Claire Yeats suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
Before she could speak, the receptionist from earlier hurried over and said to Estelle Lockwood apologetically, "President Lockwood, I invited the two of them to wait in the reception room or the lounge earlier, but Miss Yeats suddenly sprained her ankle. She said the air in the lounge was stuffy and wanted to rest in the lobby near the door.
"Even though I tried to persuade Miss Yeats that the lounge had a better environment, she insisted. After all, Miss Yeats is a guest, and we couldn’t forcefully demand that a guest go to the lounge."
Claire’s expression shifted slightly.
The two CEOs were shrewd men; they instantly figured it out. She was simply dissatisfied that Mr. Sloan and Miss Lockwood hadn’t personally come downstairs to welcome her immediately.
But as Miss Lockwood had just said, these two siblings from the Yeats family had shown up without an appointment. Who could have known they would suddenly visit today, at this exact time? Mr. Sloan and Miss Lockwood had work to do. For her to actually blame them for not dropping everything to greet her right away—who did she think she was? She just carried the title of Miss Yeats. Everything she had was given to her by the Yeats family. Without the Yeats family, what would she be?
Yet Claire held such a petty grudge. It was clearly her own fault, but she not only took her anger out on Mr. Sloan and Miss Lockwood, she also put on an act, implying through her words that Miss Lockwood had deliberately ignored her. How truly ridiculous.
Claire’s face looked awful. She wanted to smile but couldn’t. After holding it in for a long time, she finally forced out a stiff smile. "I didn’t explain it clearly. I caused everyone to misunderstand."
"Since you know your behavior causes misunderstandings for me, I hope Miss Yeats will have fewer ’misunderstandings’ next time," Nathaniel Sloan said, his expression icy.
Claire’s originally smug expression completely vanished, leaving her looking wretched and embarrassed.
Evan Yeats couldn’t bear to see his sister being made things difficult for like this. He hurriedly stepped forward and said gently, "Mr. Sloan, I’m very sorry. Claire and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. Can we go upstairs first?"
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes as he swept his gaze over Mr. Yeats. Unlike Young Mr. Yeats, this Mr. Yeats had given up his inheritance rights since childhood. He hadn’t learned anything a leader of the Yeats family should learn, nor did he possess the calm sharpness a person in power should have. He was like a blank sheet of paper, almost ridiculously naive.
However, Nathaniel wouldn’t interfere with the kind of life others chose to lead. He simply disliked the fact that after the old master of the Yeats family, the Family Head, and the Young Master had all made their stances clear, this man still brought Claire here to look for Estelle.
Estelle was already asking faintly, "Do you two need something from us?"
Before Evan could speak, Claire was already saying with an apologetic face, "Miss Lockwood, regarding the earlier misunderstanding where I thought you wore a fake evening gown, I’ve always wanted to find an opportunity to formally apologize to you. I’m sorry, it was my fault. I accused you without finding out the truth first."
Evan hurriedly spoke up for his sister. "Yes, Miss Lockwood. I saw how guilty Claire felt, so I figured out a way to bring her over."
Estelle suddenly curled her lips into a half-smile. "Just to apologize?"
Claire’s eyes flickered. "Of course."
Estelle narrowed her eyes. Her gaze landed on Claire before shifting to Evan. Just as Claire thought her plan was about to fail, Estelle suddenly relented. "Alright, please head upstairs."
Evan broke into a smile. "Claire, Miss Lockwood agreed."
Claire’s eyes glinted.
After going upstairs, Claire found a corridor. While Evan wasn’t paying attention, she slipped inside and wandered around for a bit before feigning that she was lost. "Evan, I lost sight of you just now."
Evan didn’t suspect a thing. He said dotingly, "Miss Lockwood is in her office. Claire, if you want to apologize, make sure you do it sincerely. I can tell Miss Lockwood isn’t an unreasonable person."
Hearing Evan praise Estelle, a trace of disgust flashed through Claire’s eyes. However, she didn’t show it.
She had always acted well-behaved in front of Evan. Furthermore, given Evan’s personality, he would never overthink things the way Quentin Yeats did. Therefore, he was the easiest person in the Yeats family to manipulate.
After all, Evan was Old Mr. Yeats’s biological son. Even if the rest of the Yeats family stopped giving her the best treatment in the future, as long as she clung to Evan forever, she would still be able to stand firm in the Yeats family.
In a flash of thought, Claire put on a worried expression. "Evan... could you ask Miss Lockwood to come out? There are other people in the office. I-I’m worried... I just want to apologize to Miss Lockwood in private."
Evan was very understanding of his sister. "Alright, I’ll go speak to her for you."
Inside the office, Estelle raised an eyebrow upon hearing Evan’s words.
"Mr. Yeats, do you mean to say that Claire wants to apologize to me, yet requires me to personally step outside? I would have thought that Miss Yeats’s apology would involve her coming directly to me, completely open and honest. Not demanding that I carve out time to step outside to listen to her special apology just because there are other people in the office."
Estelle twirled her pen. "Is this an apology, or is this just causing trouble for me?"
Several secretaries in the CEO’s office nodded in secret agreement. First, she showed up uninvited and caused a scene in the lobby. Then, she refused to enter the office to apologize and insisted on asking President Lockwood to step out. One must know that President Lockwood held multiple positions and only came to Evernight International two days a week. There were many things requiring her review; she was incredibly busy.
Miss Yeats supposedly felt "guilty" in her heart and came to apologize, yet she still needed Miss Lockwood, the victim, to coddle her. Was this how the Yeats family operated?
Evan heard the mockery in Estelle’s words and felt the disdainful gazes of those around him. His face suddenly flushed red.
"Claire... Claire doesn’t mean it like that. She’s a girl, she’s just... just a little..."
Evan’s lips opened and closed, but he couldn’t form a complete sentence for a long while. Finally, he could only mutter, "Miss Lockwood, back then, Claire was just worried that your gown was a fake and would ruin your reputation. It’s just a small matter, isn’t it? Why must you hold on to it and not let go?"
Nathaniel’s eyes darkened.
Estelle signaled for him not to get agitated, then looked at Evan with a half-smile. "Mr. Yeats, are you still unaware of what actually happened with the so-called ’fake gown’?"
Evan looked completely bewildered. He then furrowed his brows, his impression of Estelle worsening slightly.
"It’s just that Claire mistakenly thought you were wearing a fake. She was worried you’d cause a misunderstanding at Ms. Joan Winters’s banquet, so she kindly reminded you. It was her fault for not knowing your gown was genuine back then, but she had good intentions after all."
Evan didn’t understand. Claire clearly had good intentions. A misunderstanding was just a misunderstanding, so why must she be so vindictive about it?
"It seems Claire didn’t tell you the truth."
Estelle looked at Luke White. Luke stepped forward and recounted everything that had happened at the banquet from beginning to end.
Then, Luke concluded, "Miss Claire Yeats wore a fake herself, yet she deliberately distorted the truth, slandering the authentic gown as a fake. At Ms. Joan Winters’s banquet, she mocked Ms. Joan Winters and Ms. Joan Winters’s junior brother, calling them hypocritical plagiarists."