The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Brother-in-law? You Knew Nathaniel Sloan Was Married, Too?

Estelle Lockwood had already squeezed her eyes shut, but the pain she expected never came. Instead, she crashed into the man’s powerful chest, her face instantly flushing red.

"Let go!"

Nathaniel Sloan raised an eyebrow. "Miss Lockwood, I was the one who saved you. Shouldn’t your attitude be a little better?"

Estelle Lockwood’s face grew redder, but she said stubbornly, "Who asked you to save me?"

One of Nathaniel Sloan’s eyebrows rose. "You don’t want my help? Then I suppose Miss Lockwood will have to fall."

Estelle Lockwood felt the atmosphere was strange. She had the mistaken impression that she was flirting with Nathaniel Sloan. "Then let me fall—Ah!" she said, a bit stiffly.

Nathaniel Sloan pretended to let go. Estelle Lockwood really thought she was going to fall and instinctively threw her arms around his neck. "What are you doing!"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to see if a certain someone would keep being stubborn."

Feeling mocked, Estelle Lockwood was so angry she simply shut her mouth.

The knocking at the door continued.

Estelle Lockwood suddenly snapped back to reality. She hurriedly pushed him away and rushed to the door, as if trying to hide something.

To ease the awkwardness, she opened the door—

Noelle Lockwood?!

Noelle Lockwood stood outside, her face gentle, wearing a carefully prepared smile. "Nathaniel... Yara?!"

Estelle Lockwood looked Noelle Lockwood up and down, then turned back and said sarcastically, "President Sloan, you’re just so charming."

Nathaniel Sloan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. For some reason, even though she was mocking him, he wasn’t angry at all.

Estelle Lockwood walked back to her seat. Iris Sloan had stopped eating as well, her face a mask of contempt, practically radiating disgust.

Nathaniel Sloan looked at the person at the door, his gaze turning icy. "Why are you here?"

Noelle Lockwood sensed the change in him, her heart souring with jealousy, but she still smiled and said, "Nathaniel, I heard you were having a meal here, so I came to see." freewebnoveℓ.com

Nathaniel Sloan frowned. "There’s nothing to see."

With that, he actually started to close the door.

Noelle Lockwood’s heart was about to break. She quickly blocked the doorframe. "Nathaniel! Actually... it’s because everyone at the company is saying that since you and Yara are eating out alone, you must be having an affair... I was thinking, Yara just joined the company, and having these kinds of rumors is bad for her, so I thought I’d join you for your meal."

"With me here, people can’t possibly still misunderstand Yara. After all, a man and a woman alone in a private room isn’t good for her reputation..."

"Not good for her reputation?" a middle-aged woman’s voice cut in, interrupting Noelle Lockwood. Noelle jumped in fright.

Iris Sloan was already looking over coolly. "What do you mean, a man and a woman eating alone? What am I, invisible?"

Noelle Lockwood’s face turned deathly pale. ’What’s going on?! Why is Iris Sloan here too?’

"Aunt, I didn’t expect you..."

"Don’t call me Aunt. I don’t have a junior like you." Iris Sloan said, then added, "Nathaniel, since she’s already here, it’s not good for her to be stuck in the doorway. Let her in."

A flash of delight crossed Noelle Lockwood’s face.

She hadn’t even reached the table when she heard Iris Sloan speak again. "However, what you just said reminded me of something. It doesn’t matter what rumors are flying around outside—as long as Yara marries Nathaniel, it’ll all be fine."

Iris Sloan said breezily, "If they’re husband and wife eating together, it’s not a man and a woman alone, is it? Gossips can stick their noses into anything, but can they really interfere with a young couple’s business?"

Estelle Lockwood’s chopsticks paused. Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze instantly deepened.

As for Noelle Lockwood, it was as if she’d been struck by lightning!!

’What did that old hag Iris Sloan just say?! Let Yara marry Nathaniel!! No way!’

Noelle Lockwood nearly coughed up blood. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Aunt, how can Nathaniel marry Miss Yara Lockwood? It’s not appropriate..."

Iris Sloan asked with a smile, "How is it not appropriate?"

Noelle Lockwood knew Iris Sloan wasn’t Laura Jennings. Laura Jennings wanted to set her up with Nathaniel, but Iris was clearly biased toward Estelle Lockwood...

She took a deep breath, and with tears in her eyes, she began to speak.

"Aunt, Nathaniel is already married. How can he marry Miss Yara Lockwood?"

At these words, Estelle Lockwood gave a silent, sarcastic smile.

Iris Sloan’s face immediately darkened. "Is that so? Nathaniel is married? Why don’t you tell me, who is he married to?"

Noelle Lockwood assumed Iris Sloan was angry because Iris thought she was claiming to be Nathaniel’s wife. She let the tears fall freely and said:

"Aunt... have you forgotten my sister? My brother-in-law already has a wife, my sister. How can he marry someone else? And Miss Yara Lockwood, if you have any sense of decency, you won’t get so close to a married man! Have you no concept of avoiding suspicion?"

The entire private room fell into a strange, dead silence.

Nathaniel Sloan subconsciously looked toward Estelle Lockwood.

Estelle Lockwood didn’t say a word. Iris Sloan’s expression grew uglier and uglier.

"Noelle Lockwood, so you do know Nathaniel is your ’brother-in-law’."

Iris Sloan heavily emphasized the word ’brother-in-law’.

"As I recall, five years ago, you had plenty of meals alone with Nathaniel. Since you knew he was your brother-in-law, why didn’t you avoid suspicion?"

Noelle Lockwood’s face went white as a sheet—!

"Aunt, that’s not it! Back then, when I had meals with my brother-in-law, it was with my sister’s permission. She..."

"Yara, are you thirsty?" Iris Sloan suddenly asked.

Hearing Noelle Lockwood’s words, Estelle Lockwood’s expression darkened slightly as memories from that time resurfaced.

When she saw Iris Sloan suddenly change the subject, she was taken aback for a moment, not quite processing it, but answered honestly, "A little."

"Then have Noelle Lockwood make you some tea. She’s quite the expert when it comes to green tea. The aroma is so rich, and the ’tea’ is just overpowering."

Iris Sloan said nonchalantly, "Maybe it’s from drinking too much green tea, but Noelle Lockwood, I just don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you implying that back then, it was Estelle who asked you to move into their marital home, who told you to come and go with Nathaniel Sloan everywhere, and who wanted you to be in scandals with him?"

Iris Sloan feigned surprise. "I had no idea Estelle was so generous!"

Noelle Lockwood was fuming internally, but on the outside, she shook her head frantically, her small face covered in tears. "No, Aunt, you’ve really misunderstood me! I lived at Imperial Crest to take care of Nathaniel and my sister..."

Nathaniel Sloan observed Estelle Lockwood’s expression.

’If what Aunt says is true—that Estelle didn’t care about the Lockwood Family or her relatives—then she wouldn’t have asked me to take care of Noelle.’

’But there isn’t a trace of sadness on her face. It’s as if she’s a complete outsider who knows nothing about what happened five years ago.’

’She isn’t questioning Noelle, and she’s even smiling.’

Estelle Lockwood naturally sensed that Nathaniel Sloan was watching her.

’Heh... Nathaniel Sloan wants to see my reaction? What’s there to see? Back then, he believed Noelle’s whole story, and nothing I said made any difference.’

’Could it be that after five years, he’s finally grown a conscience? Or maybe his IQ has returned, and he can finally spot a manipulative schemer?’

’Forget it. I once told him I wanted Noelle to move out. And what did he say?’

’He said: ’She’s your sister, and her health is poor. If you kick her out, what will other people think?’’ freēwēbnovel.com

Her thoughts returned to the present. Estelle Lockwood propped her chin on her hand, looking intrigued. "Aunt, you shouldn’t blame everything on Miss Lockwood. As they say, it takes two to tango. Miss Lockwood was coming and going with her brother-in-law, and it’s not like Mr. Sloan was refusing, was he?"

She looked at Nathaniel Sloan, the smile not reaching her eyes. "Mr. Sloan, what do you think?"