She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 139

His suit jacket was draped over one arm, and his clothes were dusted with dirt. He was currently trying to brush the grime off his shoulders.

"How did you get in here?"

Lyra's heart leaped into her throat, and she instinctively moved to slam the door in his face. But Lucas was too fast. He jammed one hand against the doorframe and shoved the door open with the other, forcing his way inside. "I came to see you."

A flicker of barely concealed desperation edged his voice. "You wouldn't pick up the phone, so I had to come over."

"Who gave you permission to come in here!"

Lucas took a menacing step forward, his towering frame casting a dark shadow that entirely swallowed her delicate figure. "Are you home alone?"

Lyra went completely pale, backing up against the wall. "No. My parents are going to be back any minute."

Lucas didn't push any further. He simply strolled over to the plush armchair she had just vacated, his gaze drifting down to her bare, luminous feet. "Is your ankle feeling any better?"

Lyra turned her face away. "Save your fake sympathy."

"Look, I crossed a line before. I swear I'll never treat you like that again. But you were the one constantly throwing yourself at Rowan, so I just..."

"Get out." Lyra dug her hands into the doorframe, refusing to hear another word of his excuses.

Lucas stood up and stared at her in deafening silence, a profound sense of helplessness in his voice. "Why have you changed so much?"

He stared into the eyes that used to sparkle with life every time she looked at him, now filled with nothing but bone-chilling apathy. The way she was looking at him—it was exactly how she would look at a total stranger.

It finally hit him. She wasn't just throwing a tantrum, and she definitely wasn't playing hard to get. The suffocating wave of disgust radiating from her was entirely real. She was completely, utterly repulsed by him, and by Rowan, too. She had cut them out of her life for good.

Lucas swallowed hard. "Lyra... the truth is, I..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, the color drained even further from Lyra's face. Every inch of her body screamed with an instinctual, terrified rejection.

"Lyra!"

A booming, powerful voice suddenly echoed from downstairs, immediately shattering the suffocating silence in the room. It was Arthur, finally home from his dinner meeting. "Is anyone home? Where did everybody go?"

Lyra let out a massive sigh of relief. "Dad, I'm up here!"

At the sound of Arthur's voice, Lucas pulled his emotions back in check. He murmured softly, "No matter what you think of me, I really just came here to apologize."

With that, he walked out of the room and headed downstairs, looking completely unfazed.

Arthur practically froze in his tracks when he saw Lucas descending the staircase.

"What on earth are you..."

Arthur ordered her to go upstairs and change.

Lyra came back down in a casual cartoon-print dress that looked dangerously close to a nightgown.

Arthur took one look at her outfit but didn't utter a word of complaint. As far as he was concerned, his little girl looked absolutely stunning in anything she wore.

Even though the outfit was entirely inappropriate for tonight's occasion...

A short while later, Caleb and his wife arrived.

Lyra chatted brightly with her sister-in-law, dragging her over to their usual seats at the dining table.

"Hold on a minute," Arthur announced. "Our guests aren't here yet."

"Guests?"

"Charles and his family are joining us for dinner."

Lyra froze dead in her tracks. "What?"

Arthur quickly explained. "I didn't find out until after Caleb's wedding that the Jameson Group's hotel actually canceled on some high-paying clients and took a massive financial loss just to accommodate us. We owe the Jamesons a massive debt of gratitude. Hosting them for dinner is the absolute bare minimum we can do to show our appreciation."