Chapter 188: Turns Out There’s a Big Green Tea Too

Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Turns Out There’s a Big Green Tea Too

Mrs. York’s eye twitched violently. She was so furious she could barely breathe. After everything she had said, did Christian actually think Thea was going to marry Ethan? Did that mean all those provocative words she just spat at him had completely gone over his head? How old was Ethan anyway? He wasn’t nearly good enough for Thea! The man Thea was going to marry was Nathaniel! It had to be Nathaniel!

"Christian Sloan!" Mrs. York shrieked, exasperated. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Do you know how old Ethan is? Are you intentionally insulting Thea?"

Zachery tilted his head, his gaze incredibly meaningful. "Hmm? So you’re saying Aunt York isn’t going to marry Grandpa?"

"Of course not!" Mrs. York snapped without a second thought.

"Then who is it?" Zachery asked slowly.

Still consumed by her rage, Mrs. York blurted out, "It’s obviously—"

"Is it my daddy?" Zachery interjected softly. "But Daddy and Mommy are very much in love. They’ve never talked about getting a divorce, and they already have three kids together. Aunt York... I heard you have a fiancé. Why are you suddenly saying you’re going to marry my daddy instead?"

Driven to the edge of sanity, Mrs. York blared, "Of course it’s Nathaniel! Who else but Nathaniel is worthy of our Thea?"

"So it really is Daddy." Zachery looked puzzled. "Mrs. York, didn’t you know my daddy is already married?"

Mrs. York sneered. "I hate to say it, Christian, but just think about your mommy’s background. Is she worthy of Nathaniel? Of course not! So what if they’re married? They’ll end up divorced anyway!"

Zachery offered a slow, knowing smile. Before coming here, Young Mr. Christian had briefed him on the York family drama. He knew perfectly well that Mrs. York and Thea had only secured their current positions by driving the original Mrs. York to her death and forcing out the legitimate daughter.

"Mrs. York, my mommy and daddy are legally married. If Aunt York forces her way between them, she’ll just be the mistress."

Those words struck a nerve. Mrs. York exploded instantly. "What mistress?! Stop spouting nonsense! I’ll tear your mouth off!"

Zachery nimbly hopped onto the sofa. As Mrs. York lunged for him, he darted away.

After chasing him in a few circles, Mrs. York was left panting heavily. "You... you..."

"Mrs. York, I’m not making things up," Zachery teased. "Aunt York said it herself. She claimed she was a woman of principle and would absolutely never be a mistress..."

Thea choked slightly as a sudden realization hit her. Sure enough, a second later, she watched ’Christian’ reach into his pocket and pull out a tiny voice recorder.

Right at that moment, the housekeeper returned with the servants. Mrs. York had no idea what was on that recorder, but Thea knew all too well! It was the recording that little bastard, Mia Lockwood, had secretly taken at Evernight International! Some of the York family’s servants were still loyal to that dead wretch and Stella. She absolutely could not let that audio play here!

But Zachery had already pressed the button.

Thea’s voice echoed from the small device.

"I’m Nathaniel’s good brother. How could I possibly steal him away?

"We grew up together. If we were meant to be, it would have happened a long time ago. Why would we wait until now?

"I absolutely have no inappropriate thoughts about him! I would never be the third party and force my way into someone else’s marriage."

Mrs. York was left utterly dumbfounded.

Zachery casually pocketed the recorder. "Aunt York, you just said those words a few days ago. Have you forgotten them already?"

Just then, the housekeeper looked over. She had received immense kindness from the late Mrs. York many years ago. It was partly thanks to her efforts behind the scenes that Stella, despite her difficult position in the family, was still able to secure a share of the York Group.

However, as a mere employee, she normally couldn’t interfere in Chairman York’s family matters. But now that the perfect opportunity had practically landed in her lap, she wasn’t going to let it slip by. She was determined to vent her frustrations on behalf of the late Mrs. York and Stella!

"You must be Young Mr. Christian," the housekeeper said, stepping forward with a respectful bow before offering a half-smile. "There is something you don’t know, Young Mr. Christian. As the old saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

"If a woman was a mistress herself, wouldn’t she expect her own daughter to follow in her footsteps and become one too?"

Mrs. York’s face turned livid. "Shut your mouth!"

The housekeeper completely ignored her, keeping a pleasant smile fixed on Zachery. "Therefore, Young Mr. Christian, there’s simply no point in trying to reason with people like them."

Zachery’s eyes lit up as he realized the housekeeper was clearly on their side. He quickly feigned a look of distress. "I’m just surprised, that’s all. Aunt York publicly admitted all those things, but now she’s completely forgotten them. My mommy and daddy have been married for so long..."

The housekeeper nodded in agreement. "Rest assured, Young Mr. Christian. I will personally inform Mr. Sloan about this matter. He should be at his office right now, so I’ll send someone over immediately to give him a full account of what just happened here."

Mrs. York’s mind went blank for a second. Go to his company and announce that Thea wanted to be a mistress? "Don’t you dare!" she shrieked, her eyes darting around frantically in a mix of guilt and panic.

Thea was the only one worthy of Nathaniel, but if word got out, everyone would label her daughter a mistress! What mistress?! The one who wasn’t loved was the true mistress. That wretched woman who had occupied the position of Mrs. York all those years ago was the real mistress! Yet despite her internal justifications, Mrs. York knew that if the housekeeper actually took this scandal to Evernight International, Thea’s reputation would be completely ruined.

"Madam, I simply cannot bear to see another family destroyed," the housekeeper said with a sigh of mock helplessness. "I failed to stop you back then, so I must do everything within my power to save another family now, shouldn’t I?"

"You’re misunderstanding the situation," Thea intervened, stepping forward with a slight nod. "I have no such intentions. My mother simply got the wrong idea.

"She’s always wanted me to find a good match and settle down, but she tends to forget the fact that Nathaniel is already married. Besides, I don’t harbor those kinds of feelings for him."

Thea’s heart bled with indignation, but she maintained her gentle, demure facade. "I’m Nathaniel’s good brother. How could I ever view him in that light? Christian, please don’t take this to heart, alright?"

"Can we actually take Miss York’s guarantee seriously this time?" a cold, clear female voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the source of the sound, and the color instantly drained from Thea’s face. Mrs. Kendrick, Estelle Lockwood, and Nathaniel Sloan were standing in the doorway. Nobody knew how long they had been there.

Estelle lifted her gaze, her expression icy. "It seems Miss York’s guarantees never actually count for anything."

"Estelle, I..." Thea’s chest tightened. She couldn’t let Nathaniel pull away from her now! Taking a deep breath, she pleaded, "Estelle, you’ve really misunderstood! Nathaniel, you know I don’t feel that way about you. Please, explain it to Estelle. Don’t let me drive a wedge between you two."

Mrs. York finally snapped out of her daze and reined in her furious expression. "Oh, Nathaniel! It’s a misunderstanding, a terrible misunderstanding! It was all my mistake! You can’t blame Thea for this. Sigh, it’s my fault for believing every rumor I hear. The outsiders were saying that Miss Lockwood wasn’t good enough for you, and I actually bought into it! Look how foolish I am, sigh!"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. No wonder a manipulative little hypocrite like Thea had managed to push out the true eldest daughter, Stella. As it turned out, Thea had an even bigger hypocrite backing her up.