The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Blacklisting Noelle Lockwood

Estelle Lockwood’s breath hitched.

She ducked her head, trying to get past Nathaniel Sloan and into the car. "Not interested."

Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes darkened. He blocked the car door. "The sister-in-law he was talking about is named Estelle Lockwood."

Estelle Lockwood’s back went rigid.

She tried to turn away, but Nathaniel Sloan gave her no such chance. He tilted her face up with his chin and said, word by word, "I acquired the Lockwood Group for her, too. Not for Noelle Lockwood."

Estelle Lockwood’s heart pounded like a drum.

’Acquiring the Lockwood Group... The sister-in-law from Liam’s ’epic love story’... was me?’

’How is that possible? I saw with my own eyes how much he favored Noelle Lockwood back then. And now he’s saying he loves *me*?’

Estelle Lockwood took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "Mr. Sloan, you’re quite the actor. If I didn’t know your true nature, I might have even believed you."

Nathaniel Sloan narrowed his eyes. "My true nature?"

Estelle Lockwood turned her head away. "You acted like you adored your wife, yet you didn’t seem to care one bit when Noelle Lockwood treated her like a servant."

Nathaniel Sloan detected a hint of grievance in her voice. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Perhaps even Estelle Lockwood herself didn’t realize that this wasn’t the best time to bring this up. Mentioning it now made it seem as if she was genuinely jealous, angry, and resentful about it.

But her current identity was ’Yara Lockwood’. Why would Yara feel so strongly about what Estelle had gone through? Unless... they were one and the same person.

Nathaniel Sloan watched her with a heavy gaze.

He remembered receiving a video call from Estelle Lockwood back then. She had told him she had a wonderful time at the banquet that day, never mentioning she’d been treated like a servant.

But so many years had passed; bringing it up again wouldn’t change anything. Perhaps Estelle had simply been putting on a brave face, reporting only the good news.

Nathaniel Sloan averted his gaze. "Is Miss Lockwood too busy to check Weibo?"

A question mark appeared over Estelle Lockwood’s head. freёwebnovel.com

She wasn’t one to use Weibo; at most, she’d skim the headlines. ’What does he mean?’

But she quickly found out what he meant.

Noelle Lockwood was trending again. In the past, with the backing of the Lockwood Group and the Sloan Family, she was the entertainment industry’s bona fide heiress. No one dared to cross her, and any trending topics about her were always positive.

But today...

Estelle Lockwood realized she’d lost her composure. She bit her lip and, while Nathaniel Sloan wasn’t looking, quickly got into the car. "If she wants to humiliate herself, that’s her business. It has nothing to do with me. You don’t have to put on a show for my benefit."

With that, she drove off.

Nathaniel Sloan raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

Hiding nearby, Liam Sloan hissed. "Auntie said my sister-in-law was gentle and shy. Even when she was furious, she would just meekly lower her head. This Miss Yara Lockwood dares to talk back to my cousin. Could she really be my sister-in-law?"

Zane Grant nodded. "Exactly! I don’t think she’s..."

"I’ve got it!" Liam Sloan’s eyes lit up. "It must be because my cousin was too awful five years ago! My sister-in-law learned her lesson the hard way, shed her gentle disguise, and now she’s making him go through hell to win her back!"

Zane Grant: "...?"

Liam Sloan rushed over to Nathaniel Sloan. "Cousin, let me give you some pointers! You’re having such a hard time winning her back. Watch and learn from me!"

Zane Grant: "..." ’So unreliable. Utterly unreliable.’

Meanwhile, after driving some distance, Estelle Lockwood clicked on the trending Weibo topic, "Noelle Lockwood Blacklisted by Pinecrest Hotel," and began to read with great interest.

...

「A few minutes earlier」

Noelle Lockwood had arranged to meet some of her girlfriends at the Pinecrest Hotel.

The Pinecrest Hotel was one of the largest hotels in Crestfall, where a single meal cost a fortune. But the hotel was owned by Evernight International, and Noelle Lockwood was a lifetime member.

Surrounded by a gaggle of starlets fawning over her, she entered the Pinecrest Hotel and immediately demanded the most expensive suite.

However, the general manager looked troubled. "I’m sorry, Miss Noelle, but the presidential suite is currently unavailable to you."

Noelle Lockwood’s smile froze. The starlets around her immediately stepped forward. "What do you mean? Noelle is one of your premium members!"

"Yeah, this hotel is owned by Evernight, right? Do you have any idea who Noelle is?"

Noelle Lockwood waited for her little entourage to finish their sycophantic display before feigning exasperation. "Manager, there must be some mistake. Every premium member has an exclusive presidential suite. Please go and check again."

People in the lobby had already recognized Noelle Lockwood. Hearing she was a premium member, they all shot her envious looks.

But their envy didn’t last a second before they saw the manager shake his head, his gaze toward Noelle Lockwood taking on a strange, unreadable quality.

"Miss Noelle Lockwood, there is no mistake. There is indeed no exclusive suite reserved for you."

Noelle Lockwood frowned, but before she could speak, the general manager continued.

"Or perhaps I need to be clearer? Mr. Sloan has revoked all of your special privileges at the Pinecrest Hotel and has placed you on the blacklist."

...

...

The entire lobby fell silent.

Noelle Lockwood’s expression was one of pure fury; she couldn’t even pretend to be calm anymore. "What did you say?!"

’Nathaniel canceled my premium membership? How could he...! He promised that because I was Estelle Lockwood’s sister, I would always be a premium member! On what grounds did he cancel it?!’

The manager was growing impatient. "Miss Noelle Lockwood, is there anything else? If not, I have other work to attend to. Please see yourself out."

With that, the manager actually just walked away, no longer fawning over her like a VIP as he had before.

How could Noelle Lockwood possibly accept such a drastic change in treatment?!

"She’s been blacklisted, so what was she pretending for? She just wasted everyone’s time calling us over here..." someone complained.

A few of the other starlets instantly took three steps back from Noelle Lockwood. "Noelle, if you weren’t a member, you should have just said so. Did you really have to pretend to be something you’re not just to make us all look like fools with you...?"

Noelle Lockwood gritted her teeth in fury. In the past, these starlets couldn’t suck up to her fast enough, and now they dared to mock her!

’Why would Nathaniel do this? Why...!’

...

Soon enough, the incident was a trending topic.

Estelle Lockwood logged into her burner account, liked every single post badmouthing Noelle Lockwood, and put her phone away with a satisfied smile.

’That’s right, I’m just that petty! I’m happy when other people curse out Noelle Lockwood!’

Meanwhile, Luke White said respectfully, "Sir, that burner Weibo account you’re following has liked these posts."

Nathaniel Sloan turned to look and immediately smiled.

’So she holds a grudge?’ The Estelle Lockwood of the past was gentle and mild-mannered, habitually meeting the Lockwoods’ verbal abuse with a smile.

But the Estelle Lockwood of today...

Nathaniel Sloan didn’t think he was mistaken about her identity. So, had the last five years changed her, or had this been her true personality all along?

He fiddled with his phone, opened WeChat, found a certain profile picture, and sent a message: [Liked all the posts. Are you happy now?]

When Estelle Lockwood received the message, her eyelid twitched. ’Wait, how does Nathaniel Sloan know I liked every single one of those posts? Does he know about my burner account? Impossible!’

Still, Estelle Lockwood felt a pang of guilt and proceeded to block Nathaniel Sloan.

Nathaniel Sloan waited a long time for a reply. When he sent another message, he was met with a giant red exclamation mark.

The man’s eyes grew cold. He turned his head and asked Liam Sloan, "Is this what you call a good way to coax someone?"