Chapter 77: Nathaniel Sloan Defends His Wife: Suing Noelle Lockwood

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Nathaniel Sloan Defends His Wife: Suing Noelle Lockwood

Estelle Lockwood walked into the underground parking garage, her expression instantly darkening.

Over a dozen teenagers surrounded her car. Each wielded a long rod, viciously smashing the vehicle to pieces. The frame was already caved in, and the doors had been violently ripped off. Let alone driving it, even reassembling it would be impossible.

"Look, that’s Yara Lockwood! Surround her, don’t let her escape!"

Just then, the leader’s eyes lit up. Pointing at Estelle, she spoke with self-righteous indignation, "Back when Estelle Lockwood plagiarized, we couldn’t vent Noelle’s anger for her. Everyone thought our Noelle was an easy target! That’s why this Yara Lockwood dared to copy her so blatantly! As Noelle’s knights, we must teach her a lesson!"

Noelle Lockwood’s fans immediately surged forward, surrounding Estelle tightly.

Estelle narrowed her eyes. "You’ve lost your minds over a celebrity! Do you even know the penalty for public assault and property damage?"

The delinquent girl leading the group wasn’t afraid in the slightest. "We’re minors! Even if we break the law, nothing will happen to us! You better worry about yourself first!"

The other underage fans glared furiously. "Plagiarizing dog, go to hell! Noelle might be easy to bully, but we aren’t!"

"Charge! Kill her! Noelle said we’re minors, so it doesn’t matter even if someone dies!"

Estelle’s face turned icy.

Noelle Lockwood had really played her cards well! If something happened to her here today, others would only think she deserved it. After all, she plagiarized Noelle, so it was completely understandable for Noelle’s fans to act out in a fit of emotion!

Five years ago, Noelle had used her fans countless times to twist the truth. It was the Lockwood family and these fans who had put her on such a high pedestal that she now completely disregarded human life!

Estelle made quick work of the mob, knocking them all to the ground before triggering the parking garage’s alarm.

"What are you doing?! I’ll kill you!" Right then, the delinquent girl’s expression twisted in madness. Screaming, she swung her rod down at Estelle—

WHAM!

The anticipated pain never came. The delinquent was sent flying with a single kick, and Estelle fell steadily into someone’s embrace.

She froze.

It was... Nathaniel Sloan.

With a swift spin, Nathaniel shielded her behind him, his eyes brimming with hostility. "Call the police! And find out exactly who let them in here!"

Luke White quickly replied, "The parking garage security guard took a bribe from Vivian Lowell..."

Nathaniel’s voice was dark. "Take Vivian to the police station along with them. No bail, no settlements. They will face the full extent of the law!"

Before Luke could speak, another assistant secretary chimed in anxiously, "President Sloan, with this many minors, they won’t really be sentenced to anything anyway. Besides, they were just feeling bad for Miss Noelle. If Yara hadn’t plagiarized..."

Before the assistant could finish, Nathaniel shot him an icy glare. "You can get lost with them."

"I..." The assistant’s face paled. He never expected to be fired just for speaking a few words on Miss Noelle’s behalf!

After Nathaniel spoke, he had Luke drag the wailing fans away. Then, he cast a cold gaze at the woman in his arms. Meeting his eyes, Estelle’s heart tightened.

Five years ago, when Noelle had falsely accused her of plagiarism, Nathaniel had looked at her with this exact same gaze! She didn’t react this strongly when others framed or misunderstood her, but Nathaniel was different!

Memories flooded her mind, and her eyes unwittingly reddened. Like a defensive hedgehog unable to suppress its anger, Estelle snapped, "Do you want to accuse me of plagiarism too?!"

Nathaniel froze for a moment before frowning. "You think I came here to interrogate you?"

Estelle wanted to ask if that wasn’t exactly what he was doing. Five years ago, he had done exactly that—listening only to Noelle’s side of the story and forcing her to apologize to Noelle without asking a single question! Because she was from the countryside, and because she hadn’t grown up in the Lockwood family, everyone automatically assumed she was a country bumpkin. They assumed she couldn’t possibly be a perfumer, that she was inherently inferior to Noelle.

Even if the credit was hers, it had to be handed over to Noelle, simply because Noelle was the apple of everyone’s eye! It was like this five years ago; was it going to be the same five years later?

Realizing she had misunderstood something, Nathaniel’s voice grew tense. "If you know Noelle’s fans are nothing but trouble, why didn’t you run when you saw them? Did you think you were invincible? That you could take on over a dozen people without getting hurt?"

Estelle’s mind was a mess. Hearing his icy, indifferent tone, her temper flared. "Mind your own business!"

Nathaniel laughed out of sheer exasperation. With a temper like that, was she as stubborn as a mule? He had saved her, only to be met with a barrage of complaints. He really must have had too much time on his hands!

But meeting Estelle’s red, slightly aggrieved eyes, Nathaniel’s voice grew hoarse. "Mind my own business? Miss Lockwood, you are my business partner. If I don’t look out for you, who will?"

Hearing the words "business partner," Estelle subconsciously looked up. "The collaboration was canceled. I’ve already moved out of Evernight."

Nathaniel frowned sharply. "Who said it was canceled? You are a perfumer hired by Evernight with a high salary. Evernight International hasn’t even proven your innocence yet, so who told you the collaboration was off?"

Estelle trembled all over, looking at Nathaniel in disbelief. What had he just said? Did he mean what she thought he meant?

"Yara." Nathaniel set her down from his embrace. "I believe you."

Estelle’s pupils contracted sharply. It felt as though a large hand was squeezing her heart, a bitter ache filling her chest.

They had been married for two years and separated for five, yet this was the very first time she had heard those three words from Nathaniel’s lips. The words "I believe you" echoed in her mind. Nathaniel actually believed she hadn’t plagiarized.

Yet for some reason, Estelle felt no joy. Instead, she couldn’t help but feel a sour ache. She wondered why this "I believe you" had come so late. Why hadn’t he said it five years ago? Why hadn’t he said it when she needed someone to believe her the most?

What did it matter if he said it now? Did she even need his trust anymore? Or was Nathaniel just doing what he did in the past—pacifying her first, only to demand she admit to the plagiarism so she wouldn’t cause trouble for Noelle?

Estelle couldn’t calm down in the slightest. It was as if she wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered, both five years ago and now, all at once.

"I have a clear conscience. I have nothing to hide, and the ones who should feel guilty are those who wronged me! So, whether you believe me or not, I won’t let Noelle or the Lockwood family off the hook. If you still want to protect them and force me to confess to something I didn’t do, let me tell you right now—no way!"

With that, she turned and walked away. Nathaniel didn’t retract his gaze until her figure completely vanished from sight.

He instructed Luke in a deep voice, "Go pull the security footage from the Perfume Department. Prepare a press conference, and have the legal department on standby."

Luke nodded. "Yes, sir. But about the legal department..."

Nathaniel spoke coldly, "Yara didn’t plagiarize. The plagiarist is someone else."

Luke froze. The two perfumes were completely identical; the plagiarist was either Yara or Noelle. When his boss said "someone else," could he possibly be referring to... Noelle?

He was going to sue Noelle Lockwood!