Chapter 521: Who Used to Live Here?

Chapter 521: Chapter 521: Who Used to Live Here?

Estelle pulled herself from her thoughts and looked calmly at Claire Yeats before letting out a soft chuckle. "Okay."

Okay...? What did she mean by that?

Estelle offered no explanation. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Are you done talking? Can you get out of my way now?"

Claire’s expression stiffened.

Only then did the crowd realize that Claire, Liza Shelby, and a few of their lackeys were completely blocking Estelle’s path.

They claimed they didn’t care and insisted they weren’t targeting her, yet they deliberately blocked Estelle’s way. For what? Just to watch Claire play the victim?

Forced to yield, Claire stepped aside. Estelle left straight away without looking back.

Nathaniel Sloan was waiting in his car by the road. Seeing Estelle come out, he personally opened the door for her and handed her a gift box.

"What’s this?"

"Open it and see."

They spoke at the exact same time.

Estelle raised an eyebrow. Opening the box, she found a small tiara inside. Nathaniel said gently, "Congratulations on your success in the competition."

Estelle measured the tiara against her head; it was a perfect fit. "The results aren’t even out yet, and you’re already giving me a tiara? Usually, this kind of gift is reserved for the champion."

"Does Mrs. Sloan think she won’t be the champion?" Nathaniel chuckled lightly as he held the door. "Get in."

Estelle put the tiara away, her tone calm. "The championship is inevitably mine, of course. By the way... Claire seems absolutely certain that she’s going to be the champion. Why is that?"

"Why?" Nathaniel said faintly. "Because she and Old Mrs. Yeats were going around begging people. I couldn’t bear it, so I agreed to her request."

"You couldn’t bear it?" Estelle remained highly skeptical of those words.

Nathaniel rested his hands lightly on the steering wheel. "Old Mrs. Yeats spoke with such tearful sincerity, her words so deeply moving. She claimed that if Claire didn’t win this championship, the Yeats Group would come crashing down. She even said she was going to kneel before me. As a younger generation, how could I let an elder kneel?

"So," Nathaniel drawled, "I agreed."

Estelle paused. "...What were your exact words?"

Nathaniel smiled. "I said, ’Old Mrs. Yeats’ deep love for her granddaughter is truly touching. Aethel will consider it.’

"Then Old Mrs. Yeats asked if Ms. Foster would agree.

"I told her, ’I have the deciding vote on who takes the championship. Please rest assured, Old Mrs. Yeats.’"

Estelle couldn’t hold back her laughter. "Hahahaha."

Did Nathaniel agree? Yes, he did.

Did he agree that the champion would be Claire? No!

He could decide who took the championship, but he never said it would be Claire. He said he would consider it, but he never said he would consider Claire.

From start to finish, Nathaniel only expressed how touched he was by Old Mrs. Yeats’ affection for her granddaughter, and then... nothing else!

But Old Mrs. Yeats misunderstood, assuming Nathaniel had agreed to her plea and promised to make Claire the champion.

And when Old Mrs. Yeats went back to tell Claire, she would definitely speak with absolute certainty—that was just Old Mrs. Yeats’ personality. She always liked to spin a fifty-percent possibility into a hundred-percent guarantee.

So Claire believed it too. On top of that, not only did the Aethel Group refrain from withdrawing their investment, but their representatives also frequently visited the Branch of Yeats Group to coordinate with Evan Yeats. They were building momentum for Claire’s upcoming championship win, taking the opportunity to launch their new jewelry line.

This concerned the Aethel Group’s performance. Furthermore, the Aethel Group had already publicly announced that they would definitely collaborate with Ember this time.

If the final champion wasn’t Claire, Aethel would lose face too.

It had never crossed Claire’s mind that the real Ember... had actually been one of the contestants all along.

Estelle blinked. "You’re amazing, Mr. Sloan. With just a few words, you’ve got the Yeats family running around in circles."

Nathaniel curled his lips into a smile. "You flatter me. The Yeats family is just too stupid."

Why were Old Mrs. Yeats and Claire so confident? Because of Ember.

So many people were fighting for a chance to collaborate with Ember. They firmly believed that since the Aethel Group was in a prime position to secure the deal, they wouldn’t push Ember away. Therefore, even if Claire wasn’t the champion, she had to be the champion, because the Aethel Group and Mr. Lynch couldn’t afford the humiliation.

But...

What if Ember was Estelle Lockwood?

Estelle smiled. Taking advantage of the red light, she reached out her hand to Nathaniel and drawled, "Well then, Mr. Sloan, here’s to a pleasant collaboration?"

Nathaniel chuckled softly. "A pleasant collaboration."

When the light turned green again, Estelle suddenly realized that they weren’t on the road back to Imperial Crest. "Where are we going?"

"Weren’t you curious about Zion Yeats’ identity? I found something that might be of help to you."

Nathaniel made a series of turns, driving the car out of the city limits until they arrived at a three-story house.

Estelle was surprised. "Isn’t this what my grandfather left me..."

"Yes, it’s here." Nathaniel nodded. "Open the door."

Estelle scanned her face to unlock it, and then she and Nathaniel walked inside. "We came to look around last time, and the things in the basement had already been moved out. What else did you find here?"

Nathaniel shook his head. "It’s not about what I found, but rather..."

He walked into the house. "Look at this small villa. Doesn’t it show heavy signs of having been lived in?"

Estelle paused. She hadn’t lived in this house for very long. Later on, because she had to attend school, her grandfather had taken her to live in a small apartment downtown.

If there were signs of habitation here, were they left by her?

Nathaniel, however, pointed out, "You were only in elementary school back then, right? You weren’t very tall. The traces I’m talking about were left by a grown man."

"Was it my grandfather?"

"Probably not," Nathaniel said calmly. "I suspect this person was Zion Yeats."

Estelle froze in shock.

Nathaniel said gently, "Old Mr. Lockwood was jealous of your grandfather ever since they were young. After their parents passed away, he used all his connections to drive your grandfather out of the Lockwood family."

Chase Lockwood’s personality was just like his name—gentle, like water. Old Mr. Lockwood was jealous and hateful of this younger brother, using the entire family and the Lockwood Group’s future as leverage to force him out. Chase afforded Old Mr. Lockwood his final dignity and left.

But obviously, Old Mr. Lockwood wanted to eradicate him completely.

Chase had nowhere to live and no job. He was practically blacklisted. No one dared to make an enemy out of the deranged Old Mr. Lockwood for the sake of the powerless Chase.

But if the person helping Chase had a status higher than the Lockwood family to begin with, of course they wouldn’t be afraid. They could even help Chase hide right under the Lockwood family’s noses, remaining undiscovered by Old Mr. Lockwood for all these years.

So...

"So, I suspect the person who helped your grandfather was Zion Yeats.

"The reason this villa was never found by Old Mr. Lockwood is that its original owner was never your grandfather to begin with."

Nathaniel slowly walked past the corner. This villa... probably shouldn’t be called a villa. It wasn’t a proper villa; it was more akin to a rural self-built house.

This area was located at the border of the suburbs. Over twenty years ago, self-built houses were indeed permitted to exist here.