Chapter 41 Bootlickers and Bracelets
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After scoffing at Simon, he turned to John with a cold smirk. “No wonder Lily insisted on breaking up with you.”
“You treat the other woman like a treasure but make your own girlfriend suffer–of course you don’t deserve Lily!”
Elsa absolutely hated being called the other woman.
In her eyes, it was Lily who had no shame; she was the real intruder.
But the Luke family held immense power, and she couldn’t afford to offend Ivan. Even though she was seething inside, she couldn’t afford to lose composure in front of him.
She simply let a tear fall, her expression proud and aloof. “I didn’t collude with Yvonne to frame Lily.”
“I didn’t expect Yvonne to suddenly yank off my bracelet.”
“I kept quiet earlier only because I didn’t want you all to blame Yvonne.”
“That bracelet was a gift from Simon when we first met, it’s incredibly important to me. Why would I destroy something so precious just to frame someone?”
With that, she turned her face away, cold and distant; her shoulders trembled slightly, as though she’d just endured some grave injustice.
“Yeah, I didn’t want Lily to have it easy–but what does that have to do with Lizzy?”
“Lizzy’s elegant, kind, and amazing. She’d never stoop to framing someone like Lily–some worn–out castoff!”
“You’re the castoff!”
Lily didn’t hold back–she slapped Yvonne hard across the face. The sting made Yvonne cry out in pain.
She wanted nothing more than to claw Lily’s face to pieces, but when John glanced at her with icy indifference, she didn’t dare move.
Lily knew–so long as John and Simon kept coddling and shielding Elsa, there was no way Elsa would ever apologize to her.
She wasn’t going to waste another second on them. Calling Ivan, she turned and headed back to the studio to continue working.
Ivan’s open support made John uneasy.
But then again, Ivan was always fiercely protective of his people. Back when one of his employees was treated unfairly, he personally stepped in to defend them and made sure justice was served. Thinking of that, John let it go.
He glanced over at Elsa, who was standing off to the side, icy and aloof, her eyes rimmed red, the tip of her nose flushed,
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Chapter 41 Bootlickers and Bracelets
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He didn’t want Elsa to be unhappy in what little time she had left; he turned his gaze away from Lily and began gently coaxing her again.
Lily wanted nothing more to do with John or the others.
They were a complete waste of time–and honestly, just bad luck. Still, from a distance, she could hear John and Simon’s voices.
“Lizzy, don’t overthink it. I believe you had nothing to do with Yvonne framing Lily. There are a few beautiful bracelets up for auction tonight. I’ll take you–pick whichever one you like.”
“Lizzy, I believe you too. I’m going tonight as well. Whatever you want, I’ll bid on it for you!”
Hearing John say he believed Elsa chilled Lily to the bone.
The video she’d taken was crystal clear.
In it, you could see that when Yvonne took off Elsa’s bracelet, Elsa had allowed it–encouraged it, even.
John was an incredibly smart man. After taking over Jones Corp during its decline, he brought it roaring back to life.
With that kind of intellect, it wouldn’t take much for him to figure out that Elsa wasn’t innocent.
Men didn’t fail to see through manipulative women like her.
When they didn’t see it, it was only because they didn’t want to–they cared too much; they chose not to
see.
He loved Elsa too deeply. So deeply, he would rather shut his eyes to the truth and call black white.
All of Lily’s past devotion was laughable, really.
Before Jones Corp’s official statement declared that Elsa wasn’t the other woman, Elsa never dared flaunt her relationship with John in public. She’d only post cryptic little things on social media that only Lily could see.
Now that nearly the entire internet supported her and John being together, Elsa began flaunting their love openly, staking her claim over John.
Lily hadn’t gone out of her way to keep tabs on Elsa.
But lately, she’d blown up online; every time Lily opened Douyin, she’d end up stumbling across some update about her.
That night, after her shower, she once again saw a video of Elsa showing off her relationship.
In the video, Elsa wore a red bracelet on her left wrist and a green one on her right. She smiled into the camera–vivid, confident, and glowing.
“Left hand for the one I love, right hand for family. I’m so lucky to have you both.”
Big data really was terrifying. One second, Lily saw Elsa’s bracelet video; the next, she got served a media pundit’s commentary on those exact same bracelets.
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Chapter 41 Bootlickers and Bracelets
Apparently, the red bracelet on Elsa’s left wrist was made from an extremely rare red marbleite.
The piece was called “Nirvana Fire Rebirth“, had a starting bid of 10 million dollars.
When John saw that Elsa liked it, he didn’t hesitate; he lit the sky lantern and won the auction at a staggering 50 million dollars.
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The green bracelet on her right wrist–named Emerald Frost–was made from premium icy marbleite, prized for its clarity and texture. That night, Simon bid 45 million to win it.
Listening to the commentator dramatically emphasize “50 million dollars,” Lily couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
50 million dollars… It wasn’t that she envied the bracelet.
She just couldn’t ignore the truth. A man’s heart is wherever he spends his money.
When she was with John, he’d gifted her things worth millions too.
But back then, because they’d struggled together, she knew how hard he worked for every dollar. Whenever he gave her something expensive, she’d feel anxious; she worried it wo
