Vivienne turned around slowly, shocked by her comment.
Despite her invading attitude in her relationship with Alder, she had always been polite in her words toward her, or so she thought.
This was the first time Lyra ever spoke to her in such a manner without putting on the mask that she was just a friend to Alder.
"What?" Vivienne mumbled.
"Maybe this is for the best. Now that the baby is gone, there is no need for you to keep dragging Alder down with you," Lyra went on.
Vivienne blinked, not believing her ears.
She was merely pretending to be polite all this while.
A few times before, Vivienne thought she was the one being paranoid and felt that maybe she was overreacting to her relationship with her husband, but all her fears were true.
She must have purposely kept Alder back to make her realize her hold on him.
"Alder is my husband. If there is anyone dragging him down, then it's you pretending to be a friend and business partner while having an affair," Vivienne snapped at her.
Lyra chuckled, letting out a laugh of mockery.
"Alder and I are in love with each other. How can you refer to our relationship as an affair when he clearly has no feelings for you?" she retorted.
"You barely became his wife by chance and you should be ready to vacate that position now."
Vivienne's confidence died at the mention of Alder's feelings.
With his coldness and aloof behavior with her each time, she knew it clearly herself that he didn't feel the same way she did toward him.
"Alder simply agreed to marry you because you saved him, but I'm the one he actually cares about. The only person who can help me run Green Tech and restore it back to its glory," Lyra said proudly.
She was the only daughter and heiress of Luminex Global. Her relationship with Alder was something that had been predestined.
"Alder only sees you as a burden," Lyra continued her taunt.
Vivienne shook her head, refusing to admit defeat.
It was true that the help she rendered to Alder brought them together, but he definitely didn't get married to her only because of that.
She asked him out formally after the blood transfusion took place, and he gave her a reply to marry her after two weeks.
She even helped him solve the glitch with his company's new electronic devices seven months ago.
The issue had given Alder and his team headaches for a couple of weeks, and she easily resolved it for him. That should qualify for something.
"A burden that solved the problem a bunch of top techs couldn't resolve with the BOT-C device?" she fired at Lyra, but her comment only earned a smirk from Lyra.
"BOT-C?" she repeated slowly, fetching her phone from her purse and pressing a few buttons, then showed it to Vivienne.
"You mean this solution?" she asked.
Vivienne stared at the article displayed in front of her and read the name written in it.
It was Lyra Devereux.
Her face darkened instantly and she tried to snatch the phone, but Lyra pulled back faster.
"All I had to do was tell Alder the award for this would boost my career after returning back, and he immediately handed it over," she boasted.
"Right now, I'm the leader of Alder's team," she revealed.
Vivienne furrowed in disbelief, but the evidence was right in front of her.
She was the one who found the solution to the problem and gave it to Alder, yet someone else was reaping the benefits.
No wonder she didn't hear anything about it from him even after so long, and she just thought to forget about it and count it as her duty as his wife.
What she didn't expect was that he would hand the achievement to another woman.
Vivienne clenched the sheets on her bed, her nails digging into the fabric.
"Get out," she muttered in despair.
Lyra laughed again, enjoying every moment of her pain, and leaned closer to her ear.
"You will be out of Alder's life soon."
With that, she turned away and left the room. She met Alder on his way back.
"How is she?" Alder asked, holding some papers in his hand.
"Vivienne asked us to leave. She wants to be alone," Lyra replied with a sigh, her face arranged into an expression of pity.
Alder exhaled slowly and slipped the paper into his pocket. His chest tightened with guilt, but he didn't reveal that on his face.
Something made him wonder if the miscarriage happened because he left her in a hurry this morning, and he heaved.
He might not want a child, but still, it was saddening. He felt even worse after seeing Vivienne's condition.
He could understand if she was very upset with him.
"You should head back," Alder said quietly to Lyra.
"I will stay here."
Lyra froze.
Alder had never once shown Vivienne such consideration in her presence.
The panic in his eyes when the doctor told him about the miscarriage had troubled her and made her unsettled.
It was the first time she had seen him lose control and leave her side to run to Vivienne's instead, and now he was going to stay at the hospital with her, alone.
"Wait…" she said quickly, blocking his way before he could open the door.
If Alder stayed, Vivienne might bring up what she had claimed earlier.
The lies would unravel, and every lie she had built up to separate them would crumble.
If Vivienne decided to confront Alder about BOT-C, then he would immediately find out she stole the files from his desk seven months ago and he would chase her out of Green Tech.
"Your wife just lost her baby, and you weren't there for her because of me," she said, her voice soft and coaxing.
"She must be furious with you. You should give her time to heal and calm down before you face her."
Alder's jaw tightened, and her words unsettled him, then he paused like he remembered something.
"Why did you say that earlier?" he questioned, lowering his voice dangerously.
Lyra blinked, puzzled.
Alder wasn't the one to ask her reasons for her actions and always indulged her ambiguous remarks, but right now, he looked very upset.
"What are you referring to?" she replied, forcing a smile and watching Alder furrow in anger.
"I just didn't want Vivienne to misunderstand. That's all," she explained, hoping he would let it go.
But Alder's eyes narrowed with displeasure.
"Anyone who heard you would misunderstand. Vivienne is my wife," he rebuked her sharply, and he walked past her without another glance.
Lyra's face twisted with rage at the way he had emphasized the word "my wife."
Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone.
"Go ahead with the plans," she hissed to the person on the other end, before ending the call abruptly.