Chapter 297: Estelle Is Back

Chapter 297: Chapter 297: Estelle Is Back

Liam thought about how spot-on Estelle’s prediction had been. She knew his mother and Theodore would be utterly shameless. So, he asked, "Mom, you claim I’m pretending Estelle is still alive. Tell me then, is the person on the other end of this phone a human or a ghost?"

Laura Jennings’s throat tightened. "You... you’re playing a recording! Liam, I know you can be mischievous, but we must respect the dead. Stop this nonsense before you miss the time for Estelle’s burial!"

Liam nodded and spoke into his phone, "Estelle, my mom says this is a recording."

The voice on the other end of the line echoed clearly through the speakerphone, reaching everyone’s ears.

"Ms. Jennings is as humorous as ever."

The crowd fell silent. Although it felt a bit disrespectful to the "deceased," they really wanted to laugh.

Laura’s face instantly drained of color. She immediately looked at Theodore, as if seeking reassurance. It was Estelle’s voice! It was unmistakably her! Wasn’t Estelle with Theodore? How could she be on a call with Liam?!

Theodore frowned slightly. He subtly shot a glance at someone, and his assistant immediately slipped through the crowd and hurried into the main villa. His expression remained unchanged as he shook his head in mock helplessness. "Liam, the actress you found does an excellent impression of Miss Lockwood’s voice.

"But... so many of us have seen and confirmed Miss Lockwood’s death.

"No matter what you do, you can’t change the fact that she has passed away. Alright, enough of this charade."

Liam was completely stunned. He never expected Theodore to remain so calm even at this point. What level of pathological liar was this guy?

Laura immediately nodded. "Yes, exactly! We all saw that Estelle is dead. Liam, you need to—"

"Ms. Jennings." Suddenly, an eerie female voice drifted from outside the villa estate. No, not from outside—from inside. Before Laura could react, the voice drew closer. "You haven’t even seen a body, so how can you be so certain that I’m dead, Ms. Jennings?"

What did the voice mean by "I’m dead"? Wasn’t Estelle the only one who died? Was there someone else? No, no, it was definitely only Estelle. So who was speaking?

Laura’s mind spun in absolute chaos. Suddenly, a realization struck her. She threw her head back in sheer terror just as Estelle looked at her with a half-smile.

"Why are you so terrified to see me, Ms. Jennings?" Estelle asked.

A deathly silence fell over the entire venue. Wait... who was this woman?! Was she Estelle Lockwood?! Yes, they were sure. Everyone had seen Estelle before and recognized her face. As soon as this woman stepped into view, it clicked for everyone—this was Estelle!

But wasn’t she dead? Laura Jennings had sworn up and down that Estelle was dead!

Laura’s eyes went wide. She instinctively looked toward Theodore, her throat constricting as if blocked by something. Trembling all over, she stammered, "Y-You..."

"It seems Ms. Jennings recognizes me?" Estelle asked with a bright smile, though her eyes instantly turned icy. "So Ms. York’s eyes are perfectly fine. Since there’s nothing wrong with your vision, how did you mistake someone else’s ’corpse’ for mine?"

The crowd instinctively looked at the "ashes" placed in the very center of the mourning hall. For a long moment, they exchanged glances in speechless disbelief.

"Yeah, Mom," Liam chimed in, feigning complete innocence as he stared blankly. "Look, I told you Estelle wasn’t dead, but you kept insisting I was just making trouble. See? She’s standing right here, perfectly fine. Just who exactly was that ’corpse’ you fished out of the river back then? Couldn’t you tell whether it was Estelle or not?"

Laura choked on her words.

Liam then turned to Ethan Sloan. "Dad, you also said that was Estelle. Is your eyesight failing too?"

Ethan took a deep breath. Putting on a show of intense emotion, he hurried over to Estelle. "Estelle! Thank goodness you’re alright. Today was just a huge misunderstanding, but all that matters is that you’re alive!"

Snapping out of her daze, Laura quickly played along. "Yes, yes, Estelle! It’s wonderful that you’re still alive! BOOHOO, all my days of praying for you weren’t in vain..."

Liam was completely dumbfounded. How could his parents be so utterly shameless!

Estelle offered a light smile. "So you both actually wanted me to live." Before Ethan could respond, her expression faded into impassive coldness. "Then how about you explain whose ashes these are first?"

The guests wore bizarre expressions. She had a point. Never mind what Ethan and Laura were saying now—just look at what they had done. That clearly wasn’t Estelle’s body, yet they had vehemently declared her dead. No matter what state a corpse was in after being pulled from a river, even if it were mangled beyond recognition, was it really that hard to verify a person’s identity in modern society? Not to mention, how could a matter of life and death be handled so amateurishly?

Yet Laura and Ethan hadn’t even bothered to investigate properly before rushing to have the body cremated and buried. What was their real agenda?

Cold sweat beaded on Ethan’s forehead. They hadn’t prepared an excuse at all. In their minds, Estelle was already dead. Who would have thought she could come back to life? What’s more, Ethan wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. In a panic, he actually blurted out, "Actually... actually, that’s a cenotaph! Those aren’t anyone’s ashes..."

Estelle couldn’t help but laugh. She knew Ethan was foolish—which was exactly why Old Mr. Sloan looked down on him—but she hadn’t expected him to be this stupid.

Estelle spoke in a slow, deliberate drawl, "But just a moment ago, when Liam suggested it was a cenotaph, you and Ms. Jennings insisted these were my ’ashes.’ Now, after I question it, you’re back to claiming it’s a cenotaph.

"Putting aside your blatant contradictions, let’s look at the facts. If it truly is a cenotaph, doesn’t that just prove you never saw my ’corpse’? So how did you determine I was dead?"

Ethan’s expression instantly froze. Scattered murmurs and speculations arose from the crowd.

"I don’t think Estelle Lockwood was ever dead to begin with."

"No kidding. If she were dead, would she be standing right here?"

"No, what I mean is that she never had an accident at all. The Sloan family locked her up! That whole story about a car crashing into the river—why didn’t they call the police? Why didn’t they let the authorities handle the search and rescue?"

"Exactly. At first, they claimed they recovered a body, and now they’re saying they found nothing at all."

"If that’s the case, how could they be so certain she was dead? I bet they intentionally wanted Miss Lockwood to disappear from the face of the earth."

"But Miss Lockwood is clearly still alive..."

"Are you dense? Think about it. After the funeral, the Sloan family would broadcast to the world that Miss Lockwood had passed away. Then, they keep her locked up so she can’t contact anyone. In the eyes of the public, wouldn’t she effectively be dead?"

"You’re totally right!"

"And besides..." At that moment, someone realized another detail. "And besides, if the Sloan family was truly grieving Miss Lockwood’s death, how do you explain what just happened? Did you forget? The maid working for Laura Jennings was just throwing Miss Lockwood’s belongings away!

"Whether Ms. Jennings didn’t want to see those things or she was throwing them out to clear the room, it proves one thing: Laura Jennings’s grief is completely fake!"

The more the bystanders talked, the paler Ethan and Laura’s faces became.