Chapter 251: Have Her Soak in the Pool to Clear Her Head

The police car left, and the scene was quiet for a moment.

Pauline Shaw stared at Jane Lancaster, her eyes bloodshot. "How did you know about that night? You’ve known all along, haven’t you?"

She had buried this matter deep in her heart, only ever secretly telling Luna Morgan.

Jane Lancaster didn’t speak, but in her heart, Pauline Shaw already knew the answer.

When Jane Lancaster had advised her to break up, she had seemingly taken the advice, but deep down she was resentful.

The young man’s fierce passion that night was the greatest chip she held, but she didn’t intend to play that trump card right away.

Gordon Dawson wasn’t powerful enough yet. He was incredibly charismatic, but his background was too poor to be persuasive.

Only when Gordon Dawson became powerful and came begging her to get back together could that card become her ace.

At that point, she would be able to rub it in Jane Lancaster’s face, proving how she’d been so wrong to look down on him.

’You may be better than me at everything and win the affection of so many men, but so what? Would anyone ever love you enough to risk their life for you?’

Because of this, for all these years, she had harbored a secret sense of superiority over Jane Lancaster.

But in this moment, that sense of superiority finally and completely crumbled to dust.

"You knew he was just acting, that he was deceiving me, and you never told me. You were planning for this day all along, weren’t you?" Pauline Shaw wiped away her tears and burst into a wild laugh. "Is this what you call friendship? Scheming against your best friend, stabbing her in the back... When it comes to being vicious, I’m still no match for you."

Her eyes were filled with a cold, crazed hatred. "Congratulations. You were one move ahead. You won."

"That’s ridiculous! If Jane had known, she would have told you!" Beverly Lynch retorted loudly. "Jane isn’t that kind of person at all!"

"Jane, say something!" Even though Beverly felt Pauline didn’t deserve an explanation, she couldn’t let Jane be slandered like this.

Jasper Sterling took her hand. "What exactly happened?"

Jane Lancaster looked at Pauline Shaw. "I did tell you. It was in the manila envelope I gave you that day."

Jasper Sterling thought for a moment. "Was that two days before the school anniversary?"

Jane Lancaster nodded.

"What manila envelope? I don’t know anything about it! You’re lying, aren’t you?" Pauline Shaw shouted back.

Jasper Sterling said, "Are you sure? I ran into you in the piano room that day, and I definitely saw you holding a manila envelope."

Pauline Shaw’s eyelid twitched. She remembered. Jane Lancaster really had given her a manila envelope that day.

Just as Jane Lancaster knew her, she knew Jane Lancaster.

The day Jane Lancaster asked her to a coffee shop, she had guessed Jane was going to try and persuade her to break up with Gordon Dawson.

So she had been completely cooperative, playing the role of the perfect, obedient best friend and even swearing she would never see Gordon Dawson again.

She hadn’t believed a word of Jane Lancaster’s slander. The sight of the manila envelope had only disgusted her. ’Investigating someone behind their back like that is so disrespectful.’

So, using the excuse that she was going to the piano room to practice, she had instead gone to the copy room and thrown the manila envelope straight into a paper shredder.

Pauline Shaw screamed like a woman possessed, "Why didn’t you just tell me outright? You kept quiet for all these years! You were just waiting to watch me make a fool of myself, weren’t you?"

Jane Lancaster watched her calmly. "If I had told you, would you have believed me?"

Pauline Shaw froze. No, she wouldn’t have believed her.

As they got older, she had grown sick and tired of Jane Lancaster’s lectures. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shredded the contents of the envelope without a second glance.

Jasper Sterling lowered his gaze. He was beginning to understand Jane Lancaster’s dilemma.

"She didn’t tell you outright back then because she could see you didn’t want to listen. She wanted to preserve your pride and let you save face, but she still put the proof in your hands. Afterward, you broke up with Gordon Dawson anyway, so there was no reason to mention it. As for why she didn’t say anything now—"

Jasper Sterling continued slowly, "You destroyed the evidence. What could she use to prove she was telling the truth? You would have just accused her of slander, wouldn’t you?"

Beverly Lynch seemed to get the gist of it. "Pauline Shaw, are you crazy? Jane was in a coma for three years! She wakes up and finds you together with Gordon Dawson—she’s the one who has a right to be furious! After all the trouble she went to trying to stop you, you still jumped right into his trap. If it were me, I’d just say good riddance and hope you’re chained together for life!"

Pauline Shaw looked up at Jane Lancaster, who was being held protectively by Jasper Sterling. ’She must be so proud of herself right now,’ Pauline thought.

But Jane Lancaster’s expression remained serene, showing none of the smug arrogance of someone who had won.

It was as if she were still the universally praised heiress of the Lancaster family—forever resilient and forgiving.

’Under her glow, I’m always invisible.’

’How could I not hate her?’

"Why don’t you just go die—" The words, like a curse forged from bone-deep hatred, scattered into the cold wind.

Jane Lancaster’s calm expression finally broke.

The corners of Pauline Shaw’s lips finally lifted into a triumphant smirk. "Did you know? All of us wished you would just die..."

"Shut up!" Jasper Sterling’s gaze was frighteningly cold. "Wayne, Will. Ms. Shaw seems to be a little out of it. Help her take a dip in the pool to clear her head."

With that, he moved to help Jane Lancaster leave.

Fear finally appeared in Pauline Shaw’s eyes. "What are you going to do? Jasper Sterling, you can’t do this to me! Jay, save me!"

When Jasper Sterling saw Jane Lancaster pause, he simply swept her up into his arms.

It was too late to cry for Jay’s help now.

He was determined to teach Pauline Shaw a lesson tonight; he wouldn’t let her off easily.

Jane Lancaster felt a bit resigned.

’I wasn’t going to save her anyway. Is he afraid I’ll plead on her behalf? I won’t.’

’I’m just waiting to see if her favorability score has dropped to zero.’

A scream, followed by a loud SPLASH, echoed from behind them, resounding throughout the entire estate.

And at last, Jane Lancaster heard the notification: favorability score cleared to zero.

—

「Aethelgard」

The comment section absolutely exploded.

"What the hell is Jane Lancaster doing? Is she trying to break up the secondary couple?"

"Isn’t she just trying to complete her mission? Pauline Shaw’s favorability score just hit zero."

"But that’s not how you’re supposed to do it! The second male lead is in prison now. How can they play out the ’poor boy makes a comeback as an overbearing CEO and takes care of the fallen heiress’ trope?"

"The whole premise was flawed. Would you really fall in love with the guy who orchestrated your family’s bankruptcy? Gordon was basically a future convict back in high school. It’s fitting that he’s finally in prison."

"I can’t believe even Gordon Dawson saving Pauline Shaw was a setup. I remember he got hurt pretty badly back then. That’s what made me start shipping them."

"LMAO, now that Jane Lancaster is on this mission, I feel like a certain someone’s ’overbearing CEO’ halo has completely shattered."

"Doesn’t this just prove how vicious Jane Lancaster is? Scheming so cruelly against her own best friend. Truly venomous."

"How is that vicious? She only figured out Gordon Dawson was trying to harm her. She had no idea Pauline Shaw was involved. I mean, who would ever imagine a girlfriend helping her boyfriend rape someone?"

"Gotta say, Gordon Dawson was really ahead of his time, wasn’t he? /s"

The comments quickly erupted into another argument. As tempers flared, both sides started dueling by throwing "star power" at the characters.

Unseen by anyone, Jane Lancaster’s star power value was skyrocketing at an astonishing rate.

The Red-Haired Priest frowned at the control console. How could this woman have gained so many supporters? She was about to surpass the main character, Luna Morgan.

With such a high star power value, it was highly likely that even after being extradited to Aethelgard, she would be exempt from imprisonment.

But that didn’t matter. It was a minor issue.

He greedily raised his hand, preparing to pluck the misty mass under Pauline Shaw’s name, but found that he still couldn’t grasp it!

’How is this possible? Hasn’t her favorability score already dropped to zero?!’