She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 129

The evening reception was held back at the Fairchild estate.

It was an intimate gathering to host old friends and esteemed elders who preferred a quieter atmosphere.

Grandpa Alistair attended in person, with Caspian staying by his side to keep him company.

Rowan never showed his face at the dinner. It was only as the night wrapped up that he sent a driver to pick up his grandfather and brother.

It was quite late by the time the last of the guests finally departed.

The staff were busy cleaning the sprawling house. Arthur had had a bit too much to drink and had already gone to bed.

Delilah told the staff to just do a quick tidy-up and sent them home for the night, deciding they could handle a deep clean the next day.

Caleb and Kayla had left for their new marital home. Lyra, utterly exhausted from the long day, retreated to her room, removed her makeup, and took a shower. She was just about to sink into a deep sleep when...

Her Uncle Marcus called, demanding she come out and play cards.

Some of the friends he had brought with him for the wedding were currently staying at The Jameson Grand.

Gripping her phone, Lyra's first instinct was to decline. But then she remembered that Marcus had never abandoned her.

In her past life, when the Fairchild family had gone bankrupt, Marcus had tried to take her away to safety. She had stubbornly refused to leave, throwing away her absolute last chance at survival.

At that memory, she walked into her walk-in closet, threw on a baggy hoodie, grabbed a face mask, and headed out the door with her freshly washed, half-dried hair hanging loose.

Mr. Lawrence was already asleep, and Lyra didn't want to start a car and wake her parents, so she called a cab and took it to the hotel.

As she stepped into the elevator, she overheard a housekeeper and a waitress chatting. "I wonder who reported Josie Somerset. Mr. Jameson personally stepped in to protect her."

"The manager never liked Josie anyway. She was totally jealous of how pretty she is and was always trying to make her life miserable. The second a guest filed a complaint, the manager jumped on it. She was ready to fire her on the spot. She had no idea her main backer was actually the boss!"

The waitress covered her mouth and giggled. "That's insane. I'd love to see the manager try to throw her weight around now!"

Lyra's gaze remained detached. When the elevator dinged at her floor, she strode out without a backward glance.

Pushing open the door to the VIP card room, a cloud of cigarette smoke mixed with the faint scent of tea wafted out to meet her.

Seeing her walk in, Marcus raised a hand. "You made it! Grab a seat right here."

"Why don't you just stay here for the night?"

"I can't." Lyra shook her head. She had zero desire to sleep at The Jameson Grand. Josie Somerset could show up at any minute.

A few moments later, Marcus gave in to his girlfriend's whining about the hot springs, and the whole group decided to relocate for a late-night soak.

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to get her a cab," Marcus said, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he pointed at his niece. He needed to make sure she got into a car safely. If anything happened to her in the middle of the night, Arthur would murder him.

His friends waved goodbye to Lyra and headed off.

Lyra smiled and waved back. As they stepped out of the room, she pulled her mask back up over her face. Walking down the hallway, she asked, "Marcus, when are you going to get married again?"

"Not anytime soon..."

Marcus spent most of his time doing business overseas, though he lost money far more often than he made it and regularly needed financial bailouts from his sister and brother-in-law. He slung an arm around his niece's shoulders as they stepped into the elevator. Since he rarely saw her, he decided to bring up old grievances. "Do you have any idea how much grief you gave me the last time you initiated those massive layoffs?"

"I clearly remember you ordering me not to help those deadbeat relatives. You said if we were living in ancient times, I'd be the guy helping Caleb seize the throne... and that as your uncle, I couldn't drag him down."