Chapter 57: Noelle, You’re the Real Country Bumpkin, You’re Not a Lockwood by Blood

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Noelle, You’re the Real Country Bumpkin, You’re Not a Lockwood by Blood

Estelle Lockwood smiled leisurely, raising an eyebrow. "You’re going to teach me?"

In front of the crowd, Noelle Lockwood smiled with perfect grace. "Yes. Equestrianism is quite difficult to grasp without proper instruction. Since I’ve been learning since childhood, I can offer Miss Yara some guidance."

Estelle’s smile deepened. "Is that so?" she said casually. "But even if Miss Lockwood knows how to ride, she isn’t a professional instructor. What if I get hurt?"

People nearby were already glancing in their direction.

Noelle’s voice was gentle, yet every word she spoke dripped with thinly veiled condescension: "You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Yara. I’ve taught my sister how to ride before. Although she never quite managed to learn..."

"If Miss Lockwood couldn’t even teach her own sister," Estelle replied coldly, "I’m not exactly reassured by your teaching skills."

Noelle offered a helpless smile, prompting a bystander to step forward and intervene.

"You’ve completely misunderstood, Miss Yara! It’s not that Miss Noelle is a poor instructor; it’s that Estelle Lockwood was just too stupid!"

Quite a few minor investors had attended today’s event, each bringing their respective dates. Although the Lockwood Group was steadily declining, it remained an unattainable titan in their eyes, and they were eager for any chance to curry favor with Noelle.

"Miss Noelle tried so hard back then, but that Estelle couldn’t even manage to climb onto the horse! She completely wasted Miss Noelle’s painstaking efforts!" another chimed in.

"Exactly! I’ve never seen such a country bumpkin in my life. It was absolutely humiliating. She didn’t have the slightest bit of elegance expected of a wealthy heiress. If no one had mentioned she was the true daughter of the Lockwood Family, I would have assumed she crawled out of a slum."

"Estelle fell off the horse several times that day. No matter how Miss Noelle taught her, she just couldn’t learn. She was hopelessly inept. But you’re different, President Lockwood. You..."

The man was trying to flatter Yara by contrasting her with Estelle. Just as he was feeling smug about his perceived cleverness, Estelle interrupted him mildly. "How do you know Estelle was hopelessly inept? Did you see it with your own eyes?"

The man choked on his words, stammering, "W-Well, I wasn’t there, but that’s what everyone says..."

Estelle let out a cold laugh. "So you believe whatever ’everyone’ says? If I told you your son isn’t yours, would you believe that?"

The man’s throat tightened, and he didn’t dare say another word.

"Alright, alright, please stop talking. My sister wasn’t as bad as everyone thinks." Noelle quickly stepped forward and said gently, "You misunderstand, Miss Yara. They didn’t mean it like that.

"It’s just that my sister grew up in the countryside and had never been exposed to equestrianism, so she was terrified of riding. People felt she couldn’t uphold the prestige of being a Lockwood heiress, which is why..."

"I’m afraid I don’t follow, Noelle," Estelle said slowly.

"The true Lockwood heiress grew up in the countryside without any exposure to horseback riding, and people thought she was unworthy of the Lockwood Family.

"But logically speaking, Miss Noelle, *you* should have been the one growing up in the country. *You* should have been the one deprived of riding lessons, deemed vulgar and unworthy of the Lockwood Family, shouldn’t you?"

Pausing, Estelle let out a long *oh* of mock realization. "Wait, no, how could I say that?

"Even though the true heiress grew up in the country, she shares the Lockwood Family’s blood. It was only right for her to be brought back. But if it weren’t for that hospital mix-up scandal, Miss Noelle, you wouldn’t have even been able to touch the threshold of the Lockwood home. You likely would have spent your entire life in the very ’countryside’ you look down upon.

"You stole eighteen years of her life, yet you turned around and branded her a vulgar country bumpkin who couldn’t learn high-society etiquette," Estelle asked with a cryptic smile. "You don’t actually think you’re a good person, do you?"

Her words were a blatant slap to Noelle’s face. Noelle’s expression stiffened; she swayed unsteadily, her eyes instantly brimming with red.

Many in the crowd suddenly realized the truth in her words. They realized that the Lockwood Family had poured all their resources into raising Noelle, turning her into a high-society socialite. But if the mix-up had never happened, they would have devoted those exact same resources to Estelle. Who was to say Estelle would have been any worse than Noelle? Yet, the way Noelle told it, Estelle was made out to be entirely worthless and unfit to be the Lockwood heiress, to the point where the family publicly claimed she was merely an adopted daughter.

Meanwhile, Noelle constantly paraded around playing the kindhearted sibling, always calling Estelle her ’dear sister.’ If she genuinely cared about her sister, shouldn’t she have left the Lockwood Family and returned the position of the eldest daughter to its rightful owner?

"Nonsense!"

An angry female voice abruptly pierced the silence. Rose Lowell stood with her hands on her hips, utterly exasperated. "What do any of you know?! If Estelle hadn’t been so unreasonable, why would we have favored Noelle?!"

The crowd froze for a moment before realizing the speaker was Rose, Estelle’s biological mother.

Rose’s shrill voice lashed out in a bitter roar. "When Estelle came home, we arranged tutors for her so she could eventually work at the Lockwood Group! But instead of focusing on her studies, she spent all day plotting ways to torment Noelle!

"Relying on her status as the true heiress, she repeatedly tried to kick Noelle out of the house, stole Noelle’s bedroom, and even demanded that Noelle serve her like a maid!

"We figured we owed Estelle a great deal, so we didn’t say much about it. But who could have known she’d go so far as to push Noelle down a flight of stairs?! If Noelle hadn’t been incredibly lucky, she wouldn’t have survived! Tell me, who would want a daughter like that?!"

Tears streamed down Noelle’s face. "Mom, please stop..."

"I will not stop! Why shouldn’t I say it? If I don’t, who knows how badly they’ll misunderstand you!" Rose’s face twisted in agony. "Think about it, everyone! Estelle is our biological daughter. We couldn’t wait to make it up to her, so why wouldn’t we like her? It’s not because she grew up in the countryside; it’s because she was rotten to the core!"

Noelle covered her mouth and wept silently, as if unable to bear hearing another word.

The venue fell silent as people exchanged uncertain glances. They had to admit it made sense. Naturally, the Lockwood parents would have pitied their newly recovered biological daughter. If things had devolved to such a state, it must have been Estelle’s own fault...

Rose sneered. "Now you know. It wasn’t that Noelle refused to teach Estelle how to ride; it was Estelle who refused to cooperate!"

A frigid smile curled the corners of Estelle’s lips. The Lockwood Family really never ceased to find new lows! To protect Noelle, they were willing to hurl any amount of filthy slander at a "dead" woman!

Estelle closed her eyes briefly before snapping them open. "So Estelle failed to learn how to ride because she was genuinely too stupid," she said icily. "It really wasn’t Miss Lockwood’s fault."

Noelle shook her head in helpless resignation. "My sister..."

"In that case," Estelle scoffed, "Miss Lockwood’s equestrian skills must be exceptional. Why don’t you give me a demonstration? I’d love to learn a thing or two."

At that moment, Nathaniel Sloan walked into the venue.

Noelle couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. However, she had only asked if Yara knew how to ride to showcase her own impressive talents. Since Yara didn’t know how... this was the perfect opportunity to show off!

With that in mind, Noelle pretended not to notice Nathaniel. She casually pointed at a small white horse and offered a modest smile. "Then allow me to demonstrate, Miss Yara."

Hidden from the crowd’s view, Estelle subtly winked at the little white horse. Without anyone noticing, human and horse silently exchanged a secret signal.