The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Based on My Brother’s Stamina, Today, They... Hehe...

"Nathaniel Sloan!"

Estelle Lockwood instantly realized she had been tricked.

The man hummed leisurely. "Yes?"

Estelle Lockwood gritted her teeth. It took her a long moment to force out the words, "...You did that on purpose!"

Nathaniel Sloan didn’t deny it. He swept her up into his arms, placed her on the sofa, and found a blanket to cover her. A smirk played on his lips. "On purpose? Miss Lockwood was the one who told me to put her down. Why are you making a false counter-accusation now?"

Estelle Lockwood turned her head away, refusing to look at him as a storm of emotions churned within her.

Nathaniel Sloan closed in on her, step by step. "Miss Lockwood, aren’t you going to thank me?"

Words caught in Estelle Lockwood’s throat again.

Nathaniel Sloan said slowly, "It was an emergency. Thankfully, I reacted quickly. I didn’t even hold it against you for tricking me, and I helped shield you from everyone’s sight. So, Miss Lockwood... shouldn’t you thank me?"

Estelle Lockwood wasn’t an idiot. He had deliberately emphasized ’you tricking me,’ which was just his way of telling her he was still holding it against her.

Estelle Lockwood smoothed her hair, forcing herself to speak. "I should thank you. But even without Mr. Sloan, I’m sure Mr. Kingston wouldn’t have let me end up in such a situation."

Nathaniel Sloan’s expression turned cold in an instant. "Is that so?"

The smile in his eyes remained, but it didn’t reach their depths. Instead, it was overlaid with a dangerous aura.

"It seems I’ve ruined Miss Lockwood’s fun. In that case, the fault is mine."

Estelle Lockwood ignored the passive-aggressive tone of his words and stood up to get her phone.

She wanted to ask Iris Sloan if she had any suitable clothes, but Nathaniel Sloan grabbed her wrist. "Who are you calling?"

Estelle Lockwood looked up at him, a wave of irritation rising within her. ’Five years ago, he couldn’t have cared less about me. Five years later, we’re strangers. What right does he have to control me?’

So, she deliberately retorted, "If you know you’ve ruined my fun, why haven’t you let go?"

Nathaniel Sloan narrowed his eyes. "You’re looking for Jasper Kingston?"

Estelle Lockwood knew he had misunderstood. She raised an eyebrow. "So what if I am?"

"Heh."

With a cold sneer, the man seemed to laugh in anger. His tall frame suddenly leaned down, enveloping her completely in his embrace.

Before Estelle Lockwood could react, Nathaniel Sloan suddenly reached out and hooked a finger under the strap of her dress.

Panic seized Estelle Lockwood’s heart. "Nathaniel Sloan, what are you doing...?"

"Yara Lockwood, you reject me time and time again, yet you’re always thinking about Jasper Kingston?"

Nathaniel Sloan was unhurried, slowly and deliberately winding the thin strap around his finger, bit by bit.

His action forced her to tilt her head back, making it seem as if she was melting into his embrace.

Her heart pounded like a drum. The intimate gesture made her feel as if she were back five years ago. She desperately wanted to get away. "Nathaniel Sloan, let me go... Ah!"

The man yanked the strap, and the fragile, thin cord snapped instantly.

What neither of them knew was that Liam Sloan was eavesdropping outside.

Liam Sloan was beet red. ’Is this really something a pure, innocent virgin like me should be listening to? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Big brother, you really know how to make things difficult. The banquet is still going on outside, and so many people are waiting for you and sister-in-law to come out, but here you are in the lounge... Tsk, tsk, tsk, hehehe...’

Estelle Lockwood had no idea Liam Sloan had been there, nor did she know what kind of misunderstanding they had caused him.

She was so ashamed and angry she could have died. "Nathaniel Sloan, what are you doing?!"

The thin strap lay in the man’s palm. He chuckled lightly. "I’m laughing at how foolish you are. You were set up, yet you’re blaming me."

Estelle Lockwood froze. Before she could speak, Nathaniel Sloan tossed the strap back into her hand.

"This dress is the latest model from the ZE brand. When it was designed, the creator was worried the straps were too thin to support the weight of the skirt, so they used an exceptionally strong material. Plenty of socialites have worn this dress, and none of them have had any problems."

"But the moment Miss Lockwood wears it, the strap breaks? If there was no one around to cover for you, a wardrobe malfunction would be the least of your worries. A luxury brand like ZE would never have this kind of quality control issue."

If they did, ZE might as well stop being a luxury brand. The people who buy ZE gowns are all wealthy and influential. If the brand caused its clients to suffer wardrobe malfunctions, it would never survive in high society.

So, a situation like this is impossible.

So why did Yara Lockwood’s dress suddenly break? freewebnoveℓ.com

There’s only one possibility—

Nathaniel Sloan narrowed his eyes. "Your dress was tampered with, Miss Lockwood. Think carefully. Who has touched this dress?"

Estelle Lockwood’s expression darkened as well, because Nathaniel Sloan was right.

ZE wouldn’t make this kind of mistake. That means the dress must have been tampered with after she bought it.

She had asked her assistant to buy the dress. This assistant had been with the Kendrick Family for ten years, had always lived abroad, and was a stranger in Crestfall. There was basically no chance she would betray her.

Estelle Lockwood frowned and dialed her assistant’s number. "Tina, has anyone been in my studio these past few days?"

After the dress was purchased, she had left it in the private lounge of her studio. If someone were to tamper with it, that would have been the only opportunity.

When Nathaniel Sloan said there was a problem with the dress, the first person Estelle Lockwood thought of was Noelle Lockwood, but Noelle shouldn’t have had the time to do anything.

The assistant thought for a moment. "No, Yara. Only you have gone into the studio. Did something happen? I’ll go check the security footage."

A few minutes later, the assistant said, "I fast-forwarded through it. It’s true, no one went in besides you. Yara, it looks like you went to the studio three times..."

Estelle Lockwood’s gaze sharpened abruptly.

After hanging up, she asked her assistant for the security footage. ’No, I only went twice.’

These days, her office was at Evernight International, so she rarely returned to her own studio. She remembered very clearly that she had only gone back twice.

But on the footage, there was indeed a woman with a figure almost identical to hers entering the studio.

Nathaniel Sloan hadn’t overheard the content of her call, but he sensed something was wrong. "What is it?"

Estelle Lockwood shook her head instinctively. "It’s nothing."

Nathaniel Sloan’s lips tightened into a thin line.

’It’s nothing...’ freeweɓnøvel.com

Was that all she could say to him now? ’She wanted her first dance with Jasper Kingston. When trouble struck, she also thought of finding Jasper Kingston.’

When he was a living, breathing person standing right in front of her—

"Hey, don’t, don’t go in! This lounge is occupied! My brother is in there!"

Suddenly, a man’s voice came from the doorway, breaking the silence in the lounge.

Liam Sloan stood like a guard dog of love, blocking the lounge entrance with a bashful look on his face. "My brother is... unavailable right now. He might, he might need a long time. Hehe, you should find another lounge. Oh, right, tell our aunt later that my brother probably won’t be making an appearance tonight. Let me think, based on my brother’s stamina..."

The people he blocked: "...?" ’Why the hell are you blushing?’

Inside the lounge, Nathaniel Sloan and Estelle Lockwood: "..."

Realizing what Liam Sloan had misunderstood, Estelle Lockwood threw on the clothes a waitress had delivered earlier, shot to her feet, and flung the door open. "Young Mr. Sloan!"

Liam Sloan, who was in the middle of his spiel, suddenly stumbled. "Huh? Huh?"

As if in disbelief, his gaze went blank, and he didn’t even seem to process it. "Weren’t you two... huh? You’re finished already?"