” gift had been a vintage brooch.
According to the family lore, it once belonged to Louisa’s great-great-great-grandmother, who probably wore it while judging people in oil paintings.
My parents had kept it locked away in a safe somewhere.
When I stepped inside the house, only Caroline was there.
She was on the sofa, sipping coffee.
“Well, well. Look who finally showed her face,” she sneered, without looking away from her mug.
“You sounded real tough on the phone the other day. And now you’ve come crawling back? After slapping Catherine and Serenna in front of half the city? Unless you’re here to apologise, save your breath.”
“I’ve got nothing to apologise for. If anything, Catherine should be apologising for sleeping with my fianc?, and Serenna for trying to steal hers.”Her coffee cup hit the table so hard I thought the glass would crack.
“Unbelievable! I raised you. I fed you, clothed you, paid for your bloody orthodontist. And now you think you can just cut us off?”
Here we go. Again.
“Don’t start with the Greatest Hits,” I cut her off fast.
“I didn’t come here for a lecture. I came for the brooch the Grangers gave us.
She frowned like I’d asked for her kidneys.
Took her a full five seconds to even remember what I was talking about.
Then her eyes narrowed.
“Why do you want that brooch?”
“I don’t see how that’s your business. It was given to me. It belongs to me.” My patience was already on a three-second fuse.
“Absolutely not,” she snapped, all tight-jawed fury.
“You’re planning to return it, aren’t you? To the Grangers?”
“So what if I am? Louisa gave it to me. I can do with it whatever I like.”I checked my watch.
I’d stupidly thought this would be quick.
In, out, done. Five minutes, max.
But no, Caroline was digging her heels in.
“I’m your mother. I have every right to hold on to it for safekeeping”Exactly, safekeeping. As in, you’re just the storage unit. And newsflash, when something’s mine, I can take it back whenever the hell I want. Like… now.”
“Absolutely not. It’s way too valuable to just hand over.”I narrowed my eyes.
“You giving it to me or not?”She sniffed, mouth curling into that nasty little smirk she probably practised in the mirror.
“Even if I did give it away, it wouldn’t be to you. If Daniel gets engaged to Catherine, she should have it.”
“Then wait till they’re engaged. Until then, it’s still mine.”If I didn’t hand that brooch back to Louisa myself, she’d keep thinking there was still something between me and Daniel. Which… ew.
“Still no.” Caroline’s eyes darted.
She knew damn well if Louisa had the final say, she’d never let that heirloom piece land on Catherine’s backstabbing chest.
I raised a brow.
“Oh, I see. You’re scared Louisa and the Grangers won’t accept Catherine, right? Scared that even if Daniel does propose, Louisa’s gonna pretend she doesn’t see her? So you’re just gonna hoard the brooch like some paranoid dragon and hope no one notices? That’s delusional, even for you.”That hit a nerve.
Her nostrils flared so wide I thought she might actually combust.
“How I handle things is my business,” she hissed.
“And mind your bloody tone. I’m your mother, not someone you get to lecture.”
“Cool. Then you’ll love this.”I whipped out my phone and started dialling.
What the hell are prin doing?? Caroline chricked, full transtine Eve potres pour mind? But that phone drum She hinged from the sofa.
Cie slipper few offt mi? spit, but the didn’t even notles Too busy flailing at me, trying to snatch the phone from my hand,
I stepped back calmly, dodging her grab like we were doing slow-mo tai chi Too late. I already called the cops. They said they’re on their way Caroline froze Her legs went wobbly like someone pulled the plug on her spine.
You called the police? Over this little thing? Are you insane?”
“Oh, now it’s just “a little thing”?” I folded my arms.
“If it’s so unimportant, why’ve you spent the last ten minutes playing keep- away?
“You don’t call the police on your mother!” she shrieked.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you even see me as family?”
“You’ve got two minutes to bring down the brooch If you do, I’ll cancel the police report. If not, I’ll tell them you stole the brooch from me and that it’s worth millions. Let’s see how that goes over.”She stared at me like I’d slapped her with a frying pan.
Then her mouth twisted into something sour and bitter.
“Fine. You win.”
She spun around and stomped upstairs, muttering God knows what under her breath.
Probably hexes.
Truth was, I never made the call.
I just wanted to scare the hell out of her.
If she’d paid any attention, she’d have noticed I didn’t give the “police” my address.
It was just some light psychological warfare.
And it worked.
Still, I wasn’t exactly doing a happy dance.
All I wanted was my own damn thing back, and she acted like I’d demanded a kidney.
This family had stopped seeing me as one of them a long time ago.
The sound of heels clattering down the staircase snapped me out of it.
Caroline came barrelling down, looking like she’d aged ten years in three minutes.
She shoved a mahogany box into my hands.
“Here. You got what you wanted. Now cancel the bloody call.”I popped the box open and inspected the brooch.
It was intact.
No scratches, no substitutions.
Then I snapped the box shut and turned on my heel.
Caroline came flapping after me like a pissed-off goose.
“Eleanor! Cancel the damn call! You really want the cops showing up on my doorstep? What will the neighbours think? Do you hear me? Tell them not to come!”
I didn’t break stride. Just waved my phone over my shoulder.
“Relax. They’re not coming.”I was halfway down the driveway before she even hit the front door Once I got a few houses away, I stopped. Turned around.
Three-storey homes, all smug and cookie-cutter, lined both sides.
This wasn’t the fanciest part of Skyline City, but anyone living here wasn’t clipping coupons either. grew up here, but that house wasn’t mine anymore.
I spun back, power-walked out of the neighbourhood, and spotted Sebastian’s car parked by the kerb like a black jaguar waiting to pounce..
I forced my face into something vaguely neutral, slid into the passenger seat, and buckled up.
“Got what you came for?” he asked, eyes flicking to the box.
“Yeah.” I set the box on my lap, fingers curling around the carved edges.
He started the engine.
“Right. Off to the Office of the City Clerk. No backing out now, Miss Vance.”I nodded.
“No backing out.”Once we hit the main road, he glanced over.
“So, what was so important you had to show up at the crack of dawn to grab it?”I ran my thumb along the floral carving on the lid.
“It’s the engagement gift the Grangers gave me. From back when we were still pretending that was a good idea.”