Chapter 87: Teaming Up to Get Even for Estelle Lockwood

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Teaming Up to Get Even for Estelle Lockwood

Nathaniel Sloan raised an eyebrow.

Laura Jennings’s eyes widened sharply, her fingers trembling. "You... you have no shame! Let go of my son!"

Noelle Lockwood’s eyes grew red, making her look like a long-suffering, legitimate wife. "Nathaniel, you and Miss Yara... Mrs. Sloan, please don’t be angry. There might be some misunderstanding..."

Unable to stand seeing Noelle compromise herself like this, Laura roared, "Yara Lockwood, don’t push your luck! How could my son possibly be having a meal with you!"

Estelle Lockwood brushed a strand of hair back. "If Ms. Jennings doesn’t believe me, why not ask Mr. Sloan? What do you say, Mr. Sloan?"

Nathaniel calmly looked away, his expression indifferent. "Yara is my guest."

Laura was clearly shocked by these words. She couldn’t believe her son would dine with this shameless tramp. Turning to look at Noelle, she found the younger woman crying silently. A surge of resentment immediately rose in Laura’s heart.

"How could a seductress like her be worthy! Nathaniel, don’t let this disreputable homewrecker turn your head. Noelle is the right match for you..."

"As the matriarch of the Sloan Group, you shouldn’t throw such words around," Nathaniel interrupted coldly.

Reprimanded by her own son, Laura instantly felt humiliated and grew even more defiant. "Why... why should she..."

"Grandma, you’ll have to ask Aunt Noelle about that!"

Right then, a child’s voice piped up.

The adults turned around to see "Christian" standing to the side. The disdain in his eyes was practically overflowing.

Zachery and Christian had swapped outfits, and Zachery had immediately run over.

Laura was clearly taken aback. "Christian, you’re here too? Nathaniel, aren’t you afraid this harlot will be a bad influence on him?"

Zachery let out a cold little chuckle. "Grandma, you’re wrongly blaming Daddy. He didn’t invite Miss Yara to dinner today for his own sake, but for the company."

"Nonsense!" Laura rebuked sharply. "She’s just a woman, what does she have to do with the company..."

"Because Aunt Noelle plagiarized, Star was extremely dissatisfied with Daddy, and the partnership nearly fell through," Zachery said faintly. "The initial investment for this partnership was too massive. If it falls apart now, everything will be irretrievable. That’s why Daddy specifically chose today to apologize to Miss Yara."

Estelle blinked and instinctively looked over. She wondered what Christian was talking about. However, she quickly realized that the little boy was just standing up for her.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, gave him a long look, somewhat surprised.

Before Laura could speak, Zachery continued, his gaze landing on Noelle, intentionally or not. His voice was loud enough for every other guest in the restaurant to hear clearly. "I heard that everyone in the company has been working tirelessly over this incident. I couldn’t bear to see Daddy so exhausted, so I came along to put in a good word with Miss Yara and save the partnership.

"Daddy has to clean up the mess that the Lockwood Group caused. As one of the main culprits, Aunt Noelle isn’t thinking about how to apologize, but instead has the mood to go shopping with Grandma.

"If it were me who caused such a huge problem, I would have found a way to make up for the losses a long time ago. I don’t know how Aunt Noelle can still eat, drink, and have fun with a clear conscience."

When Zachery finished speaking, the restaurant fell into a dead silence.

After a long while, someone whispered, "So Mr. Sloan reserved the Heaven Number One private room just to apologize to Miss Yara..."

"That makes sense. Even though Star isn’t very well-known domestically, they carry a lot of prestige internationally. In the end, this perfume plagiarism incident happened because Evernight International didn’t guard against Noelle Lockwood, allowing her to steal the formula. It’s totally understandable that Miss Yara doesn’t want to collaborate anymore."

"It’s more than reasonable for Mr. Sloan to treat Miss Yara to a meal to save the partnership..."

"But looking at Noelle’s attitude toward Miss Yara just now, she didn’t intend to apologize at all. She even deliberately misled everyone. What are her true intentions?"

"And what about Laura Jennings? Does she even remember she’s Mr. Sloan’s mother? Her own son was sabotaged by Noelle, yet she’s helping Noelle and insisting on obstructing this partnership. You’d think Noelle was her biological daughter!"

Laura’s face flushed a deep crimson. "I am not! Nathaniel, don’t listen to their nonsense!"

"Nathaniel, it’s not like that." Noelle suddenly took a step forward, her eyes brimming with tears as she shook her head helplessly. "The reason I stopped Miss Yara just now was because I wanted to apologize to her. Mrs. Sloan was just a little emotional, but she doesn’t have any bad intentions."

After she finished, she turned to Estelle, feigning absolute sincerity. "I know the Lockwood Group is at fault this time. Since we happened to run into each other today, Miss Yara, I hope you can give me a chance to properly apologize."

Estelle narrowed her eyes as if she had just heard a joke. "Apologize?"

Noelle hid the venomous glint in her eyes, acting like a fragile, innocent victim. "Miss Yara, I truly don’t know how to make it up to you. You can treat me as a servant. Only then will I feel a little better..."

Her words made the onlookers exchange bewildered glances, but Laura was incredibly moved. She thought about how kind Noelle was. It wasn’t even her fault, yet she was still trying to make amends! Conversely, that Yara had merely been slandered a little. She hadn’t suffered any actual losses, yet she insisted on being so aggressive!

Estelle curled her lips into a smirk, musing over the idea of treating her as a servant. Speaking of being treated as a servant, she was reminded of a certain incident.

Not long after she had first returned to the Lockwood Family, Noelle had insisted on taking her to a socialite gathering. Then, at the party, Noelle had pulled her forward and introduced her to everyone as her family’s servant.

At the time, Estelle had clarified that she was Noelle’s older sister. However, Noelle had just let out a helpless laugh and said, "I’m sorry. This servant of ours is always fantasizing about being a wealthy heiress. I apologize for making a fool of ourselves."

After that, Noelle had looked at her and ordered, "Aren’t you going to come over here and peel my crab?"

The entire group of wealthy heiresses had burst into laughter.

Estelle later told Rose Lowell about the incident, but Rose had only reprimanded her, telling her that she was so vulgar that attending the banquet would only embarrass the Lockwood Family. Rose insisted that Noelle had only called her a servant to save face for the family. Since everything Noelle did was for the sake of the Lockwood Family, she demanded to know why Estelle couldn’t just endure it.

Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Estelle suddenly smiled. "President Sloan, since this is an apology dinner for me, you wouldn’t mind if I invited a few friends over, would you?"

Nathaniel raised a brow slightly. He had no idea what Estelle was planning, but he agreed anyway. "You may."

Estelle nodded, dialed a number, and then instructed the staff, "Serve a few more king crabs."

Not long after, Henry Kendrick arrived at the restaurant, bringing along quite a few wealthy heiresses and young masters.

Noelle’s face turned faintly pale, a bad premonition settling in her gut.

The Heaven Number One private room couldn’t accommodate that many people, so Estelle had everyone take seats in the main dining hall. With the three children seated beside Estelle and Nathaniel, a highly bizarre dinner commenced.

Putting on a pitiful and delicate act, Noelle walked over to Nathaniel and was about to sit down next to him when she suddenly heard Estelle’s cold, clear voice.

"Miss Lockwood, did I give you permission to sit?"