Chapter 426: Chapter 426: Let the Face-Slapping Begin
Anyone who kept up with the Sloan family knew that six years ago, Mrs. Sloan, Estelle Lockwood, had "died" in a fire.
Estelle had even left behind a suicide note. The letter detailed how she had let Nathaniel down, how she could no longer go on living, and how she had to leave him.
Back then, Noelle Lockwood had shed crocodile tears, crying, "Nathaniel, my sister is just too fragile. It’s bad enough she took her own life, but to take her three children with her! Those were her own flesh and blood! Nathaniel, let me stay by your side. I won’t be like my sister."
And now, Thea York was singing the exact same tune: "Estelle is gone. She didn’t even want her three children. Those are her own flesh and blood! Nathaniel, let me stay by your side. I won’t be like Estelle."
Although the circumstances were different... their words were remarkably similar.
Thea’s expression stiffened. "N-Nathaniel, what are you talking about? How could what I said be anything like Noelle’s words? The fact remains that Estelle took the money and left..."
"What he means, Miss York, is that you’re full of lies, just like Noelle Lockwood!"
A female voice suddenly rang out from outside the door, making the crowd jolt in surprise.
The massive doors of the banquet hall swung wide open with a resounding BANG. Estelle strolled in with a faint smile and looped her arm through Nathaniel’s. "I’m late."
Nathaniel’s lips curled up in a smirk as he murmured, "Not at all. Your timing is just right."
A dead silence fell over the venue.
Everyone was stunned by the scene before them. The guests wondered if they were really seeing Estelle Lockwood. Weren’t they just told that she had taken the money and left Nathaniel?
All eyes zeroed in on Thea and Ethan Sloan.
Thea instinctively took a step back. The joyful expression on her face instantly froze, gradually morphing into horror and disbelief. Thea wondered why Estelle was here. Wasn’t she supposed to be dead?! She whipped her head toward Ethan, questioning him silently.
A lump formed in Ethan’s throat, his heart hammering wildly against his ribs. For a moment, he couldn’t even process what was happening. He pointed a trembling finger at Estelle, stammering a string of "You... you... you’s" without managing to form a complete sentence. He wondered what was going on and what on earth was happening!
"The two of you seem quite surprised?"
Estelle’s lips curled up as she gave Thea a meaningful once-over. "I don’t know where you get the right and the nerve to claim you’re Nathaniel’s perfect match, Miss York, but... seeing as I’m not dead yet, don’t you think it’s a bit premature to say such things?"
Thea was completely terrified. Her intuition told her she could not let Estelle say anything more.
But it was too late.
Estelle was already asking with a soft chuckle, "Or does Miss York think that I should be a corpse right now?"
The guests were utterly confused about what she meant.
Ethan gritted his teeth. He absolutely could not admit to anything. "Estelle Lockwood! You already took my money and left! Now that you’ve heard Nathaniel is getting engaged to Thea, you’ve come back to cause a scene. What exactly are you after? Was the money not enough?!"
Thea seemed to have found a lifeline. "Estelle, is this about money? Or did you realize Nathaniel hasn’t lost his power, and you can’t bear to let him go? But doing this is going to ruin him..."
Mrs. York hurled a string of curses. "Exactly! Taking the money and coming back so shamelessly... you truly are a bitch!"
"Money?"
Estelle didn’t even get angry. Instead, she tapped her temple, feigning deep confusion.
"I have a rather poor memory. I wonder when Chairman Sloan gave me this so-called money? Where did you give it to me? And when did I decide to leave Nathaniel?
"I can’t seem to recall any of it. Could Chairman Sloan kindly jog my memory?"
Ethan choked on his words, his eyes darting around wildly. "I have nothing to say about this, and I don’t want to spell it out just to make it known to the whole city and turn us into a laughingstock!"
"That’s all right, I don’t mind." Estelle tilted her head. "Even if someone becomes a laughingstock, it’ll be me. You have nothing to worry about, Chairman Sloan. Speak up.
"How much money did you give me? Was it an online transfer or in cash?"
Everyone looked at Ethan, suspicion already taking root in their hearts.
Estelle was perfectly calm, while Ethan was breaking out in a cold sweat. Anyone with a functioning brain could figure out what was really going on.
"You, I..." Ethan stammered, then ground his teeth. "I... I transferred it to you..."
"Then why don’t you show everyone the bank statement, Chairman Sloan? That way, everyone can see just what an ’insatiably greedy’ woman I am."
Realizing he had slipped up—since he obviously didn’t have a transfer record—Ethan immediately changed his tune. "It was an offline transaction! I gave you cash!"
"Oh... cash." Estelle looked distressed. "Cash doesn’t leave a paper trail, which makes it hard to prove."
Ethan heaved a sigh of relief, knowing Estelle was out of options.
However, before he could fully relax, he heard her speak again: "Then do you have surveillance footage to prove it, Chairman Sloan?"
"Of course... of course not!" Ethan realized that all he had to do was stubbornly deny everything, and Estelle wouldn’t be able to prove herself.
"I see..."
But to Ethan’s surprise, Estelle actually laughed.
There was another thing Ethan hadn’t noticed: Estelle was directing all her attacks at him rather than Thea. If he had paid attention and thought about it carefully, he would have realized something was amiss.
But Ethan was useless to begin with. Under the intense gaze of the crowd and Estelle’s relentless pressure, his brain completely stopped functioning.
Then, Estelle spoke.
"You may not have proof, Chairman Sloan, but I do."
She smiled gently, her eyes full of mirth as she looked at Nathaniel. "I also have to thank Mr. Sloan for his help in allowing me to escape. Otherwise, against the conspiracy you and Miss York hatched today, I really wouldn’t have been able to defend myself."
The guests wondered what she meant by escaping, and what conspiracy she was talking about.
The crowd couldn’t process it quickly enough.
Right at that moment, the lights in the banquet hall went black.
A surveillance video appeared on the giant screen!
The guests wondered what the meaning of this was and why they were being shown a surveillance video.
While the crowd remained bewildered, Ethan’s face drained of color. Completely abandoning his dignity and disregarding whether his actions would arouse suspicion, he roared at his assistant, "Go turn off the video! Go!"
"..."
Yet, despite his prolonged shouting, the assistant who had followed him for years stood completely still.
"I’m sorry, Chairman Sloan, but I can’t find the source of the video."
Ethan’s face flushed red. "Then pull the plug!"
Saying that, Ethan moved to do it himself, but he wasn’t fast enough.
A few seconds later, everyone saw Estelle in the video, securely tied up.
The entire banquet hall stared in shock and disbelief. They wondered what exactly the situation was. Why would a perfectly fine Estelle be tied up?
Just then, the video played, and the audio echoed through the hall.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Estelle asked.
"Miss Lockwood, my apologies for the offense. I’m just following orders," the assistant replied.
That assistant...
Several people subconsciously looked toward Ethan.
The assistant in the video hadn’t covered his face, so everyone could see him clearly.
The man threatening Estelle in the video looked exactly like the assistant currently standing next to Ethan—the very same man who had worked for him for eight years.