The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 5: It’s Been Five Years

Editor: Henyee Translations

Nathaniel stopped in his tracks, his eyes darkening. "You want me to cook for you?"

He did know how to cook, but he had only ever cooked for Estelle once in his entire life, and even then, she had never gotten to eat a single bite of the food because of... that incident.

Now, this woman was making him cook for her?

Before he could respond, Estelle issued another command. "I don’t want any scallions or ginger. Nothing greasy or spicy. And don’t make it too salty or bland. Mr. Sloan, make sure you get the ingredients just right."

Nathaniel’s expression darkened even more.

Estelle raised an eyebrow in thought. He was already getting angry just because she had asked him to cook one meal?

It seemed like he knew how difficult it was to cook now!

What about all those times she had personally cooked for him from scratch? Back then, when he had been enjoying lavish dinners at five-star restaurants with Noelle Lockwood, had he ever thought about how hard it had been for her? freeweɓnøvel.com

Estelle slowly opened her eyes, speaking lazily. "Why are you spacing out? Write this stuff down. I’m your master now, so you’d better get used to it. There’s a lot more of this coming."

Nathaniel’s throat bobbed. "Yara, don’t test me!"

"So, while I treat your son, you’ll act as my full-time nanny. Transportation, meals, daily errands... You’ll do whatever I ask you to, and you must never disobey me. Does that sound good?"

"Fine."

The two voices came from a recording pen, echoing around the room clearly.

Estelle looked up at him and said flatly, "Forgot already? Seems like your memory isn’t very good, Mr. Sloan."

Nathaniel suppressed his temper, speaking through his teeth as he said, "Fine. Just you wait."

Estelle smiled faintly. "I will be."

She no longer paid him any attention as she walked into the villa.

Just as she was about to choose a room, a soft female voice suddenly drifted from upstairs. "Nathaniel, did you find Christian?"

Estelle froze slightly, her eyes narrowing.

The voice grew closer.

"Who is this? Is she the woman who helped you find Christian? We should thank her properly—oh, it’s you!"

The soft voice abruptly turned sharp from shock the moment the other woman saw her.

Estelle slowly lifted her gaze. Then, she smiled faintly as she met Noelle’s panicked eyes.

Of course. Who else could it be but the fake heiress who had stolen her biological parents, the "dear sister" who had stolen her husband, the very person responsible for her death?

Noelle Lockwood.

It had been five years. She hoped she had been well.

Noelle’s eyes widened instantly. Her words were caught in her throat as she instinctively stumbled half a step back, screaming, "You... You are—"

How could this be?

She was supposed to be dead. Burned to ashes five years ago! What was she doing here?

That was impossible!

"Miss Lockwood, this is Dr. Yara Lockwood," the assistant quickly stepped forward to explain.

A faint, unreadable smile appeared on Estelle’s lips. "You seem quite surprised to see me, Miss Lockwood."

Noelle snapped back to her senses at once.

Dr. Yara Lockwood? The world-renowned pediatrician? fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

But she looked just like...

Estelle said in an indifferent tone, "It’s strange. Mr. Sloan had the same reaction earlier. Do I look like someone you know?"

Noelle jolted, quickly forcing a hypocritical smile. "N-No, of course not. I just mistook you for someone else. So, you’re Dr. Lockwood. Nathaniel, why didn’t you tell me that you would be bringing Dr. Lockwood here? I could have prepared a proper welcome for her."

Instantly, she regained her composure, slipping back into her role as the gentle mistress of the house. She was indeed a professional at putting on an elaborate act.

"Dr. Lockwood, thank you for coming all this way to treat Christian. That child is a bit difficult and he doesn’t like to talk. I hope you don’t mind. We’ve seen so many doctors over the years. As his mother, I’ve been worried sick about him, but nothing has worked so far. Don’t worry, though. Nathaniel and I are not unreasonable parents. We won’t blame you even if you can’t do anything about it."

A flash of disgust crossed Christian’s eyes, and he instinctively hid behind Estelle.

Hearing that familiar, hypocritical tone, Estelle raised a brow in interest and sized up the mother and son.

It seemed that the two of them didn’t get along very well.

"Are you questioning my professional skills?"

Noelle immediately pasted a helpless expression on her face. "I didn’t mean..."

"I’m a world-renowned doctor. Are you implying I can’t handle a child before I’ve even started treating him?"

Estelle turned and walked upstairs.

"Mr. Sloan, you should consider remarrying while you’re still young. If you keep someone this good at offending people around, your life may be filled with unexpected excitement. Anyway, I’ll be taking Christian upstairs to relax. Let me know when dinner’s ready."

Christian followed her upstairs without hesitation.

When they left, Nathaniel turned coldly to Noelle. "Why did you say that Christian might not get better?"

His son was just sick; he was not suffering from some kind of terminal illness.

He had never once been willing to say a single bad word about Christian, yet Noelle had already spoken ill of him in front of the doctor, calling him difficult and making it sound like he was a problematic child.

Noelle bit her lip and tried to explain.

"I didn’t mean it that way. I was just worried Dr. Lockwood might be like the others. The boy drove them all away, you know."

Inside her, rage churned.

She had worked so hard to worsen the boy’s condition and drive away every doctor who had come near him... and now, this woman had shown up.

Nathaniel said flatly, "Christian likes her. She’ll stay here until he recovers. You’re acting as his mother, but you are not his real one. You don’t need to go out of your way to handle such unimportant things."

Nathaniel didn’t care what Yara’s true motive was. As long as she made Christian happy, that would be enough.

Noelle’s jealousy surged violently.

"But Nathaniel, she looks just like Estelle. I don’t mean to bad-mouth Dr. Lockwood, but over the years, many women have pretended to be Estelle just to get close to you. Her face is just... I’m only worried, Nathaniel. Don’t you think..."

Nathaniel paused.

Without turning around, he said quietly, "You know exactly why I allow you to stay here. You better not overstep."

Five years ago, Estelle had set her hospital room on fire and taken her own life after giving birth to triplets. It was Noelle who had rushed into the blaze and, after great difficulty, had managed to save one of the children.

That was why Nathaniel had allowed her to stay by his side all these years.

Still, that didn’t mean she had the right to interfere in his decisions.

Noelle, who was nearly sick from rage, bit her lip in frustration as thoughts surged in her mind.

’That woman must be Estelle. They have the same face and figure. Even their annoying attitude is the same. Damn it, why couldn’t she have just stayed dead? Why did she have to show up now?

’Five years ago, she showed up and took back her position as heiress. Five years later, she is here again, trying to snatch Nathaniel from me! I must come up with a way to deal with this now.’

...

Soon, dinner was ready.

Estelle came downstairs with a yawn and immediately noticed the sweet-and-sour fish in the center of the table.

Then, she saw Nathaniel walking out of the kitchen with a dark expression.

Estelle raised a brow. "Why the long face, Mr. Sloan? Christian’s treatment will take at least a year. That means that you will be working as my nanny for a full year, so you better get used to it."

Normally, Nathaniel would have told anyone to shut their mouth if they’d dared to be sarcastic with him.

Now, he said nothing and just sat down after shooting a brief glance at her.

The dining table at Imperial Crest was long and rectangular.

Nathaniel sat on one side, while Estelle and Christian sat on the other.

At that moment, Noelle walked over with a bowl of soup and said in a hypocritical tone, "Children can be difficult. Dr. Lockwood, you’re a guest, so let me feed him instead. I’m his mother, after all."

Estelle narrowed her eyes.

What was this snake planning now?

Noelle squeezed herself in between them.

Just as she was about to lift a spoon toward Christian, Estelle suddenly caught a faint scent coming from the soup, and her expression changed instantly.