He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 143

Meeting Yardley's cold, unyielding gaze, Corinne's heart violently jolted.

This was the son she had nearly lost her life giving birth to, and for the very first time, he was leaving her with absolutely no dignity in front of an outsider.

"Fine. Just fine. You've really grown some wings, Yardley."

Trembling with absolute fury, Corinne aggressively dragged a chair over and sat down heavily with a loud crash.

She held up two fingers, her voice shrill and piercing.

"I am laying it all out on the table today. I am giving you two choices."

"First, you acknowledge me as your mother, and from this day forward, you cut ties with this mother-daughter pair completely. You never see them again."

"Second, you protect them, and from this day forward, you pretend I don't exist. Now, choose."

Corinne's eyes were wide with wrath as she stared him down, looking fully prepared to force him to take a side right then and there.

Yardley rubbed his temples, feeling utterly drained and exasperated.

"Mom, you are being completely unreasonable."

"I am not making that choice. To me, Scarlett and my daughter are just as important as you are. You are all my family."

Corinne let out a cold sneer and threw down another harsh ultimatum.

"Today, it is either them or me. If you don't choose, I will sit right here, and I am not leaving."

Her shouting echoed loudly off the walls of the hospital room.

The sudden, jarring noise startled the tiny baby. Dawn's little face crumpled, and she let out a loud, miserable wail, her voice echoing with pure grievance.

Watching her daughter tremble in fear, a furious fire ignited in Scarlett's chest. She was just about to lash out when a large, warm hand gently gripped her wrist.

Yardley gave her a subtle shake of his head, his eyes pleading with her to stay calm.

In the very next second, he turned around and took wide strides out of the room.

Scarlett watched him leave in confusion. Less than half a minute later, two heavily built bodyguards marched inside.

Before Corinne even had time to process what was happening, the men flanked her on both sides, lifting her directly into the air, chair and all.

"What are you doing? How dare you. Put me down."

Corinne was horrified, her face paling in absolute shock as she struggled frantically, but she was no match for the sheer strength of the two massive men.

She was half-carried, half-dragged out of the hospital room by force.

"Are you satisfied with how I handled that?"

Scarlett looked up, her gaze frosty. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Without another moment of hesitation, Yardley reached out his long arms and pulled Scarlett, along with the baby in her arms, flush against his chest.

He lowered his head, his warm breath fanning over the top of her hair. His voice was deep and laced with a seductive, pleading tension.

"I'm trying to say, for the sake of our daughter, let's make up."

"Can we just let the past go? Stop fighting me on this."

Scarlett's body went completely rigid. She didn't say a word.

The air in the hospital room felt as though it had entirely frozen over.

She instinctively tried to struggle, but Yardley's arms were locked around her like bands of steel, trapping her firmly against him.

Her cheek rested against his broad, warm chest. The familiar, crisp scent of cedar filled her senses.

It was the scent she had once been so deeply addicted to, and the very same one she had spent countless nights desperately trying to escape.