"I was busy in the kitchen, so Ms. Lawson answered the phone. The person on the other end of the line said she was your best friend, so Ms. Lawson told the guards to let her in. I'm still worried, though. She said she's from Oceanford." Sandy kept her voice down.Angeline's temples throbbed when she heard Sandy mention that Mallory had gone to the old Lawson residence. She told the driver, "Turn around and head to the old Lawson residence."She was sick of Ned's friends. Hadn't they hoped she would die in the accident or remain comatose forever so they wouldn't be put in tough spots? She couldn't understand why they wouldn't stop pestering her now. She tried to keep her irritation at bay. "Call Zachary Stone."She'd deleted all their phone numbers earlier and couldn't contact them. Taylor turned around to glance at her. When he saw her grim expression, he called Zachary and handed his phone to her. The call connected, and Zachary said, "Mr. Powell?""It's me," Angeline said. "Do yo
Angeline took the tablet from Taylor and quickly scrolled through it, reading the comments people had left on Mallory's tweet.It turned out the tweet was the reason the netizens had been so confident that Ned had announced he'd regained his memories on TV and had called off his engagement to Ingrid because he wanted to get back together with Angeline.Mallory had used her identity as Angeline's childhood friend to talk about how Angeline and Ned would eventually make their way back to each other now that Ned had regained his memories. She mentioned that she and the rest of their friend group had witnessed the love between Angeline and Ned and fully supported their reconciliation.If not for Nathaniel and Aurelia tweeting about Nathaniel's proposal to Angeline, Angeline would've been dragged into the mess between Ned and Ingrid. She wouldn't be able to rid herself of the suspicion before she announced her marriage to anyone, and it would even affect Lawson Global.It was highly lik
Jessica had sat with Mallory for quite a while and was evidently tired, but Mallory had chattered away, seemingly blind to Jessica's fatigue. Sandy was beyond annoyed by Mallory but couldn't show it.Seeing that Angeline was back, Jessica pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders and smiled at her. "You're back, Angie. Your grandfather brought the kids to the Hooper residence for dinner. I don't think any of us expected your friend to drop by today.""Angie!" Mallory turned to beam at her as if they really were best friends who'd been apart for too long. She looked perfectly at home as she stretched an arm along the back of the couch. "Ms. Lawson's kept me for dinner, you know. It's been ages since we last ate together!""Why don't you take Mom upstairs so she can get some rest, Ms. Hull? She looks exhausted," Angeline said.She didn't want to get mad with Jessica watching, nor did she want Jessica to be plagued by the photo on Twitter. So, she asked Sandy to take Jessica upsta
"But your friend—" Jessica said."She's not my friend," Angeline cut her off gently. "I don't have many friends, but they're the best friends I could ask for. I'll bring them over for a meal in a few days so that you can meet them, okay?""How can you say I'm not your friend, Angie? We grew up together! Are you upset at me because of Ingrid?" Mallory sounded like she was about to cry. She turned to Jessica again. "Ms. Lawson…"Jessica turned to glance at Mallory, whose fists were clenched as she stood by the couch. She thought about what Angeline had said, then said hesitantly, "But this…""She's here to ask Lawson Global for help. She couldn't get into the building, so she got in here by pretending to be my friend." Angeline smiled at Jessica. "We were in the same school when we were younger, but we're not friends."Jessica looked uneasy. "Have I caused trouble for you? I just wanted to know more about your past…""No, of course not. I know you only let her in because you heard
Mallory glared at Jamie and snatched her bag from him, her chest heaving with rage. She turned to look at Angeline. "You've crossed the line, Angeline!"Angeline scowled, obviously having already run out of patience. "Miles signed a VAM agreement, right? If you don't want me to interfere in this and make the Locke family go bankrupt after the VAM agreement falls through, you'd better stay out of my life. Don't show up before me anymore."After that, she looked at Taylor, signaling for him to see Mallory out. Mallory swallowed hard. "Ned's the one who abandoned you back then, Angeline. Not me! Why do you have to treat me like this?""Ms. Locke, this way, please…" Taylor stepped forward and gestured for Mallory to follow him."Fine. Fine! I get it now—since you've been adopted by the Lawson family and are now their heiress, your childhood friends aren't worthy of you anymore, right? To think I spoke up for you online!""Once upon a time, I genuinely considered you guys my friends, t
Tears started streaming down Mallory's face as she raged. "You were in a coma, and Zachary had already given up on you… He was already going to accept me and be with me! Then, you just had to wake up, even after Ned had lost his memories."Once you woke up, Zachary thought he stood a chance again. You became the center of his life, and he spent all his time caring for you and protecting you. You were pathetic enough to chase after Ned, and Zachary was pathetic enough to protect you!"Why didn't you die in that accident? Why did you have to wake up? If not for you, we would've all found our respective happily-ever-afters!"Angeline's iciness was a stark contrast to Mallory's hysteria. "Look at how much you hate me. And yet, here you are, trying to pretend that we're the best of friends. Aren't you more pathetic than I ever was?"She turned to Jamie. "Has her tweet recounting my past with Ned been deleted?"He nodded. "Yes, Ms. Lawson."She turned back to face Mallory, who was trem
Zachary's words angered Mallory again. "I may have ulterior motives for claiming to be Angeline's friend, but are you any better? Do you think veryone was blind to your feelings for her when she was still with Ned? What right do you have to lecture me?""Mallory!" Zachary was mad now. "Even if I had feelings for Angie, I never crossed the line! Don't even think about using this to mock me! And if this matter is such a thorn in your side, we can just get divorced!"He hung up without another word."Zachary Stone!" Mallory shrieked. She clutched her phone tightly as she stared at the ended call. She was this close to having an emotional breakdown.Divorce? Zachary had actually threatened to divorce her!Her hands trembled, and tears filled her eyes. She flung her phone onto the seat and tried to hold back her tears. She snapped at the driver, "Pull over once we're out of the old Lawson residence's compound. Then, get out of the car!"The driver didn't dare defy her. He pulled over
Mallory felt even more aggrieved than before. "But… I feel so wronged, Miles! I'm Zachary's wife, but he's not on my side at all. He shouted at me as soon as Angeline told on me!"Miles sighed. "Everyone's already told you that Angie isn't the same person anymore, yet you just had to go look for her behind our backs. We all know that we only allowed her into our circle because of Ned."She's gone from being Angeline Emmerson to Angeline Lawson now, and she's the heiress of one of Krontos' four most prestigious families. We don't run in the same circles anymore!"He paused, then continued, "I'll be honest with you—we've never considered Angie our friend. All she was to us was Ned's girlfriend. That's why we can't hope that she'll think of us as friends now. It's only right."After talking sense into Mallory, he sighed again. "Alright, that's enough talking. Come home, okay? And be good—don't go looking for Angie anymore.""But what about your VAM agreement?" Mallory had never been