Chapter 299: Playing Pitiful, Who Doesn’t Know How?

Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Playing Pitiful, Who Doesn’t Know How?

Estelle furrowed her brows on purpose, feigning dissatisfaction. "Then tell me, Chairman Sloan, how much can you offer?"

Ethan squeezed a few words through his gritted teeth. "Three percent!"

Estelle immediately laughed. "Are you joking with me, Chairman Sloan? Three percent? I can’t believe you even have the nerve to say that out loud.

"Since you have no sincere intention of negotiating, forget it. Oh, by the way, just one more thing—why do you think Nathaniel hasn’t shown up yet?

"Besides knowing I’m not dead, why else do you think he’d skip my ’funeral’?"

Laura didn’t catch on, but Ethan had a vague, sinking premonition.

Theodore’s face suddenly darkened. "He’s at the Sloan Group?!"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps."

Theodore understood. Nathaniel was indeed at the company. Those old fogeys at the Sloan Group had always favored Nathaniel as the heir. If Nathaniel stepped up now—

Estelle voiced Theodore’s exact thoughts.

"I showed up at my own funeral, a fact neither Chairman Sloan nor Mr. Lancaster can explain. The Sloan Group’s reputation has hit rock bottom. If Nathaniel steps up to consolidate the company at this very moment, what do you three think those shareholders will do..."

"Estelle Lockwood!" Ethan yelled.

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I’m right here."

Ethan was panting heavily. He gritted his teeth. "What exactly do you want? What do you want!"

"Nothing much. I just want everything back on track. If that’s impossible, then—like I said, Chairman Sloan, there must be some sort of compensation, right?"

And so, the topic circled back.

Shares.

Estelle said slowly, "You said ten percent was too much, so let’s make it eight."

"Don’t push it!"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "You won’t agree to that either? Then we have nothing left to discuss."

"Five percent! Five percent is my absolute bottom line!"

Estelle narrowed her eyes at Ethan. A moment later, she said lightly, "I can see that Chairman Sloan truly can’t offer any more. How about this? Six percent."

Ethan was speechless.

He couldn’t believe she was haggling with him over a single percentage point!

But even one percent of the Sloan Group’s shares was worth a fortune!

These were the shares he was saving for Theodore!

Ethan took a deep breath. "Estelle, leave some leeway so we can still face each other in the future. You know very well that these shares were always meant for Theodore. Now that Theodore is back, as my legitimate son, he rightfully should—"

"Chairman Sloan."

Estelle’s eyes turned icy. "We both know what the truth really is. There is absolutely no need to put on an act in front of me.

"Besides, your hypocritical, fake behavior has disgusted me. I’m in a bad mood now, so I don’t even want the shares anymore."

With that, Estelle looked as though she was completely done talking. "Forget the shares. It doesn’t matter if we can’t reach a deal. The Sloan Group can handle my ’resurrection’ on their own. Whatever reputation the company ends up with has nothing to do with me."

As soon as she finished, she made a show of calling Nathaniel. "As for Nathaniel, I’ll tell him not to hold back.

"And Mr. Lancaster, we’ll see who the Sloan Group truly belongs to soon enough."

With that, Estelle turned to leave.

This abrupt move startled both Ethan and Laura.

Laura lunged forward. "Estelle, you can’t!"

Estelle maintained a cold expression.

Laura’s eyes darted around frantically. Her face was flushed red, desperately wanting to curse at her but unable to find the words.

Ethan’s face was dark, fluctuating between shades of green and pale white. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth. "Fine! Six percent! You get six percent!"

Estelle kept a deadpan expression. "That was just now. Even if you offered me eight percent now, I wouldn’t take it. I’m going to have a nice little chat with the guests and reporters outside. Excuse me."

"Estelle Lockwood!" Ethan was on the verge of a total breakdown.

Forced to choose the lesser of two evils, he caved. "Fine! Ten percent! Take the ten percent!"

From an angle the three of them couldn’t see, the corners of Estelle’s lips curled up slightly.

She nodded. "Acceptable. I’ve already drafted the transfer agreement. Please sign it, Chairman Sloan."

Ethan was speechless.

He had originally planned to stall for time, but it was now blatantly obvious that Estelle had prepared everything in advance!

Soon, a team of lawyers entered through the back door of the Sloan family’s home. Ethan signed the documents with an expressionless face. Once everything was finalized, Laura couldn’t wait any longer. "Now you have to deal with the guests and reporters outside!"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "Of course. But how does Ms. Jennings hope I’ll resolve this?"

"Tell them you deliberately deceived us!" Laura shrieked. "That’s why we thought you were dead!"

Estelle looked as if a sudden realization had hit her. "Ah, I understand now. Ms. Jennings wants me to take all the blame. I intentionally misled you, which led you to hold this funeral. My ’death’ had absolutely nothing to do with you. It was entirely my fault, right?"

Laura’s face flushed bright red. "Right!"

"Okay, understood." Estelle was surprisingly agreeable.

Her easy compliance left Laura completely stunned.

But Estelle didn’t give her a chance to say anything else. She walked straight outside, heading toward the mourning hall. In a split second, her eyes turned red.

The guests in the hall immediately quieted down.

With tear-filled, red eyes, Estelle bowed deeply to the crowd.

"I’m so sorry for wasting everyone’s time. This entire misunderstanding today had nothing to do with the Sloans. It was me..."

Her eyes grew even redder, as if she was choking back sobs and couldn’t continue. She raised a hand to gently press against her trembling lips, then took a shuddering breath. "It was just me being mischievous. Even though I was perfectly fine, I refused to contact the Sloans... I just watched them make fools of themselves...

"As for everyone’s speculation that my ’death’ was somehow related to the Sloans... How could that be? It’s absolute nonsense."

Estelle seemed unable to hold back any longer. Tears teetered on the brims of her eyes, each drop seemingly conveying thousands of unspoken grievances. Then, she quickly wiped the tears away.

Feigning strength, she continued, "The Sloans treat me very well. They never wanted me dead. Please, everyone, don’t... don’t misunderstand..."

By the time she uttered the last few words, her voice had choked up again.

Instantly, the guests’ sharp, piercing glares shot toward the three Sloans!

They thought this was going way too far, even for the Sloans!

It seemed their guesses had been spot on! Why did the Sloans immediately declare Estelle dead just because she fell into the river? Because they truly believed she was dead!

And why were they so certain? Because they were the ones who had "killed" her!

It was just that Estelle had been lucky enough to escape with her life. Yet, as soon as she returned, she found the culprits hypocritically holding a funeral for her. She was a perfectly fine, living, breathing person who had inexplicably "died"!

To top it off, the Sloans had clearly threatened her into keeping her mouth shut. She was obviously the victim, yet she was being forced to take the fall for them!

Good heavens, did the Sloans have any regard for the law at all?!

That Laura Jennings was both stupid and wicked, and Theodore Lancaster was no saint either. They were truly cut from the same cloth—like mother, like son!

Liam Sloan had always maintained that Estelle wasn’t dead, while Iris Sloan and Old Mrs. Sloan had been actively searching for her whereabouts.

Nathaniel Sloan hadn’t even bothered to attend this farce of a funeral!

Yet these three were here putting on this hypocritical act!