Chapter 9
Estelle spun around, only to see a roguish young man and his friends swaggering toward her. She immediately recognized him. It was Zachary Grayson—Julian’s friend and also one of Susan’s admirers.
Since the day Estelle started dating Julian, Zachary had despised her and often threw insulting jabs at her.
He had also been the most active after Susan returned, relishing being the link between Susan and Julian. As long as something happened to her, he’d call Julian immediately and demand that he go over at once.
Estelle was no stranger to his demands to step aside for Susan.
Zachary sauntered up to her and smirked. “What is a housewife like you doing here? Shouldn’t you be learning how to be a devoted wife to your husband at home? I believe flaunting yourself like this in public isn’t what you should do as a proper wife.”
Estelle excelled in both her career and taking care of her family. She was so flawless that it was impossible to pick on her.
After Zachary found out about this, he gave her a nickname—housewife. Since then, everyone in Julian’s social circle had been calling her that whenever they met.
Zachary’s attitude and tone unsettled Zara. She frowned, and Estelle also turned grim.
Zachary, however, wasn’t deterred at all. Instead of backing down, he whistled and stared at Estelle with an incredulous expression. “Oh my, are you mad again? You can’t even take a joke, huh, Ms. Housewife?”
“Exactly!” one of his friends jeered. “You’re the esteemed Mrs. Grant. How could you be so petty? You’ll humiliate Julian!”
“Zach’s right. All you do all day is serve your husband and child. Doesn’t that essentially make you a housewife?” another person chimed in.
“Well said. A housewife like you is nothing compared to Susan. Mind you, she graduated from Alderidge University!”
“I bet you’ve never heard of Alderidge University, have you? It’s one of the top five music academies in the world!”
Hearing this, Zara glanced at Estelle and asked, “Did Susan also graduate from Alderidge University? Why haven’t I heard of her before?”
Zachary cast a look at Zara and snickered. “You’re a frog in the well. There are plenty of things you’ve never heard of, love. Go mingle around and expand your horizon, will you?”
It was just their first time meeting, but he was already starting to call Zara names.
Zara frowned. “Essie, who is this annoying jerk? I wasn’t even talking to him. And look at how patronizing he is!”
“He’s one of Susan’s lapdogs,” Estelle replied airily. “You can call him a simp.”
“Oh, so you’re Susan’s simp!” Zara’s face flashed with realization, her fury dissipating quickly. “No wonder you’re so annoying.”
Zachary’s expression changed. Before he could speak, Estelle smiled at him and said, “Mr. Simp, I was just joking. You can’t possibly be mad, right?”
Having witnessed their bullying firsthand earlier, Zara was boiling with rage. She immediately caught on and chimed in, “It can’t be, right? You’re a man, but you can’t even take a joke. What a loser. You’re an embarrassment to all men!”
“Hush, Zara,” Estelle said, seamlessly continuing the conversation. “He’s nothing but a frog in the well, so don’t bother with him.”
Zachary’s and his friends’ faces fell. No matter how dense they might be, it was obvious that Estelle and Zara were letting them have a taste of their own medicine.
“A simp’s efforts will only get him nowhere.” Zara snickered. “But fine, I won’t bother with him anymore—only because he’s so pathetic. Essie, let’s go have some fun now.”
Estelle nodded and left promptly.
Clenching his jaw, Zachary glowered in the direction she left, looking as if someone had punched the living daylights out of him.
His friends exchanged glances for a while before one of them began with an awkward chuckle, “These two women are really done for. How dare they call you a simp? You’re clearly a…”
He paused. While Estelle and Zara were incredibly rude, they were stating facts—Zachary indeed behaved like a simp.
Another friend, quick on his feet, immediately picked up the conversation.
“Zach is clearly Susan’s knight in shining armor!”
The others quickly concurred, “Yes! Absolutely!”
Just then, a gentle voice cut through the tension.
“Zach, what are you guys doing outside the private room?”
Zachary turned around and saw a man and woman approaching. The man had a towering figure and carried himself with sophistication while the woman was petite and delicate.
As soon as Zachary saw her, his eyes lit up. He hurried over to the couple and began accusing Estelle of her actions while throwing in bits and pieces of exaggerated details.
“Jules, Susan, do you know who I ran into earlier? Estelle! Never mind the fact that she came to a place like this, but she even shamelessly claimed that she was going to have some fun!
“I think she’s just too bored and has too much time on her hands to be out here fooling around. Doesn’t she only make one meal a day for Susan? She should be making three meals instead! Jules, you absolutely can’t tolerate a wretched woman like that!”
Hearing that, Susan frowned and repeated, “Fooling around?”
She then turned toward Julian and asked, “Jules, it’s already so late. Ms. Summer couldn’t have left Tobias alone at home, right?”
A knot began to form between Julian’s brows.
Eyeing his expression, Susan continued softly, “Jules, Tobias’ health isn’t great. Is it really okay for him to be home alone?”
Julian pressed his lips together, his expression grim as he ground out, “Tobias is at Grant Manor.”
He had intended to use Tobias to punish Estelle, making her realize her mistake. Yet he hadn’t expected that she hadn’t even bothered to go home.
Susan was momentarily stunned, but then she caught on. “Jules, Ms. Summer has been taking care of Tobias all this time. She rarely goes out. Of course, she must be tired sometimes. Perhaps she just wants to go out and loosen up a bit.”
Looking guilty, she lowered her head and murmured, “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have made her prepare medicinal meals for me… No wonder she’s exhausted. It’s understandable that she no longer wants to continue—”
“What? Estelle isn’t cooking for you anymore?” Zachary interrupted angrily before she could finish. “If she hadn’t pushed you into the water, your condition wouldn’t have suddenly worsened! The audacity of her to just stop taking care of you! How dare she?”
Susan quickly grabbed him and said, “Zach, I told you, it has nothing to do with Ms. Summer. I accidentally fell on my own…”
“Susan, you’re always so kind. How can you still defend that vile woman after everything she has done to you?”
Looking indignant, Zachary swerved toward Julian and barked, “Jules, are you just going to let her get away with bullying Susan?”
