Chapter 418: Chapter 418: The Necklace He Chose for Estelle
Penelope suddenly had a thought. She was startled and subconsciously looked at Estelle. Could it be that the Sloan family was on Thea’s side? Old Mr. Sloan, who originally pushed so hard for this marriage, was now trying to matchmake Nathaniel and Thea!
Penelope couldn’t wrap her head around it. Although Mr. Sloan’s status in the Sloan family was a bit awkward, he was Ethan’s son no matter what, right? Did Old Mr. Sloan dislike this grandson? Even if he didn’t like him, there was no need to cause trouble for him at every turn, was there? And then there was Nathaniel... Thea’s words were practically telling everyone that she was Nathaniel’s fiancée, that Estelle had stolen her place, and that Estelle was the mistress. Wouldn’t Nathaniel say anything? Where did Thea get the nerve?
While Penelope truly couldn’t figure it out, Estelle understood perfectly. Thea was paving the way. Since she wanted to take over as the legitimate wife, Estelle, the original spouse, had to be smeared.
The people around them exchanged glances, seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes. They had long heard that Thea and Mr. Sloan had a close relationship. Today, Mr. Sloan had accompanied her to pick out jewelry, and it was said that he would also have Thea accompany him to the Evernight International annual gala the day after tomorrow. Wouldn’t that make Estelle’s position incredibly awkward? Everyone seemed to realize what was going on.
"Estelle, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that just now." Thea waited until the crowd had cast several rounds of meaningful glances before she ’realized’ she had misspoken. She hurriedly stepped forward and shook her head. "Please don’t overthink it, everyone. I didn’t mean it like that. Estelle and Nathaniel... I still wish them the best." She then added, "Estelle, Nathaniel is just upstairs. Do you want to go see him?"
Estelle gave her an indifferent look, playing along with the act. "No." After speaking, she pulled Penelope away to pick out jewelry in another section.
Thea curled her lips into a smirk and returned upstairs.
Penelope’s face was full of shock. "No, what does she mean by that?"
Estelle shrugged nonchalantly. "Exactly what you heard."
"Nathaniel really brought her to buy jewelry?!"
Estelle sighed helplessly. "Keep your voice down."
"How can I keep my voice down!" Penelope gritted her teeth. "What is Nathaniel playing at? Has he really fallen for Thea? You finally came back from abroad, and after wasting five whole years, I thought you two... I didn’t expect him to have a change of heart so quickly!" She muttered to herself, "If I had known, I wouldn’t have let you remarry that scumbag..."
Estelle smiled softly, feeling happy to have such a great best friend. She hugged Penelope and said, "Alright, don’t be mad. Nathaniel hasn’t had a change of heart."
Seeing that Estelle truly wasn’t panicking at all, Penelope calmed down and noticed something was off. "Then what are you two...?"
Estelle’s lips curled up. "Thea and Ethan are plotting something for the annual gala, so Nathaniel and I are just playing along with their plan."
"Oh..." Penelope understood after Estelle’s explanation and said with certainty, "They want to usurp his power."
Estelle remained silent for a long moment. "I don’t think ’usurp’ is the right word here."
When a son rebelled against his father, that was usurping power. But when a father wanted to seize his son’s power and force him to change his wife, what was that called?
Penelope racked her brains. "That’s called having too much time on his hands. No... is there something wrong with Ethan’s head?!
"Nathaniel founded Evernight International, and many people in the Sloan Group want to defect to him. That’s obviously because Nathaniel is more capable than his old man. The father can’t beat the son, which is why the power fell into the son’s hands. If Ethan were actually competent, would Nathaniel even have had a chance?
"With things as they are, what is he even trying to overthrow or usurp? It’s not like he’ll succeed.
"And wanting to change his son’s wife... that’s just downright absurd. Did Ethan teach Thea to say all those things? As expected, Ethan doesn’t have a good brain, and the things he tells people to say sound just as brainless.
"Who would believe those words of hers? As long as Old Mr. Sloan steps in and says something, Thea’s lies will collapse on their own!"
After Penelope finished speaking, she noticed Estelle remained silent. Her heart skipped a beat. "Wait, Estelle, you don’t mean..."
Estelle smiled gently. "Yes. Old Mr. Sloan might be involved in this as well."
She actually guessed right! When Penelope made that guess, she had thought it was just a random assumption and not necessarily true. Would Old Mr. Sloan really stoop that low? But now, she knew Estelle had no reason to lie to her. Thoroughly speechless and incoherent, Penelope was ultimately reduced to silence.
Estelle didn’t take it to heart at all. "Alright, it’s not like Nathaniel has actually had a change of heart. Besides..." She drawled slowly, "How do you know I’m not enjoying the show they’re putting on?"
Penelope was utterly shocked. She could actually find entertainment in this?!
Upstairs.
Nathaniel’s lips were pressed into a tight line as he watched Estelle’s figure and slowly let out a breath. Fortunately, she didn’t seem angry, aggrieved, sad, or wronged.
Nathaniel’s prerequisite for agreeing to play along with this act was that Estelle wouldn’t feel wronged. He would never have been willing if testing Ethan meant subjecting Estelle to grievances.
He had spotted Estelle earlier and seen her make a ’don’t come down’ gesture at him. Only after confirming that she hadn’t suffered the slightest indignity did Nathaniel withdraw his gaze.
At that moment, Thea returned. Nathaniel knew exactly what she had gone downstairs to do.
"Nathaniel..." Thea stepped forward, a look of worry on her face. "Estelle was just downstairs. I invited her to come up and join us, but she refused. Do you think she’s still angry?"
Nathaniel was well aware of the principle that a show had to be thoroughly convincing. He narrowed his eyes, a trace of darkness flashing in their depths. When he looked up again, his gaze was placid. "If she doesn’t want to, then let her be."
"But Estelle is your wife, after all..." Thea bit her lip. "I’m worried that public opinion might reflect poorly on her..."
Nathaniel replied methodically, "Well, then keep yourself in check."
Thea had originally expected Nathaniel to say that Estelle was indeed being unreasonable, that he didn’t care about her at all, and that Thea could do whatever she wanted. However, Nathaniel showed no extra reaction, which left her feeling quite frustrated. She had clearly confirmed that the person Nathaniel loved was her and that he was disgusted by Estelle. So why was his attitude toward Estelle so even-tempered?
Unwilling to concede, Thea said, "Nathaniel... I think this necklace goes quite well with Estelle’s gown. Why don’t you give it to her?"
Nathaniel rubbed the necklace with his fingertips. It did match perfectly; this was exactly what he had picked out for Estelle.
Downstairs, Estelle felt that the necklaces in this section were rather average, with nothing particularly stunning.
Penelope gestured from the side. "That mermaid dress of yours should be paired with a necklace shaped like fish scales. It would definitely look gorgeous! Although, the best material for the scales would be blue diamonds, but..."
Suddenly, Penelope spotted a necklace that perfectly matched her aesthetics, one she knew Estelle would undoubtedly love too. She was just about to point it out to Estelle when her gaze trailed up from the necklace and landed on the man holding it.