Divorced Heiress
I am Not A Contract Chapter 10

In the boardroom, the only one missing was Abby's presence. Sarah impatiently watched the hands of her wristwatch, ignoring the conversation that the others had started a few minutes ago.

It had been over an hour since Sarah informed them about the last minute board meeting. All the partners were seated in their positions, including the designer Zafiro, who had slipped away with the excuse that any topic to be discussed concerned her in one way or another.

"You should visit us more often, really, it's hard to keep inspiration if I'm surrounded by men who are already committed. You are free spirits, like me," Zafiro quickly changed the subject, addressing the Lefebvre brothers, who chuckled at Alexis Lancaster's expression.

"Pardon? I'm not..." Alexis didn't even finish speaking when Zafiro interrupted, silencing any words he was about to say.

"Honey, do you really think no one notices what's going on between you and Britney? Come on! Even a blind person can see it."

With that information, the table fell silent, all eyes focused on Alexis' flushed face, as if they were waiting for some kind of statement from him.

Bastian could see how uncomfortable he looked under everyone's curious gaze. He knew Alexis was still recovering from years in a coma, so out of empathy, he decided to intervene before he fainted from all the pressure. "Besides, dear Zaf, who told you I'm a free spirit? Don't you know it's only a matter of time before I join the committed "list?"

When Bastian revealed this, Zafiro looked at him with wider eyes than usual, and the attention that had been on Alexis now shifted to the dark-haired man.

"What? How? When?" Zafiro bombarded him with questions and immediately took a deep breath in an attempt to better organize the most relevant question. "Forgive me, darling, you took me by surprise. I almost vomited breakfast from the shock. Now tell me, with all the luxurious details, who is the lucky one?" After Zafiro's question, Bastian glanced quickly at Sarah with a hint of complicity, as she was the only one who knew.

He wouldn't say it in front of so many people at that moment; he had to take one step at a time.

He wouldn't say anything that wasn't certain, even though he didn't lose hope that Abby would reciprocate his feelings.

It didn't matter if it took days, months, or even years.

Bastian was sure that she was the one he wanted to be with, and his accelerated heartbeat at the sound of her name confirmed it.

And as if summoned by Bastian's thoughts, the door of the boardroom opened, revealing the smiling face of Abby Dubois to everyone, looking as radiant as if nothing was going wrong in her life

What no one knew was that she had been crying her eyes out since she was left alone in her office. She had drained away all the bad where no one could see her, and that was the real reason for her delay.

To make sure no one noticed she had been crying, she touched up her makeup and used eye drops to hide any trace of her tears.

"Sorry for the delay, I had a last-minute problem to solve," Abby said while discreetly caressing her belly, only those who were aware of her pregnancy would understand what she meant.

"We can start the meeting now, I mean, because apparently I'm the only one missing." She continued walking towards the table, where everyone fell silent at the sight of her radiance.

No one could tell that just a moment ago she had been a river of tears.

Well, almost no one.

Sarah silently followed every movement of the brunette, from her seat, while Abby took her place between Zafiro and Julian, for Sarah it was more than evident that she had been crying. She could hide it from everyone else, but not from her. "Abby, long time no see," Hugo Lefebvre stood up to go to her and greet her, but Sarah Doinel's voice sent chills down everyone's spine

'Take your seats, I declare the meeting started. There will be time for greetings later," Sarah's relentless voice echoed throughout the room, making everyone obey as if they were children following their mother's orders.

Abby mentally thanked her, as she was not on the best terms to greet a Lefebvre politely.

However, Zafiro was the only one who didn't even flinch and wasn't afraid to speak up.

"Are we not waiting for Vincent?" Zafiro asked, and the looks from Sarah, Alexander, Julian, and Bastian turned to her with unfriendly expressions, as if she had asked the worst question of her life.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Vincent is no longer part of the company. Go on, Sari," Abby replied to Zafiro, surprising everyone by answering with complete normality, as if they weren't talking about that coward Abby despised with all her being. She seemed indifferent, not wanting to show her emotions or prolong any discussion about the oldest of the Lefebvres

Zafiro, with a lost gaze, opened her mouth without hiding her surprise and let her body slump back into her seat, as if she had been drained of strength by the bomb Abby had A just dropped, which hadn't completely exploded yet.

For a moment, she wanted to believe that Abby was only joking, but her words held no trace of humor. Combined with Sarah's expressionless face, they immediately confirmed what had just come out of the brunette's mouth.

Even Alexander Lancaster himself couldn't believe what he had heard from Abby's mouth. His incredulous gaze traveled to Sarah's face, seeking clarification. She hadn't said a word to prepare him.

Sarah ignored the curious looks directed at her, awaiting confirmation of the information or any comment she might make about it.

By now, all those present were aware of the reason for calling an extraordinary meeting.

"Thank you, Abby," Sarah said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. It wasn't the way she intended to say it, but Abby had saved her some trouble.

"Indeed, Vincent has left L&J, that's why I've called you all together."

As soon as Sarah confirmed Abby's words, the conference room fell into complete silence. None of them knew what to say, but those who had just found out automatically felt sorry for Abby and feared saying-anything that might hurt her even more than she probably already was. She had been abandoned by her boyfriend

"Vincent... Is that possible?" Zafiro was the only one who dared to express her confusion on the matter and couldn't hide her curiosity when she turned to the woman who had just sat next to her, as if she were expecting to hear more details. "Why couldn't it be possible? He's done it," Abby responded, annoyed as she knew why she was being stared at so intensely, but they hadn't all gathered to gossip.

"You can continue, Sari, I don't have much time." Abby lied as she glanced at her wristwatch as if in a hurry.

"It's a fact, Vincent's shares now belong to Bastian Lefebre, making him the minority shareholder with the largest percentage of shares," Sarah continued

All eyes automatically shifted to Bastian, except for Abby, who was already anxious to end the meeting that had only just begun. Being in the same place as the Lefebvres irritated her. "Bastian will assume Vincent's position as of today..."

"So we'll have Bastian around for longer, excellent! We'll have plenty of time for you to tell me about the woman who has captured your heart," Zafiro interrupted Sarah, showing her excitement at the news and earning a disapproving look from the president. "Zafiro, one more interruption and I will have to ask you to leave the boardroom," Sarah spoke with authority, surprising the woman who fell silent after the ultimatum.

"Now that you all know Bastian will be taking over Vincent's position, I move on to the next and most important topic. On medical advice, I need to take a break, and Alexander and I will be absent for a few days. Julian and Alexis, you are the L&J partners most involved with the company, so you'll take the lead. And Abby, along with Bastian, will be in charge of Doinel. Is everyone in agreement?"

Sarah had only just finished asking the question when

Abby's hand was already on her head.

"I'm sorry, Sari, but I disagree. I told you my time was up; you know what I mean," Abby made an excuse to not have to take on such a role.

However, what no one knew was that she refused to have to take the reins alongside Bastian. If they had assigned her with Julian or even with Alexis Lancaster, she wouldn't have had any complaints.

Despite wanting to end the chapter of her life called Vincent Lefebvre, it was difficult for her to deal with the aftermath, including her brothers whom she didn't trust, especially not Bastian, who accepted his brother's actions for nothing in return.

"Give me a valid reason to accept him," Sarah said immediately, looking at her intently from her place. Both of them knew what she meant by that. Abby had no reason to leave the company anymore, now that Vincent was gone.

Now she wouldn't let her go so easily, not only because she refused to lose two people she trusted completely, but also to keep Abby so busy that she wouldn't have any time to think about Vincent.

Furthermore, after Bastian's confession, she wanted to intervene a bit so that Abby could interact with other people, to open her eyes and observe her surroundings.

Although in some way it wasn't the best idea in the world, considering it was the brother of the father of the baby on the way, Sarah just wanted to see the Abby from before and not the woman with dull eyes who stood in front of her, the one who hid her sadness and pain behind a smiling and dazzling face that she knew wasn't real.

Abby pondered it for longer than she should have, but she couldn't find a reason to leave her job now that the only enemy was no longer there. She glanced quickly at Bastian, who was already looking at her anxiously, waiting for her answer. They'll only be a few days. Bastian isn't Vincent, she thought.

With that thought, Abby looked back at Sarah, who had one eyebrow raised, waiting for her friend's answer, although she already knew what she would say.

There was no one who knew her better.

"You win. I have no reason to leave," Abby said.