Upstairs, Esther was just about to take a shower when the housekeeper came knocking on her door.
“Miss, Mr. Westvale isn’t feeling well. Why don’t you go check on him? It’s the middle of the night, and there are no good doctors at the hospital anyway! Please, do me this favor, for the sake of the two kids next door!” “He’s faking it, didn’t you notice?” Esther wanted to take a shower and didn’t have time to argue, so she just said, “Take him back. If he doesn’t want to go, then let him stay.” The housekeeper clearly hadn’t expected Evander to be pretending, and stood there stunned for a while before saying, “Then he definitely won’t go back. He looks a bit uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa. How about letting him sleep in the bedroom?” “Will you let him sleep in your room?” The housekeeper was a woman in her fifties, always cold and aloof. Esther didn’t expect her to get so enthusiastic about this Evander matter. The woman replied unexpectedly, “If youUpstairs, Esther was just about to take a shower when the housekeeper came knocking on her door. “Miss, Mr. Westvale isn’t feeling well. Why don’t you go check on him? It’s the middle of the night, and there are no good doctors at the hospital anyway! Please, do me this favor, for the sake of the two kids next door!” “He’s faking it, didn’t you notice?” Esther wanted to take a shower and didn’t have time to argue, so she just said, “Take him back. If he doesn’t want to go, then let him stay.” The housekeeper clearly hadn’t expected Evander to be pretending, and stood there stunned for a while before saying, “Then he definitely won’t go back. He looks a bit uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa. How about letting him sleep in the bedroom?” “Will you let him sleep in your room?” The housekeeper was a woman in her fifties, always cold and aloof. Esther didn’t expect her to get so enthusiastic about this Evander matter. The woman replied unexpectedly, “If you
Esther’s attention was on the thermometer in her hand. She replied casually but felt his body tense up. Only then did she realize what she said. She tried to take it back, but it was obviously too late. The more you try to hide it, the worse it gets. Esther didn’t want to be a stepmom, and Evander was no fool.“Sorry!”The man’s feverish eyes suddenly darkened. He opened his mouth as if to say something but chose to stay silent.“Sorry for what? I haven’t finished yet!”Esther glanced down at the temperature reading — 38 degrees, a fever. After a moment’s pause, she decided to say something to ease his mood. “Being a stepmom depends on the person. No one wants to be the stepmom of a little monster kid. But if it’s for your Zoe, the women who want to be her stepmom would line up around the whole city!”“Really?”Evander, who had been feeling gloomy enough to close his eyes and rest, suddenly perked up at this. After a pause, he asked, “What i
Claire was speechless. So ruthless! She felt all her hairs standing on end.“Mr. Jaelani, don’t you think this whole thing is fishy?”She couldn’t let him keep investigating—if it came back to her, she’d be ruined. She wasn’t some second-rate fake rich girl like Kendall; she was Mills’s legitimate daughter, already lost enough face. She couldn’t lose more.“Kendall started out aiming at Esther, so how did it end up with Mr. Westvale getting caught?”She leaned in and whispered, “As far as I know, Kendall and Esther were besties once. When Esther was still the Davenier family’s golden girl—before she got kicked out—she helped Kendall a lot. The Davenier family even helped solve Bond’s family crisis. But after Esther got kicked out, they broke up. I don’t know the details, but I heard it was Kendall’s fault.”“She dumped her because there was no gain, not only cutting ties but stabbing Esther in the back. Esther’s no ordinary
After leaving, Esther learned that Kendall, after drinking, had indeed lost control, as the secretary said, tearing at her clothes, chasing after men, screaming for help like a madwoman. None of her so-called friends helped, and eventually security escorted her away.The huge commotion involved Evander and the hotel manager, who immediately ordered an investigation. The wine had been completely consumed, leaving no evidence. Surveillance footage only showed the waiter serving drinks, and the waiter was dealt with accordingly.The cause was never found, but based on Kendall’s reaction, it was basically confirmed that something was put into the wine. Everyone’s attention shifted to Evander, thinking…So when they saw the two come out, their gazes changed. The event organizer even came over to greet them.“Mr. Westvale, are you alright?”“The wine issue has already been investigated and handled!”Seeing Evander’s normal expression, not like som
Suddenly pulled back, Esther stumbled and collided into the man’s chest. His voice, rough with urgent breathing, came close, “No way. You fed me that pill, no matter if it’s a laxative or poison, I’ll die in your arms!”“You…”“Esther, I like you!”Before Esther could even struggle, she was cut off after one syllable, “I don’t know if you like me, but at least you definitely don’t hate me!”“Who says I don’t hate you?”The harder Esther struggled, the tighter his grip became. His voice deepened, “If you hate me, why would you feed me pills? You could’ve just let me die!”“That’s because you were going to…” Esther stopped, realizing her explanation sounded weak. Everything she had done just showed how nervous she was around him. How could anyone be nervous about someone they hated?“You… what nonsense are you talking about? Let go of me, my wrist’s breaking, it hurts… it hurts…!”This sudden change of subject was timely but push
“Alright, stop this nonsense. This is a gala, not some street stall. What’s with this drinking contest? No class at all,” Esther sighed.Kendall: “…”Well, that’s true, but…“A drinking contest depends on the occasion, Esther, you really don’t know the rules, do you?”Kendall had stopped nagging, but Claire jumped in to stir the pot, “Kendall, she looks down on you and don’t want to drink with you. You’re supposed to be a socialite in our circle now, and in time, maybe you’ll even break into the high society. If she doesn’t even give you a bit of face, then your social status is pretty pathetic, huh?”Claire had tangled with Esther several times and lost badly each time. Now that she understood what kind of person Esther was, she knew trying to strike from that side was impossible. So, she decided to target the slightly unhinged Kendall instead, saying just the right things.And the already slightly tipsy Kendall fell for it exactly as Clair