Livestreaming My Cheating Billionaire Husband

9

Jasmine

I sat in the back of the armored vehicle, my eyes scanning the digital headlines flashing across my tablet. The press had spent the last eight hours tearing the Sterling name to shreds.

WAR BETWEEN VANCE AND STERLING: THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN

FROM PAUPER TO POWERHOUSE: THE SECRET HEIRESS WHO BOUGHT A GALA

IS THE VANCE HEIRESS A SPOILED PRINCESS?

When the SUV pulled up to the curb of the Vance Global headquarters, the chaos outside was deafening. A wall of paparazzi and journalists slammed against the security barriers, their long camera lenses clicking. Flashbulbs reflected off the glass windows as Marcus and four other guards formed a tight shield around me, ushering me through the tall glass doors of the lobby.

It was too much. The noise, the lights, the questions being thrown at me—up until now, I had lived my life safely away from the public eye.

To imagine that this many people knew of me sent my brain into a spiral. I couldn’t handle corporate today. My breathing grew shallow, the grand marble walls suddenly feeling like they were collapsing inward around me.

“Laura, I can’t,” I whispered softly.

I half expected her to protest. There was a mountain of tasks on my desk waiting for me, and my schedule was terrifying. Instead, she nodded, and without a word, she grabbed my hand and pulled me past the security guards.

“Call me when you’re ready. I’ll hold things off here for you.”

I bit the inside of my lip, fighting back tears. I could only nod in response.

Slipping out through the building’s loading dock, I put on my sunglasses and walked off without looking back.

I ducked into a quiet, narrow alleyway three blocks away, pushing open the rusted door of a vintage, low-lit diner that smelled faintly of sweet pastries and strong espresso.

The place was nearly empty, save for a few elderly locals reading newspapers. I slid into a secluded velvet booth near the back corner, letting out a long, exasperated sigh as I finally took off my sunglasses.

My hands came up automatically. I rubbed my palm against my forearm, tracing the tense muscles over and over, desperately trying to soothe the tremors vibrating through my chest.

“Hello, Miss Vance.”

My heart leaped into my throat.

It was crazy to me that I didn’t even have to look up to know who it was. The deep baritone vibrated straight through the leather booth and into my spine, instantly commanding every single drop of my attention. How could I not be attentive to that enchanting voice?

Sebastian Night was sitting directly across from me, his long legs stretched out under the table, completely unbothered by the small, low-end restaurant. He was dressed in a casual charcoal suit, his long dark hair falling slightly over his forehead, and those chocolate-brown eyes were locked onto my face with an intensity I had never seen before.

A hot, electric current sparked in the air between us, completely erasing the noise of the city outside and the soft hum of the people inside the restaurant.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, my hand freezing on my forearm. “Are you following me?”

“You don’t have any security right now,” Sebastian said, his lips twitching into a slow, relaxed smirk. “You ran away from them. And as for why I’m here... you used to come to this exact booth, every Tuesday afternoon when you were a teenager, right after visiting your father’s office. I knew that if I wanted any chance of seeing you, I would have to wait here every day for you...”

I stared at him, my throat suddenly dry. “How could you possibly know that?”

“I know a lot of things, Jasmine.”

Before I could press him, a waiter approached the table, looking tired and completely unaware of who was sitting in his diner. Sebastian didn’t even look up at him.

“We’ll take a hot vanilla latte and a warmed almond croissant for the lady. Just black coffee for me.”

The waiter nodded and walked away. I sat frozen, my mind spinning.

“A vanilla latte,” I whispered, the weight of his gaze making my heart race. “That’s my exact order. Who told you that? Did you bribe someone on my staff?”

“Nobody told me.” Sebastian leaned back against the cushions, his broad, muscular frame making the small booth feel incredibly cramped. He had a perfectly sharp jawline that caught the dim light of the diner and a firm, straight nose that gave him an almost aristocratic air. He was such a handsome man, it was unreal. He kept that infuriating smirk on his full lips. “I’ve been doing my homework, Miss Vance.”

My eyes widened in realization.

“You told Jason you were waiting to claim a diamond,” I said, my voice hardening as I tried to mask my growing panic. “What does that even mean? I don’t know you. We never met before last night.”

“You didn’t meet me,” he corrected softly, those melty chocolate-brown eyes fixed on me. I lowered my gaze, unable to withstand the intensity of his stare. “But I certainly saw you. I watched you walk down the aisle to a man who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you. And I watched you spend three years playing the submissive housewife while your father’s empire waited for its true queen.”

“That’s enough,” I snapped, though my heart was pounding so hard against my ribs I was terrified he could hear it.

The waiter returned, sliding the plates and cups onto the table before disappearing again. The rich, sweet scent of the latte swirled between us, but it did nothing to calm my senses.

I needed a distraction, so I reached for the cup with slightly shaking fingers and took a quick sip. A small dab of foam caught on the edge of my lip.

Before I could grab a napkin, Sebastian reached across the small table.

His movements were smooth, deliberate, and entirely too fast for me to pull back. The pad of his thumb brushed against the corner of my mouth, wiping away the stray foam. His touch was warm, sending a sudden, sharp jolt of pleasure straight to my core.

My eyes widened in shock. What the f**k was he doing?

Sebastian pulled his hand back, looked me dead in the eyes, and slowly slipped his thumb into his mouth, licking the foam off while his eyes bored into mine the entire time.