He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 176

He hadn't known that his mother had gone behind his back and done so many cruel, unforgivable things to Scarlett. He was only just finding out about all of it recently.

So, over the past five years, she had been silently enduring all of this alone. Behind every moment he thought she was just being independent, she was actually swallowing down unimaginable grief.

Looking back now, he realized just how horribly he had messed up.

At the time, his only thought had been that Sylvia was in a foreign country without her family, and since she was so frail and fragile, she needed someone to take care of her, so...

Yardley lowered his eyes, a heavy shroud of guilt settling over his chest.

He instinctively reached out to grab her hand, but Scarlett stepped back, leaving him grasping at air.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you were hurting this much?" he asked.

"Tell you?" Scarlett shot back. "You constantly demanded that I be independent, that I look at the big picture. The second I complained about anything, you immediately accused me of being unreasonable!"

"In the past five years, have you ever once considered things from my perspective? If you hadn't shown me such blatant disregard and neglect, do you really think your family would have dared to treat me that way?"

Yardley fell completely silent.

Scarlett stared at him, her gaze laced with venom.

"Did I not call you on the day of her one-month milestone? What did you say? You said you were busy, that you had plans. And what were those plans? You threw this massive, extravagant celebration for Sylvia's kid, while you had your driver drop me and my daughter off at home!"

"Ask yourself honestly, Yardley. Since Sylvia came back, have you made even a sliver of room in your heart for me and our child?"

Yardley couldn't speak.

Just hearing Sylvia's name now brought a wave of revulsion and discomfort to his chest. Things weren't what Scarlett thought they were.

She had shared his bed for five years, worked herself to the bone for him every single day, yet he had never shown her an ounce of favoritism. Not a single drop.

Scarlett let out a bitter, exasperated laugh, her lips curling in pure mockery.

"Look at you. You claim you're setting boundaries, but the second she's in trouble, you're immediately jumping in front to protect her."

"Fine. If you want to pay for her, go ahead. But if the money is coming from you, I want three times the original damages. Otherwise, no deal!"

Yardley's pupils constricted in shock. "Scarlett, how... how did you become so materialistic? Three times the amount? Are you crazy? I've been giving you millions lately, is that still not enough?"

A chilling smirk crept across Scarlett's face.

"You love paying for Sylvia, don't you? You clearly have money to burn. In that case, you can pay a premium! The renovation costs are thirty million, plus ten million in lost revenue. That’s forty million in total. Multiply that by three and hand it over. You can do the math yourself!"