Page 21 of The Author

I distracted myself by loading up my emails and then noticed I still had no internet connection. Frustrated, I closed my laptop. I could check them later once I had sorted the router out for my Wi-Fi connection.

I glanced at her laptop screen, and she was furiously tapping away now. The screen on her laptop was too small for me to see what she was typing, so I sat back until she had finished.

After a few minutes, she cautiously turned around to look at me.

I held my hand out for the laptop, and she immediately lifted it from the table and passed it to me.

I took it from her and placed it on my lap.

I swear I don't know which book you are referring to. I don't even know who you are or what books you write. I only write romances. You don't look like a romance author.

Everything on my laptop and Dropbox is all the books I have written. I don't have any more. You can cross-reference them all on my website or a retailer's author page. I’m barely computer literate and wouldn't know how to hack into anyone's system.

Please, I implore you. I am sure there has been some kind of mistake. You can phone the publishers or show me your manuscript. My contact's name is Tom, who works at Rathbourne Publishing House. I have left my book open. This is the one Tom told me had plagiarism issues.

Please let me go. I don't know who you are and won't report this to anyone.

I paused and looked over the text again before bringing her document up.

The Sinner by Faye Saunders

This was the book that was different from the other banal romance stories. It was still shit and was nothing compared to my gory horror books.

I quickly glanced over at her, and I couldn't help but smirk at her. She should be thanking me. This experience might make her books better.

“You don't know my name?” I asked, remembering this was the woman who stole two years of my life. I wasn’t fucking born yesterday.

She quickly shook her head.

“I don't believe you. I'm a high-profile author, and my books sell worldwide in four different languages. Show me the email account you sent the book to them.”

Her face fell before she reached for the laptop again.

I gave her the laptop, but this time, I leaned forward to ensure she wouldn't delete anything while opening up her inbox.

Since the internet was down, her email wouldn't load. I checked my phone to see if I could use its hotspot, but the mobile phone network wasn't showing on it. I opened up the settings to check the network connections and tried walking around the room.

The remote location of my property had always been an issue. My mobile reception had never been good here but had always been supplemented with my Wi-Fi which was being a useless fuck right now.

Frustrated with the lack of access again, I shoved my phone into my pocket and yanked the laptop from her.

“My name is Kyle Mathers. I didn’t share my manuscript with anyone other than my editor, so I know you are fucking lying. There is no other way for anyone to have gotten access to my novel. Tom has been my editor for over five years,” I said, starting off calm, but by the end, I was seething again.

She shook her head, and I was glad her mouth was sewn shut had she said anything in her defence, it would have infuriated me to the point of no return.

I grasped her hair and lifted her up from the sofa. Walking her towards the edge, I pushed her face down over the edge.

“Don’t fucking move,” I said before going upstairs to get everything I needed.

I sent Tom a text asking him to call me. When the message didn’t go through, I sent it on What’s App. There was no way I was going down without a fight. Once I had taken my pound of flesh from Faye, litigation was my only course of action left.

Some had stolen from me, and I would not let this matter rest.

Chapter 13

Faye

I discreetly looked behind me and could finally breathe, seeing he wasn’t in the room. My face was throbbing, so I turned it onto the other cheek.

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