Chapter 81: Her Heart Is Beating Very Fast

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Her Heart Is Beating Very Fast

Noelle took a terrified step back.

Everyone was forcing her to apologize. Why? Wasn’t she the golden girl? So what if she had plagiarized? Yara should consider it an honor!

No... she couldn’t apologize now, or everything she had worked for would be ruined! Absolutely not!

Noelle’s eyes darted around. Suddenly, she spun around and slapped her manager hard across the face.

"How could you frame me? To think I trusted you so much! You clearly told me that the perfume belonged to a friend of yours, and you hoped I could release it under my name.

"I agreed because you’ve been with me for so many years. I never imagined you stole it from Miss Yara! How... how am I supposed to face anyone now?"

Tears streamed down Noelle’s face. Crying uncontrollably, she shook her head desperately. "I’m so sorry, Miss Yara. I’m so sorry. I really didn’t know my manager would do something like this. I really didn’t..."

She bowed deeply to the camera. "I also never expected my fans to mob Miss Yara in a fit of emotion. I will guide my fans better in the future. This is all my fault..."

Her manager was dumbfounded. "Noelle, you..."

"I knew it was you, you damn manager! You framed Noelle!" Rose charged forward like a madwoman, punching and kicking the manager. "It’s all because of you that my daughter is being forced to apologize! It’s all you!"

The manager wanted to speak up, but remembering that her family members still worked at the Lockwood Group, she swallowed her words, trembling.

"I... I had a momentary lapse in judgment. Miss Yara, please don’t blame Noelle. It’s all my fault. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me..."

Noelle finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Estelle couldn’t help but sneer. It was always like this. No matter what Noelle did, there would always be a scapegoat. In the past, the scapegoat had been her, the true daughter. Now, it was the manager.

A mocking expression surfaced on her face. "What does Mr. Sloan think?"

Rose immediately turned around, saying fawningly, "Nathaniel, look, Noelle just wanted to help out of the goodness of her heart. This really has nothing to do with her! She has already apologized. She’s innocent! Why don’t we just let this matter..."

"Whatever the manager said, she believed. Even if the manager gave her the perfume, Noelle released it as her own work without doing any investigation. Now that such a massive scandal has erupted, you’re telling me she’s innocent, Ms. Lowell?" Nathaniel interrupted coldly.

The venue fell silent once more.

Noelle was in disbelief. She had clearly just cleared her name. What was Nathaniel trying to do? Was he trying to force her to her death?

Nathaniel looked coldly at the members of the Lockwood family.

"Because of Noelle’s claim that ’Yara plagiarized,’ her fans smashed Yara’s car and mobbed the Star building, causing tens of millions in property damage. Furthermore, due to the Lockwood Group’s smear campaign twisting the truth, Star Group’s perfumes were mass-returned and their reputation tanked, resulting in a loss of nearly fifty million.

"Do you really think all of this can be offset by a single sentence claiming that ’Noelle is innocent,’ Ms. Lowell?"

Rose’s face paled. "N-Nathaniel, what do you mean by this..."

Nathaniel’s gaze was frosty as he shot her a sidelong glance. "Compensate, apologize, and make up for all the losses suffered by Star and Yara. After that, we can talk about whether you’re innocent or not."

Luke White immediately stepped forward with a lawyer. "President Lockwood, Mrs. Lockwood, Miss Noelle, the public outcry this time was entirely caused by the Lockwood Group.

"Therefore, you are required to fully compensate Miss Yara and Star Group for emotional distress, property damage, lost wages, public relations expenses, and a series of other costs. The total comes to two hundred and fifteen million. This is the itemized bill. Please review it and sign."

Rose looked as if she had been struck by lightning, freezing in place.

How... how did they suddenly have to pay over two hundred million in compensation?

Henry hadn’t expected this either. He looked at Nathaniel in shock, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

Hadn’t Mr. Ex-Husband always been fiercely protective of this fake daughter, his precious first love? Why was he exposing her today, forcing her to apologize, and now handing her a compensation bill worth over two hundred million?

How was this showing any care for Noelle?

But that wasn’t all. Nathaniel spoke again, his tone impassive.

"As a member of the Evernight Group’s fragrance department, Noelle has caused immense losses to the company. I hereby announce that you are fired.

"From now on, without an appointment, Noelle is not allowed to set foot on Evernight Group premises."

The venue fell silent once more as the crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

Rumor had it that Noelle was Nathaniel’s fiancée. Yet now, Nathaniel had fired her and wouldn’t even let her through the company doors.

Estelle instinctively looked up, her gaze colliding directly with the man’s. She reflexively looked away.

Her heart was beating fast.

Nathaniel had defended her and helped her vent her anger. However, she hadn’t forgotten how, five years ago, he had forced her to apologize, coldly stating that she had brought everything upon herself.

The memory of that feeling was so suffocating she could barely breathe...

On the Lockwood family’s side, all three of them were reeling in shock.

Rose reflexively shrieked, "Fired?! How... how can you do that! Nathaniel, didn’t we just explain everything clearly? It’s all the manager’s fault! It has nothing to do with Noelle!

"She... she’ll be an asset to you if she stays at Evernight! She’s been making perfumes since seven years ago and has so many famous works to her name. Are you really going to be this ruthless over a single mistake?"

Noelle bit her lower lip. "Nathaniel, are you really going to fire me? You know my level of perfumery... Your headaches were even suppressed by the scents I crafted for you."

The crowd nodded. Noelle did have genuine talent.

Estelle’s eyes darkened. How ridiculous. Even now, Noelle was still taking credit for her work!

But she had no proof. And even if she did, the Nathaniel from back then wouldn’t have believed her anyway.

Estelle didn’t want to listen anymore. She turned to leave.

"Yara..." Henry couldn’t bear it. He knew that while they could expose Noelle for plagiarizing Yara, they couldn’t expose her for plagiarizing Estelle. All the evidence had been destroyed five years ago.

But right at that moment, everyone present heard Nathaniel’s cold interrogation.

"Noelle, was that aromatherapy scent back then really made by your hands?"

Estelle whipped her head around, her eyes widening.

Noelle’s entire body shuddered as panic surged through her like a tidal wave, making her tremble uncontrollably. "Nathaniel, what do you mean? Of course it was me... otherwise, who else could it be?

"Back then, I poured my heart and soul into developing that aromatherapy scent for your headaches, only for it to be snatched away by my sister... Nathaniel, do you actually think that scent belonged to her?"

"I do," the man said decisively.

Nathaniel’s single sentence plunged the venue into absolute silence. Even the livestream chat went dead.

It was only after a long while that someone quietly posted a comment.

[What does that mean... Was Noelle plagiarizing five years ago too? Is the true daughter the actual original creator?]