He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 998

Julian immediately wrapped an arm around her, gently rubbing her back to soothe her. "Scarlett, let it go. He's a deadbeat. He's not worth this kind of anger."

Scarlett pointed a shaking finger toward the door, her voice thick with exhaustion. "I thought that after all these years, he would at least feel a shred of remorse. That he would reflect on what he did and apologize. But look at him! He only crawled back because he hit rock bottom and wants us to bail him out again. What does he think we are? A damn charity?!"

As she spoke, the flames of her anger flared back to life.

Julian's voice was remarkably gentle. "Not everyone is capable of self-reflection. And very few people possess the decency to apologize for the damage they've caused. Come on, take a breath. How about I take you to that new restaurant everyone's been raving about?"

The steady, grounding tone of his voice acted like a balm on her frayed nerves. She looked up at him, a flicker of guilt crossing her face. "I'm sorry. You're always the one seeing me when I'm completely hysterical. First it was Yardley, now it's my father... It feels like I'm a magnet for awful people."

Seeing her so hyper-aware and apologetic broke his heart. He took both of her hands in his. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. None of this is your fault. Scarlett, I'm your husband. I accept every single part of you, no matter what state you're in. From now on, if you don't want to deal with this garbage, I'll handle it for you. I refuse to let these people ruin another second of your peace."

His quiet reassurance washed away the last traces of her anxiety. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Let's go get some food. But give me a second—I'm worried he's going to come back and harass the staff, and I don't want Mom dealing with this. Let me just give the manager a heads-up."

She walked off to speak with La Belle Nuit's general manager.

Watching her walk away, Julian stepped aside and pulled out his phone, dialing Stellan.

"Stellan, Scarlett and Bill's father, Sean Bishop, just showed up in the city."

Stellan was floored. "What?! That's impossible. With his criminal record, there's no way he made it past customs. Someone powerful must have pulled strings to get him across the border."

Scarlett had been thinking the exact same thing but hadn't even had the chance to act on it yet. Hearing that Julian was already steps ahead made a profound sense of relief wash over her. "Thank you. I was going to call my brother about it too. You really do think of everything."

Julian smiled softly, draping an arm over her shoulders as he guided her toward the exit.

They got into the car and drove off, completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching them from the shadows of a massive concrete pillar.

"Did you see that? Your daughter hit the jackpot. Do you even know what kind of car your son-in-law was driving?"

Sean rubbed his nose, his eyes glinting with predatory greed. "Of course I know. Rolls-Royce. I used to drive one back when I was at the top of my game. Looks like my retirement plan is perfectly secured."