She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

She transferred a generous ten-thousand-dollar holiday bonus to Sophie and sent her home to enjoy the break.

Lyra stayed behind alone to handle the final wrap-up.

Her coffee had gone completely cold.

The wall clock read just past six in the evening. Her family had already called multiple times, but her phone had been on silent, so she hadn’t heard a thing.

Lyra shut down the computer and rubbed her tired, aching eyes.

Standing up, she walked over to the window and checked her phone. Caleb had called the most, and his latest text read: [Why aren’t you home yet? What are you and Madeline even doing?]

Lyra quickly replied: [On my way.]

Another notification popped up. It was a message from Caspian.

He had already headed back to the Jameson estate. He mentioned that Alistair missed her and had been asking where she was hiding these days.

Lyra typed back: [Tell Grandpa Jameson I wish him a happy New Year.]

[And happy New Year to you too, Cas!]

Caspian replied almost instantly: [Happy New Year!]

He attached a photo of their lavish holiday dinner.

Among the sprawling feast on the table, the left edge of the photo captured a sliver of a man’s hand with distinct, elegant knuckles. Lyra recognized Rowan’s hand immediately.

What caught her eye, however, was a delicate woven bracelet resting against his wrist bone.

He never wore feminine accessories like that.

There was only one explanation-Jasmine had made him wear it for the holidays.

Rowan was only ever that submissive and compliant when it came to Jasmine.

Boom-

A massive firework exploded across the night sky, illuminating the dreary gray expanse like a shower of falling stars.

Lyra snapped out of her daze, refusing to waste another second on him.

She grabbed her purse and hurried out, driving away from the corporate building…

The streets were adorned with bright lanterns and decorations, the festive New Year atmosphere growing more vibrant by the minute.

While some malls had already closed, the entrances to high-end hotels were packed with people bustling in and out.

Taking a deep breath, Lyra picked up a piece and took a bite. Just as she remembered from her past life, it was practically inedible.

Only, in her past life, she had spat it out immediately and berated him: [Stop wasting my family’s groceries.]

This time, Lyra chewed it a few times, swallowed it down, and praised him. “Tastes like a Michelin-star chef made it.”

Liam’s eyes lit up with pure joy.

Watching this, Caleb chuckled. “Keep spoiling him. When no restaurant in the city wants to hire him, he’ll be stuck working as our personal chef, forcing us to eat disaster meals for the rest of our lives…”

Lyra smiled.

The rest of their lives sounded perfect.

What Caleb didn’t know was that in her past life, by the time he died, all the Fairchild employees had long since been dismissed. Lyra had been so weak and sick she couldn’t even get out of bed. It was Liam who had carried Caleb to the hospital on his back, and it was Liam who had arranged Caleb’s funeral.

Remembering that, it felt like a knife twisting in Lyra’s chest. Her eyes reddened with sharp pain, and she quickly lowered her head, pretending to focus on the food.

For that debt of gratitude alone-Lyra would happily eat his terrible sirloin steak for the rest of her life.

She silently vowed that if Liam couldn’t make it in school and no restaurant wanted him, he would always have a permanent place with the Fairchild family.