He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 78

"My conscience is perfectly clear! I maintained total boundaries from start to finish. I never harbored a single inappropriate thought, and I swear that on my life!"

"I can accept Scarlett misunderstanding me. But you? After all these years, you're going to let things get twisted and drag my character through the mud?"

Julian had heard enough. He stood up, his gaze locking onto Yardley with chilling finality.

"It seems that even now, you completely refuse to see what you did wrong."

"Forget it. There is no point trying to wake someone who is pretending to be asleep. We have nothing left to talk about."

Julian had lost all desire to argue. In his eyes, trying to reason with Yardley was entirely pointless.

He turned to walk out, but Yardley shouted bitterly at his back.

"What exactly is my problem, Julian? I watched over Sylvia through her entire pregnancy. I stayed with her day and night during her postpartum recovery."

"I haven't changed a single diaper for my own daughter. I've never fed her. I didn't even see her when she was born. But your son? I changed his first diaper. I fed him his first bottle. I was the first one to hold him outside the delivery room. I even threw a massive, lavish party for his one-month milestone."

"I treated your wife and child like royalty, and you're treating me like an enemy? When did you become as completely irrational as Scarlett?"

The alcohol was fueling his rage, and Yardley unleashed all the repressed frustration that had been festering inside him.

He felt horribly wronged. If he had actually done something inappropriate with Sylvia, he would accept the backlash. But he hadn't. He had never once crossed a physical line.

How had everything spiraled into this disaster?

The sensation of being entirely unable to clear his name was driving him insane.

Julian paused. He had intended to leave without another word, but the sheer absurdity of Yardley's defense grated against his ears.

Without turning around, his cold, uncompromising voice drifted over his shoulder.

Yardley collapsed back into his chair, sitting in suffocating silence for a long time.

After downing two more glasses of whiskey, he opened his social media feed and stumbled upon a video posted by Talia Gray.

It showed Talia and Scarlett taking his daughter out for a bath at the Baby Spa.

Resting his chin on his hand, Yardley stared at his daughter's chubby little arms and legs. A soft, involuntary smile of pure paternal adoration spread across his face.

She looked just like him. The elegant curve of her eyes, the delicate slope of her nose, her radiant complexion... but her mouth was all Scarlett—small and perfect. She was going to be an absolute heartbreaker when she grew up.

He replayed the video over and over, his chest aching with an overwhelming urge to reach through the screen and pull her soft little body into his arms.

Wait. She still didn't have an official name. With the chaos of the past few weeks, he had completely forgotten something so crucial. As her father, he had to give her a beautiful, proper name.

Suddenly stripped of his desire to drink alone, Yardley left the cellar. The moment he arrived back at Orchard Villa, he headed straight for his study.