He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 159

"Yardley... you hit me?" Sylvia shrieked, clutching her burning cheek in absolute agony and disbelief. She couldn't process that the man who had loved and protected her more than anyone else in the world had just struck her.

The slap was so loud it completely stunned Corinne and Gwen. Corinne instinctively threw herself in front of Sylvia to shield her, glaring furiously at her son. "Yardley, have you lost your mind?! Scarlett bullies Sylvia and us to death, and you do nothing, but now you hit Sylvia?! Has that woman completely brainwashed you?!"

Yardley's expression was glacial. There was zero warmth in his eyes as he looked at his mother. "Why don't you ask her and Aunt Gwen what they actually did tonight?"

Gwen shot up from the floor. "What did we do?! What kind of lies has Scarlett been feeding you to make you this angry?!"

Yardley's cold gaze carried a profound, heavy exhaustion. "The fire at La Belle Nuit. You two hired someone to do it. Scarlett gave me the evidence, the witnesses, the audio—everything. Are you two completely brain-dead?!" His veins bulged against his forehead as he finally lost his composure. "La Belle Nuit is the favorite hangout for the most powerful elites in the entire country, and you set it on fire?! Were you trying to ensure our families get blacklisted from high society forever?!"

Yardley was practically hyperventilating. His chest heaved so violently he had to clutch it, struggling to catch his breath.

Sylvia and Gwen exchanged terrified glances. "We didn't..." Sylvia weakly tried to deny it.

With a furious scowl, Yardley simply played the recording of her conversation with the arsonist out loud. Sylvia's face drained of color, and she collapsed back onto the floor. Faced with undeniable proof, both women began shaking uncontrollably.

"She really has all the evidence? What did she say? Is she going to the police?! Are they going to prison?!" Corinne panicked, desperately tugging at Yardley's sleeve. "Yardley, you have to suppress this! You can't let your aunt go to jail! You have to—"

"Scarlett decided to let you off the hook... as a favor to me," Yardley said, his voice dripping with ice.

The three women immediately let out a massive sigh of relief. Then, he dropped the hammer. "However, she demands that you cover all the remodeling costs for La Belle Nuit, as well as all business losses incurred during the closure."

Sylvia's eyes widened. "!!!"

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