Chapter 122: It’s on Fire! She Heard Nathaniel Sloan’s Voice in the Fire

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: It’s on Fire! She Heard Nathaniel Sloan’s Voice in the Fire

Luke White said, "Mrs. Sloan went to Imperial Crest looking for you, but you weren’t there, so she took her anger out on Chapman. I don’t know exactly what was said, but Chapman is now in the hospital. Mrs. Sloan followed him there and isn’t letting him recover in peace."

It was Laura Jennings again. Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes turned icy. "Understood. I’m heading to the hospital now."

***

At 7:00 p.m., Estelle Lockwood received a call from a client, setting up a last-minute meeting at the fabric market.

Estelle navigated through the labyrinth of fabric stalls until she finally reached the agreed-upon location. However, instead of her client, she found Noelle Lockwood. Estelle’s eyes darkened, and she turned to leave immediately.

"Yara!" Noelle trotted over, looking thoroughly aggrieved. "Yara, I didn’t expect to run into you here. I was in the wrong last time. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?"

Estelle felt a wave of disgust, her stomach churning slightly. Before she could speak, several young people in flashy outfits stepped forward. "Noelle, is this Yara Lockwood?"

"Hey, Noelle is talking to you! Are you deaf?!"

"What’s there to apologize for? It’s not like she was hurt. Noelle, you’re just too kind!"

Estelle had heard this kind of rhetoric a thousand times before; her ears were practically callous to it. Only... who were these people? She narrowed her eyes, briefly sizing up the speakers. It was obvious they weren’t Noelle’s usual socialite friends.

Noelle feigned helplessness. "Alright, stop it, you guys. Yara, they’re my fans, so they can get a bit emotional. Please don’t mind them."

So they were fans. How strange. Was Noelle out of her mind, choosing to meet her fans at a fabric market?

Just then, BEEP BEEP. Estelle’s phone chimed twice. It was a message from the client, saying something had come up and he wouldn’t make it. What a coincidence. Estelle’s intuition told her something was wrong. The client had arranged the meeting, but Noelle had shown up instead, and then the client claimed to have an emergency.

Estelle’s gaze sharpened. She turned to leave, only to be surrounded by the fans.

"Don’t go, let’s chat some more."

"Noelle went out of her way to make time for this, and you won’t even give her the time of day?"

"Move," Estelle said, her tone freezing.

Looking at Estelle’s face, Noelle’s expression twisted viciously for a split second. But thinking about what was going to happen next, her mood instantly lifted.

"Yara Lockwood, I’m sorry for misunderstanding you before, but I was only doing it for your own good. Can you stop acting so defensive?"

Estelle’s voice was calm. "What exactly do you want?"

Noelle smiled helplessly. "Fine, I’ll be blunt. Yara Lockwood, please stay away from Nathaniel."

Estelle narrowed her eyes. Noelle shook her head. "You know that the Sloan Family is fueling the rumors online. Tell me, Mrs. Sloan and Chairman Sloan both despise you so much, yet you still insist on pestering Nathaniel. What’s the point? Do you honestly think you can marry into the Sloan Family?"

Estelle laughed. "Miss Lockwood, from what position are you saying this to me?"

Before Noelle could speak, her fans yelled indignantly, "From the position of the future Mrs. Sloan, of course!"

"Have you no shame? Are you addicted to being the mistress?! Noelle is Mr. Sloan’s rightful fiancée. If it weren’t for you, they would have been married a long time ago!"

"Why don’t you go die?!"

"Yeah, go kill yourself!"

Passersby began to look over.

Estelle sneered. BEEP BEEP. Her phone chimed, continuing its recording. "Since Miss Lockwood wants to be Mrs. Sloan so badly, why are you still a ’pending fiancée’ after all these years?"

Noelle choked on her words.

Estelle continued leisurely, "Because Nathaniel likes pretty women. It can’t be helped that Miss Lockwood’s looks leave much to be desired; you simply can’t catch Nathaniel’s eye. Instead of blocking my way, you should spend your free time figuring out if that face of yours can still be saved."

Although Noelle was a major star, her "A-list" status was heavily inflated. It was entirely propped up by the marketing funds poured in by the Lockwood Group and the Sloan Group. With eight hundred trending topics a day, even a pig could become famous, let alone someone like Noelle, who excelled at playing the innocent victim. Her features were inherently plain. Forget the entertainment industry; she couldn’t even compare to average, pretty civilians. Yet Noelle held a grudge against anyone better-looking than her. The reason she had set that fire back then was simply because "Estelle Lockwood" possessed outstanding beauty, so even when condemning her to death, Noelle wanted to destroy her face.

"You!" Noelle gritted her teeth.

Estelle pocketed her phone and turned to walk away. Suddenly, screams erupted around them.

"Ah, fire!"

"Oh no, it’s a fire! Run!"

"How did a fire start? What about all these fabrics..."

Estelle whipped her head around. The flames were spreading like wildfire. Her pupils contracted sharply as if she had been thrust back to five years ago. If a fabric market caught fire, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Everyone was scrambling to escape. Estelle instinctively searched for an exit, but she was suddenly shoved backward.

"Push her back inside!"

"Don’t let her out! It’s best if she burns to death!"

"Noelle, let’s get out of here!"

A wave of sheer euphoria washed over Noelle. "Yara, I didn’t want things to come to this either. But who asked you to be so ungrateful? Now, you can just die in the fire!

"Oh, and don’t worry. The outside world will just assume this fire was your doing. Tsk, tsk, how pitiful. Even in death, you’ll be cursed and reviled!"

Noelle fully displayed her vicious side, yet her fans didn’t stop her. Instead, they found it deeply satisfying. To them, Noelle committing arson and murder was perfectly justified, and dying at her hands was an honor!

Guarded by her fans, Noelle fled outside. Estelle clutched her chest, coughing twice. The blistering heat seemed intent on swallowing and destroying everything in its path, bringing out a sheen of sweat on her forehead. The scene unfolding right now felt like an exact replica of what had happened five years ago. Killing her once wasn’t enough for Noelle; she was actually going for a second time! The first time was in the hospital, and the second was here in the fabric market. She was lucky the first time that there were no other casualties. But what about now?! Noelle was showing absolute disregard for human life! Unfortunately, she no longer had the strength to dwell on that...

"Sir, you can’t go in there! It’s too dangerous!"

"Get out of my way!"

Estelle’s mind grew hazy, but a man’s voice suddenly pierced through the fog. Was she hallucinating? How could she be hearing... Nathaniel Sloan’s voice?

***

Nathaniel had gone to the hospital, only to find Laura Jennings throwing an unreasonable tantrum at Chapman, who begged him to take her away. Yet, for whatever crazy reason, Laura threw herself onto the hospital floor, making a scene and accusing her son of being unfilial. Nathaniel originally intended to personally arrange for bodyguards to escort Laura back to the Sloan Family home, but he was suddenly hit by a sharp pang in his chest. It felt as if something terrible was happening—as if he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t make a decision this instant.

So, for the first time, Nathaniel ignored Laura’s hysterics. He also turned a blind eye to Chapman’s request to stay at the hospital. He marched straight out the hospital doors, tracked down Estelle’s location, and drove there at breakneck speed.

He never expected that the moment he stepped out of his car, he would be greeted by a raging inferno.