Chapter 94: Blacklisting Noelle Lockwood

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Blacklisting Noelle Lockwood

Estelle’s breath caught in her throat. She abruptly lowered her head, trying to bypass Nathaniel Sloan and get into the car. "Not interested."

Nathaniel’s eyes darkened as he blocked the car door. "The wife he was referring to is named Estelle Lockwood."

Estelle’s back instantly stiffened. She wanted to evade him, but Nathaniel gave her no chance. He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him, and enunciated every word, "I acquired the Lockwood Group for her, not for Noelle Lockwood."

Estelle’s heart pounded like a drum. Acquiring the Lockwood Group... The wife in Liam Sloan’s "beautiful love story"... Was it her? How was that possible! She had seen Nathaniel’s blatant favoritism toward Noelle with her own eyes back then. And now he was saying the one he loved was her?

Estelle took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "Mr. Sloan, your acting is quite convincing. If I didn’t know your true nature, I almost would have believed you."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "My true nature?"

Estelle turned her head away. "You act as if you love your wife so much, yet you couldn’t care less that Noelle treated her like a servant."

Nathaniel detected a hint of grievance in her voice. Perhaps even Estelle herself hadn’t realized that this wasn’t the right time to bring the matter up. Mentioning it now made it seem as though she were genuinely jealous, angry, and feeling wronged over it. But her current identity was "Yara Lockwood." Why would Yara empathize so deeply with what Estelle had gone through? Unless they were the exact same person.

Nathaniel stared at her intently. Back then, he had indeed received a video call from Estelle. During the call, she told him how happy she was at the banquet that day, without mentioning a single word about being treated like a servant. However, after all these years, bringing it up again wouldn’t change anything. Perhaps at the time, Estelle had just wanted to share the good news and hide the bad.

Nathaniel withdrew his gaze. "Has Miss Lockwood been too busy to check Weibo?"

Estelle was utterly bewildered. She didn’t like browsing Weibo to begin with, at most only skimming the news. What did he mean? But very soon, she found out exactly what he meant.

Noelle was trending again. In the past, with both the Lockwood Group and the Sloan family backing her, Noelle had been the undisputed wealthy heiress in the entertainment circle. No one dared to offend her, and her trending topics were always positive. But today...

Realizing she had lost her composure, Estelle pursed her lips. Taking advantage of Nathaniel’s distraction, she quickly slipped into the car. "Whether she makes a fool of herself or not has nothing to do with me. You don’t need to put on a show just for my benefit."

With that, she drove off without looking back.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

Liam Sloan let out a sharp GASP from where he was hiding a short distance away. "My aunt said Nathaniel’s wife has a gentle temper and a shy personality. Even when she’s furious, she would only lower her head obediently. Miss Yara dares to talk back to Nathaniel like that. Could she really be her?"

Zane Grant nodded in agreement. "Right! I feel like they’re completely not..."

"I know!" Liam’s eyes lit up. "Nathaniel must have gone too far five years ago. His wife learned her lesson, tore off her gentle disguise, and has now forced him to grovel to win her back!"

Zane was left speechless.

Liam hurriedly ran over to Nathaniel. "Nathaniel, let me give you some ideas! You’re struggling so hard to win your wife back. Just watch and learn from me!"

Zane remained speechless, thinking that Liam was truly unreliable.

Meanwhile, after Estelle had driven a fair distance away, she clicked into the trending topic "Noelle Lockwood blacklisted by Pinecrest Hotel" on Weibo and read it with great interest.

A few minutes prior, Noelle had arranged to meet up with a few of her socialite friends at the Pinecrest Hotel.

The Pinecrest Hotel was one of the largest hotels in Crestfall. A single meal there cost an astronomical amount, but since the hotel was under Evernight International, Noelle held a permanent membership. Surrounded by a group of celebrities treating her like royalty, she entered the hotel and immediately demanded their most expensive suite.

However, the general manager looked troubled. "I apologize, Miss Noelle. The presidential suite is temporarily unavailable to you."

Noelle’s smile froze. The minor celebrities around her immediately stepped forward. "What do you mean? Noelle is your premium member!"

"Exactly! This hotel is under Evernight, isn’t it? Do you even know who Noelle is?"

Noelle waited until her friends finished their flattery before feigning helplessness. "Manager, is there some mistake? Every premium member has a designated presidential suite. Please go check again."

Some people nearby had already recognized Noelle. Hearing that she was a premium member, they all revealed expressions of envy. However, this envy didn’t even last a second before the manager shook his head. The look he gave Noelle carried a hint of ambiguity.

"Miss Noelle Lockwood, there is no mistake. There is indeed no designated suite for you."

Noelle knitted her brows. Before she could speak, the general manager continued, "Or perhaps you need me to make it clearer? Mr. Sloan has revoked all of your special privileges at the Pinecrest Hotel and placed you on the blacklist."

The entire lobby descended into dead silence.

Noelle’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, unable to maintain her composure any longer. "What did you say?!"

Nathaniel revoked her premium membership? How could that be! Back then, Nathaniel had said that because she was Estelle’s sister, she would always have premium membership. On what grounds was it revoked!

The manager was already growing impatient. "Miss Noelle Lockwood, is there anything else? If not, I have other work to attend to. Please excuse me."

With that, the manager actually just walked away, no longer treating her like an esteemed VIP as he used to. How could Noelle accept such a drastic plunge in status?!

"She’s been blacklisted, so what is she pretending for? Calling everyone over and wasting our time..." someone complained.

A few minor celebrities immediately took three steps away from her. "Noelle, you should have just told us if you weren’t a member anymore. You insisted on playing the big shot, and now you’ve embarrassed us all..."

Noelle gritted her teeth in fury. In the past, these minor celebrities would fall over themselves trying to suck up to her, but now they actually dared to mock her! Why would Nathaniel do this? Why!

Very soon, the incident was trending online.

Estelle logged into her burner account, liked every single post cursing Noelle out, and put her phone away in complete satisfaction. That’s right, she was just that petty! Whenever someone insulted Noelle, it brought her immense joy.

Meanwhile, Luke White reported respectfully, "Mr. Sloan, that Weibo burner account you are following has liked these posts."

Nathaniel glanced over and immediately chuckled. She held such a grudge? The Estelle of the past had been gentle and mild. Even when facing the Lockwoods’ verbal abuse, she had habitually greeted them with a smile. The current Estelle...

Nathaniel didn’t think he had mistaken her identity. So, had these five years changed her, or was this simply her true personality all along? He rubbed his phone thoughtfully, opened WeChat, found a profile picture, and sent a message: [You’ve liked the posts. Are you feeling happier now?]

Estelle’s eyelid twitched upon receiving the WeChat message. She thought, "Wait, how does Nathaniel know that I liked every Weibo post? Does he know about my burner account? Impossible!"

Still, feeling a pang of guilt, Estelle promptly blocked Nathaniel’s number.

Nathaniel waited for ages without a reply. He sent another message, only to receive a glaring red exclamation mark indicating he had been blocked.

The man’s eyes grew cold as he turned to ask Liam, "Is this what you meant by a way to coax her?"