He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 46

Fifty million dollars to buy her divorce, to buy Dawn's permanent severance from the Flynn family. If Scarlett hadn't heard it with her own ears, she never would have believed this was happening in the twenty-first century.

Was her daughter not a human being? It wasn't as if the Flynn family had a royal throne to inherit.

A bitter, incredulous laugh escaped her lips. She was shaking all over, so suffocated by rage that she couldn't even force a word out.

But the one who found it even more unbearable was Talia, who stood outside the door eavesdropping with a spatula gripped tightly in her hand.

When the commotion started, Talia had been cooking in the kitchen, planning to whip up a quick lunch for the two of them. Hearing the heavy thud of footsteps in the hall, she sensed something was wrong and stormed over to Scarlett's front door, weaponizing her spatula.

The door was ajar. She hadn't rushed in immediately, but she caught every single word of the conversation inside.

Unable to hold back a second longer, Talia burst into the room. Thrusting the spatula—still dripping with spicy chili oil—straight at Corinne, she yelled. "You vicious, black-hearted old hag! How can a biological grandmother be so completely out of her mind!"

"By blood, Dawn is your family. From the moment she was born, you took one look at her and walked away. Fine. But now you have the absolute audacity to try and buy her out of your family with a check?"

"No wonder your family tree is so pathetic. It's cursed by a toxic woman like you. If you have the guts, say all of that again. I'll record it and post it online right now. Let the whole world see what a misogynistic psycho you really are."

Trembling with fury, Talia swung the spatula wildly, cursing and jabbing the air.

Corinne had never faced anything like this in her pampered life. The color drained from her face as she ducked and scrambled for cover. In the chaotic scuffle, a splash of spicy chili oil flew straight from the spatula into her eye.

A bloodcurdling shriek tore from Corinne's throat as her eyeball felt like it had been set on fire.

Clutching her streaming eye, she abandoned any thought of fighting back. She signaled her entourage and fled Scarlett's house in absolute humiliation.

"Never again," Scarlett said, her fists clenching tightly. "I'm done rolling over for them." The thought that Corinne might be one of the masterminds who had hurt her mother fueled an inferno of rage in her chest.

Talia nodded emphatically. "Exactly. Now that you have real backing, don't be afraid. Don't back down. Take them head-on."

Immensely proud of her performance today, Talia patted her own chest. "If this were the past, I'd have been furious, but I wouldn't have dared stick my neck out like that."

"But now? Knowing you've got powerful people in your corner gives me all the confidence in the world."

"Scarlett, I've stood by you for so long, and I'm finally seeing you break free." A lump formed in Talia's throat, and she pulled Scarlett into a bone-crushing hug.

Pulling away, she threw an arm around Scarlett's shoulders and steered her across the hall toward her own apartment. "Come on. You have to try the incredible spicy seafood stew."