Page 71 of Addicted To His Favorite
Lucas paused, pen hovering over the papers he was about to sign.
Amelia pulled out her phone and opened the picture she had taken the day before—Sebastian’s hand clearly resting on Emily’s thigh. She slid the phone across the table toward him, letting him see it.
Lucas’s eyes flicked from Amelia’s face to the photo. For a brief moment, a shadow crossed his expression, but then his featureswent blank. Dismissively, he tossed the phone back to her. “This is impossible,” he said flatly.
Amelia’s eyes widened, her voice sharp with insistence. “I saw it with my own eyes!” She leaned forward, sliding the phone back toward him, angling it so he could see clearly. “I even took this picture myself!”
Her tone dropped, laced with accusation. “Everyone I’ve met recently says Sebastian already has a girlfriend. He tells everyone himself that he has a girlfriend… yet here’s Emily, clearly trying to be his mistress!”
Lucas’s gaze sharpened, annoyance flashing across his face. He clenched his jaw, his voice dropping cold and measured. “I told you, this is not possible,” he said firmly. “Maybe it was an accidental touch. They’re just having dinner with other people. Small things like this happen. Stop overreacting.”
Amelia’s patience finally snapped. Her anger flared with each word he said. “Why don’t you believe me?” she snapped. “Don’t you see? Emily is exactly this kind of woman. She’ll hook up with anyone who benefits her. She was with you because you helped her career, and now she’s moved on, using Sebastian to get what she wants. This is how she gets everything handed to her. She’s sleeping with whoever can give her power and money!”
Lucas’s voice cut through the office like thunder. “Shut the fuck up!” His chair scraped loudly as he shot to his feet.
Amelia flinched.
His eyes blazed with fury, pinning her in place. “If you keep badmouthing her, I don’t care what deal exists between us—it’s over!” he growled, “Get out of my office. Right fucking now!”
Amelia opened her mouth to speak, but Lucas was already roaring in anger. “Dillon!” he shouted, his voice reverberating through the office.
Dillon, who was seated at his desk, immediately snapped to attention at the sound of Lucas’s voice and rushed inside.
“Take her out of here,” Lucas snapped.
Chapter 26 Your Sister-in-law
Dillon shifted his eyes toward Amelia.
Amelia, sensing the danger, didn’t wait for Dillon to act—she spun on her heel and stormed out of Lucas’s office, her thoughts boiling with fury. ‘I’ll find the evidence,’ she thought, ‘and prove that Emily is Sebastian’s mistress.’
Inside the office, whispers spread like wildfire. Employees gathered in the meeting room, exchanging astonished glances.
“Did you hear that? Mr. Cantrell actually shouted at Miss Jones!” one said, wide-eyed. “I’ve never seen him this furious before.”
“Yeah, the last few days he’s been on edge,” another muttered. “Every little thing sets him off. Yesterday, he tore into my team for bringing ideas he said were useless.”
“Yes, he yelled at my team too,” a third voice chimed in. “He shouted that we weren’t focusing on the work properly, but we’ve already given him like… fifteen proposals!”
The murmurs died down as Lucas entered the meeting room. Immediately, everyone straightened, falling silent. He strode to the front as the project was displayed on the screen. Every movement, every design seemed to irritate him.
When the presentation ended, he slammed his hands onto the table and bellowed, “This is unacceptable! You were given a single damn task—and you all failed? Does no one here have any sense? If none of you can handle even one project properly, then get the hell out of my office!”
Dillon quickly stood, scanning the room. “Everyone, please leave the room,” he instructed. The employees hurriedly filed out, murmuring among themselves.
Once the room was empty, Dillon turned back to Lucas cautiously. “Mr. Cantrell… this is the same project you approved in the last meeting,” he said. “Perhaps your mind isn’t fully on the work right now… maybe your attention is… elsewhere.”
He picked up a glass of water and extended it toward Lucas, but Lucas’s hand shot out, tossing the glass to the ground with a harsh clang.
Lucas’s head was elsewhere. He wasn’t even looking at the screen in front of him. His thoughts were consumed by the image Amelia had shown him—the one of Emily and Sebastian.
‘Emily… Sebastian’s mistress?’ he thought, his body growing rigid and tense. There’s got to be some mistake. She loves me—she can’t possibly love someone else after being with me for five years. It’s impossible.
Every thought about Emily seemed to twist and gnaw at him, leaving him restless and distracted.
***
At Empire Group’s headquarters, Leon stepped into Sebastian’s office, a confident smile on his face as he approached the desk. “Mr. Graves,” he began, “per your instructions, a dress has already been prepared for Miss Crawford to wear at the party—”
