Share

Chapter 27

Author: Lotus Seraphim
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
Celine was lying on top of Sebastian’s grey bedspread on her phone, searching the news for anything about her and Phillip. In the background, she could hear the murmurs of mother and son talking, but she couldn’t make out what they said. Until they moved to the dining table below a vent that was connected to Sebastian’s bedroom and Celine found she could hear what they were saying, clearly.

“I spoke with some of the shareholders, and they have agreed to put your marital status as an agenda item at the next board meeting.”, Sophia said sweetly.

Sebastian said something but he was out of earshot. Celine sat up

“You need to get ahead of this Sebastian, so I have some candidates for you.”, Sophia said. She heard the shuffling of some papers. “Come, take a look.”

Sebastian must have come to stand next to his mother, but he sounded bored when he answered. “How does my marital status reflect on my ability to lead Gale Hospitality?”, Sebastian asked. “Is my leadership lacking?”

Celine punched
Lotus Seraphim

So, can Sebastian keep this out of the press? What will his mother do? What will our lovebirds do?

| 1
Locked Chapter
Continue to read this book on the APP

Related chapters

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 28

    One good thing about being a billionaire was when people trespassed and took pictures, there was security to handle it. Celine did not know if Sebastian paid the reporters off, threatened them, or both but not a peep of a story with their names in it ever went to publication. For a moment, Celine prepared for a world where she and Sebastian were outed, and in a way, it would have solved the problem of Sebastian’s mother and the board. But Sebastian handled everything neatly and they were able to stay incognito.That same night, Sebastian took Celine home via his helicopter saving her a three-hour drive, another perk of being a billionaire. They landed in the same field and before they disembarked, Celine handed Sebastian one of her flashlights and thought it was odd that her father was not there to greet her. After all, how often do they have a helicopter land on their property? Sebastian was taller than she was, so he saw the cars first. “Do you recognize those cars?”, Sebastian ask

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 29

    Winter was Celine’s favorite time of the year. It was the season when people were kind, the landscape was covered in snow, and there was a stillness that spoke of staying warm at home with family. Winter was when the Beaumont family usually closed the equestrian center, and everyone came home from wherever they were to celebrate the holidays.This year was different; to make money they turned their property into a winter wonderland. They had free hot chocolate, horse-pulled sled rides, snow tubing, snowman contests, hayrides, ponies, and more. It did not make up for losing clients, but it helped them breathe.For once, things were looking up for Celine. She was lowkey dating Sebastian. They video-chatted every night, and he came to see her once a week for his riding lesson and a date. Her father begrudgingly accepted him and sometimes date night was family dinner night, and it almost felt like the old days when Sebastian used to volunteer in the summers. Except one very important perso

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 30

    Pushing through the crowd, Celine made her way to Sebastian. She couldn’t believe he came to the Hamptons and found her. For a second, he disappeared in the throng, and she couldn’t see him. But like a parting sea, a break appeared, and her way was clear.His eyes were on her and she saw his scowl had faded into a smile. Feeling light and joyous she leaped without a thought into his arms. And of course, he caught her and swung her around. The kaleidoscope of people, music, and smells was muted and there was only Sebastian.“You’re here.”, Celine said breathlessly.Sebastian hoisted her up until their eyes were level. Then he claimed her mouth, surprising her with his passion and Celine opened to him eagerly. The kiss electrified her and was over too soon. It made her compliant and supple in his embrace, so she did not object when he carried her over to the table. Where Kim and Collette sat with wide gaping eyes and mouths.Depositing Celine in her seat, he possessively came to stand be

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 31

    It was Christmas Eve, and Celine, Collette, Dad, and Kim just finished eating a traditional dinner of baked ham sweet potato, and greens. After they tidied up the girls changed into their matching pajamas all ready for their usual Christmas evening out on the enclosed patio with their favorite holiday drink, Hot Pumpkin Pies. A drink her mom used to make.This year, Celine and Collette were teaching Kim how to make Hot Pumpkin Pies. “Do we have all of the ingredients?”, Kim asked rifling through the pile of items Celine put on the counter.“Yep.”, Collette said. She started listing things off. “We have milk, light brown sugar, and Rum Chata.”, Collette rolled her Rs when she said rum, and Celine rolled her eyes at Kim who giggled.“Are you sure you haven’t been secretly hitting that bottle?”, Kim asked teasing.“Not yet.”, Collette sang. “Whipped cream, pumpkin spices…Dad, do we have nutmeg?”Dad looked up from his crossword. “Darn it. I knew I had forgotten something. Look in the cabi

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 32

    The three girls held their breath while the video call rang and rang. “It’s really late.”, Collette said.It was late. Most adults, if they were up at this hour, were frantically wrapping gifts or putting complicated toys together in time for their kids to wake them up in a few hours and open presents. Celine was just about to give up when Sebastian’s face appeared on the screen.“Hold on.”, he said. Celine could hear music and talking, and she got a nice view of the ceiling as Sebastian walked out of the room. He closed a door and sat down and had a big smile for Celine and she almost didn’t have the heart to say anything to him. How could this man be fooling around on her?“Hey, baby. You miss me already?”, Sebastian asked. His words were a little sloppy and Celine realized he had been drinking too. At least they were on a level playing field, she thought.“How is the party?”, Celine was going to give him a chance to tell her himself.Sebastian put his face close to the phone and whi

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 33

    Celine finished her tirade and waited. Sebastian rubbed his temples but said nothing. Celine twisted her hair around her finger with a vengeance. Sebastian sighed heavily. Celine’s foot began tapping and she was just about to suggest they end the call when Sebastian closed his eyes and took another deep breath.He spoke with a voice as flat as a disconnected heart monitor. “Nothing happened last night other than I was ambushed and set up, and I have been non-stop fighting with my family.”, he said. “And now there is this article.”He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I texted you as soon as I woke up Celine. You were the first person on my mind. I told you; I am taking our second chance very seriously.” He opened his eyes and the brilliant gray that changed with his mood was washed out, almost imperceptible. “I’m sorry baby, my family is exhausting. I should have never come here.”A burst of compassion diluted her fears, and even though what she said were her true feelings, s

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 34

    Kissing Sebastian was delectable, and Celine was addicted. Ever since he arrived, she had been thinking about how to get him alone. And if it were not for her father, she would have dragged Sebastian to her bedroom like a cavewoman and had her way with him.WOW, where was that coming from?“Celine.”, he murmured into her mouth. “You taste incredible.” He slowly delved into her mouth stroking and sucking until she was incoherently moaning. He pulled her tighter, crushing her breasts against him and she could feel his arousal against her abdomen. “I want you.”, he groaned. “I need you.”, he said and bit her lip fueling her passion.“Sorry to interrupt, but…”, Collette said. Shit. Celine pushed away from Sebastian her face flaming. What if that had been her dad?Sebastian turned his back to Collette for obvious reasons, and Celine began wringing her hands. “I’m sorry. We…um…”“Did Dad leave?”, Collette asked, and Celine remembered Dad’s message.“He left without you. He told me to tell yo

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 35

    Another hospital, another waiting room. They were all the same, weren’t they? A room for shocked and desperate families to sit for hours upon hours all drinking from the same cup of dread, with a splash of hope to sweeten the bitter brew of mortality.Dad went into surgery within the hour of his arrival. All thanks to Sebastian who called in some favors and got an excellent surgeon, to leave his New Year celebrations and save her father’s life. And if that were not enough, he was at Celine and Collette’s beck and call making sure they had a never-ending source of caffeine to drink and vending machine snacks at their disposal.Around ten at night Rachel, Linda, Jacob, and John showed up, and after answering lots of questions they joined the sisters in their vigil. The new year began without anyone noticing, and a couple of hours later Kim showed up, a little worse for wear, with Phillip.When Phillip darkened the doorway of the waiting room, Sebastian stiffened, Collette gasped, Celine

Latest chapter

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 56

    When Celine lost everything, it altered her focus by clearing away the distracting clutter that her avarice wrought until what remained were her priorities, well-defined and finite—her father, sister, and herself. Clinging to all she had left in the world, Celine had no illusions that she could safeguard her most precious people. Therefore, she needed immediate access to power to protect herself and her family. Her mom used to say the best way to take down a colossal power was to undermine it from within, meaning infiltrate and ingratiate, gather trust and power, and then turn on those who bestowed it. The fastest way to do this was to marry a billionaire.Celine was a phoenix rising from the ashes of her scorched barn, reborn and remade into a vessel of justice. Her first step in her quest for vengeance, catch herself a billionaire, which was why she sat on Sebastian’s desk, swinging her lovely bare leg. Trying to remember everything Kim had taught her about flirting.Down with the

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 55

    Paper covered Celine’s Desk like a coat of failures—bankruptcy documents, court documents, insurance documents, police reports, bills, bank statements, repossession notices, and loan documents. Most of them had giant red letters that said overdue, in arrears, and collections.At least her medical bills had not been added to the sizeable debt pile. While Celine lay convalescing, Collette had allowed Sebastian to take care of Celine’s medical bills, and after Celine mulled it over, she agreed.He also offered to rebuild the stables and arena, and she might have taken that money too, but it would not have solved their problems in time. The Beaumont family was so deep into debt that Carly from Smith, Carson & Associates Legal Firm recommended liquidating their assets and paying everything back. By assets, she meant everything they owned: land and home. They would have nowhere to live and no way to earn an income.Her father blamed himself; if he had been transparent and hadn’t taken those

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 54

    Smiling reassuringly at Celine, Ethan took the empty glass of water, set it down, and then turned in his seat to face Sebastian. “My name is Ethan Sommer. You must be Sebastian.” Dismissing Sebastian, Ethan turned toward Celine, a gentle smile lighting up his eyes. “Better?” Ethan asked.Celine nodded, grateful someone in this insane asylum was staying levelheaded. She, too, was trying to stay calm, and she took slow, shallow breaths. She didn’t want to start coughing again, but the tension in the room made her anxious, making it difficult to control her breathing.“Celine, we are going to take this outside so you can calm down, okay?” Ethan said and handed her the call button in case she needed help.He gave some kind of look at Collette, who sighed heavily. “He’s right, let’s take it outside.” Ethan and Collette walked outside leaving Sebastian standing there looking down at her.Sebastian reclaimed his seat next to Celine. Having him this close to her made her fingers twitch to tou

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 53

    Celine was awake thinking when Collette came in with her cheery Mary Poppins voice. “Good morning.”, she sang, and Celine gritted her teeth. Instead of answering she closed her eyes. People went away if they thought she was sleeping.“Time to wake up, sleepy head.” Celine heard her bustling around the room, tidying up. “It’s so gloomy in here, no wonder you sleep all the time.”, Collette twittered like a happy little bird. Celine fantasized about finding a rock and throwing it at her. All that would be left was a puff of feathers littering the air.Suddenly, there was light glaring behind her eyelids, ruining her self-indulgent ambiance of depressive despair. Collette had drawn the curtains, that traitorous little harpy.“You’re going to have a visitor today.”, Collette chirped. “Look I got you some flowers. Aren’t they pretty? Here smell.”, She practically stuck the bouquet in Celine’s face who was lying on her stomach so the burns on her back could heal properly, and she had an oxyge

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 52

    Beaumont Equestrian Center spent a lot of money on a fire system that was tested and maintained several times a year, but the one, and only time they needed to use the system, the fire raged undeterred. Where were the wet sprinklers and the alarm? Why hadn't the fire triggered anything? Was the system defective? Celine realized she was going to have to turn the sprinklers on manually. There was a lever on the side of the building, where she could turn the sprinklers on and hopefully put out the fire.Coughing and gasping from the smoke, Celine ran the length of the stables. The beam of her flashlight bounced across the ground until she found what she was looking for, the manual release. All she needed to do was pull the lever. Where was the lever? Did she have it wrong? No, she was positive this was the place, but there was no lever. Looking closer, she saw the lever had been torn off. What the hell was going on? Had someone accidentally done this and not reported it, or was this int

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 51

    Turning onto the dirt road to her house, Celine’s head was full of her date with Ethan, and her feelings about Sebastian. She resented having to “move on”. That’s how it felt, she guessed, to be the one who didn’t end the relationship. Sebastian had moved on, but she was stuck still loving him. Wasn’t that the entire reason she was, “Getting out there?”, to snap her out of her lovesick state?“Stupid lying asshat.”, Celine yelled and hit her steering wheel. She didn’t want to move one. She just wanted Sebastian. Hot mournful tears rolled down her cheeks, and the dirt road blurred. Why did he do this to her? He lied to her, and now she had to live life without him. “I hate him.”, she sobbed.Turning the bend, she saw her house and she accelerated planning to hit the brakes hard at the last minute in a satisfying act of pointless violence. At the last second, she saw a car parked in the road, blocking the way and she screamed and slammed her foot down hard on the brakes. Her body rocked

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 50

    This time when he asked her out, she said yes, and even though she wasn’t excited about her date, she hoped when the time came, she would be. His name was Ethan. He was a few years older than she was and already had a healthy equine veterinarian practice. Ethan had brown hair with adorable curls that begged to be pulled, and big blue eyes that made her think of tropical waters or summer skies. He was tall, very tall, standing at six feet four inches and he had the kind of body earned through hands-on labor and not at a gym.Everyone thought they were the perfect match. Collette said if she wasn’t in the middle of a push-and-pull love affair with Dr. Gururaj she would snap him right up. And they were right, Ethan was divine, and she should be swooning at his feet and thinking about kissing his, pouty bottom-heavy full lips. Not psyching herself up to go on a date with him.In her heart of hearts, she still belonged to Sebastian, but that was not going to happen. Kim in her infinite wisd

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 49

    With a fake smile that stretched like rigor mortis across her face, Celine shifted from one foot to the other trying to alleviate the ache from her high heels, and longed for the days when she did everything in boots. Her new role as an entrepreneur for Beaumont Equestrian made her feel like an imposter and she lived in constant fear, that at any moment, someone would see past her business attire and discover she was just a hick that was good at riding horses.“Everything looks good.”, the banker said. “The seventy thousand dollars should transfer this afternoon. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Ms. Beaumont?”, asked the bank teller.“That’s all for today, thank you.”, Celine said sustaining her counterfeit smile, and left for her next appointment of the day.It had been four months since she last saw Sebastian and, in that time, her father came home, the contract with Gale Hospitality was a success, and local schools were sending their kids by the busload to take clas

  • The Billionaires Club   Chapter 48

    It was daylight and Celine was coming home to shower and change. From there, she was off to a prep school to pitch equestrian classes. She knew with this group; it was important to dress well. Luckily, she still had some very nice outfits hanging in the back of her closet, from when she was married. She texted Jacob and John that she was on her way home.JacobDon’t come yet. Your boySebastian’s here looking for you.Can I hit him? I always wantedto kick some billionaire ass.CelinePlease get rid of him. I need to getdressed I have a meeting at a school.If a billionaire wants to find you, there is nothing on this earth that can stop him so Celine should not have been surprised when he showed up at the hospital that evening. Luckily only family members are allowed in the ICU unit so when the nurse told her this incredible-looking man was there to visit her father, she told them to turn him away. What she did not count on was that Sebastian would wait for her, so when she left the I

DMCA.com Protection Status