Chapter 431: Chapter 431: The First Time Nathaniel Sloan Saw Estelle Lockwood
Old Mr. Sloan’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Then he let out a soft chuckle. "Estelle, I know young people care about saving face, but Grandpa knows the truth. There’s really no need to hide it from me."
Estelle feigned a bashful look. "Grandpa, I’m really not just being shy. If Nathaniel didn’t like me, how could we have had children? Speaking of which, I still have to thank you for picking me at first glance and making this marriage happen. By the way..."
She tilted her head, her curiosity piqued. "Why would Grandpa Sloan think that the person Nathaniel likes is Noelle Lockwood?
"Is it just because of a few words from Ms. Laura Jennings? If the person Nathaniel truly loves was Noelle, why wouldn’t he marry her? Why didn’t any romance blossom between them despite being ’childhood sweethearts’ for so many years? It looks like Grandpa Sloan was played by Ms. Jennings," Estelle added with a beaming smile.
Old Mr. Sloan clenched his jaw so hard his gums ached. He wondered how that could be possible.
Estelle beamed. "Grandpa Sloan, thanks to you, Nathaniel and I truly love each other. We’ve been through so many hardships together, and now we can face whatever comes our way side by side.
"Besides, you don’t actually think you can still control Nathaniel Sloan, do you?" She looked at him with profound amusement.
Old Mr. Sloan’s gaze was sharp and piercing, but Estelle paid it no mind and walked straight out of the room.
To her surprise, she bumped into someone right outside the door.
"You actually waited here?"
Nathaniel walked up to her and gently took her hand. "I said I’d wait for you, so I waited. I was worried," he said calmly.
Estelle cast a smiling glance at Ethan Sloan, who was still standing by the doorway, and let out a slow laugh. "Chairman Sloan, I’d advise against acting on impulse right now. Grandpa Sloan is still furious."
Old Mr. Sloan was indeed in a towering rage. He thought he had arranged a marriage for Nathaniel that the young man despised—or at least, he had despised it back then. But now, Estelle was telling him he had gotten it all wrong?
His brow twitched with suppressed anger. He immediately sent his men to investigate what Nathaniel had been doing eight years ago.
But what did the investigation turn up? It showed that Nathaniel would check if Estelle was having a good time at banquets, ask if she knew how to ride a horse, pay attention to the jewelry she liked, worry about her health, and even warn the Lockwood family on her behalf.
Was this... was this an expression of disgust?
It suddenly dawned on Old Mr. Sloan why he had been so convinced that Nathaniel didn’t love Estelle and was trapped in misery. It was all because of what Laura Jennings had told him.
At that moment, Ethan walked in.
Without a word, Old Mr. Sloan hurled a file directly at him, venting his fury. "Useless trash!"
Ethan flinched, his whole body trembling.
Old Mr. Sloan narrowed his eyes. "I don’t care what methods you use, but you must make Nathaniel marry Thea York. As for you wanting to carve out a path for Theodore Lancaster, do as you please."
In short, he just wanted to see Nathaniel lose everything.
Ethan stared in shock for a couple of seconds before gritting his teeth and nodding. "Of course!"
This son of his had outperformed him as a father at every turn, never leaving him an ounce of dignity. And to make matters worse, he was Miranda Lancaster’s son! Only when Nathaniel’s life was completely ruined could Ethan finally be at ease.
Estelle narrowed her eyes as she watched the door to Old Mr. Sloan’s lounge click shut. "They’re up to no good."
"Mhm." Nathaniel didn’t elaborate further, only asking, "What did he want to talk to you about?"
A complex array of emotions crossed Estelle’s face. "Nathaniel... I still can’t believe it. Was Grandpa Sloan’s ’kindness’ toward me back then all fake?"
Nathaniel looked at her quietly.
Estelle leaned against the window. The cold breeze brushed against her face, calming her racing thoughts slightly. It was still incredibly difficult for her to connect the Grandpa Sloan from back then with the Old Mr. Sloan she saw today.
The only two people she had once been truly grateful for in the Sloan family were Old Mr. Sloan and Iris Sloan. This father and daughter didn’t fit her preconceived notions of wealthy elites either. But now, even her Aunt Iris seemed to be distancing herself from Old Mr. Sloan.
Had he really changed?
Estelle couldn’t help but recall the time when Noelle intentionally made things difficult for her at a banquet by demanding she peel crab shells. Afterward, Grandpa Sloan had brought her to the Sloan family villa and comforted her, telling her not to pay any mind to Noelle.
Although the present-day Old Mr. Sloan claimed he only did that because he thought Nathaniel loathed her, and he wanted to take care of someone Nathaniel despised just to sicken him. But if that was the only reason, where did the genuine warmth she felt back then come from?
Old Mr. Sloan said he was only using her, but would someone really put on such a comprehensive act just to use a person, making her feel true, undeniable warmth?
Estelle couldn’t figure it out.
Then there was another matter...
She abruptly looked up. "Old Mr. Sloan said he brought up our marriage contract solely because he thought you hated me. He said you were disgusted by me from the very first time we met, and when he found out, he couldn’t wait to get us engaged."
Their first meeting? Nathaniel searched his memories.
Then, he heard Mrs. Sloan ask in a slow, deliberate tone, "So... during Mr. Sloan’s first meeting with me, did he also think that I was bullying Noelle?"
That was an absolute death trap of a question.
Nathaniel thought back to that year. When he arrived at the Lockwood family villa, he heard the servants complaining before he even stepped through the door.
"What is Miss Estelle playing at? Does she absolutely have to drive Miss Noelle away?"
"She’s way too petty. It’s not like Miss Noelle stole her identity on purpose. Who does she think she is, showing Miss Noelle zero respect? Doesn’t she know that Miss Noelle is Chairman Lockwood and Mrs. Lockwood’s favorite?"
"I heard our so-called true heiress couldn’t even afford to go to school before!"
"She’s that poor? Ugh, she’s definitely a country bumpkin. She doesn’t deserve to be here at all."
"Exactly. She bullied Miss Noelle to tears the moment she came back..."
Everyone was saying that Estelle had made Noelle cry, that Estelle was throwing her weight around as the true daughter to belittle Noelle, yelling at her to get the hell out. They claimed Noelle felt so inferior she was even driven to the brink of suicide.
However, when Nathaniel walked into the villa, he saw a completely different picture.
He didn’t see a true heiress abusing her power to bully others. There was only an innocent girl pushed into a corner, looking utterly dejected, her doe-like eyes brimming with helpless confusion.
She stared blankly at another girl—the one who, from her perspective at the time, had stolen eighteen years of her life—being surrounded by a crowd like stars around the moon, receiving endless gentle consolations.
That fake heiress was the true master of the villa. The Lockwoods and the servants had eyes only for her. The true heiress was ignored, shoved into a servant’s room with no one to welcome her; even Austin Lockwood and Rose Lowell hadn’t bothered to return home.
And yet, when the rumors spread, the one supposedly being bullied was Noelle?
Eight years ago, Nathaniel had stared at Noelle’s pretentious act, acting as if the whole world owed her something.
Back then, a twenty-something Nathaniel, who had yet to experience so much of life, only had one pure curse echoing in his mind.
He wondered if there was something wrong with her brain.
His thoughts returned to the present.
Nathaniel nodded, his voice slightly raspy. "At the time, I was only thinking about one question—was Noelle out of her mind?"