Chapter 365: Forcing Old Mrs. Yeats to Apologize

Chapter 365: Chapter 365: Forcing Old Mrs. Yeats to Apologize

Evan gritted his teeth, speechless for a long moment.

"Since Mr. Yeats has nothing to say, shall I hang up?" Estelle asked leisurely. "After all, I’m very busy. How do I know you’re not just messing with me?"

"Wait—"

Evan panicked. Taking a deep breath, his throat tightened. Under the watchful eyes of the shareholders, he finally squeezed the words through his clenched teeth. "Estelle... the artist is indeed your father. Therefore, we need you present for this collaboration. Could you..."

"Oh?" Estelle countered coolly. "Weren’t you denying it to the bitter end just a moment ago? How do you suddenly know the artist is my father? When you were kicking me out, you certainly didn’t have this attitude."

Evan was rendered speechless. He wondered what the hell she wanted. His patience was pushed to its absolute limit, and he wanted to lash out and curse at her for being so ungrateful.

But the moment he met Mr. Lynch’s gaze, he shuddered. "I... I made a mistake earlier. I apologize to you. I..."

"You definitely owe me an apology, but I’m afraid an apology from just Mr. Yeats isn’t enough," Estelle said languidly.

"You all just claimed that you were family to my parents. Since you’re family, how could you not know that my father was the artist? And if you did know, yet still helped him cover it up, that doesn’t make any sense, does it?

"If you want me to come back, fine. I want Old Mrs. Yeats to apologize to me personally."

Evan was dumbfounded. Everyone in the exhibition hall held their breath, instinctively turning to look at Old Mrs. Yeats.

"Impossible!" Evan blurted out without thinking.

"Impossible?" Estelle replied nonchalantly. "Then I suppose I’ll have to seek the court’s help with a few questions.

"For example, why did my parents’ belongings mysteriously disappear, only to end up in the hands of the Yeats family? Why did the Yeats family forcibly claim them despite knowing full well they belonged to my parents? Why did Old Mrs. Yeats deny it to the bitter end? Does stealing from the dead bring her that much joy?

"I’d also like to know how these paintings were stolen, who masterminded the whole thing, who is intentionally keeping me in the dark, and whether my parents’ deaths were truly an accident.

"I’m very curious about all of this. If the Yeats family can’t give me the answers, I’ll just have to ask someone else. Don’t you agree?"

Every single word was backing the Yeats family into a corner.

Evan’s scalp went numb. "The Yeats family... we can give you the answers! Just come back first!"

"But Old Mrs. Yeats knows she did wrong and isn’t even willing to apologize. How can I trust a family like that?"

Estelle twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "What if I go back, finalize the collaboration, and then the Yeats family kicks me to the curb again? After all, I’m just a poor, pitiful orphan."

Evan fell silent again. He wondered how she had the nerve to call herself pitiful when she had practically forced the Yeats family into a dead end. Trembling all over, he watched as the shareholders of the Branch of Yeats Group exchanged uncertain glances.

Seeing Mr. Lynch growing increasingly impatient, one of the shareholders couldn’t help but speak up. "Old Mrs. Yeats, why don’t you... why don’t you just apologize?"

With one person breaking the silence, the others could no longer hold back.

"Yes, it was your fault to begin with. Whether it was intentional or not, the victim has come knocking. They say the dead should be respected, so asking for your apology isn’t going overboard!"

"Old Mrs. Yeats, we’ve already reached this point. As long as you swallow your pride, the collaboration can move forward. Do you really want Estelle to take this to court? The Yeats family would lose all its dignity!"

"Old Mrs. Yeats, please just apologize..."

"Old Mrs. Yeats..."

"All of you, shut up!"

Old Mrs. Yeats’s mind was buzzing with excruciating pain. Trembling all over, she practically shrieked, "You want me, an elder, to apologize to someone of her generation... Why should I?! Does she even deserve it?! Absolutely not!"

The crowd was left speechless. They wondered why Old Mrs. Yeats was acting like she was in the right. It was clearly her grandson who had stolen the belongings of someone else’s parents.

Anyone with eyes could see that Mrs. Yeats had merely been pushed out as a scapegoat by Old Mrs. Yeats. In all likelihood, the old woman knew perfectly well that Evan had stolen Silas Lockwood’s legacy. Yet, instead of making it right, she had deliberately targeted Estelle at every turn, even declaring that Silas was long dead anyway. Now that the truth was out and Estelle was demanding an apology, she was throwing a fit? Did she really think being older automatically made her right?

A few people in the room were already rolling their eyes. Seeing this, Evan grew anxious. "Grandma..."

"Grandma, I’ll apologize on your behalf. Let me do it!" Claire’s eyes suddenly turned red. She stepped forward and grasped Old Mrs. Yeats’s hands, her eyes welling with tears. "I know you didn’t mean for this to happen, but I can also understand Estelle’s anger. She needs an outlet to vent. Although this is all just a misunderstanding, someone needs to take responsibility for it.

"From the very beginning, I was the one who suggested Evan hold this art exhibition. So, everything is my fault. Let me go and apologize!"

Claire’s sudden intervention surprised quite a few people. The shareholders of the Yeats Group exchanged glances, all coming to the same silent conclusion: Claire probably wasn’t doing this willingly either. She was just another scapegoat taking the fall for Old Mrs. Yeats. But right now, as long as Estelle could be appeased, the Yeats family could sort out their own internal mess later.

Still, Claire showed a sense of responsibility. Even though she was only from a branch family, she handled the situation with more grace than Old Mrs. Yeats and had a much better head on her shoulders than Evan.

"Estelle," Claire said softly, "Grandma is an elder, after all. We can talk about these things at home. In front of outsiders, please save some face for her. I’m willing to kneel and apologize to you..."

Estelle chuckled. Claire’s move was indeed clever. It salvaged her own reputation while firmly tying her name to the core Yeats family.

However...

Estelle never expected Old Mrs. Yeats to apologize on the spot anyway. She knew it was impossible, but the collaboration had to proceed. Therefore, she didn’t mind offering them a way out.

"Is that so? Then I’ll come over. Once I see Miss Yeats’s apology, I’ll decide what to say to Mr. Lynch."

Hanging up the phone, Estelle smiled at Penelope. "I’m heading back there."

Penelope was left speechless. She thought, "She is so badass."

Ten minutes later in the exhibition hall, Estelle walked in and immediately became the center of attention. Scanning the room, she noticed Old Mrs. Yeats was nowhere to be seen and raised an eyebrow.

"Estelle." Claire’s eyes were red, looking as though she had suffered some immense grievance. "Grandma is getting older, and her health isn’t great," she said delicately. "She was just agitated, so..."

"Are you saying that asking Old Mrs. Yeats to apologize to me agitated her?" Estelle completely shut down Claire’s attempt to play the innocent victim. Opting for blunt sincerity, she asked, "Is Old Mrs. Yeats really that fragile? A simple apology agitates her, but I didn’t see her getting agitated when she was slandering my parents."