She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 574

A man seated nearby, a complete stranger, laughed in a teasing tone. "Gorgeous women these days all eat like birds. One bite and you're full."

Sabrina mentally screamed at the guy to shut up, terrified he was going to sign his own death warrant. She could already feel the temperature around their table plummet by several degrees.

"Hey beautiful, do you have a boyfriend? Could I get your number?"

Another bright, confident male voice abruptly chimed in from behind.

Lyra turned around to see a guy from an adjacent table stepping up, holding his phone out.

Sabrina discreetly sized him up. He definitely wasn't a Seaborne City local. If he were, he would have known all about Lyra's highly publicized past engagement to the Jameson heir and would never have dared approach her so brazenly.

She expected Lyra to shut him down immediately. Instead, Lyra simply said, "Sure," and pulled up her QR code, adding his contact right then and there.

Madeline, who had just returned to the table, stared in sheer bewilderment.

The moment the man walked away, Madeline hissed, "Why did you add him?"

She instinctively shot a glance at Rowan, noting the absolute, terrifying sub-zero chill radiating from his dark eyes.

Lyra casually explained, "I... figured he might be one of yours and Leo's friends, so I didn't want to make things awkward by rejecting him. I'll just delete him later."

Sabrina let out a massive sigh of relief. She knew Lyra was deliberately saying that loudly enough for Rowan to hear. In her current fragile state, the last thing Lyra needed was a full-blown confrontation.

"Lyra, you are an absolute angel. If I were a guy, I'd be madly in love with you," Sabrina gushed.

Lyra silently thought her friend was being incredibly dramatic. Her bold declarations always made her blush on the spot.

Several other friends of the bride and groom at their table were now openly staring at them. Hating the spotlight, Lyra deflected. "Let's just eat."

She lowered her head and forced herself to take a small bite of greens.

A few of the men at their table had been secretly checking Lyra out all night, debating whether to shoot their shot. But after hearing that the guy who just got her number was going to be promptly blocked, they instantly realized they'd dodged a bullet by staying seated.

"And I just said, 'Okay.'"

"And that was it. Now we're married."

Rowan let out a dark, velvety chuckle, the corner of his mouth ticking upward. "You two make it sound so effortless."

There was a heavy, seductive undercurrent to his words—a silent implication that marriage was an impossibly complicated luxury for him. For a fleeting second, he gave off the intoxicating illusion of a man who desperately wanted to be tied down.

The women at the table, who had previously been paralyzed by his glacial aura, suddenly perked up, their cheeks flushing with renewed hope.

Lyra, however, was fighting the desperate urge to hurl. She was just counting down the seconds until the toast was over so she could bolt, entirely oblivious to the women boldly asking Rowan for his number behind her back.

The absolute second the bride and groom clinked glasses and moved to the next table, Lyra shot up from her seat. She practically flew out of the banquet hall, making a beeline straight for the restroom.

This time, feeling significantly lighter and more human after rinsing her face, she stepped out of the bathroom and bumped directly into Jayden Ward.