Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

"A love rival?" Alyssa rested her cheek on her palm while feeding Jasper blueberries. She mused, "It's quite unfathomable for
Landon Harper to have a love rival. That's new."
Jasper snickered. "Lauren's living a secluded life because you're overprotective. She doesn't have a chance to meet with anyone
outside—it's just you and your secretary. She doesn't even have a healthy social life, so what's all that talk about a love rival?
You must be dreaming."
"Isn't that right?" Landon slammed a fist on the table as his voice broke from the tension.
He recalled the scene from last night where Lauren mumbled the name of this guy, Cyrus, while sleeping in his arms. How could
she call out the name of another man in her dreams?
His heart immediately shattered into pieces.
Alyssa shot him a piercing glance. "Do you mean my brother, Cyrus Taylor?"
Jasper froze. He grappled with the far-fetched notion, struggling to imagine Lauren and Cyrus together.
Landon widened his eyes, looking amazed. "Oh, Lyse, how did you know? Are you God?"
"Hah, drop it." Feeling speechless, she told him, "You're an open book—I can tell from your face. I saw you standing across from
Cyrus yesterday, staring at him fiercely, and I immediately knew something was wrong.
"But Mr. Harper, you shouldn't look down on the gentlemen of the Taylor family. None of them would ever get involved with
unavailable women. You shouldn't imagine him as a love rival just because he spoke to Lauren."

"Cyrus isn't that type of man. Landon, you shouldn't even suspect Lyse's family to start with." Jasper hugged Alyssa by the waist
as he pondered the absurdity of Landon's accusation.
Landon sighed and held his tongue out of fear of sounding like a disgruntled housewife.
"Ah! No wonder you're in a hurry to register your marriage with Lauren. Looks like the 'love rival' has plunged you into a crisis."
Alyssa immediately read Landon's mind. "Seriously? Did you lose your head over a non-issue? Are you a child?"
Landon pressed his lips sheepishly.
"Let's have a careful discussion about the marriage in the future." Jasper put on a serious face and advised Landon, "Your
priority should be sorting out the mess in your family. Once you've established your power in the company, everything will fall into
place."
Despite Jasper's advice, Landon felt bothered. He had acknowledged Lauren as his future spouse, but the same might not be
true for Lauren. He worried that, given her naivety, she might fall for the tricks of another man.
That was his punishment for being too deep in love.
When Jasper and Alyssa finished breakfast, Xavier returned from his mission and exclaimed, "Madam, you're spot on! David
Schmidt has been arrested!"
Casting an admirable glance at Alyssa, Xavier professed his amazement, "The media has swarmed the entrance to the police
station. The police have gathered evidence of David Schmidt sexually assaulting multiple women, two of them minors!"
"Fuck! He's the scum of the earth!" Landon slammed the table indignantly.

Similarly, Jasper was disgusted to learn about David's reproachable behavior. Besides that, he was amazed by Alyssa's
capability. Holding her shoulders and carefully pulling her into a hug, he praised, "Lyse, Landon was right. You're like God. You're
wittier and prettier than everyone around."
"Pfft! You sweet talker," she playfully chided him but secretly enjoyed the compliments. "Too bad David was caught in action. I
heard a few reporters on stakeout had live streamed him completely naked, having no time to blur out the nudity!
"Alas, I missed the live stream. How exciting would it be?"
Jasper looked amused by Alyssa's often surprisingly bold remarks, which he once found hard to accept. Now, he thoroughly
enjoyed her snarky behavior. He'd much prefer to date a sassy woman.
"The videos online have blurred out the nudity. If you want, I'll get you the raw video," Landon suggested with sincerity and
winked at her.
Jasper and Alyssa, rendered speechless, wondered if Landon was truly out of the situation or simply feigning naivete.
"Now, Daisy and David Schmidt are done for. Josh has lost two of his right-hand men." A frosty expression unfolded on Jasper's
face. "He must be panicking now since he has lost his support pillars. Next, he'll be fighting Jameson head-on for power in the
Schmidt Group.
"Josh might be cunning, but that's all he has going for him—he lacks the talent to helm a company. Watching him fight Jameson
will be as exciting as a cage fight."
Frowning, Alyssa did not seem pleased by the imminent victory. She cautioned, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Josh Schmidt
is way more of a threat than we think.
"You know what? I reached out to Jonah yesterday to get him to purchase massive amounts of the Schmidt Group stocks at a
low price to take control of the company.
"To our surprise, someone from the Schmidt Group had pulled the strings, injecting a large amount of capital to stabilize the
volatile stock price. That's why Jonah failed to purchase anything."
Jasper knitted his brows, pondering, "Was that Jameson Schmidt's work?"

"He was able to sway the local election results from far in Kontina. Do you think he can't manipulate the stock price? After 15
years of preparation in Kontina, he must be ready for a power grab in the Schmidt Group." Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth
and vowed, "We can't let him take control of the Schmidt Group no matter what it takes."
"It's fine even if we fail to stop him." Jasper gazed at Alyssa tenderly and planted a kiss on her forehead. "A greater humiliation
would be destroying his beloved Schmidt Group from within."
Her eyes shimmered as she nodded in agreement.
"By the way, there's something else I'd like to inform you," Xavier suddenly interjected.
Feeling thirsty, he had no time to take a sip of water. He began, "I'm not sure if this is worth reporting, though. J-Jameson
Schmidt just bought a private jet and got it delivered to Solana City last night.
"Just... Wow. I checked out the photos captured on my phone. It's such a luxurious jet, and it's the latest model compared to Mr.
Beckett's jet. Jameson must be filthy rich."
Looking upset at Xavier's comparison, Jasper pouted. "If you like private jets that much, you should work for Jameson Schmidt
instead and jet around."