The elevator fell into a deathly silence.

After a long moment, Mia lowered her head. "Uncle Sloan, what are you talking about? I don’t get it."

Nathaniel Sloan smiled silently and pinched the soft cushion behind her. "You don’t know what I’m talking about?"

Caught, Mia’s expression stiffened for a moment before she lowered her head, feigning embarrassment. "Aww, you found me out."

Then, she quickly tried to justify herself. "But if that bad woman hadn’t tried to frame me, I wouldn’t have framed her on purpose!"

Nathaniel Sloan nodded. "I’m not saying you did anything wrong. But next time, you could think of a better way. If you didn’t have that cushion today and took a real fall, your mommy would have been heartbroken, and I... would have been heartbroken too."

Mia froze.

’Huh? Is Scumbag Dad teaching me how to be a better villain?!’

Mia felt that something wasn’t right. "Aren’t you going to lecture me?"

Nathaniel Sloan glanced at her. "Not planning on it."

Mia’s eyes darted. "Uncle Sloan, you’re so indulgent with me. Is it like what people say? You don’t mind that Zachery and I are baggage?"

Nathaniel Sloan paused, his voice turning slightly hoarse. "You’re not baggage."

’He didn’t know which man was Zachery and Mia’s father, but since they were Estelle Lockwood’s children, he would treat them just the same.’

Mia fell into thought.

’She felt like Scumbag Dad wasn’t at all like the rumors said!’

An idea popped into Mia’s head. She coughed, then decided to push her luck. "Uncle Sloan~ I want to eat the little cakes from downstairs. I want you to go buy them for me personally!"

The secretary outside: ...’This Miss Mia certainly knows how to push her luck, but Mr. Sloan never...’

Nathaniel Sloan said gently, "Okay."

The secretary: ...

...

「In a lounge at Evernight Tower.」

Many people were quietly watching Noelle Lockwood.

The secretary wore a gentle and appropriate smile. "President Lockwood, Mrs. Lockwood, please take Miss Lockwood home. Also, I hope you two will educate her properly. One should not harbor intentions of harming others. If this happens again, a simple apology won’t be enough."

Austin Lockwood and Rose Lowell already knew what had just happened, and their expressions were ugly.

Rose Lowell’s tone was stiff. "Noelle didn’t do it on purpose..."

The secretary smiled. "How does Mrs. Lockwood know Miss Lockwood didn’t do it on purpose? Back then, when Miss Noelle Lockwood fell, she claimed the true Lockwood heiress pushed her. Miss Estelle said she didn’t, but Mrs. Lockwood used the ’one should not harbor intentions of harming others’ reasoning to force Miss Estelle to apologize."

"Since Mrs. Lockwood was so strict with the true heiress, demanding an apology without any evidence, then shouldn’t she treat the false heiress the same? Or is that not the case?"

"Oh, right. Back then, Mrs. Lockwood told Miss Estelle, ’Noelle is kind by nature. She’s not that scheming. Estelle Lockwood, you have to admit when you’ve done something wrong.’ Since Mrs. Lockwood despises evil so vehemently, I’m sure she wouldn’t play favorites."

After speaking, the secretary bowed slightly and gestured for them to leave. "President Lockwood, Mrs. Lockwood, Miss Lockwood, if you please."

The three Lockwoods were publicly kicked out.

Noelle Lockwood’s face was deathly pale, and her body swayed, on the verge of collapse. She could even hear the people behind her whispering.

"The Lockwoods must be blind. ’Kind by nature’... She’d even lay a hand on a child..."

"Noelle Lockwood isn’t scheming? If she really weren’t scheming, how could she have tricked the Lockwoods into abandoning their own daughter to dote on her, the adopted one?"

Austin Lockwood’s face was rigid. Lockwood Group’s shares were being bought up by a mysterious party, and he had come today to ask Nathaniel Sloan for help, only to be thrown out.

For the first time, he snapped at his beloved daughter. "Noelle! It’s not like you don’t know the family’s situation! You... you just had to do this today..."

"Noelle didn’t do it on purpose!" Rose Lowell shrieked. "What do you mean by that? You’re blaming our daughter now? Nathaniel has clearly been bewitched by Yara Lockwood! How can you blame Noelle?"

Furious, Austin Lockwood got straight into the car. After he had driven off, Rose Lowell whispered,

"Noelle, when the time comes, just sweet-talk Nathaniel a bit. And you... if you couldn’t stand that little bastard, you could have just gotten rid of her in private. Why did you have to do it in front of so many people..."

Noelle Lockwood was about to die from frustration. "Mom, I told you it wasn’t me! That little beast fell on her own!"

Rose Lowell: "Alright, alright. Mom isn’t blaming you. I’m just telling you to be more discreet next time you make a move."

Noelle Lockwood: "..."

Noelle Lockwood felt a knot tighten in her chest, as if she’d been forced to swallow a bitter pill with no way to complain!

Rose Lowell added, "And don’t blame your father. We’ve already made the arrangements. Ten days from now, on the anniversary of Estelle Lockwood’s death, we’re going to hand the company over to you."

Only then did Noelle Lockwood’s mood improve slightly.

...

「Star Group.」

Henry Kendrick was calculating. "We’ve acquired almost enough shares. When are you planning to make your move against the Lockwood family?"

Estelle Lockwood took a light sip of her tea. "Ten days from now."

Henry Kendrick was puzzled for a moment. "Ten days? Why then?"

’Is ten days from now some kind of special day...?’ His train of thought suddenly stopped, and Henry Kendrick realized with a jolt.

Ten days from now was the ’anniversary’ of Estelle Lockwood’s death.

Henry Kendrick had found out that the Lockwood family planned to make a public announcement on the ’anniversary’ of Estelle Lockwood’s death: because their biological daughter had been dead for five years, they had decided to hand the company over to their adopted daughter.

As for why they had to make the announcement on their own daughter’s death anniversary, Rose Lowell’s explanation was that Estelle Lockwood, in her ’lifetime,’ had worried about the Lockwood family and her younger sister, so announcing it on that day was to put her spirit at ease.

’But deep down, Henry Kendrick knew that Rose Lowell was only doing this to spite Estelle Lockwood!’

He just couldn’t understand. Estelle Lockwood was their biological daughter. Even though she’d been gone for eighteen years, was it necessary to harbor such a deep-seated hatred for her, as if she were an enemy?

Estelle Lockwood, however, didn’t care what the Lockwood family was thinking. "By the way, did you find anything from the surveillance footage I asked you to check?"

Henry Kendrick snapped out of his thoughts. "I asked a few assistants. They all said someone did come that day. They didn’t see her face, but they saw her from behind and thought it was you, so they let her in."

"As for who this woman is... no results yet."

Estelle Lockwood frowned in thought.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Suddenly, her phone rang. Estelle Lockwood raised an eyebrow.

’Nathaniel Sloan?’

...

「Downstairs at Evernight Tower.」

Nathaniel Sloan had just bought the cake and was about to head back when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure from behind.

The man arched a brow slightly. ’What’s Estelle Lockwood doing here?’

’She clearly saw him but walked away without so much as a greeting.’

Nathaniel Sloan chuckled and dialed her number. "Miss Lockwood."

Estelle Lockwood was working at Star Group and answered the phone curtly. "Speak."

Nathaniel Sloan, holding the cake, leaned against the glass window of the bakery and chuckled. "Miss Lockwood, you saw me but turned and walked away. Am I some kind of monster?"

Estelle Lockwood: "?"

Estelle Lockwood moved the phone away from her ear slightly to confirm the caller ID was indeed Nathaniel Sloan.

’What was going on? Nathaniel Sloan said he saw her? But she was sitting perfectly fine in her office at Star!’

She considered her words for a moment before asking, in a deceptively pleasant tone, "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"