He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 118

In the hospital stairwell.

Corinne was on the phone with Yardley's father, Franklin Flynn.

Franklin spent most of his time in Sterling City, managing the northern branch of their empire while leaving the entire Bay City operation in Yardley's hands.

He rarely returned to Bay City, and his relationship with Corinne was distant. Corinne knew perfectly well he had other women in Sterling City, but she turned a blind eye to it.

After years of marriage, their relationship had transitioned from early romance to a strictly unified business partnership. They agreed on major family decisions, but lived entirely separate lives. As long as Franklin deposited her monthly allowance on time, Corinne didn't care or ask about his affairs.

This time, however, the livestream had caused a massive drop in the Flynn Group's stock prices. Franklin was furious and demanded to know what was happening.

Corinne, desperate for an ally and frustrated by her son's inaction, exaggerated everything that had happened recently, painting Scarlett as the ultimate villain.

"Franklin, you need to come back. You need to talk to Scarlett yourself and throw her out of the Flynn family."

"If she won't sign the papers quietly, you'll have to use your own methods. Yardley is too soft-hearted. He's dragging his feet and still hasn't finalized the divorce."

"Think of something. We have to get rid of this woman. Otherwise, the Flynn Group will never know peace."

Corinne relentlessly pressured him over the phone.

Franklin's deep, steady voice came through the receiver, heavy with suppressed anger.

"He can't even handle one woman? When did Yardley become so indecisive."

"Any woman who actively damages the Flynn family's interests must be removed immediately. I clearly misjudged Scarlett from the beginning. I never expected her to turn into this."

Corinne eagerly agreed.

"Exactly, exactly! I fought tooth and nail to keep her from marrying into this family, but you gave the final approval."

"Franklin, you can never truly know someone's heart. She played the perfect, submissive wife for five years just to pull this! Now that she's popped out that worthless girl, she thinks she's untouchable!"

Franklin cut her off coldly. "I understand the situation. I'll make time to fly back soon and handle this personally."

Corinne smiled triumphantly. "Good, good. When the patriarch steps in, things actually get done."

Since becoming a mother, Scarlett felt like she was constantly walking on a tightrope. The slightest sign of distress from her baby magnified her anxiety a thousand times over.

If she could, she would gladly take every ounce of pain and illness onto herself, just to guarantee her daughter could grow up healthy and safe.

Yet, in this moment of sheer, fragile desperation, her phone lit up with a message from Sylvia.

It was a photo.

Scarlett only needed one glance to recognize Yardley's silhouette, even if it was just a partial shot of his profile.

It meant that right now, while their daughter was burning with a dangerously high fever, while Scarlett was panicking and rushing to the emergency room in the middle of the night...

The man who had sworn just hours ago that he wanted to be a family again was currently holding Sylvia in his arms.

The blood in Scarlett's veins turned to ice. A crushing weight of suppressed emotion clogged her throat.

But just as she hit the absolute peak of panic and despair, her phone rang, sending her heart into her throat.