Chapter 70: Brother-in-law? You Knew Nathaniel Sloan Was Married, Too?

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Brother-in-law? You Knew Nathaniel Sloan Was Married, Too?

Estelle Lockwood had already closed her eyes, but the anticipated pain never came. Instead, she crashed into a man’s firm chest. Her face instantly flushed red.

"Let me go!"

Nathaniel Sloan raised an eyebrow. "Miss Lockwood, I just saved you. Shouldn’t you be a little more polite?"

Estelle’s face grew even redder. "Who asked you to save me?" she retorted stubbornly.

Nathaniel’s brow arched higher. "You didn’t want me to save you? Then I suppose Miss Lockwood will just have to fall."

Estelle couldn’t help but feel a strange shift in the atmosphere. She had the bizarre illusion that she was flirting with Nathaniel. "Then let me fall—ah!" she said unnaturally.

Nathaniel feigned letting go. Truly believing she was about to plummet, Estelle instinctively threw her arms around his neck. "What are you doing?!"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see if someone was still going to talk tough."

Feeling mocked, Estelle snapped her mouth shut in sheer irritation.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. The knocking on the door continued.

Estelle snapped back to reality. Shoving him away, she jogged over to the door as if trying to cover up what had just happened. To ease the awkwardness, she swung the door open—and froze.

Noelle Lockwood?!

Noelle stood outside, wearing a gentle, meticulously practiced smile. "Nathaniel... Yara?!"

Estelle looked Noelle up and down, then turned her head back to shoot a sarcastic comment over her shoulder. "President Sloan, you certainly are quite the charmer."

Nathaniel’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. Strangely enough, despite her obvious mockery, he wasn’t angry in the slightest.

Estelle walked back to her seat. Iris Sloan had also stopped eating, her face etched with such intense disdain that it couldn’t have been more obvious.

Nathaniel looked at the woman at the door, his gaze turning icy. "What are you doing here?"

Noelle sensed his shift in demeanor. Sour jealousy bubbled in her chest, but she maintained her smile. "Nathaniel, I heard you were having dinner here, so I came over to see you."

Nathaniel frowned. "There is nothing to see." With that, he actually moved to shut the door in her face.

Noelle’s heart practically shattered, and she hastily blocked the doorframe. "Nathaniel! Actually... it’s because everyone at the company is saying that you and Yara came out to eat alone, which means you two must be having an illicit affair... I figured since Yara is new to the company, dealing with these kinds of rumors wouldn’t be good for her. So, I thought I would join you both for dinner.

"With me here, it’d be impossible for anyone to misunderstand Miss Yara anymore. After all, a man and a woman alone in a private dining room... it’s just not good for your reputations..."

"Not good for their reputations?" a middle-aged woman’s voice rang out, cutting Noelle off.

Noelle jumped in fright. Iris was already casting a cool glance her way.

"What do you mean, ’a man and a woman alone’?" Iris asked. "What, am I not a person?"

Noelle’s face turned ghastly pale. She thought frantically, "What is going on?! Why is Iris here too?"

"Iris, I didn’t realize you..."

"Don’t act so familiar with me. I have no junior like you," Iris interrupted sharply, before turning her attention away. "Nathaniel, since she’s already here, it doesn’t look good for her to just stand like a statue at the door. Let her in."

Joy flashed across Noelle’s face.

But before she could even reach the dining table, Iris spoke again. "However, what you just said reminded me of something. It doesn’t really matter what kind of gossip is spreading out there—as long as Yara marries Nathaniel, everything will be fine."

Iris waved a hand airily. "Once they’re husband and wife, eating together won’t be considered ’a man and a woman alone’ anymore. People can stick their noses wherever they want, but they can’t possibly meddle in a married couple’s private affairs, can they?"

Estelle’s chopsticks paused in mid-air, while Nathaniel’s eyes instantly darkened with an unfathomable depth.

For Noelle, those words struck like a thunderbolt! She thought furiously, "What is this old bitch Iris saying?! Have Yara marry Nathaniel?! No way!"

Noelle nearly choked on her own fury. Gritting her teeth, she forced out, "Iris, how could Nathaniel possibly marry Miss Yara? It’s completely inappropriate..."

Iris asked with a pleasant smile, "And what exactly makes it inappropriate?"

Noelle knew very well that Iris wasn’t Laura Jennings. While Laura wanted to play matchmaker for her and Nathaniel, Iris was incredibly biased toward Estelle. Taking a deep breath, she let her tears fall as she spoke.

"Iris, Nathaniel is already married. How can he marry Miss Yara?"

At those words, Estelle let out a silent, mocking laugh.

Iris’s face instantly darkened. "Is that so? Nathaniel is married. Why don’t you enlighten us, then—who exactly is Nathaniel married to?"

Noelle mistakenly thought Iris was angry because she assumed Noelle was the one married to Nathaniel. Crying non-stop, she said, "Iris... have you forgotten about my sister? Nathaniel is my sister’s husband! He already has her, so how can he marry someone else? Miss Yara, if you have any shame left, you won’t get so close to a married man. Don’t you know how to keep your distance?"

The entire private dining room instantly plunged into an eerie, dead silence.

Nathaniel subconsciously looked at Estelle. She remained silent, while Iris’s expression grew increasingly grim.

"Noelle, so you *do* know Nathaniel is your ’sister’s husband’." Iris heavily emphasized the words ’sister’s husband’. "From what I recall, you didn’t hold back from eating alone with Nathaniel five years ago. Since you knew perfectly well who he was to your sister, why didn’t you keep your distance?"

Noelle’s face instantly drained of all color!

"Iris, that’s not true! Back then, when I ate with Nathaniel, my sister agreed to it. She..."

"Yara, are you thirsty?" Iris suddenly asked.

Hearing Noelle’s words, Estelle’s face had darkened slightly as memories from five years ago resurfaced. When Iris abruptly changed the subject, she was momentarily stunned. Caught off guard, she answered honestly, "A little."

"Then let Noelle brew you some tea. She’s an absolute expert at brewing ’green tea’—playing the innocent victim until the stench of her hypocrisy fills the room."

Iris continued nonchalantly, "Maybe I’ve just been choking on too much of your ’green tea,’ but I really can’t seem to understand what you’re saying, Noelle. So, you’re telling me it was Estelle who forced you to move into her marital home? That she was the one who made you and Nathaniel practically inseparable, and orchestrated all those scandalous rumors about the two of you?"

Feigning surprise, Iris added, "I never realized Estelle was so incredibly generous!"

Noelle was absolutely fuming inside, but on the surface, she shook her head desperately, her small face bathed in tears. "No, Iris, you’ve really misunderstood me! I only lived at Imperial Crest to take care of Nathaniel and my sister..."

Nathaniel closely observed Estelle’s expression. If what his aunt said was true, and Estelle didn’t care about the Lockwood family or those so-called relatives, then she never would have asked him to take care of Noelle in the first place. Yet, there wasn’t a single trace of sadness on her face. It was as if she truly was an outsider, completely oblivious to everything that had happened five years ago. She didn’t interrogate Noelle. She was even smiling.

Estelle naturally noticed Nathaniel staring at her. She thought, "Heh... Nathaniel wants to see my reaction? What’s there to see? Back then, he swallowed Noelle’s lies hook, line, and sinker. No matter how much I explained, it was utterly useless. Could it be that after five years, Nathaniel has suddenly grown a conscience, regained his intellect, and learned how to spot a two-faced hypocrite? Forget it. I remember when I told him I wanted Noelle to move out. What did he say back then? He said, ’She is your sister, and her health is poor. If you kick her out, what will people think?’"

Snapping out of her daze, Estelle rested her chin in her hand, looking thoroughly amused. "Iris, you shouldn’t place all the blame on Miss Lockwood. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Miss Lockwood and her sister’s husband might have been practically inseparable, but it’s not like Mr. Sloan ever rejected her advances, right?"

She looked at Nathaniel, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. "What do you say, Mr. Sloan?"