Chapter 174: Just a Dishonorable Method

Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Just a Dishonorable Method

"Yes, they’re all picked out." Vesper Grayson nodded slightly and took an exquisitely crafted invitation from her bag, handing it over.

Shiloh Sloan took it and examined it closely, unable to hold back her praise. "This is so exquisite! The wedding is actually on Moonlight Isle? I heard that’s a private island that’s never open to the public."

"It’s a property of one of Jared Hawthorne’s friends. He specially borrowed it for the occasion," Vesper Grayson replied with a faint smile.

"President Hawthorne is truly devoted to you. I’m so happy for you, from the bottom of my heart!" Shiloh Sloan said in a low voice, her face full of relief and joy.

...

Meanwhile, Summer ran back to the Summers Family estate, crying and clutching her fiery, swollen cheek. As soon as she saw Hank Summers walking slowly down the stairs, she threw herself at him and began to wail about her grievance.

"Brother, you have to stand up for me! That bitch Shiloh Sloan almost disfigured me! You have to teach her a lesson for me!"

Hank Summers’s heart ached seeing her cheek swollen high and the corner of her lip bleeding.

"What exactly happened? Weren’t you with your sister-in-law picking out a wedding dress? How did you end up like this?"

"When I was getting hit, my sister-in-law was just standing there watching! She didn’t help me at all! Brother, I hate her! I don’t want her as my sister-in-law! Don’t marry her!"

Lindsay Sawyer, who had just walked in, happened to hear this and began to tremble with rage.

"Summer, have some decency! You were clearly the one who started it, and now you’re trying to pin the blame on me? Did you want me to get beaten up alongside you?"

Hank Summers shot Lindsay Sawyer a displeased glance and said in a low voice, "Both of you, stop arguing! Explain what happened from beginning to end, clearly!"

Suppressing her fury, Lindsay Sawyer recounted the entire sequence of events. Then she looked at Hank Summers, her tone firm.

"Hank Summers, if you’re just going to blindly side with your senseless little sister and believe her nonsense, then our engagement is off!"

"What are you talking about! I just want to get the story straight, I’m not siding with anyone!" Hank Summers quickly tried to placate her. He genuinely liked Lindsay Sawyer, and even though he fooled around on the side, he had never considered calling off the engagement. Moreover, the Summers and Sawyer families had close business ties and deeply entangled interests. Calling off the engagement now would inevitably cause huge losses for their companies.

Lindsay Sawyer slammed her handbag onto the sofa and crossed her arms. "Summer brought this on herself. She knew she was no match for Shiloh Sloan, but she still had to provoke her again and again. It’s no wonder she couldn’t capture Nolan Forrester’s heart after all these years."

"Brother! Look at her! I’m already beaten this badly, and she’s just standing there making snide remarks and gloating!" Summer cried her heart out, pointing at Lindsay Sawyer and shouting, "I forbid you two to get married! I will absolutely not have her as my sister-in-law!"

"What your sister-in-law said isn’t entirely without reason. If you really had what it takes, how could you have failed to win over Nolan Forrester after all these years?" Hank Summers’s expression darkened, his tone holding a hint of reprimand. He then looked back at Summer and placated her, "As for that Shiloh Sloan, I’ll find a chance to teach her a lesson for you and get your revenge."

Choking back sobs, Summer grabbed Hank Summers’s hand, her gaze obsessive and determined. "Brother, I don’t care! I have to marry Nolan Forrester! You have to help me!"

Seeing her crying and stubbornly refusing to see reason, Hank Summers furrowed his brow. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly said, "There is one way... but the methods aren’t exactly honorable."

"As long as I can marry Nolan Forrester, I’m willing to try any method!" Summer instantly stopped crying, a fiery light kindling in her eyes, her tone resolute.

Hank Summers leaned in and whispered a few words in her ear.

"Brother, will that really work?" Summer looked hesitant. She knew Nolan Forrester’s temperament and didn’t want to use despicable means to get him. Even if they were forced together, she wouldn’t be happy. Besides, all she ever wanted was his heart; otherwise, she wouldn’t have followed him abroad for four years.

"Once the deed is done, there’s no turning back. If you can manage to get pregnant with Nolan Forrester’s child, you’ll secure your position through the child. I refuse to believe the Forrester Family would dare to be irresponsible then!" Hank Summers chuckled. "Little sister, to keep a man, sometimes you have to use certain tactics. Don’t you want to be Mrs. Forrester?"

"I do, but what if Nolan gets angry? Even if I marry him, I’ll be walking on thin ice. Brother, I love *him*, not the position of Mrs. Forrester."

Lindsay Sawyer secretly pursed her lips from the side. ’This idiot sister-in-law is as naive and stupid as ever.’

’What man doesn’t cheat?’

’And if there are any who don’t, it’s only because they haven’t had the chance.’

’As long as the wife’s position is rock-solid, all those trivial details don’t matter at all.’

’Just like Hank Summers. When he was with her, he was a perfect gentleman—polite, gentle, and devoted. But it wasn’t long before she discovered he was secretly fooling around behind her back. The first time she found out, she argued and tried to break up with him, but he always coaxed her back with sweet talk. By the second and third time, she had grown numb. In any case, this was the reality for most married women.’

’Just like her own parents, who were a couple in name only at home, just getting by together with polite indifference.’

Hank Summers chuckled and ruffled her hair. "You silly girl. Once you become Mrs. Forrester, you’ll have a lifetime to cultivate a relationship with him. I refuse to believe he won’t fall in love with you."

Summer didn’t agree immediately. "Let me think about it," she said in a low voice.

"Alright, no rush. Take your time to think it over and tell me when you’ve decided." Hank Summers didn’t press her. He knew all too well how obsessed his sister was with Nolan Forrester. She would agree sooner or later.

"Brother, you have to help me teach Shiloh Sloan a lesson! I want her reputation ruined, and I want Nolan to despise her!" ’She would make Shiloh Sloan pay back today’s humiliation and pain a hundred, a thousand times over.’

...

Just as the second course of acupuncture treatment ended, a faint, sore, and tingling sensation slowly spread through Patriarch Forrester’s previously numb legs. When he lightly touched them with his fingertips, he could feel a clear sensation beneath the skin—it was no longer the empty numbness of before.

"Vesper, I can really feel something!" Patriarch Forrester exclaimed, his voice filled with unconcealable joy as he registered the feeling in his legs.

Vesper Grayson smiled faintly. "If you continue to cooperate with the treatment as I’ve instructed, the results will be even better."

"And Bonnie has worked hard, too." Patriarch Forrester’s gaze was gentle. "She helps me soak my feet and massages them every day, makes sure I take my medicine on time, and hasn’t missed a single day."

’She was young, but she was steady and meticulous. This was why he was so insistent on having Bella Thorne as his granddaughter-in-law.’

Vesper Grayson was slightly surprised. ’It was rare for a girl Bella Thorne’s age to be so filial, especially since Patriarch Forrester wasn’t even her biological grandfather.’

"No wonder Bonnie is here. It turns out she came specially to supervise you," Vesper Grayson said jokingly, then added as if in passing, "And what about Mr. Forrester? When is he coming to Northolme?"

"He’ll come next week, after he finishes up the work he has on hand." After saying this, Patriarch Forrester smiled and asked, "I hear you and Jared’s wedding date is set?"

"Yes. I actually came today specifically to give you an invitation," Vesper Grayson said, taking the invitation from her bag and handing it to him.

Patriarch Forrester took the invitation, and after reading it, he looked at Bella Thorne with a broad smile.

"Bonnie, what kind of wedding would you like? Once grandpa’s legs are better, we’ll pick an auspicious date and throw a grand one for you and Tyson, too."

’He felt bad for the child. She had been officially married to Tyson Forrester for so long without even a formal wedding ceremony.’

Bella Thorne pursed her lips slightly, her expression reserved. "I’ll leave everything to Grandpa’s arrangements."