Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 1109

Noreen texted back saying she had a business dinner and couldn't make it.

Jude felt his soul leave his body.

At first, the vibe in the room was fine. The guys chatted and drank. Seth remained motionless on the sofa, his arm draped over his eyes, completely ignoring the room.

"Why is Seth sleeping here?" Dylan asked, confused.

"He's been busy lately," Jude lied through his teeth.

"Busy with what?" Dylan pressed.

"Probably busy playing assistant," Healy joked, recalling the lunch delivery he'd witnessed the day before.

Dylan had heard the rumors about Seth playing secretary for Noreen, but everyone assumed it was just a fleeting obsession. None of them expected the billionaire heir to keep up the charade for two entire months. As his childhood friends, they knew Seth was wildly overqualified.

But Crystal and Gia didn't know the truth.

To them, it was a pathetic joke. Crystal, in particular, viewed Seth as nothing more than a ruined ex-con who had lost his claim to the Harcourt Group. She assumed Jude and Dylan only tolerated him out of pity, or worse, that Seth was desperately clinging to them for relevancy.

Especially Jude—since Jude was the one who had picked Seth up from prison. As a former member of the Wilder family, Crystal thought she had Jude's measure. Everyone used to say Jude was a useless playboy who had driven his own father to an early grave. A loyal idiot, essentially.

It made sense to her that Jude would let his disgraced friend hang around. She even figured Seth must be the one begging Jude to give Winrich the NoMore partnership just to please Noreen.

Taking their silence as agreement, Crystal confidently continued, "But I suppose it makes sense. Women like Noreen, who claw their way up from the gutter, know exactly how to manipulate men. If Mr. Harcourt wants to embarrass himself following her around, that's his business."

"But as his friend, someone really ought to warn him. He's going to get stripped of everything he has left." She was blatantly referring to Wade Harcourt's will, implying Noreen was a gold digger.

Jude inhaled sharply. "Ms. Chelsea, you have it completely wrong. Mr. Harcourt senior wrote that will five years ago."

As one of the few people who knew the truth, Jude desperately needed to clear the air before Seth committed a murder.

The revelation stunned everyone in the room, even Dylan and Healy.

Wade Harcourt had legally left the entire Harcourt Group to Noreen five years ago? That meant even if Winrich had completely burned to the ground, she would have inherited a multi-billion-dollar empire as a backup!