He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 774

He raised his arm and, without a second's hesitation, drove a hard punch straight toward Julian’s stomach.

Julian had retained at least some fraction of his sobriety.

He had heard every word of their exchange.

Sensing the sudden rush of air, his eyes snapped open. Reflexively, he reached up and clamped his hand around Yardley’s wrist.

His voice was tight with a mixture of urgency and panic.

"Are you out of your mind?"

Yardley stared coldly into Julian’s eyes, a sneer twisting his lips. "You can play that trick on anyone else, but in front of me... pathetic."

He felt a surge of smug triumph.

It was exactly as he had predicted.

The man had ulterior motives. The drunkenness was a total sham, a cheap ploy to win her sympathy and secure some alone time in her hotel room.

Men, Yardley thought with a flicker of disdain.

He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Scarlett.

"See that?" He pointed an accusing finger at the bed. "He was faking it the whole time."

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. A chaotic storm of thoughts crashed through her mind in an instant.

His words had just triggered a visceral flashback to that relief mission upstate—the very night their twisted relationship began.

Back then, he was the untouchable, high-and-mighty CEO, and she was nothing but an intern at the Flynn Group, a junior designer harboring a quiet crush.

Under normal circumstances, their paths never would have crossed.

It was only after attending a grueling business dinner with him and the rest of the team that she had stepped out of the restroom to find him slumped against a wall.

Out of sheer goodwill, she had helped him back to his hotel room.

She had done for him exactly what he had just done for Julian.

She took off his shoes, removed his jacket, fetched warm water to wipe his face and hands, and tucked him in.

The only difference was that just as she was turning to leave, he had reached out, seized her wrist, and yanked her forcefully into his arms.

Everything she had once perceived as honorable duty and responsibility had been nothing more than a predator's textbook trap to force a woman into submission.

Destiny? Fate?

It was all absolute bullshit. Nothing but a cheap, dirty trick.

A profound, churning nausea rolled in her stomach.

But at that exact moment, oblivious to her internal breakdown, Yardley fanned the flames.

"Do you want me to beat this scumbag up for you?"

"If I hadn't been here tonight, who knows what he would have done to you."

She ground her back teeth together, the sound barely audible. "Yeah. He is a scumbag."

His eyes lit up, a victorious smile forming on his lips.

But before the smile could fully materialize, Scarlett raised her hand and delivered a thunderous, blistering slap directly across his face!