A glint of a smile flashed in Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes, but his gaze was immediately shrouded in coldness again.

"Let’s go have a look."

Nathaniel Sloan started walking, and Liam Sloan hurried to catch up. "Bro, wait for me!"

...

Vivian Lowell sat collapsed on the floor, completely stunned once she processed what had happened.

She knew that wedding dress. It was a one-of-a-kind piece by the great designer ’Ken’, adorned with over nine hundred diamonds and sapphires.

The body of the dress was made from a rare mermaid silk—light, shimmering, and priceless.

And now, she had torn that mermaid silk. Diamonds were scattered all over the floor.

The wedding dress was ruined!

The color drained from Noelle Lockwood’s face!

"AHH!!" Vivian Lowell couldn’t accept it. She began to tremble all over, scrambling backward. "No, it has nothing to do with me! It wasn’t me! I don’t know..."

Never mind the fact that she couldn’t afford to offend ’Ken’—she couldn’t even afford to pay for the dress itself!

Vivian Lowell was truly panicking. In her desperation, she tried to pin the blame on someone else.

"Yara Lockwood! It was you! It was all you! You’re the one who ruined the wedding dress, it has nothing to do with me! Go to her for compensation!"

After speaking, she turned to the people nearby, seeking validation. "You all saw it, right? The person I was trying to hit was Yara Lockwood. I only touched the dress because she dodged! It has nothing to do with me! It’s all Yara Lockwood’s fault!"

As she spoke, a commotion arose nearby. Henry Kendrick walked over quickly. "That’s ridiculous! You try to hit someone, and Yara isn’t allowed to dodge? Does she have to just stand there and let you hit her?"

"But that’s how it is..." Vivian Lowell was about to roar back when Noelle Lockwood suddenly squeezed her wrist, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Following Noelle Lockwood’s gaze, everyone trembled.

Nathaniel Sloan!

Vivian Lowell’s eyes lit up. She scrambled up from the floor as if she had found her savior.

"Noelle, it’s Mr. Sloan!"

Without missing a beat, Vivian Lowell began to tattle. "Mr. Sloan, Yara Lockwood deliberately ruined this wedding dress and then framed me for it! You have to make her pay!"

Estelle Lockwood narrowed her eyes. ’Heh.’

Noelle Lockwood’s expression shifted. She bit her lip gently and suddenly took a step forward, her expression one of forbearance.

"Nathaniel, you can’t actually blame Yara entirely. I don’t know what got into her just now, but she seemed very angry and started arguing with Vivian. Vivian acted impulsively and accidentally damaged the dress."

She sighed. "I’m Vivian’s older sister. I’ll take the blame for her. Nathaniel, if you’re going to blame someone, blame me."

Estelle Lockwood sneered. ’What a classic bitch in sheep’s clothing. Why pretend to be some innocent little flower?’

The implication was clear: even though Vivian Lowell was the one who damaged the dress, it was because Estelle Lockwood had deliberately provoked her into taking action. If one were to trace it back to the root cause, it was all Estelle’s fault.

But she, the gentle and magnanimous Noelle Lockwood, was willing to accept the blame.

The moment Vivian Lowell heard this, she immediately chimed in, "Right, right! It was all because Yara Lockwood deliberately provoked me! Otherwise, I never would have touched the dress! Everyone saw it, didn’t you?"

As her voice fell, the people around exchanged glances for a moment.

The sales staff who had come with Noelle Lockwood naturally had to curry favor with the Sloan Family’s presumed future daughter-in-law.

Besides, given the relationship between Noelle Lockwood and Nathaniel Sloan as fiancés, would Mr. Sloan really punish his fiancée’s sister?

Someone had to be the scapegoat for this incident, and Yara Lockwood was clearly the best choice!

"Yes, yes, it was indeed Yara Lockwood’s fault just now. If she hadn’t provoked Vivian Lowell, Miss Vivian wouldn’t have acted so rashly..."

"Yara Lockwood insisted on dodging. And by dodging, didn’t she cause Miss Vivian to crash into the dress?"

"Mr. Sloan, Yara Lockwood did it on purpose! You can’t possibly blame Miss Noelle!"

Nathaniel Sloan’s eyes turned icy. "Yara Lockwood, you speak."

Estelle Lockwood clicked her tongue. ’What’s there to say? This man always shows up whenever Noelle Lockwood needs him. And now, after hearing a couple of her lies that twist the truth, he’s here to question me.’

She turned her head and looked directly at Henry Kendrick. "Go get the security footage. No point wasting my breath on certain people who don’t seem to understand plain language."

Nathaniel Sloan’s lips tightened into a thin line. ’She actually ignored me!’

Liam Sloan: "..." The more Liam Sloan listened, the more he felt something was off. ’Does my sister-in-law have a huge misunderstanding about my brother?!’

’And seriously, bro, with that stiff, icy tone, who could possibly tell you’re here to help her?’

Nathaniel Sloan abruptly raised his eyes. "There’s no need for the security footage."

A flash of joy crossed Noelle Lockwood’s face.

’Nathaniel contradicted Yara and said there was no need for the footage. Doesn’t that mean he believes me?’

Noelle Lockwood took two steps closer, brushing her arm against Nathaniel Sloan’s as if by accident, and looked pointedly at Estelle Lockwood.

"Yara, it’s not that Nathaniel doesn’t believe you. It’s just that it wouldn’t be good to let this escalate. Getting the security footage is such a hassle and a waste of everyone’s time, don’t you think?"

Estelle Lockwood’s smile turned cold. She couldn’t tell if the feeling in her heart was bitterness or a sense of irony.

’Nathaniel Sloan really knows how to play dumb. He can twist something so obvious. And here I thought that after everything that’s happened, he would have started to distance himself from Noelle Lockwood. I guess I was overthinking things!’

Vivian Lowell was triumphant and gloating. She shouted arrogantly, "Did you hear that! Mr. Sloan, I heard this dress is worth a hundred million. Since Yara Lockwood ruined it, shouldn’t you make her pay for it and then throw her out!"

Vivian Lowell let out a huge sigh of relief. She knew that with Noelle protecting her, nothing bad would happen.

’Didn’t everything get resolved the moment Mr. Sloan arrived?’

Nathaniel Sloan’s gaze was impassive. "The person who ruined the wedding dress should indeed be thrown out."

Liam Sloan’s eyes widened as if he’d been struck by lightning.

’Bro!! My own dear brother!! Do you have any idea how to date? If you don’t, I’ll do it for you!!’

’You’re not only helping Noelle Lockwood bully my sister-in-law, you’re trying to throw her out, too! Forget the groveling-for-forgiveness arc; you’re going straight to getting your ashes scattered to the wind!’

Liam Sloan rolled his eyes as he heard Nathaniel Sloan speak again, his voice perfectly calm. "Guards."

The bodyguards quickly stepped forward.

Vivian Lowell’s smile grew wider and wider. ’Soon, so soon! Mr. Sloan is about to throw Yara Lockwood out!’

Noelle Lockwood also let a shy smile grace her lips.

’Even though Nathaniel has been running hot and cold with me lately, when it comes to things like this, he still cares about me.’

’It’s not that I want to drive Yara away, but who told her to stand in my way?’

Noelle Lockwood bit her lip with feigned sympathy. "Nathaniel, Yara is a woman, after all. It would be so humiliating for her to be thrown out like this. Perhaps we could..."

"Guards. Throw Vivian Lowell and Noelle Lockwood out."

Nathaniel Sloan gave the order coolly. The surroundings fell silent as everyone stared at each other in bewilderment.

Noelle Lockwood’s words caught in her throat. Her expression changed in an instant!

Estelle Lockwood froze, instinctively looking up.

Liam Sloan lowered the hand he’d been using to pinch the space under his nose, immensely relieved. ’Good, great! My brother can move out of the crematorium now!’

Vivian Lowell stood stunned for several seconds before hurriedly saying, "Mr. Sloan, you... you must have made a mistake! The one who ruined the dress was Yara Lockwood! Why are you throwing me and Noelle out?"

"When you said there was no need for the security footage, wasn’t it because you believed Noelle?"

Noelle Lockwood bit her lip and said nothing, but that was indeed what she had thought as well.

Nathaniel Sloan let out a slow laugh.

His gaze was glacial, his light gray eyes holding not a trace of warmth as they rested quietly on Noelle Lockwood.

"I said there was no need for the security footage because."

The man spoke, word by word, "I saw everything."