Chapter 40 A Slap for Silence
Finished
Seeing Isabelle’s panic, Estella sneered. “What do you think would happen if I handed this recording to the police? Think you’d still have a future?”
Isabelle clenched her jaw. “What do you want me to do to delete it?”
Estella smiled faintly. “Two conditions. First, fix the rumors. If anyone is still gossiping or icing me out tomorrow, I’ll hand over the recording immediately.”
Isabelle seethed with rage, but she had no choice. “Fine. I’ll clear things up. But you’d better hold up your end too. What’s the second:
Estella didn’t answer.
Instead she stepped forward and slapped Isabelle across the face. Hard.
Isabelle stood there, stunned.
Then came another–followed by several more, each more brutal than the last.
Only when Estella’s palm throbbed with pain did she finally stop.
Isabelle’s face was swollen, red, and stinging. Her eyes filled with tears.
Estella, now calm, asked, “You’re not going to tell anyone I hit you, are you?”
Isabelle, humiliated and trembling, murmured, “I tripped… I fell on my own.”
Estella patted her cheek with a smile. “That’s better.”
And with that, she turned and walked off.
Isabelle stood frozen in the corridor, shaking with fury–but with that damning recording in Estella’s hands, there was nothing she could do.
She stomped her foot in frustration. How had Estella even convinced the kidnappers to record that call?
But there was no going back now. She had to accept the consequences.
Sull, she wouldn’t let her injuries go to waste.
She slipped on a face mask and headed straight for Hartwell Group to find Nathaniel.
Nathaniel was already in a foul mood because of Estella, and her visit didn’t help.
He barely looked up at first–until she pulled down her mask, revealing her swollen cheek.
He finally noticed. “Isabelle, what happened to your face?”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “At the orchestra. Estella slapped me. Out of nowhere! I don’t even know why. Nathaniel.. is she going crazy?”
Nathaniel assumed Estella was lashing out because of the kidnapping.
He felt guilty and didn’t want to speak ill of her. Instead, he gently reassured Isabelle, “I did something to hurt her. She’s upset and I don’t blame her for acting out. I’m sorry you got caught in the middle. I’ll make it up to you. I had Whitney win two pieces of jewelry at auction–I’ll give them to you today, alright?”
Isabelle blinked
He wasn’t going to defend her?
In the past, even the slightest complaint and he’d scold Estella for her.
Now nothing?
Chapter 40 A Slap for Silence
She swallowed her anger, afraid that if she pushed, Nathaniel would drift further toward Estella.
Moments later, Whitney brought the jewelry.
When Isabelle saw the necklace and bracelet in the box, she immediately recognized them.
She’d seen Whitney bid on them before Christmas.
She had thought they were a gift Nathaniel had prepared for her–and had been waiting ever since.
But he never gave them to her.
She’d assumed they went to Madeline.
Turns out, they’d just been sitting there.
So who were they originally meant for?
She stayed a while longer with Nathaniel, then left with a storm brewing in her heart.
#Finished
Later, she found Whitney and carefully pried for answers–only to learn Nathaniel had gone to see Estella on Christmas Eve.
So the jewelry was meant for Estella all along?
Isabelle’s blood boiled.
Estella doesn’t deserve jewelry like this.
And now that Estella had gotten her footing back at the orchestra, Isabelle grew even more uneasy.
She couldn’t just sit around.
She had to get rid of Estella–fast.
The next day, Estella returned to the orchestra and noticed a dramatic change.
The other members were noticeably friendlier–no more tripping, no more locker sabotage, no more cold shoulders.
Still, their eyes held a faint trace of pity.
Estella couldn’t help but wonder what Isabelle had told them.
At lunch, she sat with Trent. It wasn’t long before he brought it up.
“Estella, so it’s true? You were kidnapped the night of the performance?”
Trent’s concern was genuine. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
Estella hadn’t wanted to share this.
People talked. Even if nothing happened, rumors would spread.
She was already angry at Isabelle’s performative sympathy–but she didn’t show it with Trent.
Calmly, she replied, “I’m fine. The police came quickly, and they were all arrested.”
Trent asked, “Why’d they kidnap you?”
