Free Web NovelChapter 114: Chapter 114: Estelle Lockwood Is Different from Her Childhood Self?
Naturally, Mr. Morgan had also heard of the famous Nathaniel Sloan.
He had also heard about Nathaniel Sloan and Noelle Lockwood being ’fiancés’.
He frowned, a little displeased. He was the type of person to judge each matter on its own merits, siding with reason over personal ties. It was obvious that Noelle Lockwood had started the trouble today, but if Nathaniel Sloan...
"Does Mr. Sloan want to help?" Estelle Lockwood smoothed back her hair, a smirk playing on her lips. "If Mr. Sloan were to ask me nicely, I could let Noelle Lockwood off from her apology."
Hiss... The onlookers were shocked. Yara Lockwood was far too bold! fгeewebnovёl.com
Seeing Estelle Lockwood’s attitude, Laura Jennings fumed. But in her mind, Yara Lockwood was just a parentless nobody with no backing, someone she could easily crush. Even with the Kendrick family, would they really offend her, the matriarch of the great Sloan family, for a mere adopted daughter?
And so, her confidence returned. "Don’t flatter yourself. Let me tell you..."
"The *Purple Sun Mountain Residence Painting* was bought by a wealthy tycoon several years ago for 195.1 million, while the one for sale at the Jade Pavilion was priced at thirty million."
Nathaniel Sloan spoke coolly, "Anyone with a brain could figure out there was something wrong with the *Purple Sun Mountain Residence Painting* from the Jade Pavilion. Noelle Lockwood was greedy for a bargain and made a fool of herself. It has nothing to do with me. Mr. Morgan, please do as you see fit."
Hearing this price, everyone fell silent.
Just moments ago, Laura Jennings and Noelle Lockwood had been so arrogant, standing on their moral high ground and accusing Yara Lockwood of being greedy for a cheap bargain.
Now, who was the one who was truly greedy for a bargain?
The authentic piece had sold for nearly two hundred million a few years ago; it would only be worth more now.
And the fake was thirty million... If this fake had been well-preserved and clearly labeled as a replica of the *Purple Sun Mountain Residence Painting*, it might have been worth even more than thirty million.
But to buy a replica for the price of a replica, insist it was authentic, and then look down on Miss Yara Lockwood, who had the genuine article...
How utterly humiliating!
At today’s banquet, Noelle Lockwood and Laura Jennings had lost all face!
Noelle Lockwood’s face grew even paler, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
’Nathaniel... Nathaniel didn’t give me any face at all!’
Estelle Lockwood smiled with satisfaction. "Since Mr. Sloan has said as much... Miss Lockwood, your apology."
Her face covered in tears, Noelle Lockwood waited a long moment before, as if she had suffered some great injustice, tearfully choking out the word, "Sorry."
And so the farce came to an end. Afterward, Noelle Lockwood used the excuse of feeling unwell to leave early.
Iris Sloan shot Nathaniel Sloan a displeased glare. ’What kind of way is this to win back your wife?’ she thought. ’Waiting until everything is over to say a few words. If it were Liam, he would have been by his wife’s side protecting her from the start!’
’Also, it seemed like Jasper Kingston wanted to help just now, but something must have held him up.’
’If Jasper Kingston had also jumped in, she wondered what Nathaniel Sloan would have done then!’
Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze was placid, and he offered no explanation.
"Miss Lockwood, may I have a word with you in private?" Mr. Morgan suddenly asked.
No one found this strange. After all, Mr. Morgan was obsessed with antiques; he probably wanted to ask Yara Lockwood where she had acquired the *Purple Sun Mountain Residence Painting*.
Estelle Lockwood thought so too, but to her surprise, Mr. Morgan smiled and said:
"It’s been a while. You’ve grown up."
Estelle Lockwood was taken aback.
She instinctively looked at Mr. Morgan, certain she didn’t know this person. "You’ve... met me before?"
Mr. Morgan nodded. "I have. But you certainly wouldn’t remember. You were only three or four years old at the time, and I was in my early twenties. Your grandfather brought you to the Morgan family residence."
After being lost by Rose Lowell, Estelle Lockwood had been found and taken in by an old man.
The old man wasn’t wealthy, but he could provide food and shelter. However, after taking in a little girl, he took on an extra job.
Estelle Lockwood had once asked her grandpa, and he told her he worked as a chef for a wealthy family. The pay was good, and he would occasionally bring Estelle along to play and sneak her tasty treats.
’So that wealthy family was the Morgan family...’
’But the arrogant Young Mr. Morgan from back then actually remembered her?’
Mr. Morgan knew Grandpa Lockwood had passed away, so he didn’t dwell on it. "I heard your grandfather entrusted you to the Kendrick family. The Kendricks are a good family, so your grandfather can rest in peace."
Estelle Lockwood blinked, utterly baffled.
’Wait... what is Mr. Morgan talking about? Grandpa entrusted me to the Kendrick family?’
’Not only did my grandpa and Grandpa Kendrick not know each other, but even if they did, their social statuses were worlds apart. How could he possibly have entrusted me to the Kendrick family? And even if he had, the Kendricks wouldn’t necessarily have agreed.’
’Besides, I was rescued by Henry Kendrick by accident and brought to the Kendrick family.’
Estelle Lockwood wanted to ask, but someone called Mr. Morgan from the side, so he simply nodded to her and took his leave.
What Mr. Morgan didn’t say was that the reason he remembered Estelle Lockwood was because back then, at only three or four years old, she had been extremely bossy and ill-tempered, even hitting and kicking the old man. The Young Mr. Morgan of that time had been utterly disgusted by her.
But looking at her now, Estelle Lockwood bore no resemblance to the child she was. Perhaps... people naturally change as they grow up.
There was no point in bringing up something that happened more than twenty years ago.
...
Liam Sloan found Nathaniel Sloan standing alone on the balcony. "Bro, what’s the deal with that Mr. Morgan and Sis-in-law? They seem to know each other." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Nathaniel Sloan didn’t answer.
"Also, when Noelle Lockwood was treating Sis-in-law like that just now, why didn’t you help! It’s making me furious!"
Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze flickered for an instant.
When Iris Sloan had asked him this question, his answer had been that he trusted Estelle Lockwood to handle it herself. Estelle wanted revenge, so she definitely wouldn’t have wanted him to interfere.
But when Liam Sloan asked the same question, Nathaniel Sloan slowly closed his eyes.
Besides his original answer, perhaps there was a deeper reason.
—Estelle Lockwood didn’t need him.
While being harassed by Noelle Lockwood and Laura Jennings, Estelle Lockwood had, from beginning to end, never even considered asking him for help.
Nathaniel Sloan didn’t know how to describe his current state of mind.
His heart felt as if it were submerged in scorching magma, yet also as if it had been cast into a hollow abyss.
He realized that Estelle Lockwood didn’t need him. In the five years she had been gone, she had met new people. Those five years were a complete blank to Nathaniel Sloan. Perhaps... she also had someone new she wanted to rely on.
Nathaniel Sloan closed his eyes, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart. When he opened them again, he was once again his noble and indifferent self.
"What are you trying to say?"
Liam Sloan quickly leaned in. "I eavesdropped on Sis-in-law and Mr. Morgan just now. It sounds like they knew each other more than twenty years ago! Back then, wasn’t Sis-in-law only three or four years old and lost by the Lockwood Family? How could she have known the Young Mr. Morgan?"
Didn’t the Lockwood Family despise Estelle Lockwood precisely because they had investigated her life and discovered she had spent her first eighteen years growing up in the countryside?
If she was a ’country bumpkin,’ how could she have possibly been acquainted with the fabulously wealthy Morgan Family, let alone leave an impression on Mr. Morgan that lasted for more than two decades?
Zane Grant, standing to the side, nodded. His thoughts, however, were different from Liam Sloan’s; he was considering another angle.
Mr. Morgan knew Yara Lockwood, which meant Yara Lockwood had always been Yara Lockwood... In that case, was Estelle Lockwood—the country bumpkin who had returned to the Lockwood Family seven years ago and gotten divorced five years ago—really the same person as this Yara Lockwood?
Could Nathaniel... really have gotten the wrong person?
