Chapter 392: Taking Him to My Old Home

Chapter 392: Chapter 392: Taking Him to My Old Home

Nathaniel Sloan’s heart gave a heavy jolt.

They were currently in the heart of Crestfall’s old downtown district.

As a city expanded, multiple hubs would naturally emerge. For instance, Evernight International’s headquarters was located in the Novus District—a highly developed area with wide roads and towering modern skyscrapers that represented the city’s current progress.

However, their car was now navigating the old district of Crestfall. The roads here had been built decades ago. The surrounding buildings were low but densely packed, and towering trees lined both sides of the street, exuding the grounding warmth of ordinary, everyday life.

Looking at the old district, it was as if one could glimpse what the city looked like decades in the past.

Serenvale Community used to be considered a prime location back in the day, but the buildings were now old and weathered. Whether it was the exterior walls or the interior structures, everything gave off an antique vibe from the last century.

Nathaniel’s luxury car zigzagged through the narrow streets. Finally, following Estelle Lockwood’s directions, he managed to find a parking spot with great difficulty, pulling up beneath a five-story residential building in the community.

Estelle opened her umbrella. "Let’s go."

The two of them stepped out into the pouring rain together.

Estelle teased, "You’ve never been to a place like this before, have you?"

Nathaniel sighed helplessly. "Just how out of touch with reality do you think I am?"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "There are no parking lots in this community. Everyone just finds a spot along the street, and they can’t even park right under their own building. After parking, you have to walk for five minutes just to get home. Doesn’t Mr. Sloan have anything to say about that?"

Such was the reality of old communities like this. When they were built, no one ever anticipated that everyone would own a car in the future. As a result, parking spaces were severely lacking, and residents often had to fight tooth and nail just to snag a spot.

For someone like Nathaniel, who had a massive garage at home, this was indeed a very rare experience.

They walked under the umbrella, turning a few corners.

The first-floor apartments here were different from those in modern high-rises. Every ground-floor unit came with a small courtyard. Nathaniel could see flower pots arranged both inside and outside the enclosures, but instead of flowers, they were planted with vegetables.

The buildings were also quite low. Nathaniel looked around and shook his head. "I don’t dislike it."

He asked, "Is this your old place? I didn’t know."

Estelle looked triumphant. "Of course you didn’t know. I never came back here later on. Grandpa bought this place back when I was still in school."

Having grown up as an ordinary person, Estelle shared the same life trajectory as most regular people. Her guardian had bought a house near her school to make her daily commute easier.

"It was probably during my elementary and middle school years. At that time, Crestfall was pouring all its resources into developing the new districts. The housing prices in the old district dropped, so Grandpa bought a unit here. We lived here for a very long time."

They finally arrived at the entrance of a building unit. There was no elevator, and the narrow stairwell was pitch black. Estelle had to stomp her feet heavily before the sound-activated lights flickered on.

She reached the third floor, took out her keys to unlock the door, and closed it behind them, shutting out the sound of the rain.

It was a forty-square-meter apartment. It was very small—even the tea room at Imperial Crest was larger than this entire place—but it felt incredibly cozy.

Estelle raised an eyebrow playfully. "How about it, Mr. Sloan? Would you like to stay the night at my place?"

Nathaniel’s eyes crinkled with a smile. "I would be honored."

In the past, for whatever reason, Estelle had never told him about the existence of this apartment—perhaps it was a lack of a sense of security, perhaps she thought it was unnecessary, or perhaps she believed they would never come here again.

But now, she had shared it with him.

Nathaniel felt a warmth spread through his chest, his heart beating faster and faster.

Potted plants sat on the windowsill, making it obvious that someone had been living here recently.

Estelle nodded and explained, "After Grandpa and I moved out, we rented the place out. Grandpa said the rent here was decent and could serve as an extra subsidy. The last tenant moved out half a year ago, so I had someone clean it up, and it’s been empty ever since."

Pausing here, Estelle looked at him curiously. "Can you understand why I’m telling you all this?"

At the very least, when she used to bring this up with Henry Kendrick, even though he was very accommodating, it was hard for him to truly put himself in her shoes.

After all, Henry was born into the Kendrick Family. He never knew what it felt like to be poor growing up. He understood that Estelle had been going through a difficult time and had rented out her own home just to make an extra two thousand, forcing herself to rent a cheaper place further away, but he couldn’t actually empathize with it.

Nathaniel, however, gave a gentle nod. "Of course... I understand."

Estelle had never been a sheltered greenhouse flower, nor was she ever ashamed of her past.

After she returned to the Lockwood Family, many people called her "disgraceful," said she was "obsessed with money," branded her a "country bumpkin," and mocked her for "not understanding floral arrangements or art, only knowing how to scrap together a couple thousand, which is utterly humiliating."

Those wealthy heiresses could easily spend five figures on a single afternoon tea, so they mocked the old Estelle for working so hard just to earn a few thousand.

But was that really something to be ashamed of? ℯℯ𝑙.

Estelle would never deny her past, nor would she hide it.

Even though she had now married into a wealthy family, become the chairwoman of Star, and had the Yeats Family knocking on her door, she never forgot where she came from. She could talk about her past with complete calm.

Nathaniel sat down by the window. The rain outside was growing heavier, and the estimated drive back to Imperial Crest had increased to three hours.

"It’s a good thing we came to your place."

Estelle gave Ms. Riddle a call. After blowing kisses to the triplets one by one through the screen, she hung up the video call and turned to look at Nathaniel.

"So, Mr. Sloan, since I’ve given you a place to stay, do I get a reward?"

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is Mrs. Sloan asking me for a reward now?"

"Yup. Are you going to give it to me, Mr. Sloan?"

Early the next morning.

The rain had stopped. Nathaniel drove Estelle to the signing venue for the partnership ceremony. Watching her step out of the car, he said unhurriedly, "Go on. I’ll wait for you to come back."

Meanwhile.

Claire Yeats bit her lip, looking as if she had something to say.

Ever since Mr. Lynch’s assistant had mistakenly assumed Claire was the person in charge a week ago, Old Mrs. Yeats couldn’t help but feel incredibly smug.

That brought them to today, right before the signing ceremony was about to take place.

"Miss Claire seems to have something to say?" a few shareholders who had arrived early asked aloud.

Claire bit her lip gently. She glanced at Old Mrs. Yeats, then at Evan Yeats, before finally asking hesitantly, "...Where is Estelle?"

A shareholder frowned. "She should be here by now. Where is she?"

"Miss Claire, just say whatever is on your mind. We’re all on the same team here."

"Alright..." Claire closed her eyes and finally braced herself. "These past few days, hasn’t Aethel been saying that the partnership coordination is going very well and that they are highly satisfied?

"Everyone in the company thinks Estelle is the person in charge, that she’s the one coordinating this partnership. But the truth is..."

Claire pursed her lips lightly and ultimately let out a helpless sigh. "I was the one coordinating the partnership. I was the one managing it. The jade token representing Mr. Lynch is also in my hands. As for Estelle... she hasn’t shown up for an entire week..."

This was the plan Claire had come up with.

She had the jade token, which naturally meant that whatever she said went. Even though she had never actually coordinated with Aethel or participated in any partnership discussions, as long as she claimed she did—and as long as she held the jade token—who would dare refute her?