Chapter 125: You Do All This, and You’re Not Afraid of Retribution?

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: You Do All This, and You’re Not Afraid of Retribution?

Estelle Lockwood felt as though she could hear someone calling her name. She had been drowning in darkness when a hand reached out to her.

Her eyes fluttered open.

The sight before her made her pause. She was clearly in a hospital room. The searing flames that had been burned into her vision faded away, replaced by warm sunlight streaming through pristine glass windows. As she took in her surroundings, her gaze landed on a familiar figure.

"Nathaniel?"

A genuine flash of relief and joy crossed Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes. He stood up gently. "It’s good that you’re awake. I’ll have Zane come do another checkup."

Estelle’s throat felt terribly dry and raw, and she couldn’t help but cough a few times. Zane Grant hurried into the room. "Don’t worry, it’s just smoke inhalation from the fire. You’ll be fine after a few days of rest. I’ll prescribe some medicine to soothe your throat."

Estelle let Zane hook her up to various medical instruments for his examination. "How long was I out?"

Zane paused before replying, "You weren’t just asleep, you were in a coma. It’s been three days."

Estelle was startled. "Three days? So the fire happened three days ago?"

Zane shrugged. "Yeah. Nathaniel risked his life charging in there to save you. If he hadn’t, who knows what would’ve happened."

Estelle instinctively looked at Nathaniel. The voice she had heard back then wasn’t a hallucination—he had really come for her. However, another pressing issue quickly came to mind. She narrowed her eyes. "What’s the internet saying about the fire right now?"

Zane was about to answer but quickly realized it was a loaded question. Thankfully, Nathaniel smoothly and gently took over.

"People are saying all sorts of things online. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. For now, you just need to focus on recovering in the hospital."

Having finished his checkup, Zane promptly left the room.

Estelle pursed her lips and turned on her phone. A flood of notifications instantly poured in, but she ignored them, moving straight to open Twitter and a few news apps.

The next second, the phone was snatched from her hands.

Nathaniel’s warm palm gently wrapped around her hand. "The circumstances of the fire are highly suspicious. The police are thoroughly interrogating everyone who was present at the scene. It’ll take some time to get results, so don’t worry."

Estelle looked up at him, her gaze resolute. "Nathaniel, I’m not that fragile."

She hated being kept in the dark; it made her feel powerless. She wondered what exactly she was so afraid of. Perhaps she feared a repeat of what happened five years ago, when Noelle Lockwood and the rest of the Lockwood family spread rumors online to frame her. Back then, she had been severely injured and comatose, unable to prove her innocence. But this time, she refused to be a sitting duck.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Noelle had started the fire on purpose, all to force her into the exact same situation as five years ago.

Nathaniel’s jaw tightened. "I said you can’t look at it." He paused, his tone softening slightly. "At least, not right now."

Estelle had just woken up. He was terrified that the shock of the news might cause her to pass out again. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard even for a second.

Estelle puffed out her cheeks, wanting to argue, but then she remembered how Nathaniel had risked his own life, charging into the blazing inferno to save her.

He had said he believed her. But if that was true, why did he let Noelle pin the label of "attempted suicide by arson" on her five years ago, allowing the case to be hastily closed?

"Mrs. Sloan, this is a hospital! Please do not disturb my patient’s rest! Mrs. Sloan, if you keep making a scene, I’m calling security!"

Zane’s furious voice rang out, breaking Estelle’s train of thought.

A split second later, an even more ear-piercing screech shattered the peace.

Laura Jennings stood with her hands on her hips, her face contorted in rage as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Patient?! Oh, a patient?! So what if I disturb her? She sets a fire and gets out completely fine, while my Noelle went deaf in her right ear because of it! She’s a shameless, vile little tramp!

"Get out of my way! I’m going in there to teach her a lesson myself! If she wanted to die, she should have just dropped dead! That vicious little bitch actually tried to drag Noelle down to hell with her!"

For the ten-thousandth time, Zane wondered how Ethan Sloan could have possibly fallen for such a shrew.

"Mrs. Sloan, the police haven’t released their investigation results yet. It’s too early to say if Yara Lockwood started the fire. You’re storming in here accusing her of being a murderer—haven’t you considered how humiliating this will be for you if it turns out she’s innocent?!"

Mrs. Sloan felt entirely justified. "Not her? How could it not be her?! Noelle’s fans all said it was her! I even asked Noelle, and she told me to just let it go and not hold it against Yara. Why the hell shouldn’t I hold it against her?!"

Zane thought Noelle’s words sounded incredibly manipulative. If she knew Yara hadn’t started the fire, why not just come out and state it clearly? Instead, she purposely used vague, ambiguous language to mislead Laura and make the woman fight her battles for her.

Seizing a moment when Zane was distracted, Mrs. Sloan slipped past him and barged into the ward. "Nathaniel, what are you doing here?!"

Nathaniel lifted his gaze, his expression indifferent. "Where else do you think I should be, Mother?"

Mrs. Sloan shrieked, "Why aren’t you by Noelle’s side?! Do you have any idea how badly she’s hurt? And it’s all this vile woman’s fault! You’re actually staying here with her? What about Noelle?!"

As she yelled, Mrs. Sloan marched over and grabbed Nathaniel’s sleeve, pulling at him with all her might. "I don’t care! You need to go be with Noelle! She needs you so much right now!"

Unfortunately for her, despite her relentless tugging, he didn’t budge an inch.

Sitting on the hospital bed, Estelle tilted her head, finding Mrs. Sloan’s antics rather amusing.

She drawled slowly, "Ms. Jennings, what a strange thing to say. If Nathaniel isn’t accompanying me, who else would he be with? Noelle is the sister of his wife. He has to avoid arousing suspicion. Do you understand?"

Ms. Jennings erupted like a lit powder keg. "Arouse suspicion?! Avoid what suspicion?! Who the hell did Estelle Lockwood think she was? Even when she was alive, she should have obediently stepped aside for Noelle! Besides, back then, whenever Noelle fell ill, Nathaniel would abandon Estelle to rush to her side! Why can’t he do that now?!"

Estelle tapped her phone a few times, then cast a meaningful glance at Nathaniel, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ms. Jennings, you coming all the way to this hospital to find me must have attracted quite a bit of attention, right? Or rather, you deliberately leaked the information about which hospital I’m staying at to Noelle’s fans."

A flicker of guilt flashed in Ms. Jennings’s eyes, and she looked away for a second. But she quickly regained her brazen confidence, planting her hands on her hips. "So what if I did?!"

Estelle let out a soft laugh. If she guessed correctly, the hospital entrance was probably swarming with camping reporters and fans right now. Because of Ms. Jennings’s actions, the fans had discovered her location. They would undoubtedly swarm the place under the banner of "getting revenge for Noelle." Furthermore, the majority of the mob would likely be minors.

If, during the chaotic shoving, they accidentally killed her—a woman who had just survived a massive fire—it would merely be chalked up as a tragic accident. Given that it would be the collective action of a group of minors, the criminal charges would likely be incredibly light.

It was a brilliant calculation, except for one thing. The security at this particular hospital was so formidable that even if ten times as many fans showed up, they wouldn’t be able to breach the doors. They would be stuck fuming outside.

"Ms. Jennings, doing all of this... aren’t you afraid of retribution?"

Ms. Jennings looked as though she had just heard a hilarious joke. She sneered arrogantly, "Why should I be afraid of retribution? The only one who’s going to suffer retribution is you! Who told you to start that fire? You’ll die a miserable death!"

Estelle tilted her head again. "Ms. Jennings, do you know what high society thinks of you these days?"