She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 198

"Before Rowan gets back, I'm going to do you one last favor."

Lyra's heart lurched. She tried to yank her arm away, but a brutal force jerked her forward.

In the next second, a vicious kick sent her flying backward into the deep pool.

Splash!

A massive geyser of water erupted as the freezing depths instantly swallowed her whole. The koi scattered in terror, and the surface churned violently, refusing to settle.

Watching Lyra plunge into the water, Elara burst into cruel, mocking laughter.

Lucas stood at the edge, staring down at the turbulent water. "Soak it in. Once you've swallowed enough water and realized your mistake, you can come up. Maybe then we'll forgive you."

Lucas was certain she couldn't swim.

Every time Lyra had taken lessons in the past, she ended up thrashing wildly until Rowan rescued her.

So as far as he knew, she was terrified of the water.

But as Lyra sank, there was no panic. No desperate thrashing. Instead, the water's surface fell eerily still.

Lyra didn't resurface.

The panicked screams for help never came.

Frowning, Lucas stepped closer to the edge. "Lyra?"

It seemed she had slipped silently to the bottom.

"Lyra!"

Lucas shouted, panic lacing his tone. He kicked off his shoes, ready to dive in.

Splash. Across the courtyard, a slender, soaking-wet figure hauled herself out onto the opposite deck.

Lucas froze, stunned. "You know how to swim?"

Jasmine's face paled slightly as a realization hit her.

Lucas and the others all thought Lyra was helpless in the water.

But she wasn't.

In fact, her swimming skills were exactly what had saved Rowan that one fateful night.

If Rowan saw this right now—

Would he figure out that Lyra was the one who had pulled him from the wreckage?

That would ruin everything.

...

A sweltering, feverish night. The rush of water from a showerhead.

Him, burying his face in a woman's neck, gasping for breath, his eyes locked onto a pair of flawless, radiant legs...

"Rowan, you're back?" Jasmine gasped, her face draining of color.

She hurriedly pushed her way between them, forcing a smile. "Lyra accidentally fell into the pool... I was just about to go find her a change of clothes."

Lyra simply turned her back, refusing to offer a single word of defense.

"Why are you still standing there?!"

Lucas snapped, giving Lyra's wet shoulder a shove to push her out of Rowan's line of sight. "Go change your clothes."

Lucas told himself that sooner or later, Lyra would realize he had done this to protect her.

Suffering a little humiliation at his hands was infinitely better than facing Rowan's wrath.

Because when Rowan got vicious—

Well, the men who had thrown him off that yacht years ago were still rotting in hospital beds.

The rest were locked up in maximum security.

It had been over two years, and Rowan still hadn't let them go...