Noelle Lockwood grit her teeth!

’She was a huge star, the darling daughter of the Lockwood family. She was going to marry into the Sloan family in the future. Her reputation couldn’t be ruined...’

’That’s right, there was no evidence. No evidence for anything Rosalie Carter did! When she had given Rosalie her orders in person, she’d specifically made her leave her phone outside, so Rosalie had no recording.’

’Yara had no proof!’

But when Noelle Lockwood saw the growing suspicion in the eyes of the audience, she grit her teeth and suddenly collapsed, falling straight to the floor!

"Noelle!" Rose Lowell cried out in alarm.

The scene immediately erupted into chaos.

Rose Lowell wailed, "Noelle hasn’t been able to eat or sleep for days because of this fire! She has to take sleeping pills every night just to get some rest. She’s been visiting all the victims to discuss compensation, and you... you bully her like this! SOB, SOB..."

Her fans were also filled with righteous indignation, erupting in an agitated clamor.

Estelle Lockwood scoffed, her gaze shifting thoughtfully.

’She knew she couldn’t definitively pin the blame on Noelle today, but that wasn’t her goal. After all, there was still another fire she had yet to settle the score with Noelle over.’

’This time, Noelle had pushed her manager out to take the fall.’

’So, who would Noelle throw to the wolves next?’

Estelle Lockwood turned and walked away. Nathaniel Sloan shot a cold glance at Noelle on the ground before turning to follow Estelle.

As Rose Lowell continued her dramatic wailing, the crowd slowly dispersed.

...

「Outside the press conference venue.」

Nathaniel Sloan caught up to Estelle. "Miss Lockwood, were you satisfied with my performance today?"

Estelle Lockwood stopped and arched an eyebrow. "Performance?"

Nathaniel Sloan offered a gentle, refined smile. "I said I believe you."

"Oh..." ’So that’s what he was referring to.’

Estelle Lockwood’s tone was laden with meaning. "Mr. Sloan, my satisfaction is not important. What’s important is whether the person you care about will ever get the chance to be satisfied."

’If the Kendricks hadn’t saved her five years ago, she would be long dead. How would Nathaniel Sloan have the chance to ask her if she was ’satisfied’ now?’

"And one more thing."

Estelle added with a pointed look, "Although Rosalie Carter is the mastermind for now, I haven’t forgotten about the flood of press releases these past few days, all deliberately designed to turn public opinion against me. I haven’t settled that score yet."

With that, Estelle got into her car, which sped away, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake and giving Nathaniel no chance to respond.

Nathaniel Sloan rubbed his fingertips. ’Yes,’ he thought. ’This score is far from settled.’

...

「The Lockwood Residence.」

Noelle Lockwood only "woke up" with a faint groan after she was back at the Lockwood residence.

She looked at Rose Lowell and Austin Lockwood, her eyes brimming with tears. "Dad, Mom..."

"Oh, my precious daughter, don’t talk. That damn Yara... she just had to target you..."

Noelle kept up her benevolent act. "Mom, Yara is a victim in this, too. It’s just... my right ear. I’m afraid it’s permanently damaged."

"An internationally renowned ear specialist is coming to Crestfall in a few days. When they arrive, I’ll take Noelle for a consultation."

Austin Lockwood spoke up.

Rose Lowell had also heard of this ear specialist. Everyone spoke of the doctor with reverence, and Rose had felt the same way at first. But when she chanced to learn that the famous specialist was a woman, her respect turned to contempt.

’A woman should be at home taking care of her husband and children. What’s she doing out here playing doctor? Who knows if she’s even competent.’

Austin Lockwood frowned, having read his wife’s thoughts. "Put away those ignorant notions of yours! That doctor is highly respected and influential. Even I might not be able to secure an appointment. Everyone has to wait in line! We need to find a way to curry favor with her now. Otherwise, do you want Noelle to wait in line for a few years?"

Rose Lowell shut her mouth.

"And Noelle."

Austin Lockwood took a deep breath and asked the question that had been on his mind the entire ride home.

"Since this fire was started by your manager colluding with your fans, then five years ago..."

Austin looked into Noelle’s eyes. "The fire five years ago... was it really Estelle’s suicide that dragged you into it?"

Noelle’s throat tightened, and her pupils constricted in shock!

’Five years ago, five years ago... Why is Dad asking about five years ago!’

’Estelle Lockwood is dead and gone! A dead person! Why does he have to bring her up again! I’m the true daughter of the Lockwood family, the apple of my parents’ and grandparents’ eyes! Can’t those shameless bitches trying to steal my place just die for good!’

Rose Lowell shrieked, "Austin, why are you asking that! What are you implying? That our daughter would lie to us? If Estelle didn’t start that fire, then who did? It’s not like Noelle would deliberately try to kill that country bumpkin!"

Austin didn’t even glance at Rose. "Noelle, you answer."

Noelle was frantic. ’I don’t know where I messed up. Why is Dad starting to suspect me? What gave me away?’

But despite her inner turmoil, Noelle put on a surprised expression. "Dad... why would you ask something like that?"

"I also had a hard time believing that my sister would deliberately start a fire to commit suicide five years ago, but all the evidence pointed to it... If you think there’s something suspicious about her death, Dad, why don’t we find the doctors and nurses from back then and ask them about what happened?"

’Noelle inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she had already dealt with and bribed all those doctors and nurses.’

Austin stared intently at Noelle’s face for a long moment before finally looking away. "Alright, Noelle. I believe you."

Noelle let out a huge sigh of relief, but her heart seethed with even greater hatred for Estelle Lockwood.

’Plenty of people must still suspect her. Maybe... I should leak the story of what happened five years ago...’

...

When Estelle returned to Imperial Crest, she was met with the sight of three little ones with red, swollen eyes from crying.

She hugged them one by one. "There, there. Mommy’s okay. I’m really okay, you don’t have to worry."

Zachery pursed his lips, his bright black eyes, like glass beads, glistening with tears. "Mommy, we wanted to visit you at the hospital, but Grandpa Chapman wouldn’t let us. We missed you so much."

Estelle was momentarily confused, but then she figured Chapman was probably worried that the fans and reporters lurking outside the hospital might hurt them, so he hadn’t let them visit her.

"Mommy knows her sweet Zachery was worried, so can you please stop crying now?"

Zachery whimpered a little. "Okay."

Then he balled his little hand into a fist. "If that bad woman comes back, I’ll protect you, Mommy!"

A warmth spread through Estelle’s heart. She shared a piece of good news with the children. "By the way, your Grandma Vance is coming to visit in the next couple of days. Are you excited?"

Mrs. Kendrick’s maiden name was Eleanor Vance. She was an internationally renowned ear specialist who had been invited to Crestfall for a medical conference.

"Yay! Oh, right, Mommy!"

Zachery’s eyes lit up as if he’d just remembered something. He pulled Christian to his side and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Mommy, I have something to tell you!"

Estelle crouched down to look at Zachery and Christian. ’Hmm? What’s this about? Why did he have to pull Christian over? Does it have something to do with him?’

Then, she heard Zachery announce, "Mommy, the results from that parent-child DNA test we did at preschool last time are back!"

’That time at preschool...’

’Oh, right. That science event at the preschool. Zachery had dragged her into doing a parent-child DNA test with him.’

’But what does that have to do with Christian?’