Chapter 128: Face-Slapping Noelle Lockwood, How Do You Explain Yourself

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Face-Slapping Noelle Lockwood, How Do You Explain Yourself

No one had expected the truth to come out so quickly. From start to finish, this fire had absolutely nothing to do with Estelle Lockwood!

Noelle Lockwood’s throat constricted in waves, rendering her completely speechless as cold sweat poured down her forehead.

"How could this be?" she wondered. "Where on earth did Yara get that surveillance footage?"

Estelle smiled and parted her lips. "Miss Lockwood, do you still want me to apologize now?"

The person who started the fire wasn’t Yara... Of course, there was no need for an apology!

Noelle’s lips were deathly pale. It took all her strength to squeeze out a smile. "It was... It was my misunderstanding..."

"Since you know it was a misunderstanding," Estelle said flatly, "how do you plan to handle the harassment and attacks your fans have subjected me to these past few days?"

Noelle’s eyes brimmed with tears, and her whole body trembled as if she were the most pitiful person in the world.

"That’s enough from you!" Rose Lowell stepped forward with her hands on her hips, roaring. "Who knows if this video is even real? Maybe some bitch forged it on purpose to frame our Noelle! Our Noelle was born fortunate and attracts jealousy. Some people will do whatever it takes to drag her down!"

Noelle’s fans instantly gained confidence. "Yeah! Yara must have faked it to frame Noelle!"

"That bitch! She deserves to die a horrible death!"

"What did Noelle ever do wrong?"

Aside from the fans, the audience mostly consisted of reporters. A few of them furrowed their brows. "The police already issued a public notice. That man was the arsonist, and there are no signs of tampering in the video!"

The fans argued back stubbornly. "Then maybe Yara bought that man off! Either way, Noelle is absolutely innocent!"

"How could Noelle be at fault? You bastards better stop talking nonsense!"

"Besides, if Yara hadn’t met up with Noelle there, how would Noelle have gotten hurt? It’s Yara’s own fault she got burned! She deserves it!"

Rose’s face twisted with malice, wishing Estelle would drop dead right then and there. "She has a venomous heart! Bah!"

Seeing that public opinion was still on her side, Noelle couldn’t help but reveal a small smile before putting on a hypocritical front. "Mom, don’t say that. Yara is a victim too, after all..."

Rose scoffed disdainfully. "It’s probably just a ploy to gain sympathy. Yara, let me tell you..."

"Look, what’s that?" a reporter in the audience suddenly exclaimed. "Are those... transfer records?!"

Upon hearing the words *transfer records*, Noelle’s face paled slightly. She subconsciously tried to stop it. "This has nothing to do with the press conference. Someone, turn it off quickly..."

Before she could finish, someone gasped in shock.

"Wait, the recipient’s name matches the arsonist in the police report!"

"Someone paid that man to start the fire?"

"And the sender, Rosalie Carter... I-I remember Noelle’s manager is also named Rosalie Carter..."

As soon as those words fell, a dead silence swept through the venue. As the manager of a major star like Noelle, she naturally wasn’t a nobody. Almost everyone knew that her manager’s name was Rosalie Carter!

"Wh-what does this prove..." Rose choked out. "Even if someone paid that man to set the fire, it... it doesn’t mean it’s Noelle’s manager! There are so many people named Rosalie Carter. Wh-what makes you think it has anything to do with Noelle?!"

The more Rose spoke, the more emboldened she became. "Maybe you’ve just offended too many people, and they wanted you burned to death! You brought this upon yourself! You even dragged my Noelle down with you. Oh, Noelle, you’ve suffered so much!"

Estelle’s lips curled up. "It proves nothing? Miss Noelle Lockwood, the reason I appeared at the fabric market that day was because President King of Apex Enterprises invited me to meet. Coincidentally, on the morning of the fire, this very account named Rosalie Carter transferred one million dollars to President King."

Estelle waved her phone, and an audio recording played aloud.

"Ms. Carter, bringing Yara to the fabric market... can I ask why?"

"Don’t worry about that. Just bring her there. You don’t need to show up yourself; I have my own arrangements."

"Alright, Ms. Carter, I’m only agreeing to this out of respect for you. If Yara comes looking for trouble later, you have to back me up."

"Relax. It’s hard to say if she’ll even have her life to come looking for trouble."

The venue practically exploded. "Rosalie Carter bought off the arsonist, and then had President King deliberately lure Yara there?"

"No matter how you look at it, it was premeditated!"

"The official Star account just posted another video!"

"My god... Noelle deliberately tried to kill Yara, didn’t she?!"

The video came from a security camera with audio. The crowd watched as firefighters and Nathaniel Sloan conducted search and rescue operations in the blazing fire. Right then, Noelle stumbled out and desperately blocked their way.

"Nathaniel, save me! There’s no one left inside...

"Nathaniel, Yara ran out ages ago. Save me...

"How can you be so heartless? Why won’t you save me? Is Yara really that important?! Nathaniel, Nathaniel... you can’t leave! You can’t leave!"

A few surveillance videos and a couple of transfer records were all it took. With the truth laid bare before their eyes, what was left to misunderstand? All the color instantly drained from Noelle’s face!

Estelle sneered coldly, stepping closer and closer. "Noelle Lockwood—

"Your manager paid off an arsonist and deliberately lured me to the fabric market. When the fire broke out, your fans blocked me and wouldn’t let me leave. After the fire started, you purposely claimed there was no one left inside. And after it was put out, even though you knew full well I had nothing to do with it, you still announced to the public that I was the culprit.

"And now you’re telling me you don’t know anything, that you’re innocent, and that I deserve all of this. Is that right?"

The reporters were filled with righteous indignation. "She knew perfectly well that Yara was still in the fire, yet Noelle deliberately held back Mr. Sloan and the firefighters. It’s obvious she wanted Yara dead!"

"And she calls herself a major star? That’s far too vicious!"

"The fire was clearly started by Noelle’s manager, but she pinned the blame on Yara. Do you know how much abuse Yara has taken these past few days?"

"Exactly! The shop owners at the fabric market, the customers who were there, Noelle’s fans—who didn’t grit their teeth in absolute hatred of Yara? And look at how things turned out! The arsonist is someone else entirely! It was even orchestrated by Noelle!"

"What a brilliant move by Noelle. Not only did she almost get Yara burned to death, but she also dragged Yara’s reputation through the mud. Meanwhile, as the true mastermind behind the fire, she reaped endless praise and public sympathy!"

"I can’t believe such a despicable person exists in this world!"

"Hey, Noelle’s fans! Didn’t you say the arsonist deserves to die? Now that your master is the one who set the fire, shouldn’t Noelle drop dead?!"

The fans stubbornly fought back. "Nonsense! It’s a coincidence, definitely a coincidence! Noelle doesn’t know anything!"

Tears welled up in Noelle’s eyes as she shook her head frantically. "No, Yara, I... I was just too nervous at the time, so I forgot who actually started the fire. How could I ever try to hurt you..."

Suddenly remembering something, she turned her head in panic. "Nathaniel... Nathaniel, you know me. I’ve always been terrified of fire. If I really wanted to harm Yara, I would never choose this method. You know that, right?!"

Noelle’s words were thick with underlying implication.