He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 231

Nathan didn't dare say another word. He immediately stepped aside to make the calls.

Before Yardley Flynn could even finish his coffee, Nathan had already contacted the three major real estate firms. Drenched in a cold sweat, he anxiously returned to his boss to report.

"Mr. Flynn, I've informed all of them, but... but..."

Yardley glared at him. "Get to the point!"

"They said the contracts have already gone through the final approval process. The partnership is locked in, and tomorrow's signing ceremony is just a formality. They also said..."

Yardley's temples throbbed. "Said what?"

Sweat dripped down Nathan's face, his legs trembling slightly. "They said that if you strongly object, they would rather be stripped of their membership in the Property Developers' Association than lose their partnership with Croft Design Studio."

He swallowed hard. "They consider Croft Design's blueprints to be the absolute gold standard in the industry. They believe it's an honor to work with them and refuse to give up such a rare, long-term opportunity."

Yardley was completely dumbfounded.

He never expected this. These three CEOs had just recently been calling him their friend, swearing absolute loyalty and close cooperation. Yet now, they were quietly jumping ship, willing to forfeit their association memberships just to work with Julian Croft.

So, in their eyes, his authority was already eclipsed by Julian's?

It was bad enough that Scarlett had become Julian's partner, but was his own hard-earned industry dominance—the empire he had spent years building—really being threatened by Julian?

A little, virtually unknown architectural studio was making three top-tier development firms flock to it, willing to risk his wrath just to sign a deal...

Refusing to believe it, Yardley roared at Nathan, "Go dig into Croft Design Studio's background right now! Find out what kind of decent work they've actually produced since their founding. I know Julian. For the past few years, he's been working on classified government projects. He hasn't had the time to take on private gigs!"

"These blueprints... they all look so familiar. Most of them are the drafts I rejected from her over the past five years! Are you telling me that every single design I threw out, she turned around and sold through Croft Design Studio? And she helped all these developers secure their dream landmark projects with them?"

An earthquake shattered Yardley's entire worldview. His hands trembled violently, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to process the revelation.

He simply couldn't accept it.

His wife—the woman he had dismissed time and time again—was actually a genius architect on par with Julian.

Yet, for the past five years, he had done nothing but criticize her, suppress her, and invalidate her work...

What shocked him even more was that she hadn't let his constant rejections break her. Instead, she had quietly held onto her vision. Using the pseudonym "S.L," she had been silently building her own empire in the shadows, shining brighter and brighter until she had cultivated a magnificent universe entirely her own.