Chapter 87: Who Asked You to Stick Up for Me?
Pauline Shaw had a feeling that the matter of the arranged marriage between the Lowell and Lynch families would definitely blow up at today’s party.
Clayton Lowell had organized today’s banquet. He was a self-proclaimed "friend to women," and his circle consisted mostly of single, wealthy women, and even more socialites and ladies of high society.
With nothing better to do, this group loved to get together and gossip about others.
If this wasn’t stopped in its tracks, there was no telling how many rumors it would spawn.
Not that she planned on doing anything about it. It was about time Jane Lancaster faced the public backlash for what she did all those years ago.
She had been the scapegoat for Jane’s feud with Beverly Lynch for years. It was time to finally shed that burden.
In the restroom, a few people came face to face.
Beverly Lynch was washing her hands, her head bowed. Willow Summers whispered something to her, and Beverly looked up, glaring viciously at Pauline Shaw.
Pauline Shaw: "..."
She was about to just leave, but after a moment’s thought, she turned and walked back.
Beverly Lynch watched her warily. "What do you want? Looking for a fight?"
"Beverly, if you really think about it, there’s no deep-seated hatred between us. Even if we can’t be friends, we don’t have to be enemies, right?" Pauline Shaw said, trying her best to sound calm and reasonable.
Beverly Lynch’s brow furrowed. "Why are you suddenly saying this? You’re not planning something, are you?"
Pauline Shaw knew their grudge ran deep, filled with too many misunderstandings. Beverly’s hostile attitude was only natural.
But she was no longer the cringey teenager who would blindly help her friends. Even if Beverly was unfriendly, she was willing to be the bigger person and try to resolve the conflict.
Pauline Shaw: "I just don’t think we need to keep being hostile. Anyway, believe it or not, I won’t go after you anymore."
Beverly Lynch pursed her lips, then suddenly asked, "Did someone tell you to say this?"
Pauline Shaw froze for a second, then realized. ’She must be asking about my mother, right?’
Yara Yates had left long ago, but she had been at the party. It was normal for Beverly to know.
’Beverly probably thinks our parents want us to patch things up, that what I’m saying today is purely for the family’s benefit, to avoid making enemies everywhere.’
"No one told me to say this. I’m saying it because I want to," Pauline Shaw said with a smile.
’Beverly definitely doesn’t want her parents meddling in her affairs, either. We’re the same in that regard. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been at each other’s throats for all these years.’
Pauline Shaw: "Oh, right. A piece of advice: be careful of the people around you. Don’t fall for anyone trying to stir up trouble."
As she spoke, she gave Willow Summers a deep, meaningful look.
She suspected Willow Summers had intentionally orchestrated what happened today.
Luna Morgan wasn’t the type to act rashly. If Shawn Sutton hadn’t suddenly started staring at her, she wouldn’t have recklessly looked his way.
And from what she knew, Shawn Sutton wasn’t exactly an innocent party himself. At the very least, he was on good terms with a seemingly innocent girl like Willow Summers. If Willow deliberately provoked him, Shawn might not be immune to her tricks.
Jane Lancaster just had to use a manipulative Willow Summers to easily achieve her goal of sitting back and watching the tigers fight.
After saying her piece, Pauline Shaw turned and left with a flourish. She had extended as much goodwill as she could. She believed that as long as Beverly Lynch wasn’t a fool, she wouldn’t insist on fighting her.
After all, the person she should truly hate was Jane Lancaster, not her.
"What did she mean by that?" Yvonne Jennings asked, looking suspiciously at Willow Summers. "Willow, you’ve been acting a little strange lately."
Willow Summers’s heart skipped a beat. "Strange? How am I strange?"
"You’re not? I think I saw you with Jane Lancaster today..."
"You must have seen wrong," Willow Summers said, forcing herself to stay calm, but her heart was pounding.
’Yvonne actually saw me? When? What exactly did she see?’
Beverly Lynch suddenly sneered. "Is Pauline Shaw sick in the head or something? Who wants to make peace with her? She’s nuts!"
Willow Summers started to worry. Even Pauline Shaw’s olive branch was useless. Just how deep was the psychological scar left on Beverly Lynch from when Jane Lancaster stole her man all those years ago?
If Beverly refused to ever reconcile with Jane, what was she supposed to do?
Beverly hadn’t paid attention this time, but if she pressed the issue next time, Willow couldn’t guarantee she could keep her secret.
She really liked Jane Lancaster, but it would be wrong to say she was only using Beverly Lynch and felt nothing genuine for her.
After all, only sincerity could beget sincerity. If she hadn’t been genuinely good to Beverly, Beverly wouldn’t have been her friend for so many years.
—
The party was winding down, and many guests were starting to leave.
Clayton Lowell had pulled Caleb Lowell upstairs for a drink and a chat. Unable to find him, Jane Lancaster sat downstairs to wait.
She was seated in a hidden spot, so at least the few people badmouthing her on the other side of the potted plants didn’t notice her.
"Chloe, do you know something?"
"Why is everyone saying Beverly Lynch almost had an arranged marriage with Zion?"
"Luna won’t say anything, but I feel like something’s wrong. Was she bullied?"
"Vincent Holt said Jane Lancaster has always been jealous of Luna. At the last jewelry exhibition, she encouraged Beverly Lynch to snatch Luna’s necklace. Luna looked so beautiful today, you think Jane would stand for that? The dress incident must have been her scheme!"
Chloe Dave sighed. "Since you’ve all figured it out, I won’t hide it anymore. The truth is... Jane Lancaster was trying to kill two birds with one stone."
"So it really was Jane Lancaster pulling the strings? Then the rumors about her being a homewrecker and stealing someone’s man are all true?"
Everyone gasped!
"How old was she back then? Sixteen, seventeen? While everyone else was just focused on studying for their college entrance exams, she was already thinking about seducing someone else’s fiancé?"
"Heh, ’Stratton’s number one socialite’? What a hyped-up reputation. In reality, she’s just good at sweet-talking men."
"Wouldn’t Pauline Shaw be devastated? She looked up to Jane Lancaster as a role model, but Jane was busy scheming behind her back to seduce her cousin."
"Poor Pauline Shaw. She probably still doesn’t know that the reason Beverly Lynch hates her is because of Jane Lancaster, does she?"
"What the hell are you all talking about?!" The sudden female voice made Jane Lancaster freeze. She quickly pushed aside the plant leaves to look.
Beverly Lynch had walked over at some point, clearly furious.
Chloe Dave stubbed out her cigarette, unfazed. "Oh, Beverly, you’re here. No need to be angry, we weren’t badmouthing you."
The men caught on and quickly chimed in.
"Yeah, Beverly, we’re all just standing up for you."
"You had it so rough. A great match like Zion was snatched away by a scheming homewrecker."
"You’ve actually been hung up on Zion all these years, haven’t you? Sigh, what a shame. It would have been great if you were Zion’s fiancée."
Beverly Lynch frowned. "Morons, shut up!"
"We’re defending you, why are you cursing at us?!" a few of the men grumbled, glaring at Beverly Lynch.
’You’re usually so arrogant, but you don’t even have any of your little friends with you now. You really think we’re afraid of you?’
Beverly Lynch: "I’m not cursing. I’m stating a fact. You’re all a bunch of fucking idiots!"
"Who asked you to stand up for me? On what grounds? Because you’re good at spreading slanderous rumors?"