Chapter 349: Look Up, There Are 4 Cameras

Chapter 349: Chapter 349: Look Up, There Are 4 Cameras

Estelle Lockwood nodded. "Then we definitely need to go inside and admire it."

Evan Yeats had spotted Estelle and her companions a while ago. His eyes flickered as he shot a pointed glance at someone nearby. The person nodded in understanding.

Estelle had barely stepped through the doors when someone violently bumped into her. With a loud THUD, a woman tumbled to the floor, drawing a sharp hiss of pain.

"Lynn, are you alright?"

Estelle froze for a couple of seconds. Before she could even process what had happened, Evan came rushing over. With a subtle, calculated expression, he helped the woman on the floor to her feet. "Estelle, apologize."

Estelle was utterly bewildered. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she pointed at herself. "Me?"

Evan’s voice was icy. "Who else? You think you can just bump into someone and walk away? The walkway is wide open, yet you insisted on ramming into my assistant and deliberately shoving her down. Just what exactly are you trying to pull?"

Estelle was rendered completely speechless, and Liam Sloan stood there in equal disbelief. She never expected Evan to pull a stunt like this. Did he really think that just because he was the center of attention today, no one would dare embarrass him?

Didn’t he know perfectly well whether his assistant had been bumped or if she had thrown herself to the ground on purpose? Or perhaps, Evan was doing this deliberately.

"Are you not going to show any remorse?" Evan furrowed his brows. "Even though you have now returned to the Yeats family, that doesn’t give you a free pass to act so arrogantly!"

His words made everyone in the vicinity realize who she was. This was Estelle Lockwood—the newly returned daughter of the Yeats family.

Liam immediately stepped in front of Estelle to shield her. "What explanation do you want? Your person threw herself at us. I should be the one asking you! With such a wide walkway, she just had to ram herself into Estelle. What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Evan smirked inwardly. This idiot was just handing him an opportunity on a silver platter.

"Young Mr. Sloan," Evan said with feigned helplessness. "You don’t understand the situation between Estelle and me.

"Since returning to the Yeats family, she’s had some disagreements with me for certain reasons. I was genuinely surprised that she even came to my art exhibition today—but after seeing her shove my assistant, it all makes sense.

"It turns out Miss Lockwood is just here to cause trouble for me."

Evan let out an exaggerated, sorrowful sigh.

Today was Evan’s exhibition. The crowd milling about consisted of Art Association members, fellow painters, or his devoted fans and admirers. Unsurprisingly, his words instantly sparked public outrage. Countless people glared furiously at Estelle and Liam.

"No, wait..." Estelle fell silent for a moment before furrowing her brow in genuine confusion. "Are those massive security cameras up there just for decoration?"

She pointed at the ceiling. In this area alone, there were four cameras covering every possible blind spot. Forget figuring out who bumped into whom; they would clearly capture even the slightest micro-movement.

Evan’s expression stiffened.

"Since Mr. Yeats claims I bumped into someone, you have to show proof," Estelle said. "You can’t just blindly believe whatever your assistant says. I could just as easily argue that your assistant was trying to cause trouble for me. After all, my return to the Yeats family has gotten in the way of quite a few people. Wouldn’t you agree?"

Evan ground his teeth. "What do you mean by that—"

"I mean, if you want me to apologize, fine. Pull up the security footage." Estelle’s tone was slow and deliberate.

Evan took a deep breath. "Forget it. Lynn still has work to do. We don’t have time to bicker with you."

"Listen to yourself." Estelle clicked her tongue. "Mr. Yeats, if we don’t check the footage, the rumors are going to spread that I was bullying people. I refuse to take the fall for that. Why don’t we just get the video and clear things up? It’s not like it’s difficult for you to access the footage anyway."

Evan wanted to claim the cameras were broken, but Estelle immediately cut off that excuse.

"There are four cameras right here. They couldn’t possibly all be broken. Besides, when two people collide, it’s easy to see who initiated the contact. You don’t have to worry about the quality being unclear.

"If Mr. Yeats feels it’s a waste of time, no problem. I can go check it myself. Later, I’ll even broadcast the footage so everyone can admire it."

Evan’s composure nearly snapped. "Estelle, don’t cross the line!"

Estelle tutted again. "How am I crossing the line? Didn’t Mr. Yeats just accuse me of bullying your assistant and coming here to cause trouble? Since you’re so sure, and the evidence is right there, shouldn’t you be slapping that evidence in my face and forcing me to kneel and grovel?"

Liam couldn’t hold back. "Pfft, hahaha!"

Evan’s face turned a spectacular array of colors, cycling through a vibrant, volatile spectrum of barely suppressed rage.

Lynn stepped forward in tears. "I’m sorry, Miss Lockwood. I accidentally bumped into you. Mr. Yeats was just too worried about me earlier."

Evan let out a sigh of relief. "Lynn has apologized to you. Let’s drop this matter here."

"Hey, wait a minute."

Drop it? Who said anything about dropping it? Estelle was perfectly fine being an entirely unreasonable person—what of it?

A half-smile played on Estelle’s lips. "Like I just said, if we don’t clear this up now, the external rumors will get completely out of hand. I’m sure Mr. Yeats doesn’t want wild gossip flying around, right? Whether it’s about you or about me.

"Therefore, even though your assistant has apologized, pulling the security footage is still absolutely necessary."

Liam nodded in agreement. "The manager of this exhibition area happens to be a friend of mine. Here’s what we’ll do—I’ll contact him, and I’ll have that footage pulled up in ten minutes max."

"There’s no need..." Evan was starting to panic.

Estelle was right. If the footage wasn’t shown, even with Lynn’s apology, the public would just assume that Estelle had used her newfound power to force the assistant into apologizing, while Evan had magnanimously played the peacemaker for the greater good. But Estelle was actually insisting on pulling the footage!

True to his word, Liam pulled out his phone and made a call right in front of everyone. As a notoriously wealthy heir in Crestfall, plenty of people in the crowd recognized him, even if they were just painters and art fans.

At the eight-minute mark, the manager came rushing over, gripping a USB drive containing the security footage.

Evan’s eyes turned savage. Didn’t he send someone to take care of this?! As soon as Estelle had insisted on checking the cameras, Evan had discreetly ordered his people to wipe the footage. Why was the recording now being delivered completely intact?

Estelle gestured politely for them to proceed. Moments later, the footage began to play.

Evan’s face darkened by the second. He shot the manager countless subtle looks, hinting at him to take the footage back, but the manager not only ignored the signals but also turned his head completely away to avoid Evan’s gaze.

The security video displayed exactly what had just happened in crystal clear resolution.

It was unmistakably Lynn who had violently lunged forward and rammed into Estelle, who hadn’t even had the time to react.

Liam let out a loud scoff. "Well, what do you know? The one who did the bumping was your assistant, yet Mr. Yeats decided to play the victim and claim Estelle was the one trying to start trouble today.

"The way I see it, it looks more like Mr. Yeats didn’t want Estelle to attend, so he got his assistant to cause a scene and block her path.

"What’s the matter? Are you hiding something shameful at your exhibition?"