He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 936

"Yardley, what do we do?" Sylvia asked, panicked by his grave expression. "If they get busted and Thorne Industries goes down, you're going to get dragged down with them! Is there any way out?!"

Yardley closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them a few seconds later, the panic and regret were completely gone, replaced by a ruthless, calculated calm.

Panic was useless. Fear was a waste of time.

There was no retreat. He had to break the board.

"There's one chance," Yardley said, his voice low but steady. "If the investigation is still operating in secret and hasn't gone public, it means there's still a window to flip the script."

"If I can get hard evidence that Veronica knowingly accepted illicit funds, deliberately used Flynn Group as a shield, and utilized the project for money laundering, I can prove I was manipulated. I can prove I'm the victim."

"If I hand that evidence to the authorities before they come for me, I can sever Flynn Group from the fallout and walk away clean."

It was the only lifeline he had left.

Sylvia's eyes lit up. "I'll help you! I'll look for evidence!"

"You will do absolutely nothing," Yardley cut her off, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You are too close to this. If you start poking around, you'll tip them off, ruin my plan, and get yourself arrested."

"The best thing you can do for me is to stay in the shadows and act like a clueless idiot."

Sylvia teared up at his harsh but protective tone and nodded meekly.

Seeing that Yardley wasn't blaming her, but was actually protecting her despite the mess she'd made, Sylvia was overwhelmed with emotion.

Seeing that the office was empty, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing softly.

"Because..." Yardley took a deep breath, preparing to lay everything out on the table.

But before he could speak, a loud commotion erupted in the hallway.

An instant later, the office doors were violently kicked open.

Veronica Thorne stormed in, her designer hair wild, her heavy makeup smeared, radiating pure, unadulterated fury.

The second she saw Sylvia wrapped in Yardley's arms, her vision tinted red.

Without a second thought, she reached into the umbrella stand by the door, yanked out a heavy, long-handled umbrella, and swung it like a baseball bat straight at Sylvia!