Chapter 56: Are You Explaining to Me?

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Are You Explaining to Me?

Noelle broke into a smile and hurried over to him. "Nathaniel..."

"Since when did you become an investor?" Nathaniel Sloan interrupted flatly.

Noelle’s smile instantly froze. "I..."

"Oh, Nathaniel, this was my decision!"

Laura Jennings was very dissatisfied with her son’s attitude. "The Lockwood Group is a perfume company, after all. If you exclude the Lockwood family, wouldn’t that make us a laughingstock to outsiders?

"You’re not short of money anyway, so what’s wrong with helping Noelle? You have no idea how arrogant that Yara Lockwood was just now, acting as if Noelle didn’t even deserve to speak to her just because she isn’t an investor... Nathaniel, Nathaniel?!"

Before Laura could finish, Nathaniel had already turned around to catch up with Estelle Lockwood. Her face instantly flushed red with anger. "What is the meaning of this? His fiancée is right here, yet all he knows is to chase after that little bitch!"

Noelle said gently, "Mrs. Sloan, it’s fine. Nathaniel is just going to take care of official business."

Laura had always been petty, judging others through her own narrow mindset. "Hmph, a man and a woman together—what kind of serious business could they possibly be discussing? She really knows how to seduce men..."

"Ah, Grandma, so you’re saying that when a man and a woman discuss business together, it’s inappropriate?"

Zachery had just walked over. Hearing this, he was so furious he almost wanted to run everyone over.

Wearing Christian’s face, he pinched his throat and said sarcastically, "But last time, I saw Grandpa and Chairman Sullivan talking for a long, long time about the downtown garden project.

"According to what you just said, could it be that Grandpa and Chairman Sullivan are having an affair too? Wow, I’m going to go ask them!"

Chairman Sullivan was in her early fifties and was one of the Sloan Group’s largest partners. The downtown garden project was the only Sloan Group venture that did not rely on Nathaniel, and the entire Sloan family valued it highly. Chairman Sullivan was also present today, and she was standing right nearby when Zachery said those words.

Laura’s cheek twitched. "How can that be compared..."

"I think President Lockwood did the right thing just now. There’s no need to waste breath on these people," Chairman Sullivan smiled. "Perhaps a woman like Mrs. Sloan, whose entire life revolves around her husband and who only knows how to eat, drink, be merry, and get jealous, truly doesn’t understand us."

In the perfume industry, the largest consumer base was female. Many of the perfume designers and distributors were also women. Hearing Laura and Noelle’s remarks, they all felt somewhat speechless and nodded in frequent agreement with Chairman Sullivan.

Word had it that Laura herself was a former mistress who had usurped the original wife to become Mrs. Sloan. Perhaps in the eyes of mistresses like her, men were indeed more important. Anyone who approached her husband would immediately be labeled a "vixen."

Laura was so angry that her face cycled between red and white. Rose Lowell, standing off to the side, didn’t dare to speak up either. After all, she also thought that Yara was just a seducing vixen.

Zachery trotted away, his mission accomplished.

Three days later, Estelle walked toward the changing rooms at the racecourse. Before she could reach them, a flurry of footsteps suddenly rang out behind her, rapidly approaching from a distance.

"I didn’t authorize Noelle to come over, nor do I know how they got here," Nathaniel spoke up to explain.

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "Is Mr. Sloan explaining this to me?"

Nathaniel paused. "After all, we are the closest of business partners. I don’t want others to cause unnecessary misunderstandings between us."

"Then you can rest assured, Mr. Sloan. I never hold a grudge against money," Estelle said slowly, twirling a curl of hair around her fingertip. "The Lockwood Group’s bills are going through your side. You are solely responsible for your own profits and losses—it has absolutely nothing to do with me.

"However, President Sloan, a word of advice: I have plenty of ways to make the Lockwood Group suffer loss after loss. You might be able to protect them once, but can you protect them every single time?"

She had returned to the country to deal with the Lockwood family. How could she possibly give the Lockwood Group a chance to make a comeback?

Nathaniel looked at her lips, his voice turning hoarse. "I won’t protect them."

Estelle didn’t believe him for a second. "How many words out of President Sloan’s mouth are actually true?"

Nathaniel blocked her path, but she simply sidestepped him and walked into the women’s changing room. His gaze was profound, leaving his thoughts unreadable.

"Daddy."

A faint, spectral voice suddenly echoed beside him. Zachery, as the Master of Sarcasm, unleashed his Skill of Sarcasm. "Do you know the story of the boy who cried wolf?"

Nathaniel’s eyelid twitched. For some reason, he recalled Zachery’s comment about "giving up eating for fear of choking" from that morning, and a bad premonition washed over him.

Zachery continued, "The story goes like this: the first time you lie, everyone believes you. The second time you lie, everyone believes you again. But the third time, when you finally tell the truth, no one believes you anymore because they’ve been deceived twice before.

"Look at you—you’ve disappointed Ms. Yara so many times. Now that you’re finally telling the truth, she doesn’t believe you. Daddy, how tragic!"

Nathaniel was almost exasperated into laughter. Just what had his usually obedient Christian been learning lately? He spoke with such bizarre sarcasm.

"So you’re saying this is my fault?"

Zachery looked utterly shocked, as though the words "Is that even a question?" were written in bold letters across his face. "Daddy, is there some kind of misunderstanding in your self-awareness? Did you actually think you had a high credibility score?

"Tsk, tsk. I’d sooner believe a sow could climb a tree and fly a plane than believe you. Oh, my apologies, how could I lump you and a sow together? You don’t even deserve to be compared to a sow."

Eavesdropping nearby, Zane Grant was speechless. What on earth was going on with Christian? He was even rhyming his insults.

Nathaniel felt both amused and helpless. He knew Christian liked Yara, but this was a bit much...

Perhaps his guess was right—Yara really was Estelle. And Christian was Estelle’s biological son to begin with. Even if the boy knew nothing of the truth, it was only natural for him to feel an innate closeness to his own mother.

Nathaniel leaned down. "Christian, you’ve been much more lively lately."

Zachery had just been enjoying the thrill of his roasting session, but upon hearing this, he realized he might have broken character. He quickly scrambled to cover up his secret identity, his eyes darting around.

"Of course! I get happy whenever I see Ms. Yara, and when people are happy, they become lively. Who would want to be withdrawn when they could be lively instead? Daddy, before you ask me this question, you should reflect on why I didn’t like talking in the past. You may present your argument and explain why it was all Noelle’s fault.

"Alright, I’m going to go play with Mr. Grant now. Bye, Daddy!"

Nathaniel was left speechless.

Zane let out a cough. "Haha, Nathaniel, we’ll head to the racecourse first. Haha."

Who could possibly hold back their laughter at a time like this? Haha.

Inside the racecourse, everyone had changed into their equestrian gear and was selecting their horses. This was the Kendrick family’s racecourse, so Estelle had her very own pony here. She was just about to lead her little white horse out when she heard Noelle’s hypocritical voice ring out behind her.

"Ms. Yara, I am truly sorry about what happened earlier. I’ve come to apologize to you."

Noelle wore an expression of gentle helplessness, as if she genuinely wanted to make amends. "I wonder if you know how to ride a horse, Ms. Yara? If you don’t, I can teach you."

Estelle paused in her tracks. Narrowing her eyes, she turned around.

When she was eighteen and had just returned to the Lockwood family, Noelle had gathered a group of wealthy heiresses and brought her to a racecourse. They had deliberately given her a fierce, untamable horse, forcing her to mount it over and over again—only to be thrown off, mount again, and be thrown off again.

Then, Noelle had remarked, "My sister is unbelievable. She just can’t seem to learn how to ride a horse. Sigh... it’s probably because she grew up in the countryside and was never exposed to things like this."

Noelle’s little clique of friends had roared with laughter, mocking and belittling her. Only after they had laughed enough did Noelle put on a fake display of trying to stop them.

And now, Noelle was asking her the exact same question. Did she want to pull the same old trick again?

Estelle lowered her gaze. In that case, she would settle both the new scores and the old grudges all at once.