The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Nathaniel Sloan to Noelle Lockwood: Get Lost

Chapman was furious when he heard the piano teacher, but this was the teacher the Master had hired for the Young Mr. Sloan. As a butler, there wasn’t much he could say.

Just then, a soft voice called from the stairs, "Grandpa Chapman, is the piano teacher here? Please show him in."

Chapman recognized the voice. It was the Young Mr. Sloan.

No matter how indignant he felt, he could only turn to the piano teacher and say, "This way, please."

The piano teacher snorted coldly. When he walked into the music room, he saw ’Christian’ already sitting obediently at the piano. With his head lowered, he looked like a total pushover.

The piano teacher couldn’t help but feel that Noelle Lockwood had been making a mountain out of a molehill.

Still, the sight of the Young Mr. Sloan acting so deferential toward him put the piano teacher in a great mood.

He was tutoring Nathaniel Sloan’s only son. How prestigious would that sound when he told people?

The piano teacher said arrogantly, "Play the piece I taught you last month."

Zachery feigned obedience. "Okay, Mr. Miller."

The piano teacher’s brow furrowed, clearly displeased. "My surname is Young! How can you not even remember your teacher’s name?!"

Zachery feigned shock. "Oh, did I get it wrong? I’m so sorry, Mr. Young. But you can’t blame me. I mean, I was just bo~orn~ stu~pid~, you know?"

An awkward, dead silence fell over the music room. The piano teacher choked, "You... you..."

"Don’t be mad, Teacher. I’ll play for you right now." With his eyes closed, Zachery randomly mashed the keys. The result was a tuneless, unbearable racket. Never mind someone who had studied piano; even a complete beginner couldn’t possibly play that badly.

The piano teacher was again left breathless. "Christian Sloan! I told you to play properly! Are you doing this on purpose to tick me off?!" ƒreewebɳovel.com

The only reason he had been allowed to continue teaching the Young Mr. Sloan at Imperial Crest was because Christian Sloan’s piano skills had previously shown improvement. But now the boy was refusing to cooperate. What if Nathaniel Sloan thought he wasn’t teaching conscientiously?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Terrified of losing this job, the piano teacher’s face twisted into a vicious expression. "So young and already such a delinquent!"

Zachery blinked, threw his hands up in a shrug, and began speaking in a passive-aggressive tone guaranteed to infuriate.

"Teacher, it’s not that I’m not being serious. I just can’t learn. After all, as you know, I’m naturally stupid~"

"Mr. Young, it must be so difficult for you, having to teach a child as dumb as me. We can’t possibly afford to keep a master like you here. Why don’t you go see Chapman and settle your pay?"

"You... have no respect for your elders..." The piano teacher was on the verge of keeling over from rage, his chest heaving.

Just then, a woman’s voice rang out from outside the music room. Noelle Lockwood rushed in anxiously. "Mr. Young, please don’t be angry. Christian is just a bit naughty, and his temper can be a little strange. Please, you have to be patient with him."

Feeling like he now had backup, the piano teacher’s tone became more confident. "Miss Noelle, I never wanted to take him on as a student in the first place. I only agreed to teach him a thing or two because you begged me. But I never expected Young Mr. Sloan to be so incorrigible!"

Noelle Lockwood bit her lip and said hastily, "I’m so sorry, so sorry. It’s all my child’s fault. It’s not your fault that he can’t be taught."

Then she turned her head, her face a mask of concern for Christian’s well-being. "Christian, come here and apologize. You can’t be so willful anymore. If you drive this teacher away, who else will be willing to teach you?"

Only then did the piano teacher’s mood improve. "Miss Noelle, you’re the reasonable one here."

Zachery’s eyes narrowed.

’Is this woman the matriarch of manipulation? All she does is demand apologies. She doesn’t even know what happened and she’s already forcing the Young Mr. Sloan to apologize. How much has he been forced to endure in the past?’

Laura Jennings was standing behind Noelle Lockwood. ’Ah, so she has backup, too.’

’The Young Mr. Sloan might have been bullied before, but he, Zachery Lockwood, wouldn’t be.’

Zachery let out a cold laugh. "Aunt Noelle, I don’t understand what you’re saying. If Mr. Young wants to leave, then let him leave. What do you mean no one else would be willing to come to Imperial Crest to teach me? Should I have Daddy go and ask around?"

Noelle Lockwood choked. ’This little brat actually dares to talk back!’

"Christian, even if you could find other teachers, they wouldn’t be as dedicated to you as Mr. Young is..."

Zachery was merciless. "Dedicated to me? Does ’dedicated’ mean Mr. Young collects a six-figure salary from Daddy to come teach me once a month? That’s got to be the easiest money in the world!"

He had just asked Chapman and seen the pay stub. He’d nearly exploded with rage.

’Does Scumbag Dad have a screw loose? Even if a hundred grand is just pocket change to him, you don’t throw it away on an unethical piano teacher who only works two hours a month.’

’And this piano teacher! It’s one thing to take the money and do nothing, but he even has the gall to manipulate the Young Mr. Sloan!’

Hearing this, the piano teacher was beside himself with fury. "Miss Noelle, you hear that? Christian Sloan has had this attitude the entire time! How am I supposed to teach him?! As his teacher, it’s not unreasonable for me to demand a formal apology, is it?!"

Noelle Lockwood hurried to placate him, her words dripping with condemnation for Christian. "Of course it’s not unreasonable. Christian is in the wrong here, and I will make sure he apologizes to you. Auntie, don’t you agree?"

Laura Jennings had arrived late and only heard Noelle apologizing over and over. Following a normal line of reasoning, she assumed Christian was the one at fault—why else would Noelle be acting so meek and subservient?

So Laura Jennings also chimed in, "Christian, apologize. How can you be so rude to your teacher?"

Zachery felt like his lungs were about to explode.

He didn’t get it. Christian Sloan was the Young Mr. Sloan, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But why would Noelle Lockwood, as his own mother, treat him like this? He was of noble status, yet in places others couldn’t see, he was suffering such grievances.

Zachery laughed coldly. "I won’t."

A flash of irritation crossed Noelle Lockwood’s mind. ’Why is this little brat so disobedient! If he doesn’t apologize, how am I supposed to spin this incident to publicize my ’labor and great contributions’?’

Noelle Lockwood took a step forward and viciously grabbed Zachery’s wrist. "You will apologize..."

Before she could finish, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside the door.

Noelle Lockwood recognized them as Nathaniel Sloan’s footsteps and immediately put on a wronged expression, but Zachery wasn’t about to give her the chance!

Zachery took the opportunity to throw himself on the floor and began to wail, all thunder and no rain.

His crying stunned both Noelle Lockwood and Laura Jennings, who were left speechless for a long moment.

Nathaniel Sloan burst into the music room and scooped Zachery into his arms, his heart trembling. "Christian!"

"WAAAH! Daddy! They were all bullying me! Noelle Lockwood even pinched me! It hurts!"

Zachery used every ounce of his strength to pinch his own wrist until it was red. Then, with tears welling in his eyes, he held it out to Nathaniel Sloan, slandering Noelle without a shred of guilt.

"Look, Daddy! Aunt Noelle did this! She’s so mean!"

Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes turned to ice. "Haven’t I told you to get out?"

Noelle Lockwood bit her lower lip, crying pitifully. "Nathaniel, I didn’t! Why would I ever pinch Christian? I just wanted him to stop being so naughty and apologize to the teacher, and then... then he..."

"Were you trying to make me apologize? You were forcing me to admit that I’m naturally inferior to everyone else!"

Zachery said with disgust, "You’re the one who found this piano teacher. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting!"