Chapter 89: Help Me Do a Paternity Test

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Help Me Do a Paternity Test

A dead silence fell over the room.

Everyone was shocked by Estelle’s words, subconsciously turning their gaze toward Noelle.

Noelle’s expression contorted horribly, her gentle smile barely holding together.

"N-no, that’s not true. Miss Yara, I know you hate me, but there’s no need to make up such lies to frame me...

"Nathaniel, you know I’ve always felt guilty toward my sister. How could I ever torment her like that?"

Laura Jennings snapped back to her senses and immediately muttered, "Exactly! Noelle is kind-hearted and a good girl. How could she do such a thing? Besides, Estelle was vulgar to begin with. Making her a servant was letting her off easy..."

BANG!

Nathaniel slammed his teacup onto the table, his eyes sharp and chilling.

"Mother, say one more word, and I won’t mind revoking your status!"

Laura’s eyes widened. A lump formed in her throat, and she awkwardly shut her mouth. In her heart, however, she couldn’t help but curse, "First Estelle, now Yara. For the sake of these two vixens, Nathaniel doesn’t even care about his own mother! Only Noelle is truly devoted!"

Nathaniel looked at Noelle, his sharp, scrutinizing gaze making her shiver. "Nathaniel, I really didn’t..."

"Yara, do you have proof?" Nathaniel suddenly asked.

Estelle paused.

Everyone looked over as well. Noelle’s eyes lit up, and a fragile, innocent expression quickly surfaced on her face.

The three little ones were furious, especially Zachery, whose face flushed red with anger. He wasn’t stupid. His scumbag dad asking his mommy for proof right now clearly meant he didn’t believe her story. He would only believe it if he saw the evidence! But Noelle’s mistreatment of his mommy back then was real. Besides, it had been almost six years; where were they supposed to find proof? When all was said and done, he was still protecting Noelle!

Estelle had clearly realized this as well. Her gaze turned cold. She really had underestimated Noelle’s weight in Nathaniel’s heart.

"Proof?"

Nathaniel’s eyes were calm and unrippled, yet he stared at her like a deep, fathomless pool. His voice was hoarse. "...Yes. Do you have proof?"

Proof meant either security footage or... Estelle herself stepping forward to testify. As long as Estelle herself was here, he would believe whatever she said.

Estelle let out a scoff and said coolly, "I have no proof. Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you, Mr. Sloan."

"So you don’t have any!" Laura was the first to cry out. "Ha! After all that talk, you don’t even have a shred of evidence. You just wanted to falsely accuse someone out of thin air!"

Noelle also couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. "Miss Yara, since you can’t produce any proof, you should speak less of such things in the future. As an outsider, you don’t know the full story of our relationship with my sister, so please refrain from commenting on it."

Estelle felt an icy chill in her stomach. The mango milk tea she had just drank felt overly sweet, making her nauseous. She couldn’t help but mock, "You don’t believe what I say, Mr. Sloan? You absolutely must see proof before you’ll believe it?"

Nathaniel refused to yield an inch. Yara had already leaked the fact that she was Estelle in so many ways, yet she stopped just short of the final step. Why?

"Aside from physical evidence, if my wife herself told me this, I would also believe it."

Estelle smiled in sudden realization and raised a mocking eyebrow. Forget it. At the end of the day, he was just certain she couldn’t produce any evidence and thus couldn’t condemn Noelle. He claimed he needed proof to believe anything... Yet back when Noelle accused her of pushing her down the stairs, there had been no proof whatsoever. Nathaniel had still believed Noelle’s words, leaving her to go to her prenatal checkups alone while he busied himself taking care of Noelle. When she accused Noelle, she needed proof. But when Noelle spread rumors and framed her, Nathaniel believed it without even asking.

And to think she had actually felt a fleeting moment of affection for him while they were watching the movie just now...

The air grew increasingly oppressive, and a wave of disgust washed over her.

Estelle stood up abruptly. She couldn’t stand being here for another second!

"Miss Lockwood can refuse to admit it, and Mr. Sloan can refuse to believe it. However, it just so happens that the restaurant where that gathering was held is now under my name. Restoring the security footage from five years ago won’t be difficult at all."

Noelle’s face turned deathly pale.

The three little ones exchanged glances. Zachery shot the other two a look. After a moment of hesitation, Christian followed along with Mia.

Laura was furious enough to faint. "What is the meaning of this? She frames Noelle and then just walks away?"

Biting her lower lip, Noelle shook her head weakly. "Mrs. Sloan, you don’t need to get angry on my behalf..."

Nathaniel watched Estelle walk away. Upon hearing this, he was just about to speak when he saw ’Christian’ let out a sarcastic sneer.

Zachery pinched his throat to alter his voice. "Grandma, wasn’t Aunt Noelle the one in a rush to see proof? Aunt Yara went back to get the evidence. What are you so anxious about?"

Laura subconsciously raised her voice. "What evidence? It’s completely fabricated..."

"Right, right, right. Stealing the true heiress’s identity is fabricated, stealing her room is fabricated, and stealing her engagement is fabricated. So treating the true heiress like a servant must definitely be fa-bri-ca-ted too!

"Who is Aunt Noelle, after all? She’s the most pure, innocent little angel there is!"

For a moment, Laura was completely choked up by ’Christian’s’ sarcastic remarks.

Before she could retort, Zachery set down his chopsticks. "Daddy, I’m full."

With that, he immediately slipped away, disappearing from sight in less than half a minute. As he ran off, however, he failed to notice Noelle’s hand subtly brushing over the top of his head.

Laura was livid. She slammed her chopsticks down. "I’m not eating! Every single one of them is like this. I’m full from all this anger!"

Nathaniel stood up calmly. "Since you aren’t eating, I’ll have someone take you back to Sloan Manor."

Laura was displeased. "That’s it? You’re just letting that Yara walk away? She should at least apologize to Noelle!"

Nathaniel’s eyes were calm, but his gaze sliced over Noelle like a knife. "Once the security footage is found, it won’t be too late to talk about apologies."

"You..." Laura wanted to chase after him, but Nathaniel had already left without a shred of hesitation.

They were surrounded by people. Some believed what Yara had just said, while others did not, but regardless, Noelle couldn’t escape the pointing fingers and whispers of the crowd.

Laura was truly infuriated. "First Nathaniel, then Christian. One by one, they’ve all been bewitched by that Yara!"

Noelle wept helplessly. "I don’t know what Miss Yara said to Christian. Ever since she arrived, he’s grown more and more disgusted with me as his mother. I really don’t know what to do..."

Laura concealed the disgust knitting her brows. She had never liked Christian Sloan. She had no idea why Nathaniel valued this son so much. If he wanted a son, wouldn’t it be fine to just have one with Noelle? Why did he insist on raising the one left behind by that woman...

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Laura, and a possibility crossed her mind. "What if this little bastard isn’t even Nathaniel’s biological child!"

As long as Christian wasn’t Nathaniel’s son, he could be kicked out. Correspondingly, Yara would have no reason to stay at Imperial Crest either!

Then, Laura noticed a few strands of hair clinging to Noelle’s sleeve. "Is that Christian’s hair?"

A flicker of emotion passed through Noelle’s eyes. "Ah, it must have accidentally gotten on me just now."

Laura rolled her eyes thoughtfully, plucked the hairs off, and made a phone call to the hospital. "Hello? I need you to run a paternity test for me."

Meanwhile, Zachery caught up with Estelle and whispered his complaints to Mia. "I don’t know what got into that bad woman just now. She plucked two of my hairs. She’s crazy!"