Chapter 366: Just Being Sincere: Aren’t They Just Courting Death?

Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Just Being Sincere: Aren’t They Just Courting Death?

Claire was left completely speechless.

When Claire and her wealthy socialite friends traded veiled barbs, they always kept things subtle. She had never seen someone as wildly direct as Estelle, who just laid it all out in the open.

Was that even something you could just ask out loud?!

The bystanders were equally speechless. It was true. Just a moment ago, Old Mrs. Yeats had clutched her chest, wailing about "unfilial descendants," and then fainted. Then Evan and Claire had put on a show of being the most devoted grandchildren. One tearfully claimed that Estelle had gone too far, while the other defended her, saying that she hadn’t done it on purpose since she didn’t know about their grandmother’s heart condition.

They made it seem as though Old Mrs. Yeats fainting was entirely Estelle’s fault. But now that Estelle had bluntly called them out—honestly, what did this have to do with her? Hadn’t Old Mrs. Yeats brought her "fainting" spell upon herself?

Claire’s smile froze. "Es... Estelle, she is our elder, after all..."

"Oh. So simply being an elder gives someone the right to steal relics, deny it, and then play the victim?" Estelle asked faintly.

Claire had no response. Taking a deep breath, she shifted the topic. "Grandma just... just couldn’t handle the shock for a moment. Don’t worry. Once we get home, Grandma will definitely apologize to you and your parents. Right, Estelle, we asked you to come back to discuss the collaboration..."

Estelle turned around, her gaze meeting Nathaniel Sloan’s. Nathaniel gave a slight nod.

President Sherman said with a smile, "Now that Mr. Silas Lockwood’s daughter is here, we can indeed discuss the collaboration. Don’t worry, Miss Lockwood. Mr. Evan Yeats has already agreed to return all the paintings to you."

Estelle gave a half-smile. "Is that so?"

Evan’s expression stiffened, his mouth twitching. At this point, he couldn’t back out of returning them even if he wanted to!

Since the collaboration was decided and Estelle had agreed, the staff from the branch of the Yeats Group finally breathed a sigh of relief. The people around them also began offering their congratulations. In truth, this arrangement was entirely beneficial to the Yeats Group with no downsides whatsoever.

Even if Evan was currently being mocked, Estelle was still considered one of the Yeats. Not to mention, Eleanor Yeats had been raised by Old Mr. Yeats as his own daughter and truly possessed the Yeats family bloodline. Furthermore, the collaboration would ultimately fall to the branch of the Yeats Group, and the person currently in charge of the branch was Evan. In the end, after all the maneuvering, the benefits would still loop back to him.

But the premise for all of this was that the collaboration between Estelle and Mr. Lynch was genuine.

But was that really the case? No, it wasn’t. This "collaboration" was fundamentally just a part of Estelle’s plan. So, would Evan actually get what he wanted? Estelle never let her enemies get their way.

However, Evan was oblivious to this. At this moment, he finally let out a breath of relief.

President Sherman bowed slightly. "Well then, Miss Lockwood, how about we make a verbal agreement first?"

Estelle nodded, then smiled again. "Before we make an agreement, there is one more thing." She looked at Claire with a cheerful smile. "Miss Yeats, what about the kneeling apology we agreed on?"

Dead silence fell over the surroundings.

Claire’s expression froze as her smile vanished in an instant.

Estelle tilted her head. "Earlier, Old Mrs. Yeats refused to apologize, and you said you would kneel to apologize on her behalf. I thought a kneeling apology carried so much weight that it would be incredibly disrespectful of me not to show up. That’s why I came back... Since I’m here, you can apologize now, Miss Yeats. Go ahead and kneel. I’m waiting."

Nathaniel finally couldn’t hold back a chuckle. He realized Estelle still refused to take even the slightest loss.

Claire nearly fainted on the spot. At the time, she had figured that simply getting Estelle to show up would be enough. Once Estelle arrived, she would surely agree to the collaboration under everyone’s persuasion. By then, how could Estelle possibly have the nerve to make her kneel? Besides, when she said she was willing to kneel, she was only trying to play up her filial piety. Who said she was actually going to kneel?! And to a bitch like Estelle, of all people! She absolutely refused!

"Has Miss Yeats gone back on her word?" Estelle tsked a couple of times. She sighed. "I really don’t know what to say about the Yeats family...

"First, Evan exhibited my father’s works. Then, Mrs. Yeats impersonated the artist. After that, Old Mrs. Yeats played favorites, blindly insulted my deceased parents, and drove me away.

"When I demanded an apology, Old Mrs. Yeats refused. Fortunately, Miss Yeats said she was willing to apologize. I thought, since we’re family, I’d give Miss Yeats some face.

"I never expected that even Miss Yeats was lying to me...

"It’s clearly your fault, yet I’m the one being driven away, insulted, and bullied. When I want an apology, every single one of you is reluctant.

"Old Mrs. Yeats said she is an elder, so even if she made a mistake, she could never apologize to a junior like me. Fine. I accept that excuse.

"But what about Miss Yeats?"

Estelle feigned curiosity as she turned the question on her. "Miss Yeats and I are of the same generation. For her to promise an apology and then back out—does she think I’m an easy target? Or does she think that now the collaboration is settled, any further fuss from me would mean I’m disregarding the Yeats family’s interests? So my parents and I just deserve to be bled dry by the Yeats family?"

Claire’s face turned bright red, her entire body trembling. She could already feel the surrounding gazes on her growing increasingly strange. She wanted to say that it wasn’t true, that this bitch Estelle was speaking nonsense! But she couldn’t utter a single word; she didn’t know how to refute it!

"Estelle..."

"Forget it." Estelle suddenly shrugged and shook her head in disappointment. "The collaboration is practically finalized... If I back out now, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to walk out this door before the Yeats Group shareholders skin me alive.

"I imagine Mr. Yeats and Miss Yeats have pegged me exactly for this.

"Fine. I’ll just agree to it."

The Yeats family shareholders didn’t dare to speak. Putting on a powerless expression, Estelle gave a bitter smile.

Nathaniel’s eyes were icy. "The Yeats family has certainly opened my eyes."

President Sherman burst into loud laughter. "What are you talking about, Miss Lockwood? We haven’t signed anything yet, have we? A verbal agreement doesn’t count. My, my, since Miss Yeats is unwilling to apologize, our Mr. Lynch doesn’t want to see Miss Lockwood suffer any grievances either. Actually, regarding this collaboration, it’s perfectly fine to partner solely with Miss Lockwood."

Nathaniel gave a faint hum of agreement. "Then, Miss Lockwood, may I have a word with you in private?"

Evan was utterly dumbfounded. How had things turned out like this again?! Hadn’t they already finalized the collaboration? Why, in the blink of an eye, was Mr. Lynch leaving again?! And the root cause of all this was Old Mrs. Yeats’ refusal to apologize...

No, Claire had already stated that she was willing to kneel and apologize on her grandmother’s behalf.

Therefore... everyone turned to look at Claire.

Claire’s face turned deathly pale. She stumbled, hastily taking half a step back. She understood. She finally seemed to understand. Estelle’s target today hadn’t been Old Mrs. Yeats at all—it was her.

Why? Estelle should hate Old Mrs. Yeats and Evan the most. Why had the hatred shifted onto her? Did Estelle know something?

But now, whether she kneeled or not was no longer up to Claire to decide. No one could bear the consequences of Mr. Lynch terminating the contract.