Chapter 438: Chapter 438: Laura Jennings Falls into the Trap
"If you keep acting this shameless, you’re only humiliating yourself."
Estelle wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "Ms. Jennings, how can you be so sure the man inside is Nathaniel? What if Thea did this on purpose?"
Laura felt that Estelle was simply refusing to accept reality. "Let me tell you the truth. Thea and Nathaniel have been together for a long time. If it isn’t Nathaniel, who else could it be? Now that things have come to this, Nathaniel has to take responsibility. As his mother, I absolutely will not let this slide!"
Estelle was speechless.
She had to remind herself that she was acting and absolutely could not laugh. Did Laura ever listen to her own logic when she spoke? If a man cheated, the legal wife was somehow obligated to step aside.
Normally, if a man cheated, whether the wife wanted a divorce was entirely up to her. What right did the cheating man’s mother have to dictate anything? Just because Laura had been a mistress herself, did that mean she wanted her son to be with a mistress, too? Was that her logic?
However, Estelle didn’t mind making Laura a little more excited.
She gritted her teeth. "I will never agree to this!"
"Estelle, look at the situation. Do you really think your refusal changes anything?" Laura advised earnestly. "Nathaniel’s heart is no longer with you. What’s the point of causing a scene? You might as well divorce him right now. Once Thea becomes Mrs. Sloan, she won’t make things difficult for you."
"But..." Estelle hesitated.
Laura declared self-righteously, "Do you honestly think Nathaniel shouldn’t take responsibility after sleeping with Thea?!
"Let me teach you a lesson today, Estelle. Since you love Nathaniel, you should be accepting of the woman he loves! If you truly love him, how can you not think of his needs? It’s just adding another woman to his life. You should willingly step aside—that is the true expression of your love for him!"
Estelle continued to grit her teeth. "Ms. Jennings, I don’t believe Nathaniel would betray me!"
"Fine. In that case, I’ll let you see the truth for yourself."
Laura sneered, completely dismissing Estelle. After all, she knew exactly how much Thea cared for Nathaniel. Moreover, she had planted aphrodisiac incense in that very room yesterday. Yes, she had done it with her own hands.
Her plan was to have Nathaniel affected by the aphrodisiac incense when he escorted Thea back to her room. She hadn’t expected it to work this perfectly!
As Laura spoke, she stepped forward to open the door, unable to hide the excitement in her eyes.
Estelle narrowed her eyes and shifted her gaze slightly, meeting Nathaniel’s eyes not far away.
Everyone in the living room was so focused on the bedroom door that not a single person noticed Nathaniel walking over silently.
Laura was still shaking her head and sighing. "Estelle, don’t let your jealousy consume you. If you keep this up, Nathaniel won’t tolerate you anymore."
Laura pushed the door open. "You really should be more generous. If you and Thea both stay by Nathaniel’s side in the future, wouldn’t that be a beautiful tale?"
As Laura took in the sight of the scattered clothes and bedding across the room, her eyes lit up brighter and brighter. "When the time comes, I’ll arrange an engagement for Nathaniel. Estelle, you also have to..."
"An engagement?"
A calm male voice interrupted Laura’s words.
Everyone froze. Laura’s back stiffened, thinking she had misheard. Wait, that voice...
Sensing that something was wrong, Laura was about to turn around when the person behind her spoke again, a half-smile in his tone.
"Could it be... Ms. Jennings thought the person in the room was me?"
A dead silence fell as the entire room instantly quieted down.
Laura’s whole body went rigid as she finally realized who had just spoken. In disbelief, she slowly twisted her stiff body around to look.
No, she must have misheard. Nathaniel was clearly in bed—how could he be outside the door? How could that be possible? Yes, she definitely misheard. She was going to see exactly who dared to play a trick on her!
Laura abruptly froze in place.
Nathaniel wore a lazy expression, his smile inscrutable as he shot Laura a meaningful glance. "Ms. Jennings seems very surprised by my appearance?"
A wave of panic surged from the bottom of Laura’s heart. How could this be? How could this be!
"Nathaniel!"
"You don’t need to yell, Ms. Jennings. I can hear you just fine," Nathaniel said slowly. "You certainly have a lot of energy this early in the morning."
Everyone present could decipher the hidden meaning in his words. How could the wealthy ladies not see it? The real reason Laura had brought them here to see the rose-pink diamond was to catch the adulterers red-handed, giving Nathaniel a justifiable reason to marry Thea.
But... the man inside wasn’t Nathaniel!
Then who was in bed with Thea? They all recognized Thea’s voice, but as for the man...
The wealthy ladies breathed a sigh of relief. Their husbands and sons had all returned to their own rooms last night. As long as it wasn’t one of their own, it was fine. After all, with the York Family’s downfall and Stella York suing Chairman York and Mrs. York, how could Thea—the illegitimate daughter of a mistress—possibly find a good match?
They certainly weren’t going to risk making an enemy out of the York Group’s new heir by taking Thea as a daughter-in-law.
Only Laura had completely lost her mind.
Estelle wasn’t the least bit surprised. "Nathaniel, you’re here."
Laura’s mind buzzed. Where was the slightest trace of nervousness in Estelle’s demeanor now? It was a far cry from the lonely, helpless, and frail act she had put on just moments ago! And it was precisely because of Estelle’s performance that Laura had been so certain the man in the room was Nathaniel, prompting her to call all these people over.
"You tricked me?!" Laura screamed hoarsely.
Estelle put on an innocent expression. "What are you talking about, Ms. Jennings? What did I trick you about?"
Flushed with anger, Laura shut her eyes, put her hands on her hips, and roared, "You said Nathaniel didn’t come back all night! You were the one who said it!"
"Yes..." Estelle replied in confusion. "Nathaniel really didn’t come back all night."
"Then..."
"Because Nathaniel was in a meeting with Luke White and several shareholders last night." Estelle blinked and said nonchalantly, "What did you think was happening, Ms. Jennings?"
Laura choked on her words.
It was true that Estelle hadn’t explicitly said, "Nathaniel and Thea are sleeping together." She had only used various body language to convey that she knew about Nathaniel’s infidelity.
Who knew it was all an act put on for her benefit! She had been played!
Nathaniel and Estelle must have discovered her plan early on and avoided the trap. To make matters worse, Estelle had put on that little performance this morning, completely humiliating her!
Laura was absolutely furious. "Then that phone call with Luke White—"
"Oh..." Estelle clicked her tongue. "Didn’t you know? Their meeting room was Room 406, and Miss York’s room is right next to it. Since Nathaniel was still in the meeting room earlier, Luke said he was still over on Miss York’s side. Is there a problem with that?
"By saying that, Luke only meant to express that Nathaniel was still around Room 406. But to make it easier for me to understand, he referenced Miss York’s room... Oh my, Ms. Jennings, this is all my and Luke’s fault for having poor communication skills and causing you to misunderstand."