She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“I’m not desperate for the collaboration either. But whether we partner up or not, we have to show goodwill. He can’t strike a smiling face, right?”

“And enough with the doom and gloom. It’s the holidays; no talking about companies bleeding out or dying.”

Lyra opened her mouth, but the words died in her throat.

Just like in her past life, her father was walking the exact same path-trying to cling to the Jameson family’s coattails. He would face rejection after rejection, dragging it out until Jonathan Ford had cannibalized every last drop of their market share.

The day her father finally realized the company was unsalvageable, the shock would trigger a fatal heart attack.

“I’m going back to the office right after the holidays, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” Lyra’s eyelashes fluttered. She absolutely refused to let her father continue down this road.

“Fine, but behave yourself. No firing people on a whim.”

Arthur smiled, pinching her cheek affectionately. He took in her festive plaid skirt, looking her up and down. “Look at you. You used to be this scrawny little thing, and now you’re so tall and elegant. You’re at the age to get married, and yet here you are, fighting me to go to work.”

Lyra had been genuinely upset, but his teasing pulled a reluctant laugh from her. “If I didn’t grow, you would have been the one panicking!”

Arm in arm, father and daughter walked out of the study just as the first wave of guests arrived.

Arthur hurried off with his wife to play the gracious hosts. Lyra politely greeted the relatives, but her eyes remained as cold as ice.

The afternoon blurred into endless socializing over lunch.

Later that day, an unfamiliar sports car pulled up to the Fairchild driveway.

Caspian stepped out of the driver’s seat.

Lyra hadn’t expected him to show up.

Caspian was only allowed to take his cars out during the holidays. After leaving the estate, he realized none of his friends were free, and with nowhere else to go, he decided to find Lyra.

After all, she was technically his “girlfriend” now.

Thankfully, he didn’t come inside; Lyra walked out to meet him.

Arthur hadn’t noticed Caspian’s arrival.

Maisie had a couple of friends trailing behind her, one of whom was snickering silently as Maisie spoke.

“Isn’t this whole ‘intellectual’ act a bit pathetic?” Maisie sneered. “You can read all the books in the world, and you’ll still never hold a candle to Jasmine.”

“No matter how hard you pretend, Rowan is never going to like you.”

“My mom had dinner with Jasmine last week, and she hasn’t stopped raving about her since.”

“She said Jasmine is brave and brilliant. She literally risked her life diving into the ocean to save Rowan. It was pitch black, the water was freezing, and she didn’t even hesitate…”

Lyra knew the truth better than anyone in that store.

Rowan had been drugged on a private yacht and threw himself into the ocean to escape. He swam all the way back, only losing consciousness when he was mere feet from the shore.

Jasmine hadn’t dived into any freezing depths. She was a decent swimmer, sure, but by the time she waded out to him, her hair hadn’t even gotten completely wet.

Yet somehow, Jasmine’s “heroics” had been exaggerated into a mythical legend.