Runaway Mommy: My Boss is the Father novel Chapter 4

It was only later he realized Phoebe never even viewed Sebastian as a man.

Once, she had absolutely destroyed Sebastian during a casual basketball game. They grabbed drinks afterward, and Sebastian admitted, "Phoebe is gorgeous, sure, but who could actually handle her?"-

"With her temper, she'll slap you the second you disagree with her. Jaxson, she hasn't slapped you yet, has she?"

Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "Phoebe worships the ground Jaxson walks on, why would she slap him? She wouldn't dare even if you gave her a hundred times the courage!"

"True."

...

Just as Sebastian was trying to awkwardly change the subject, he heard Jaxson's detached voice. "The Vance family went bankrupt?"

Sebastian froze, scratching his head before replying, "Yeah, a few years ago. Look, Jaxson, Phoebe is married now. You're not still hung up on..."

"Hung up on what? The Eastside development or the Northside manufacturing plant?"

Those were projects the Judson family had been eyeing too. Hearing this, Sebastian instantly dropped his teasing and perked up. "Jaxson, if you're eating steak, at least let your bro have a little soup!"

Jaxson gave a noncommittal hum.

But Sebastian was still sweating bullets.

He mentally noted never to bring up Phoebe's business in front of Jaxson again.

-

By the time she finished revising the project, it was late into the night.

Phoebe looked up. Her coworkers had already left, leaving her entirely alone in the massive, empty office.

She was used to this kind of scene.

She shut down her computer, stood up to stretch her stiff neck, and did a quick sweep to ensure all the other monitors were off. After pushing every chair neatly under the desks, she headed for the elevator.

The office building was eerily quiet at this hour, her heels clicking sharply against the floorboards, sending rhythmic echoes down the hall.

There was clearly another set of footsteps trailing behind her—heavier, sounding distinctly like leather dress shoes.

Phoebe let out a massive sigh of relief, practically sprinting into the elevator and jabbing the button for the ground floor with shaking fingers.

The bright screen of her phone, displaying only the emergency dial pad, finally faded to black.

The elevator descended.

The figure in the hallway turned into the emergency stairwell. A lighter flared in the dim space, followed immediately by a swirl of cigarette smoke that partially obscured Jaxson's brooding features.

A moment later, the cigarette burned down to the filter, the heat stinging his skin. Jaxson casually flicked the ash, snapping back to reality.

He had seen the lights on this floor and come down to take a look, completely unexpected that the person pulling an all-nighter was Phoebe.

It seemed she was working pretty damn hard to support her sickly husband.

Jaxson pulled out his phone and fired a text to Simon.

"Send out a notice. From now on, anyone working past midnight will not receive overtime pay."