Let Me Go, Mr. Howard Chapter 148

The silence that followed Graham's words was downright eerie, blanketing the entire conference room.

The shareholders exchanged glances, their eyes darting between the two men with varying expressions.

Sebastian neatly stacked his documents, pushing them aside with deliberate calm. His gaze barely grazed Graham, as if he were nothing more than an irrelevant object. 

"You should be grateful, then," he said, his voice so controlled it bordered on glacial.

As those words landed, the already tense atmosphere grew impossibly heavier, leaving no room to breathe.

One of the older shareholders set down his cup, the soft clink against the table surface jarring in the silence. He immediately froze, his palm remaining on the cup, unwilling to risk another sound.

Graham's face hardened completely. The composure he'd been struggling to maintain shattered under Sebastian's contempt. 

His breathing grew heavier, and just as he seemed about to slam his fist on the table, a knock at the conference room door cut through the tension.

The sound—so out of place in this pressure cooker—pierced the fog like a bell, instantly diffusing the explosion that had been building.

Every person turned toward the door, collectively exhaling in relief.

The knocking stopped, and Mark entered, ignoring everyone else as he walked straight to Sebastian.

Sebastian's gaze remained fixed on Graham while he listened to Mark's report. His expression didn't change, though he lowered his eyes briefly. "Understood," was all he said.

Having received his answer, Mark nodded and left.

With Mark's departure, the tension in the conference room coiled tight once again.

The shareholders glanced from Sebastian to Graham, expecting the cousins to resume their earlier confrontation.

But Sebastian simply picked up his neatly stacked documents, his gaze sweeping across everyone below—deliberately skipping over Graham. "Please review the files in front of you. The government wants our preliminary proposal by next Wednesday."

---

Scarlett arrived at the coffee shop twenty minutes later.

Adeline was seated near the window, which meant she'd spotted Scarlett the moment she crossed the zebra crossing.

"I ordered you an Americano. That works, right?" Adeline asked with a light smile as Scarlett took the seat opposite her.

"No thanks. Not my thing." Scarlett shook her head and looked directly at her. "Ms. Morgan, why don't you just get to the point?"

Seeing Scarlett wouldn't play along, Adeline dropped her friendly pretense. Her smile vanished as she stirred the foam art in her coffee. "Ms. Seymour, I know about your relationship with Sebi. Honestly, I find you quite pitiful."

Her tone dripped with false compassion, as if she couldn't bear to see anyone suffer.

But Scarlett knew better. Adeline was no saint—she was a rose hiding thorns, deceptively beautiful yet every word designed to pierce straight to the heart.

Scarlett took a deep breath, crossed her arms, and stared at Adeline expressionlessly. "Is that so? I actually admire your stamina, juggling two men at once. Doesn't that get exhausting?"

Adeline's face froze, anger flashing across it. "Ms. Seymour, worry about yourself instead of me."

A server brought a glass of water to the table.

Scarlett took a sip. "What exactly should I be worried about?"

"Do you really plan to continue like this? Sebi and I are getting married. What then? Does our Ms. Seymour intend for her child to follow in her footsteps?" Adeline said with a mocking smile.

Scarlett's illegitimate birth was public knowledge.

The implication behind Adeline's words was crystal clear. 

Scarlett looked up at her, her voice cooling. "Really? Are you so certain it's not Mr. Howard who refuses to let me go?"

A fire smoldered inside her, though she wasn't sure if she was angrier at herself for not knowing when to walk away—leading to Adeline's face-to-face warning—or at Sebastian for his lack of boundaries that had put her in this position.

Either way, Scarlett was thoroughly fed up with Sebastian.

Her words struck like a fine needle, puncturing Adeline's smugly inflated ego. The hand stirring her coffee suddenly froze, her lips tightening as she spoke. "You certainly think highly of yourself. Do you know who Sebi is? If he's interested in you at all, it's only because of those eyes of yours."

Her tone was arrogant as she laid everything bare.

Their eyes were indeed their most similar feature. Scarlett lowered her gaze, wanting to say that wasn't true—that man didn't care about her eyes.

When Sebastian was intimate with her, he never fixated on her eyes. If anything, his fascination with her lips far exceeded his interest in her eyes.

"Ms. Seymour, if you cooperate, I can offer you money to leave." Adeline pushed a blank check across the table with supreme confidence.

The amount field was empty.

Scarlett glanced at it, then casually used Adeline's pen to fill in the number nine.

"You—!" Adeline immediately frowned, ready to lash out.

"Do you think your private funds can compete with Mr. George Howard?" Scarlett cut her off emotionlessly, realizing for the first time that George's card might actually serve a purpose.

She had never used that card, but the balance kept increasing.

Especially about two weeks ago, when George, triggered by something unknown, had transferred nearly ten million dollars. Since then, he'd been adding several million daily.

Now, that card held a balance of two hundred and thirty million dollars.

Scarlett finished her water and stood to leave. "Ms. Morgan, rather than approaching me, perhaps you should personally persuade Mr. Howard. If he agrees to let go, I'll leave of my own accord, without requiring your intervention."

With that, she departed immediately.

The coffee shop door bell jingled as she left.

Scarlett hailed a taxi at the curb and drove away.

Back at the table, Adeline crumpled the check and tossed it into the garbage. She grabbed her purse and left, sending a message to her male companion.

[I want Scarlett gone!]

His reply came quickly: [Her? Useless to the plan.]

[Won't you help?] Adeline frowned, her typing growing more forceful.

[Why are you getting close to Sebastian again? Addie, don't break my heart.]

Reading these messages, Adeline didn't dare push further. She pressed her lips together and replied: [I'm doing it for the plan. Sebastian has feelings for her. It's bad for us.]

[She's just a mistress. He won't take her seriously.] The other party clearly didn't believe her.

Adeline stomped her foot in frustration. "Idiot!"

Inside the Howard Group Building.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Graham put away his phone and turned to greet the newcomer. "Bash."

Sebastian didn't respond, walking past as if he hadn't seen him.

Graham wasn't deterred. He caught up and continued, "Grandfather says Scarlett's getting engaged to Shawn. What do you think about that, Bash?"

Mark, trailing behind them, silently widened his eyes, not daring to speak as he hurried ahead to call the elevator.

"That's good news," Sebastian replied evenly, his tone and gaze betraying no particular emotion.

Graham looked skeptical, his eyes scrutinizing. "Really? You're fine with it? I heard you two were quite close."

The probe was too obvious. Sebastian didn't even bother looking at him, his voice growing even more detached. "Close? Bringing up baseless rumors doesn't make them any more substantial."

He lowered his eyes, adjusted his cuffs, then watched the elevator numbers change, clearly unwilling to continue this conversation.

The elevator doors opened, and both men stepped inside.

"Is that so? Well, someone's certainly bold, claiming Scarlett is your mistress." Graham smiled, his eyes flicking over Sebastian's face.