The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 08

The Arrogant Young Lady’s Awakening Chapter 08

I moved back to my dad’s place full–time. 

To avoid Adrian. 

The comments finally calmed down too. 

Lately, they were mostly… pitying me. 

“You know, the side chick is kinda pitiful too.” 

“This girl wrecked herself in love and lost everything 

in the end.” 

But of course, someone always shot back: 

“The OTP didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“She had it coming. Try–hard side chick splitting up 

the destined couple. This is karma.” 

I was sitting on the swing in the backyard, toes brushing the grass, rocking gently. 

Uncle Burke sent someone to get me. My dad wanted to 

talk. 

I sighed inwardly. Couldn’t dodge it forever, I guess. 

I stood up. Brushed off my jeans. 

In the study, my dad didn’t even look up from his 

computer. 

“You and Adrian fighting?” 

I scrunched up my face. 

I didn’t want my dad to think Adrian had treated me 

badly. 

“What fight.” 

“Got bored, that’s all.” 

“Honeymoon’s over. I want a divorce.” 

“Pop the champagne, old man. Your daughter’s going 

back on the market.” 

His face went red, then white, then red again. 

Finally he slammed his palm on the desk. 

“Enough!” 

I shoved my hands in my pockets and stayed 

unbothered. 

My dad and I weren’t close. Or rather–I wasn’t close to 

him. Unilaterally. 

When I was a kid, I’d walked in on him with another 

woman. Not long after, my mom went into labor early 

and bled out. 

After that, our father–daughter relationship had 

nowhere to go but down. 

He’d cut things off with all the other women after Mom 

died. Never remarried. But I never forgave him. 

The old man lectured at me all morning. 

It was clear how much he genuinely valued Adrian as a 

son–in–law. 

“Pearl Langford, how old are you? Will you stop being 

so impossible?” 

“When I first sponsored Adrian, I bet on him because I 

saw real potential. Then you decided you had to marry 

him, and I burned through favors to push the 

paperwork through. I told myself, even if Adrian. 

resents her, with me protecting her, he’ll think twice before mistreating her.” 

He sighed. 

“And just when things finally settled, here you are wanting a divorce.” 

“Do you understand the landscape of this city has 

shifted? Adrian alone is worth more than the entire 

Langford Group right now. I told myself, that’s fine. When I’m gone, at least he can take care of her —” 

He really meant it. 

Too bad. 

He didn’t know. 

Adrian wouldn’t take care of me. Adrian wouldn’t 

protect me. 

He only cared about Vivienne. She was his story. Not 

1. me. 

I bit into an apple, casual. But my ear caught something between his words. 

“Did something happen at the company?” 

After seeing those comments, I’d dug for ages. Found nothing. And I hadn’t wanted to spook him by bringing it up. 

His tone faltered. My stomach dropped. 

“What is it? Did something actually happen?” 

I noticed an English–language contract closest to his hand. I snatched it. The further I read, the more my 

brows knit. 

“That project…” he finally said. 

“The partner is a firm out of Luxembourg. Due 

diligence checked out. Their tech team is top–tier in the 

industry. We invested four hundred million.” 

Four hundred million. 

I did fast math against the size of the Langford Group 

in my head. 

We weren’t a top–tier conglomerate. We were primarily 

construction materials and real estate. Real estate had 

been brutal lately, and Dad had been trying to pivot. 

If this much money disappeared… it wasn’t a small loss 

for us. It was potentially fatal. 

“And?”