Chapter 106: Mr. Sloan, I Can Dance With You

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Mr. Sloan, I Can Dance With You

Estelle arrived at the banquet hall and sat down in the lounge area. Before she could even catch her breath, the light in front of her was blocked. Looking up, she saw a girl standing at the forefront, surrounded by a group of lackeys.

She recognized the girl. It was the pampered eldest daughter from a branch of the Sloan family, Nathaniel’s cousin—Leo Sloan.

Leo looked indignant. "Were you the one bullying Noelle just now? How could you be so awful!"

Estelle couldn’t be bothered to engage. She didn’t even spare the girl a glance.

Just then, someone stepped forward.

The elegant male voice was as gentle as jade, yet his words carried a distinct sense of pressure. "Miss Sloan, cornering a guest here is hardly proper behavior for a lady of your standing, wouldn’t you agree? Ms. Sloan was just looking for you."

Furious and frustrated, but afraid that Iris Sloan would find out she was here making trouble for Estelle, Leo hurriedly stormed off.

Only then did Estelle look up. She instantly raised an eyebrow. Jasper Kingston?

After finalizing the collaboration with the Kingston Group last time, she had handed that part of the project over to Henry Kendrick. She had only visited the Kingston Group a few times; she never expected to run into Jasper here.

"Miss Lockwood, are you alright?" Jasper asked with concern.

Estelle shook her head. "I’m fine. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kingston."

Meanwhile, Nathaniel’s face darkened.

He had been searching the entire venue for this woman, and here she was, comfortably drinking with Jasper in a corner. He strode over quickly. "Yara, come here."

Estelle had just clinked glasses with Jasper when she suddenly heard the cold male voice. Frowning, she glanced over.

She hadn’t seen Nathaniel at all over the past few days. The pile of clothes he had bought from the mall was still sitting untouched in her walk-in closet. Seeing those clothes only reminded her of five years ago... For some reason, her emotions had been exceptionally volatile lately.

She turned her head away. It was Jasper who stood up first. "Nathaniel."

Nathaniel’s pale gray eyes swept over him before landing back on Estelle. "The dance is about to begin."

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "The dance?"

Nathaniel didn’t know what was wrong with him either. He hadn’t seen this woman for two days, yet his heart felt as if it were tightly clenched, making him impatient to see her.

There was indeed a dance at the start of the banquet. He didn’t even need to participate, and even if he did, he certainly wasn’t short on female companions. Yet, he had scoured the entire hall just to find her, wanting to attend the dance together.

Hearing this, Jasper feigned surprise. "Nathaniel, are you here to invite Miss Lockwood to the dance as well? Because I had the exact same intention."

Nathaniel inexplicably found the man to be an eyesore. "Mr. Kingston, I was the one who asked first."

Jasper nodded gentlemanly. "I know. However, Mr. Sloan, Miss Lockwood hasn’t accepted your invitation yet, which means everyone still has a chance."

Estelle narrowed her eyes as a certain memory surfaced.

It was a tradition for the Sloan Group banquets to open with a dance. Once, at a Sloan Group annual gala, Nathaniel, as the heir, was supposed to dance the opening number with a partner. As a married man, his partner logically should have been his wife.

Back then, Estelle didn’t know how to dance. For Nathaniel’s sake, she had practiced extensively. Prior to the event, he had even promised her that he would invite her when the dance began. At that gala, almost everyone knew that Estelle, as Mrs. Sloan, would accompany Nathaniel to the dance floor.

But when the time actually came, Nathaniel bypassed her and walked straight toward Noelle. He extended a hand, offering a courteous bow as he invited her onto the dance floor. Meanwhile, Estelle—who had changed into a gown and dressed to the nines for this very dance—became a complete joke in the eyes of the crowd.

Voices from the crowd echoed in her memory.

"Look at her... She put out word earlier that she would be Mr. Sloan’s partner. How embarrassing."

"Tsk, tsk. She even changed her clothes. It’s a matching outfit with Mr. Sloan’s!"

"So what if they’re matching? Didn’t Mr. Sloan ignore her entirely and just invite Noelle?"

"Estelle is such a disgrace..."

Estelle had watched with tear-filled eyes as her husband danced gracefully with another woman, leaving her—fully prepared and dressed up—looking entirely out of place.

She couldn’t understand why. They had agreed on it, and he had promised her. It wasn’t as if Nathaniel hadn’t seen all the effort she put into preparing for that dance. Why did he abandon her at the very last moment?!

Her thoughts snapping back to the present, Estelle clenched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. She couldn’t let herself be affected by memories of the past anymore.

She curled her lips into a smile. "Mr. Sloan, the dance, is it? I accept."

Jasper raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

Nathaniel’s eyes remained as cool and indifferent as ever, though his Adam’s apple bobbed. After a long moment, he finally uttered a hoarse reply, "Alright."

"However," Estelle said, smoothing her hair. "Leo just warned me to stay away from you, and your mother is dead set on having you dance with Noelle. I hate dealing with trouble, so I must ask you, Mr. Sloan, not to reject Noelle just yet. Wait until the dance actually begins, and then invite me."

This long string of demands left Liam, who had just hurried over, completely dizzy.

What did that mean? She wanted Nathaniel to pretend to agree to dance with Noelle first, and then, when the dance started, bypass Noelle and invite Yara instead?

He sucked in a sharp breath. Now that was a massive slap in the face! Wasn’t this just blatantly telling Nathaniel: "I don’t like Noelle. Help me mess with her and humiliate her. Once I’m happy, I’ll dance with you."

Was Yara really Estelle? Did Estelle really have so many schemes up her sleeve? Besides, Nathaniel had always been a principled man. Even if he didn’t like Noelle, surely he wouldn’t stoop to playing such cruel pranks on people...

Nathaniel was no fool; he naturally understood the underlying meaning in Yara’s words. His expression didn’t change. "Fine."

Liam snapped his mouth shut. Oh, he had forgotten. When it came to Estelle, Nathaniel was hopelessly lovesick.

Estelle hadn’t expected Nathaniel to agree so quickly either. Snapping back to her senses, she let out a dry chuckle.

After all, Nathaniel had a track record. Why did he end up inviting Noelle at that dance back then? For all she knew, he and Noelle had teamed up to play a prank on her. Now, the person getting played was switching from herself to Noelle. It was only fair, wasn’t it?

Estelle nodded. "Then don’t forget, Mr. Sloan. The dance starts in a few minutes. I’ll go change my clothes first. Oh, by the way... Mr. Kingston, the dance is quite interesting. You absolutely must attend."

Jasper, suddenly called out, raised an eyebrow in amusement.

She was insisting that he attend as well... What was Miss Lockwood planning to do? Did she really agree to dance with Nathaniel just to mess with Noelle?

Fifteen minutes later, the banquet officially began. Amidst the clinking of glasses, the lights focused on the dance floor in the very center of the hall.

Noelle had already adjusted her mindset. Changed into a dancing gown, she walked downstairs with a flushed face.

Laura Jennings was thoroughly satisfied. She turned to Ethan Sloan and said, "I told you, Nathaniel isn’t unreasonable. As long as we explain the pros and cons to him, he understands perfectly. See? He even went out of his way to invite Noelle to dance!"

Hearing this, Liam was left speechless.

Heh. Explaining pros and cons to a lovesick fool? Ah, he was genuinely worried that Laura and Noelle would lose their minds in a little while.