Chapter 428 Standing Together
After Oscar drove off with Amelia, Stephanie frantically waved the crowd away. She then helped Isabella up and instructed Noah, “Let’s go to a hotel nearby and get some medication for Isabella’s wound.”
Nodding in acknowledgment, he helped Isabella to the car together with Stephanie.
After driving to a five-star hotel, Noah reserved the presidential suite. Then, the three of them took the elevator up.
Once they entered the suite, Noah threw the key on the sofa and gently suggested, “Stephanie, please take care of my sister while I get some medication from the pharmacy.”
Stephanie waved her hand. “Go quickly.”
After Noah had left, Isabella hugged Stephanie and started bawling.
Patting her on the back, Stephanie comforted, “There, there. Stop crying. I’m here for you. Whatever it is, I’ll stand up for you.”
Isabella’s cries grew louder instead. She ranted, “Stephanie, don’t you think I’m useless? Despite giving my heart and soul to your brother, why doesn’t he show me any respect at all?”
As Stephanie’s eye narrowed, something seemed to have struck her.
Patting Isabella’s back in a constant rhythm, she added fuel to fire. “Isabella, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s Amelia who is the vixen here. I figure that she must have used some black magic on him. For Oscar to fall for you, Amelia must be taken out of the picture.”
Isabella stopped crying and raised her head from Stephanie’s chest. She asked, “Stephanie, what are you trying to say?”
Stephanie grabbed Isabella’s hand. “Isabella, I truly wished that you can become my sister-in-law. Compared to Amelia, I think that only you are worthy of my brother. Moreover, you can help him in his career too. To be honest, I resented the fact that Amelia has returned, and my mom shares the exact same sentiment. Now that she is threatening your position, how shall we deal with her? We just have to dispose of her.”
Suddenly, Isabella’s eyes widened. Filled with fear and anxiousness, she asked, “Do you mean we should kill her?”
Just as she spoke, Isabella shook her head immediately while still being teary-eyed. “No, we can’t murder her. There are a lot of ways to capture Oscar’s heart without resorting to killing anyone.”
Despite how proud and stubborn she was, she had never resorted to underhanded methods such as murder. In fact, it never even crossed her mind before. After all, she treasured her own life and wouldn’t do anything that would result in a death sentence.
Stephanie narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to Isabella. She whispered, “Isabella, don’t tell me that you’re afraid?”
Taking a deep breath, Isabella tried to calm herself down.
“Stephanie, killing is illegal. I’m sure you’re just pulling my leg, aren’t you?” Isabella asked.
As she stared at Isabella, Stephanie’s eyes flashed with disdain.
She had assumed Isabella would do anything for her brother. But in the end, self-preservation was more important to her. Oscar was nothing more than someone Isabella loved when there were no conflicts of interest.
Meanwhile, Isabella had obviously noticed the contempt in Stephanie’s eyes. Gulping, she explained, “Stephanie, listen to me. It’s not that I don’t love Oscar enough. I just don’t think it’s necessary to kill someone over it, other than the fact that it’s illegal.”
Stephanie squirmed her lips. “What’s the big deal about it? In order to force her to leave my brother, I even hired someone to run her down when she was pregnant. In fact, I almost managed to kill two birds with one stone. In the end, my parents helped me to cover up the matter. When my brother wanted to hold me accountable, they begged him to stay his hand. After what I’ve told you, isn’t it obvious to you that she isn’t that important to him?”
Isabella looked at Stephanie in shock. From her perspective, she felt as if she was looking at a lunatic. After all, no sane person would order such an attack on a pregnant lady.
As a daughter of a rich family, she too had fooled around with the hearts of other men. Even then, she had never hurt an innocent child before and would never be cruel enough to do something like that.
Leaning closer to Isabella, Stephanie sneered, “What’s wrong, Isabella? Do you think I’m being too ruthless?”
When Isabella recoiled in fear, Stephanie laughed insidiously. “Isabella, I’m disappointed in you. Just when I thought we were on the same side, I now realized we aren’t. Since there’s no point in me being here, I’m taking my leave.”
Worried that Stephanie would talk bad about her in front of Olivia and lower her chances of being married into the Clinton family, Isabella quickly caught Stephanie’s hand. Smiling in response, she clarified, “Stephanie, don’t be angry. I was just briefly taken aback just now. I agree with you that the only way the Clintons can have peace is for Amelia to leave Oscar forever.”
Turning around, Stephanie stared down at Isabella, who was half kneeling on the sofa. “Do you really think so?”
Isabella pulled her back onto the sofa to have a seat and added, “Stephanie, please calm down. I know you feel indignant for me today, but there are many ways to get rid of someone without resorting to killing. Isn’t it better for us to destroy her emotionally so that she will never want to step foot in this city again?”
Stephanie raised her eyebrows and asked, “How are we going to do that?”
“Stephanie, do you know the one thing women can’t tolerate about the men they love?”
“Betrayal?” Stephanie asked curiously.
“Yes, it’s betrayal. Once she sees Oscar cheating on her, do you think she can still accept it?” Isabella smirked.
“Oscar is loyal to her, how is he ever going to do that? Besides, so what if he did cheat on her? Two years ago, she saw with her own eyes Oscar getting intimate with Cassie. Despite getting divorced back then, aren’t both of them back together as if nothing had happened? Hence, I don’t think your plan can work at all,” Stephanie scoffed after giving it some thought.
However, Isabella was extremely confident. “Stephanie, don’t worry. A smart woman can only tolerate her man cheating once or twice. But once it happens again, there’s only so much her pride can take. Amelia is someone so proud that she won’t tolerate a true betrayal. This is something that’s obvious to me.”
Nevertheless, Stephanie still thought that Isabella was deluding herself. If Oscar is someone who will cheat, he would have done so a long time ago and wouldn’t have bothered spending two years looking for Amelia.
“You keep talking about cheating, but have you forgotten how loyal Oscar is? Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ignored your efforts to pursue him for two whole years.”
Isabella’s facial expression drastically changed.
“Stephanie, even if Oscar doesn’t cheat, we can create the illusion that he did. Isn’t this my specialty?”
Stephanie pondered upon the idea.
“Do you have a way?” she asked with her eyebrows raised.
After Isabella whispered in her ear, Stephanie looked at her in disbelief. “Will it work? Instead of Oscar cheating, we make it look like Amelia is the one who cheated instead? Are you sure Oscar won’t see through it?”
Isabella answered with a smile, “We’ll never know until we try. After giving it some thought, I realized women have a greater capacity to forgive, but men will never be able to tolerate a woman cheating. Now that the roles are reversed, do you think Oscar is magnanimous enough to forgive her transgressions?”
Looking at Isabella, Stephanie added thoughtfully, “Isabella, it’s now clear to me that you are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Just when I thought you were soundlessly beaten, you have managed to impress me with your proposed countermeasure.”
Narrowing her eyes, Isabella affirmed with an insidious tone, “You have flattered me, Stephanie. I’m just defending what is rightfully mine. After all, she shouldn’t have returned after leaving. Don’t you agree?”
Giving her a thumbs-up, Stephanie smiled. “Isabella, I now realized that we are very much alike. With you as my sister-in-law, my days after marrying into the Walker family will be interesting.”
Isabella broke into a dignified smile. “Stephanie, Noah is indeed blessed to have a wife like you.”
Despite smiling at each other, each of them had their own agendas. Beneath their smiles, the seeds of contempt for one another had already been planted. Nevertheless, they maintained their alliance due to the presence of a common enemy.
