Chapter 100: "Yara Lockwood, I Am Pursuing You.

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: "Yara Lockwood, I Am Pursuing You.

As soon as Nathaniel Sloan finished speaking, the surrounding crowd’s jaws dropped; they couldn’t believe their ears.

Take Mr. Sloan off of what?

The blocklist?

This woman had blocked Mr. Sloan?!

What was even more shocking was that Mr. Sloan wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he gently asked if she had cooled down and if she could unblock him.

So subservient, so incredibly humble... Was this really Mr. Sloan?!

"Ah, I get it..." someone suddenly whispered to their companion. "Mr. Sloan and Yara Lockwood must be dating!"

Estelle Lockwood was speechless.

To make matters worse, their companion actually agreed, "That makes sense... No wonder Mr. Sloan showed Noelle Lockwood zero respect just now. It turns out Yara is his real sweetheart."

Estelle snapped back to reality, glaring at the man in front of her with a hint of annoyance. "Mr. Sloan, could you please have some self-respect?"

Nathaniel nodded. "I’m simply asking my business partner to unblock me. How is that lacking self-respect?"

Estelle frowned instinctively. "Your tone makes it very easy for people to misunderstand..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly realized she had walked right into his verbal trap and abruptly snapped her mouth shut.

Nathaniel’s lips curled into a faint smile. "What’s wrong with my tone? Which of my words made Miss Lockwood overthink and feel that I lacked ’self-respect,’ hmm?"

Estelle stared at him, dumbfounded.

He actually had the nerve to ask?

Because of what he just said, everyone around them thought they were a couple. Wasn’t that a massive misunderstanding?

"However, they didn’t misunderstand," Nathaniel said slowly. "In fact, Miss Lockwood, I have been pursuing you this whole time."

Liam Sloan nearly did a spit-take with his cola.

Zane Grant also froze. The two men exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what kind of playbook this was.

Although Liam was a lawyer, he had a simple mind. Plus, he had never met Estelle before, so he believed whatever Nathaniel said. But Zane had always felt that Yara and Estelle were fundamentally different people. With Nathaniel pursuing Yara now, what if he realized he’d made a terrible mistake later?

However, Nathaniel had said those words after careful consideration. From various clues, he had discovered that there was a significant misunderstanding between him and Estelle. Perhaps these misunderstandings were the reason she refused to acknowledge her true identity to him.

Furthermore, the identity of ’Yara’ left him feeling chronically insecure, keeping his heart suspended in mid-air. Yara didn’t belong to him—she could leave at any time, and if she did, she wouldn’t have to answer to anyone. So, he would simply bind her to his side first.

Estelle almost thought she had misheard. She knitted her brows deeply, utterly baffled. "What did you say?"

Nathaniel lifted his gaze casually. "You heard me correctly."

Estelle let out an exasperated laugh. She was just about to shoot back a sarcastic retort when she caught a glimpse of Noelle looking like she was about to faint from fury. Her eyes darted playfully as she suddenly broke into a radiant smile and looped her arm through Nathaniel’s. "Alright, I’ll give you a chance. Accompany me upstairs to pick out a gown."

Nathaniel lowered his eyes mildly. "It would be my honor."

Estelle walked past Noelle, tossing her a breezy, dismissive glance.

Noelle was on the verge of going mad with rage. *That bitch!*

Once upstairs, Estelle released Nathaniel’s arm. The man raised an eyebrow. "Tossing me aside the moment you’re done using me?"

Estelle frowned, unable to figure out what this man was trying to do. Did he have some sort of scheme? Who was he trying to please by using her this time? In the past, knowing that Aunt Iris liked her, Nathaniel would demand that she put on a smile and not look so miserable every time they returned to Sloan Manor. Once his aunt was happy and gave Estelle a gift, Nathaniel would immediately turn around and give that very gift to Noelle.

During those moments, Nathaniel was always gentle. He would accompany her home for dinner, hold her as they slept, and even when they were intimate, he would be endlessly tender and affectionate. But once Noelle reaped the benefits, he would instantly lose his patience with Estelle. What did he want to get out of her this time?

Puzzled, Estelle secretly messaged Henry Kendrick to discuss it.

Henry replied: [He said he wants to pursue you, so he has to put in the actual work. Just string him along! Do you know how to play the heartbreaker? Treat him exactly how your ex-husband treated you!]

Estelle: [Then what do you think his motive is? For Noelle? But he gave her zero respect just now.]

Henry was still downstairs. Not far from him, Liam and Zane were deep in conversation.

"Nathaniel specifically told the store manager to reserve the women’s clothing section upstairs," Liam said. "He said he wanted to accompany Yara shopping."

"Is he serious?" Zane asked. "...Then again, Nathaniel is always serious about the things he decides to do."

"Well, Yara is Estelle, after all," Liam reasoned. "Hasn’t Nathaniel treated his wife exactly the same for seven years?"

"That might be true, but Nathaniel has no idea how to cherish a wife. Now he wants to turn back time? Tsk, tsk," Zane replied. "If you ask me, if Yara really is Estelle, he won’t be able to win her back."

"Why?" Liam asked in confusion.

"Because Estelle was deeply hurt," Zane said faintly. "And Nathaniel has absolutely no idea why she was hurt or what he did wrong. From his perspective, he did nothing, yet his wife suddenly faked her death and left...

"Believe it or not, if the person who returned is indeed Estelle, even if Nathaniel offered his beating heart to her on a silver platter, she wouldn’t spare it a single glance."

Although Zane felt that Yara wasn’t Estelle, since she wasn’t, Nathaniel had even less of a chance of catching her!

"Ah... then Nathaniel is in a pretty pathetic spot..." Liam murmured.

Henry looked at his phone as Estelle sent another text: [Could it be that he wants to use the status of boyfriend and girlfriend to force me to give up my business margins? Or maybe he’s worried that Christian’s illness won’t improve, so he wants to tie me to his side!]

Henry felt that Zane was right. He probed tentatively: [What if—and I mean just what if—there’s a possibility your ex really wants to win you back? Maybe he realized his true feelings. He loves you.]

Estelle replied with a single question mark before adding: [Call an ambulance for yourself. How long have you had this fever? Did it burn your brain to a crisp?]

Too lazy to entertain Henry’s nonsense, Estelle put her phone away. She raised an eyebrow at Nathaniel, finally answering his earlier question. "It’s not exactly tossing you aside after use. After all, I’m not done using you yet."

Nathaniel glanced back at her.

Within his gaze, something Estelle couldn’t quite decipher faintly surfaced. It was as if this man was incredibly deeply in love. It was a pity... she didn’t buy a single second of it.

Estelle looked at him leisurely. "You said you wanted to pursue me. Were you serious?"

"Of course," Nathaniel replied methodically.

Estelle asked with a half-smile, "How does Mr. Sloan plan to pursue me? By spending money on me?"

"If you want me to, of course."

Estelle nodded without hesitation. She walked right into a women’s boutique and directly picked out over a dozen dresses. These dresses were significantly more expensive than the ones Vivian Lowell had picked out earlier. Over a dozen of them would cost nearly ten million.

Nathaniel watched her quietly. Suddenly, he recalled Liam’s previous deduction. "Nathaniel, if she’s willing to spend your money, she definitely has you in her heart!"

This seemingly delusional piece of logic actually made a bit of sense to Nathaniel at this moment. Estelle was indeed that kind of person. Only when she treated someone as her own would she stop keeping score about money.

Just like when they were newlyweds... she loved to act coquettishly. Once, Estelle had taken a liking to a very cheap necklace. Her eyes sparkling, she threw herself into his arms and coaxed, "Nathaniel, I really love this necklace. Could you buy it for me?"

At the time... what had he said back then? Nathaniel couldn’t even remember. He only remembered that from then on, Estelle never asked him for a gift again. On Valentine’s Day, Nathaniel had prepared a necklace for her, but up until the day she left, it remained unopened. She hadn’t even spared it a single glance.

But right now, the Estelle in front of him had finished picking out her clothes and returned to the counter.

Nathaniel’s breath suddenly caught in his throat.