Reborn as the Boss Lady novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

The temperature in the room dropped in an instant.

The cold radiating off Jerome was suffocating-sharp enough to freeze blood mid-flow.

“Talk,” he said, his voice clipped, edged with steel.

Finished

Alex didn’t delay. “Someone leaked news of the kidnapping to Mrs. Rosalie. The shock was too much. She collapsed-cardiac arrest. She’s been rushed to the hospital…”

He hesitated, then finished quietly, “Critical condition. It’s not looking good.”

Wynne hadn’t even processed it fully when the boy in her arms started trembling.

Soft, panicked sounds slipped from his throat, uncontrollable.

“Get the car.”

Jerome’s voice cut through the pressure like a blade.

“We’re going to the hospital.”

The tension in the room finally cracked. Air rushed back into lungs that had forgotten how to breathe.

Wynne assumed she’d be staying behind.

“Take Dylan with you.”

No room for argument.

Fine. The one paying makes the rules.

A black Maybach slid silently down the road, low-profile and deadly elegant.

Inside, the custom interior was spacious and muted.

Wynne leaned her head slightly against the window, watching the city blur past.

If she hadn’t just lived through it, she wouldn’t believe they’d come from a private island.

An island.

Who exactly is Jerome Cromwell?

The thought flickered-and vanished.

Because something was off.

Ever since he got in the car, something about him had shifted.

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16:45

Sat, May 16

Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

“You okay?”

Wynne glanced over.

Finished

Jerome’s eyes were darker than before, storm-heavy. His breathing was unsteady; there was tension coiled beneath it. His head was pounding from years of insomnia. Even Dylan had gone completely still, instinctively sensing danger.

“Mr. Cromwell, your medication.”

Brian turned from the front seat, quick and alert.

But the car jolted over a bump.

The bottle slipped. Rolled. Stopped at Wynne’s feet.

She bent down, picking it up.

It was an imported drug, and the label was all in Gerlish.

Her eyes flicked over it.

For… psychiatric treatment?

“Ms. Sinclair-please,” Brian said, practically begging, hands pressed together.

Wynne handed it over.

But the moment she did-

Jerome’s hand closed over hers.

Firm and hot.

For a split second, both her hand and the bottle were trapped in his grip.

Wynne glanced down. Said nothing.

Then he let go. Took the bottle.

Didn’t even look at it.

Instead-

He rolled down the window,

tossed it out.

Wynne blinked once.

What-

16:45 Sat, May 16

Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

Definitely unstable.

Jerome leaned back into the leather seat, eyes closing, brows drawn tight.

“Faster.”

“Yes, Mr. Cromwell.”

Finished

Private hospital.

Thirty minutes earlier, the emergency building had already been sealed off.

Men in black stood guard at every entrance.

Not even a fly was getting through.

Reporters had swarmed the perimeter, cameras flashing non-stop.

“You’re paid by the Cromwells-how dare you block her?”

Audrey Lockwood’s voice rang sharp and shrill as she supported an elderly woman forward, hips swaying, arrogance written all over her face.

The old woman beside her, however, was the opposite.

Silver hair swept neatly into a bun, her white dress elegant, her posture composed. Even age hadn’t dulled her grace.

But before they reached the entrance-

They were stopped.

“Are you blind?” Audrey snapped. “Can’t you see Mrs. Cromwell is here? You-”

She cut off mid-sentence.

A chill swept over her spine.

She turned slowly.

And met his eyes.

Even seated in a wheelchair-

Jerome looked like death itself.

“J-Jerome… you’re here.”

His face was pale, almost bloodless. The shadows under his eyes made him look even more dangerous.

“What did you just say?”

3/6

16:45 Sat, May 16

Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

Just one glare from him, sharp as knives.

Audrey’s knees nearly gave out.

Behind him, Wynne pushed the wheelchair forward, her gaze flicking briefly toward the reporters.

No wonder Dylan had been brought in first.

“Bring them here.”

Jerome’s tone was lazy.

But beneath it-

Something violent simmered.

The reporters were dragged forward almost instantly.

No one dared resist.

Ever since that incident years ago, they hadn’t seen this man from the Cromwells in public.

But even when he stayed out of sight, the legend about him never died.

“Mr. Cromwell, don’t worry-we’ll delete everything. Every photo-gone.”

They were shaking.

No headline was worth dying for.

Jerome said nothing.

His fingers moved slowly over the black rosary at his wrist.

Click.

Click.

The beads knocked softly together.

Measured, but unnerving.

The urge to kill sat just beneath the surface.

Wynne felt a bit dazed when she looked at the beads.

Then-her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist-and the rosary.

Gasps echoed around her.

The old woman behind Audrey narrowed her eyes.

But in the next moment, the pressure lifted as if it had never been there.

4/6

16:45 Sat, May 16

Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

Jerome surprised everyone by not twisting her wrist like they all thought he would.

“Let go,” he said.

“Oh.”

Wynne released him immediately.

“The Cromwell family has only one matriarch,” Brian added coldly, crushing a camera beneath his foot with a sickening crack. “You know how to spell that, right?”

Message received.

The reporters scattered in an instant, driven by their instinct to survive.

Audrey clenched her teeth, fury burning behind her eyes-but she didn’t dare speak again.

Power meant nothing if you were dead.

“Jerome…” the old woman spoke gently, her voice steady despite everything.

“Excuse us.”

Wynne cut her off without hesitation.

She pushed the wheelchair forward-

Straight past Audrey.

The wheel nearly clipped her foot.

“You little-!”

Audrey shrieked, jumping back. “Do you know how much these heels cost?!”

Wynne stopped. Turned.

Her gaze was cool and cutting.

“Showing off your limited-edition heels while visiting someone who’s fighting for their life?” she said lazily, “How… considerate.”

Audrey’s face flushed red-then white.

“Mom…”

“Not a child anymore,” Wynne cut in smoothly. “Stop hiding behind your mother.”

Every word hit its mark with unsettling precision.

Then she turned and walked off, pushing Jerome ahead, leaving them standing there.

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Chapter 4 Not Looking Good

Inside the elevator.

“Who gave you permission to act on your own?”

Jerome’s voice was cold again, eyes fixed on the rising floor display.

Wynne leaned forward, bracing her hands on the arms of his wheelchair.

“You should be thanking me,” she said lightly.

They were mere inches apart. From this distance, she could see everything-the way his long lashes fluttered slightly, and the tension in his jaw that seemed to tighten as she drew near.

In the corner, Brian shrank into himself, doing his best to disappear.

Ding.

The elevator doors slid open.

16:46 Sat, May 16

Rehom as the Boss Lady