He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 236

She looked around the room, her gaze open and unflinching.

"From this moment on, Flynn Group and I are walking completely separate paths. Croft Design Studio is Croft Design Studio, and Flynn Group is Flynn Group. There are absolutely no ties between us. So please, cast aside any concerns and feel entirely confident in partnering with us."

Sometimes, you didn't need to raise a hand to land a devastating blow. Words, sharpened properly, could cut straight to the bone.

Taking a page out of Julian's book, Scarlett poured herself a fresh glass of wine, walked right up to Yardley, and smiled—a cold, mocking curve of her lips.

"To you, Mr. Flynn. Without your profound inability to appreciate what you had, I wouldn't be standing here today."

"I used to be naive enough to think that working at Flynn Group was the honor of a lifetime. Now I realize that the world outside is vast and boundless. A bird needs the open sky, and a fish needs the open sea."

"Thank you for setting me free."

Yardley's face turned to stone. Under the watchful eyes of the entire room, he had become a total laughingstock.

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but his throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. He couldn't force a single word out.

The news of their messy divorce had already been making waves in Bay City.

Realizing that the legendary S.L was actually Yardley's cast-aside wife, the crowd's admiration for her instantly deepened into profound respect and sympathy, especially among the women in the room.

After all, no woman would choose to file for divorce right after finishing her postpartum recovery unless she had been pushed to the absolute brink.

Guests quickly swarmed Scarlett, eager to chat and network. Every conversation was laced with subtle jabs directed at the man still standing frozen in the middle of the room.

Stripped of his pride and former glory, Yardley felt like a stray dog being chased out of town.

Everyone was speaking in polite, professional tones. No one used a single curse word. Yet, their elegant insults had practically turned his heart into a pincushion.

Unable to endure it any longer, he slipped out of the dining hall, escaping to the deck to stand alone in the freezing wind.

If the yacht weren't already out in the middle of the river, he would have vanished from the event entirely.

A crushing wave of defeat washed over him. Just then, the hushed voices of two wealthy wives standing nearby drifted into his ears.

"Our social circle is just a mess these days. Did you hear about what happened recently? Mr. Zeller's wife threw a huge fit and demanded a divorce. He felt so guilty that he gave her everything—the money, the house—and walked away with nothing. And guess what happened next?"

"What?"

"The second the divorce was finalized, she ran off and married her old lover! Her son even started calling the new guy 'Dad.' Zeller got suspicious, secretly ran a DNA test, and found out the boy wasn't even his! He got so angry he had a massive stroke. Now he's broke, paralyzed in a hospital bed, and has nothing left. It's actually tragic."

He didn't dare finish the thought.

He suddenly remembered the look in her eyes when she had toasted him just moments ago. They had been completely, unnervingly calm.

There was no hatred. No resentment. Not even a shred of lingering attachment.

It was just a dead, absolute finality.

Indifference was infinitely more terrifying than hatred.

But she had loved him so much. How could she completely erase all of those feelings so suddenly?

Could she really have been having an affair this whole time? Could Dawn really not be... his?

The paranoid thoughts bubbled up from the darkest corners of his mind, choking him. It felt as though a giant hand was crushing his heart.

No, it was impossible... Scarlett would never do something like that.

He kept his eyes shut tight, fighting desperately against the suffocating paranoia. No matter what the evidence looked like, he refused to believe she was capable of such a betrayal.