Chapter 88: Chapter 88: That Person Is the True Heiress of the Lockwood Family, Nathaniel Sloan’s Wife

Noelle Lockwood stood up, looking helpless. Her eyes were red, and she trembled as she bit her lower lip, the picture of misery. "Miss Yara Lockwood, I... I don’t understand what you mean..."

She looked so pitiful that any man who saw her would feel an irresistible urge to protect such a delicate beauty.

Unfortunately for her, the guests were friends of Estelle Lockwood, and Nathaniel Sloan had never been one to fall for such an act.

Estelle Lockwood’s lips curved into a smirk, her words dripping with insinuation. "Noelle Lockwood, didn’t you say you wanted to be my servant and wait on me? Since when do servants eat at the same table as their master? Come on, peel this crab for me."

Laura Jennings was about to erupt in a tirade, but a single glance from Nathaniel Sloan made the words catch in her throat. She mumbled resentfully, "Nathaniel, she’s going too far..."

"Too far?" Estelle asked coolly. "Or was her offer to be my servant just empty words? Was I supposed to put her on a pedestal instead?"

All eyes in the vicinity turned toward them.

Noelle Lockwood’s expression twisted. ’I could just tear Yara Lockwood limb from limb!’

’I was just saying that for show! How dare this Yara Lockwood actually order me around like a real servant? The nerve!’

’But...’

Noelle Lockwood quickly reverted to her innocent, pitiful facade. "Auntie, please don’t be angry with Miss Yara Lockwood. It was my choice... Miss Yara Lockwood, I’ll help you."

After all, Noelle Lockwood was a famous actress. The sight of her acting as a servant in the restaurant quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.

As she peeled the crab, an idea sparked in her mind, and she suddenly cried out, "Ah—"

Everyone turned to look and saw that a piece of crab shell had cut Noelle Lockwood’s hand.

Laura Jennings cried out, her heart aching for the girl. "Are you satisfied now?! There’s a limit to how you can torment someone! Noelle is hurt. Can you just stop?!"

A faint smile played on Estelle Lockwood’s lips. "She’s hurt? Is it serious?"

Noelle Lockwood wept silently. "I’m fine..."

Laura Jennings slammed her chopsticks down with a CLACK. "How could it not be serious?! You told her to peel a crab but didn’t even give her the tools, forcing her to use her bare hands! How is that not going too far?!"

Peeling a king crab shell with your bare hands was indeed painful and a surefire way to get cut.

Estelle Lockwood nodded, only to say coolly, "But if I gave her tools, all the clanging and banging would be too loud. It would disturb our meal."

The friends Henry Kendrick had brought with him immediately chimed in. "Exactly! She’s just a servant, why make such a fuss over her?"

"Would it not be disruptive to have her banging away over there while we’re trying to eat?"

Henry Kendrick already knew what Estelle Lockwood was planning. Suppressing the flicker of pity he felt, he let a cold smirk form on his lips. "Yara, this servant of yours is useless. You’re far too kind, keeping someone so incompetent around."

Laura Jennings’s anger flared. "Shut up, all of you! Nathaniel, you see this, don’t you? You’re standing right here while Yara Lockwood torments Noelle! And you’re just going to let it happen? Do I, your mother, mean nothing to you? Does Noelle mean nothing to you?!"

Hearing Henry Kendrick’s words, Noelle Lockwood felt a vague sense of familiarity, though she couldn’t recall where she might have heard them before.

She didn’t dwell on it, focusing instead on playing the part of the wronged victim. "Auntie, it’s okay. Please don’t be angry on my behalf..."

Noelle Lockwood had already secretly contacted her assistant, telling them to film the scene and post it online.

Though the recent plagiarism scandal had caused her reputation to hit rock bottom, she still had a legion of die-hard fans. A video of ’Yara Lockwood treating her like a servant’ would surely garner sympathy from the general public as well.

Sure enough, comments sympathizing with Noelle Lockwood and questioning Yara Lockwood began to pop up online.

Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze was deep and unreadable. He couldn’t figure out what Yara Lockwood was trying to do.

On the surface, she was tormenting Noelle Lockwood, but it did no favors for her own reputation. In fact, it only made Noelle the object of public sympathy.

Noelle Lockwood’s eyes darted. As she started on the next king crab leg, she deliberately sliced her hand open. Blood instantly began to gush from the wound. "Aaaah..."

"Enough!!!"

Laura Jennings shot to her feet, grabbing Noelle Lockwood’s hand and shrieking, "Yara Lockwood, what in the world are you trying to do! Noelle is not your servant! She is a person of high standing! How could you make her do a servant’s work!"

The room fell silent.

Estelle Lockwood leisurely finished a piece of crab meat and elegantly wiped her mouth before casting a sidelong glance at her.

"So, Miss Noelle’s standing is too high for her to be a servant? I must admit, I wasn’t aware. In what way is Miss Lockwood’s standing so high?"

Noelle Lockwood lowered her eyes. ’Of course my standing is high. I’m the precious daughter of the Lockwood Family. Isn’t that high enough?’

But she always maintained a humble facade in public, so she couldn’t be the one to say it.

Thankfully, Laura Jennings would say it for her.

Laura Jennings frowned, finding Estelle’s words ridiculous. "She is the esteemed daughter of the Lockwood Group, the apple of the Lockwood Family’s eye! How is that not a high standing!"

"Ah, so it’s because of the Lockwood Group that her standing is so high."

Estelle Lockwood nodded and then smiled, seeming to bring up an entirely unrelated matter.

"I wonder if Miss Lockwood remembers an incident from five years and ten months ago? At a socialite’s party, you made someone peel a king crab for you with their bare hands."

Nathaniel Sloan froze.

How could Noelle Lockwood remember something that happened almost six years ago? ’She’s just making things up to torment me!’ she thought.

"It seems Miss Lockwood has forgotten."

Estelle Lockwood smiled faintly. "Then allow me to refresh your memory."

"At the party, you brought a young woman with you and claimed she was your personal maid. You made her peel crab shells for you. King crab shells are so tough that peeling them with bare hands is guaranteed to draw blood, yet you forbade her from using any tools. Your reason was—and I quote—that the ’clanking and banging would be too noisy and interfere with your chat with your friends.’"

As soon as Estelle finished speaking, the other guests began to look at Noelle Lockwood with expressions of utter contempt.

Just moments ago, she had been weeping and whining about having to peel a crab with her bare hands, accusing Yara Lockwood of bullying her both outright and by implication. But as it turned out, Noelle Lockwood had done the exact same thing to someone else.

Laura Jennings clearly hadn’t anticipated this. Her expression froze for a second before she retorted stubbornly, "You... you said it yourself! That woman was Noelle’s maid! It’s perfectly natural for a maid to serve her mistress!"

"Ms. Jennings does have a point," Estelle conceded. "If she was a paid maid, one could argue it was justifiable. However..."

Estelle Lockwood paused. The smile vanished from her eyes, replaced by an icy darkness.

"However, the ’maid’ that Miss Lockwood spoke of back then..."

Estelle Lockwood’s gaze swept across the entire room as she prepared to claim justice for her past self. Her voice rang out, clear and powerful.

"...was the true heir of the Lockwood Family, the real daughter who had just returned home! And at the same time—"

She turned to face Nathaniel Sloan, enunciating every word. "She was also Mr. Sloan’s lawfully wedded wife."

Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze instantly sharpened like a knife, aimed directly at Noelle Lockwood!

Estelle Lockwood’s expression was placid. "Miss Noelle, your standing as the fake heiress is so high that you can’t serve others. So that means the true Lockwood heiress, Nathaniel Sloan’s own wife, can serve you instead. Is that what you’re saying?"