Chapter 109: Based on My Brother’s Stamina, Today, They... Hehe...

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Based on My Brother’s Stamina, Today, They... Hehe...

"Nathaniel Sloan!" Estelle Lockwood instantly realized she had been played.

The man hummed in a leisurely tone. "What is it?"

Estelle gritted her teeth. It took her a long moment to force out a single sentence. "...You did that on purpose!"

Nathaniel didn’t bother to deny it. He scooped her up in his arms, set her on the sofa, and draped a blanket over her. With a half-smile, he said, "On purpose? Miss Lockwood, you were the one who told me to put you down. Why are you pointing fingers at me now?"

Estelle turned her head away, her emotions in turmoil.

Nathaniel took a step closer. "Miss Lockwood, aren’t you going to thank me?"

The words caught in Estelle’s throat once more.

Nathaniel drawled, "It was an emergency. Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough to block everyone’s view—even though you made a fool of me. Given all that, Miss Lockwood... don’t you think I deserve a ’thank you’?"

Estelle wasn’t stupid. He had deliberately emphasized the part about her making a fool of him, clearly reminding her that he hadn’t forgotten that little stunt.

She smoothed her hair, putting up a strong front as she spoke. "I suppose a ’thank you’ is in order. However, even without you, Mr. Sloan, I’m confident Mr. Kingston wouldn’t have let me fall into such a compromising position."

Nathaniel’s expression instantly turned glacial. "Is that so?"

His eyes still held a smile, but it didn’t reach his pupils. Instead, a dangerous aura veiled his gaze.

"It seems I ruined Miss Lockwood’s big moment. That would be my mistake, then."

Estelle ignored his sarcastic tone and got up to grab her phone. She wanted to ask Iris Sloan if she had a change of clothes, but Nathaniel clamped a hand down on her wrist. "Who are you calling?"

Estelle looked up at him, a wave of irritation washing over her. Five years ago, he couldn’t have cared less about her affairs. Now, five years later, they were practically strangers. What right did he have to interfere in her life?

She deliberately taunted him, "If you know you ruined my moment, why haven’t you let go of me?"

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "You’re calling Jasper Kingston?"

Estelle knew he had misunderstood, but she simply arched an eyebrow. "So what if I am?"

"Heh."

The man let out a cold scoff, seemingly laughing out of pure anger. His tall figure suddenly lowered, completely trapping her within his shadow.

Before Estelle could react, Nathaniel suddenly reached out and hooked a finger under the strap of her dress.

Panic flared in Estelle’s chest. "Nathaniel Sloan, what are you doing..."

"Yara... You reject me time and time again, yet Jasper Kingston occupies your every waking thought?"

Moving at a slow, agonizingly deliberate pace, Nathaniel wound the thin string of her strap around his fingertips.

The motion forced Estelle to tilt her head up, her body practically melting into his embrace.

Her heart pounded against her ribs. The intimacy of his actions made her feel like she had been dragged back five years into the past. Desperate to escape, she cried out, "Nathaniel, let me go— Ah!"

The man gave the strap a sharp tug, and the fragile string snapped instantly.

What neither of them realized was that Liam Sloan was currently eavesdropping just outside the door.

Liam’s face flushed bright red. He wondered if this was really something an innocent guy like him should be listening to. "Tsk, tsk. Nathaniel, you are an absolute menace," he thought. "There’s a massive banquet going on outside, and everyone is waiting for you and Estelle to make an appearance, yet here you two are in the lounge... Tsk, tsk. Hehehe..."

Estelle had no idea that Liam was lingering in the hallway, nor did she realize the massive misunderstanding they had just caused him.

Mortified, she snapped, "Nathaniel Sloan, what on earth are you doing?!"

The man looked down at the broken strap resting in his palm and let out a soft chuckle. "I’m laughing at how foolish you are. You got played by someone else, yet you’re putting the blame on me."

Estelle froze. Before she could say a word, Nathaniel tossed the broken strap back into her palm.

"This gown is the newest release from the ZE brand. Because the designer was concerned the spaghetti straps would be too thin to support the weight of the dress, they utilized exceptionally durable materials. Plenty of socialites have worn this exact design without any issues.

"Yet somehow, the moment Miss Lockwood wears it, the strap magically snaps? If someone hadn’t been there to cover you up, a wardrobe malfunction would have been the least of your worries. A luxury house like ZE simply does not make such amateur quality-control errors."

If they did, they wouldn’t survive in the luxury fashion industry. ZE’s clientele consisted entirely of the wealthy and elite. If a structural flaw caused one of their VIPs to expose themselves, the brand would be instantly blacklisted by high society.

Therefore, an accident like this was impossible.

So why did Yara’s dress strap suddenly break?

There was only one explanation.

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "Your gown was tampered with. Think carefully, Miss Lockwood. Who had access to this dress?"

Estelle’s expression darkened. He was right.

ZE would never make such a glaring mistake, which meant the gown had to have been sabotaged after she purchased it.

She had tasked her assistant with buying the dress. The assistant had worked for the Kendrick Family for ten years and had spent almost all of her time abroad. Since she was practically a stranger in Crestfall, the odds of her betraying Estelle were virtually nonexistent.

Estelle frowned and dialed her assistant’s number. "Tina, did anyone go into my studio over the past few days?"

After she received the gown, she had hung it up in the studio’s lounge. If someone had tampered with it, it had to have happened there.

The moment Nathaniel suggested the dress was sabotaged, the first person who came to Estelle’s mind was Noelle Lockwood. But Noelle wouldn’t have had the time or opportunity to do it.

Tina thought about it for a moment. "No, Yara. You’re the only one who has been in the studio. Did something happen? I can pull up the security footage."

A few minutes later, Tina replied. "I fast-forwarded through the footage. It’s true—no one besides you went inside. It looks like you visited the studio three times..."

Estelle’s gaze turned remarkably sharp.

After hanging up, she asked Tina to send over the security footage. That couldn’t be right—she had only gone twice.

Lately, she had been working out of Evernight International and rarely returned to her own studio. She remembered it vividly: she had only gone back twice.

Yet, in the security footage, a woman with a silhouette almost identical to hers could be seen walking into the studio.

Nathaniel hadn’t heard the other end of the call, but he immediately sensed the shift in her demeanor. "What’s wrong?"

Estelle reflexively shook her head. "It’s nothing."

Nathaniel’s lips pressed into a tight, hard line.

"It’s nothing..." he thought. "Is that the only phrase she is willing to say to me now? She wanted to share her first dance with Jasper Kingston, and when she ran into trouble, her first instinct was to call Jasper. Meanwhile, I’m standing right in front of her, breathing and fully capable—"

"Hey, wait, don’t go in! This lounge is occupied! My brother is inside!"

A male voice suddenly rang out from the hallway, shattering the tense silence within the lounge.

Acting like a self-appointed bodyguard of romance, Liam blocked the entrance to the lounge with a bashful expression. "My brother is, uh, tied up right now. He’ll probably... probably need a lot more time. Hehehe. You guys should go find another lounge. Oh, and by the way, let my aunt know later that my brother probably won’t be making an appearance for the rest of the night. Come to think of it, given my brother’s stamina..."

The intercepted guest stared at him blankly, wondering why on earth he was blushing.

Inside the lounge, Nathaniel and Estelle were rendered completely speechless.

Finally realizing exactly what Liam was implying, Estelle hurriedly threw on the spare clothes a maid had delivered earlier. She shot up from the sofa, marched over, and yanked the door open. "Young Mr. Sloan!"

Liam, who had been speaking with great enthusiasm, stumbled backward in shock. "Ah? What?"

He stared at her in utter disbelief. His eyes glazed over as his brain failed to process the situation. "Wait, you two... huh? You’re already finished?"