Sydney curled her mouth with a hint of indifference. "No!"
"Why?" Clarice's face stiffened.
Sydney looked at her with cold eyes, "I won’t work with you. You may excuse yourself."
"Why?" Clarice was confused, "Lyra is your enemy. She will definitely take revenge on you. It will be easier to deal with her if we work together."
"You're right, but I don't necessarily have to work with you." Sydney snickered, "Do you think you have any power? Even if you did, I wouldn’t work with you. You betrayed me once. Do you think I'll trust you a second time?"
Clarice choked for a moment. She had an ugly look on her face.
Clarice knew as she had betrayed Sydney once, Sydney would never trust her again.
But this time, she really wanted to work with Sydney because it was too difficult for her to find Lyra on her own.
As Sydney said, Clarice didn't have any power or a lot of money. If she was going to find Lyra, she had to work with someone.
And Sydney was the best choice, because she held a huge grudge against Lyra.
But Sydney wouldn't work with her.
"Ms. Raines, I'm really sorry about the last time. But that's another thing. We can put the past aside and talk about it later. Now the most important thing for us is to find Lyra as soon as possible. Leaving Lyra out there is more dangerous for us. So..."
"Save your crap." Sydney raised her hand and interrupted Clarice impatiently, "I've already told you I won't work with you. I'll find Lyra on my own. Don't worry about me. My friend is here. You're taking her seat. Get out of here. Don't make me call the waiter to ask you out!"
"You...” Clarice glared angrily at Sydney.
Sydney parted her red lips and spat out in disgust, "Go away! "
"Sydney! You're going to regret this!" Clarice couldn’t stand Sydney’s contempt, but she resisted the urge to spill her guts. She grabbed her handbag and stormed away.
When she reached the door, she almost bumped into Mrs. Chase who had just come in.
Luckily, Mrs. Chase stepped to the side just in time so she didn't get hit by Clarice.
Watching Clarice storm away as if she hadn't even noticed she'd almost hit someone, Mrs. Chase frowned and her face showed disgust.
"Aunt," Sydney waved at Mrs. Chase, "Here."
Mrs. Chase heard Sydney's voice. She removed the disgust from her face, turned her head, and walked over with a smile," Sydney, sorry to keep you waiting. I was stuck in the traffic."
"That's okay. I just arrived." Sydney got up and pulled out a chair for Mrs. Chase.
Mrs. Chase patted the back of Sydney's hand affectionately. Then she sat down.
Sydney returned to her seat. She then handed Mrs. Chase a cup of coffee, "Aunt, try this coffee. You'll love it."
"Thank you, Sydney," Mrs. Chase said, happily taking a sip of her coffee.
Sydney picked up the spoon and stirred her coffee.
Suddenly, Mrs. Chase asked, "Sydney, who was that girl that just went out? When I got out of the car, I saw you guys talking. Do you know her?"
Sydney nodded, "Sort of. She's the oldest daughter that Brandon and his wife got back recently."
"Brandon's daughter?" Mrs. Chase understood, "No wonder she's so rude! She indeed is Brandon's daughter.”
Sydney nodded her head in agreement.
"Well, let’s not talk about her. Sydney, do you know what I want to talk to you about?" Mrs. Chase put down her coffee cup and looked at Sydney.
At that moment, Sydney had mixed feelings inside, surprise, emotion, guilt, but not love.
She didn't love Luke, and she was sure of it
Even if Luke had loved her with all his heart for more than ten years and she was touched, she could not love him back.
Mrs. Chase had been watching the expression on Sydney's face.
She had come especially to tell Sydney since when Luke had fallen in love with her, to see if Sydney would be touched when she learned about it.
But now it seemed that Mrs. Chase's expectations had failed.
"Sydney, have you rejected Luke?" Mrs. Chase asked.
Sydney shook her head and nodded again," Sort of. Luke didn't confess his love to me. I just guessed it from his words, so I didn't reject him outright, but I let him know that he and I were not going to work out. I wanted him to forget about me and find the right girl."
"No wonder Luke got so frustrated and got himself wasted." Mrs. Chase sighed.
Sydney held her coffee cup tighter, "I'm sorry, Aunt. I didn't mean to hurt Luke's..."
Mrs. Chase smiled, "There's no need to apologize. I don't blame you. Since you don't like Luke, it’s good to reject him. You didn't do anything wrong or hurt him. It is Luke's own problem. He is too fragile. How can he not handle a woman’s rejection?"
Mrs. Chase was honest. She didn't think it was Sydney's fault.
Sydney was right to reject the man she didn't love.
If she was worried that Luke would be heartbroken and didn't reject him completely, she left a chance to and kept him on the hook.
In the end, things became ugly, and that was what really hurt.
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