Chapter 380: You can fool everyone, but don’t fool yourself

Chapter 380: Chapter 380: You can fool everyone, but don’t fool yourself

Before long, the race came to an end.

Estelle Lockwood effortlessly crossed the finish line without a single hitch. The crowd instinctively turned around, only to realize that Claire Yeats was still over eight hundred meters behind.

Ordinarily, anyone could cover eight hundred meters in ten minutes. Yet, Claire seemed completely incapable of controlling her horse. She stopped and started, struggling for twenty agonizing minutes before finally reaching the finish line.

Claire’s face shifted between shades of pale and green. When she dismounted, she couldn’t even force a smile.

The racecourse was dead silent.

No one had expected Claire to lose so miserably.

"Mr. Yeats," Estelle broke the silence, in an excellent mood. "So, isn’t it time for you to honor your promise?"

Evan Yeats’s expression stiffened. He could no longer maintain his gentle facade. His eyes practically bulged with fury, and for the first time in his life, he felt a surge of hatred toward Claire!

Claire had explicitly claimed she was an exceptional equestrian! Whenever the topic came up, she would bashfully boast about having a professional certification. How could she possibly lose to Estelle?!

Furthermore, according to the discussions among the coaches earlier, Estelle’s form was far from professional. Yet, she had sailed through the race to claim victory!

Meanwhile, the so-called professional, Claire, had nearly been thrown off multiple times. She couldn’t even handle a highly trained, docile horse from the stable, let alone race...

In fact, Evan had initially considered backing down. It was Claire who firmly insisted that Estelle couldn’t ride and was only putting on an act, which was why Nathaniel Sloan was stepping in to save her pride. Thinking back on it now, he realized he had been played! Nathaniel and Estelle had been setting him up from the very beginning!

If only Claire had been a little more humble, none of this would have happened...

"Speak up, Mr. Yeats!" Liam Sloan gloated arrogantly. Gone was the look of disapproval he had worn earlier. It was as if he wanted everyone to know he had been acting the entire time—and so what if they realized it? They were the fools who fell for it. "And what about you, Young Mr. Rhodes, Young Mr. Lowell? Say something! Cat got your tongue?"

The bystanders chuckled as they remembered how the race was initially proposed.

Young Mr. Rhodes had said that if she could finish within ten minutes of Claire crossing the finish line, he would give her a villa in Crestwater Bay. After that, they had piled on storefronts, jewelry, and other stakes.

Ten minutes? Estelle had arrived far more than ten minutes ahead of Claire!

The young masters of The Capital Circle were drenched in cold sweat, their vision going dark. They had never imagined Estelle had a chance of winning, which was why they had blindly backed Claire...

It was all because Claire had claimed Estelle grew up in the countryside and knew nothing. She had told them that when Estelle returned to the Yeats Family, she had investigated her thoroughly and confirmed she didn’t know how to ride! Combined with Claire’s constant boasting about her equestrian certificate, they had been fully convinced.

Evan couldn’t smile. "Estelle... you won. But that wager was too heavy. Seven percent of the shares is simply too much..."

"Oh, so Mr. Yeats is backing out of the bet now?" Estelle arched an eyebrow. "Then let me ask you this: if I had lost, would you be chasing after Nathaniel right now, demanding his shares?"

Evan lied through his teeth. "Of course not—"

"No, you would." Estelle looked entirely unfazed. "It’s fine if you want to lie to everyone else, but don’t fool yourself."

The onlookers nodded in agreement. Given Mr. Yeats’s aggressive demeanor earlier, if Estelle had lost, her fate would have been far worse than Claire’s right now! Would Mr. Yeats have let that opportunity slip? Impossible. But now that he was the loser, he couldn’t afford the cost and was begging her to drop it.

Evan’s expression shifted wildly from bewilderment to humiliation, and finally to outright rage. In the end, he actually tried to pull rank as her older relative. "You won, and I can give you something else! But treating company shares like a joke is too absurd. Even if Grandpa knew about this, he would never agree!"

Estelle shook her head, speaking as if she were pacifying an intellectually challenged man-child. "Alright, alright. If you’re a sore loser, just say so. Everyone here knows exactly what kind of person you are, Mr. Yeats. No one will laugh at you if you’re honest. Before the race, when you thought I was destined to lose, you were so confident. You literally said, ’If you win, my shares are yours.’

"But now that I’ve actually won, you’re panicking. You’re trying to cover it up, claiming it was just a joke.

"Mr. Yeats, if you don’t have the capital to back it up, stop pretending to be a domineering CEO. It’s embarrassing.

"Ah, but forget it. I’m not short on money anyway. As for the Yeats Family, with you there, I’ll never be able to return. So even if you gave me the shares, I wouldn’t be able to hold onto them. That’s exactly what you’re thinking, isn’t it?

"It doesn’t matter. I’m not the one losing face. It’s just that after today, Mr. Yeats and Miss Yeats will be known as backstabbers who go back on their word. And well, what does that have to do with me?

"Oh, right. Unless you can silence everyone here and stop them from breathing a word of this to the outside world, maybe you can salvage your reputation."

After Estelle spoke, Evan instinctively glanced at the crowd. Aside from the racecourse owner and staff, there were numerous guests present. Everyone wore subtle, knowing expressions.

One guest scoffed. "No way. Is Mr. Yeats really thinking of doing that? He truly lives up to his reputation as a wealthy young master from Capital City. So domineering! With this many people here, he expects to just gag us all?"

"Of course. This would completely destroy Mr. Yeats’s perfect image. Just think about it—Evan stole the artwork created by Estelle’s parents, claimed it as his own, and crowned himself the ’Genius Painter’. When he was exposed, did he apologize? Did the Yeats Family say anything?"

"But Estelle is a member of the Yeats Family too..."

"She’s just a granddaughter from a side branch. Her mother was only Old Mr. Yeats’s niece. How could she possibly compare to Evan, a direct descendant? That’s why Estelle said she couldn’t return to the Yeats Family. She probably realizes how heavily biased they are."

"They’ve always been biased! Setting aside everything else, the Yeats Family never gave an explanation regarding what happened to Estelle’s father. Evan didn’t feel an ounce of guilt, yet he still wants to scheme against her time and time again..."

"Isn’t Mrs. Yeats here too? Doesn’t she care? I thought she was famous for being a strict mother."

"Ha!" someone laughed. "You actually believe that? When Evan stole that painting, who ended up taking the blame? Who became the scapegoat? How much do you think he actually listens to that ’strict mother’ of his?"

The group exchanged knowing glances. The Yeats Family truly was a wealthy powerhouse. The situation was incredibly... complicated.

Evan’s face turned green, then white. Every route of escape had been completely cut off. But... but he absolutely could not hand over those shares!

"Estelle, Mr. Sloan!" Claire suddenly stepped forward, biting her lip with a mournful expression. "Please, don’t be like this. We are all family. Estelle, why are you doing this? If you want shares in the Yeats Group, I can talk to Grandpa for you, alright? Just don’t take Evan’s."

Estelle clicked her tongue. Had this little two-faced hypocrite not been slapped in the face enough times yet?