Hearing Baxter’s disdain for Estelle in his voice, Lance shook his head and shot Baxter á look of mock sympathy. “If Estelle hears that, you can kiss that rubellite you have your eyes on goodbye.”
Baxter rolled his eyes at how seriously Lance was putting it. He was making it sound as though Estelle was a person of great importance.
“Have you been in contact with her for the past five years?” Dillon asked.
Lance seemed to detect a hint of murderous intent in Dillon’s eyes. He quickly wiped the casual smile off his face and shook his head. “Of course not! We’re tight buddies! If I’d known she was still alive, I’d have told you right away!”
Hearing what he wanted to hear, Dillon no longer pressed on further. He pulled out a black card and handed it to Lance. “Your emerald pendant from the Azmaranth period—I’m buying
it.”
Lance’s eyes widened at that. The very next moment, he forced a wry smile. “Dillon, that pendant’s a family heirloom. How am I supposed to explain this to my grandfather?”
“That’s something for you to figure out.”
Then, he lifted his glass and clinked it against Lance’s.
Lance fell silent after seeing how determined Dillon was to get the emerald pendant. A while later, he gave a cryptic smile and began studying Dillon.
Baxter couldn’t make sense of the awkward atmosphere between the two, so he moved to sit with the others. As they exchanged gossip, he got to know that Estelle was still being attacked online. He turned to look at Dillon curiously.
“Aren’t you going to help her?”
“Help her? Why should I?” Dillon asked, quirking a brow as danger danced in his eyes. He looked like he couldn’t wait to see Stellar Foundation collapse.
Baxter shuddered involuntarily. Dillon couldn’t have secretly played a part in things, could he?
Dillon suddenly looked over. Noticing Baxter’s peculiar expression, he frowned slightly.
Baxter was so startled by that that he straightened up immediately. “Dillon, I just think that things are pretty rough for Estelle. She really did have stomach cancer, but with Alison’s twisting things, she’s made Estelle out to be a liar.
“Besides, now that they make it seem like the cancer treatment drug is a hoax, would any investor dare to invest in it?”
Dillon scoffed flippantly. “Those with real insight wouldn’t be fooled by what’s on the surface.
Chapter 61
This was for the best. He decided that Estelle deserved to learn a hard lesson.
Seeing the smile on Dillon’s face, Baxter silently felt a wave of sympathy for Estelle.
While they were having fun, there was chaos over at the lab. Many weren’t pleased with Estelle for not securing any investors. And now, with Jonathan sending them substandard herbs, the team had nothing to work with. As a result, their resentment toward her grew.
By the time she managed to placate everyone, it was already late into the night. She sank into the car seat in exhaustion and stared blankly ahead.
Everything was orchestrated. Someone was meddling behind the scenes. And Estelle couldn’t think of anyone else who would do’this besides Dillon. So, it turned out that he actually hated her that much–so much so that he’d destroy everything she’d worked so hard on.
All of a sudden, a scented sachet was pressed into her hand. Estelle looked down at it before looking up at Seth with guilt in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I seem to have messed things up. Had I not stepped out into the public, perhaps we’d have already found investors, and Mr. Glover wouldn’t have made things hard for us.”
As she spoke, she gradually lowered her head.
Seth felt his heart ache for her when he saw Estelle putting all the blame on herself. He gave her a light tap on the tip of her nose and smiled.
“There was bound to be backlash, no matter who launched the cancer treatment drug. You couldn’t have hidden from the public forever, anyway.‘
Estelle paused for a moment before she smiled once more.
