Chapter 37 Marshall the Opportunist

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“And what else?” Sloane’s eyes cut sharply toward Samantha, her tone like ice. “Go on, say it.”

Marshall sat on the sofa, his face dark enough to drip ink. With a loud icrack/i, he hurled the ss in his hand to the floor. The sound of shattering echoed harshly in the quiet living room.

“Sloane, what kind of attitude is this? Do you even see me as your father?”

iFather/ii? /iSloane rolled her eyes. “Spit it out if you’ve got something to say. Don’t waste my sleep.”

-did you go partying at the Eastgate

“You-!” Marshall’s fury red. “Tell me- Lounge bar tonight with a bunch of shady people?”

“I did not.”

“You’re still lying? Sammy saw you there herself!” Helen shot up from the couch the moment she heard Sloane deny it.

Sloane’s gaze slid coldly to Samantha. iSo /iithat’s /iwho ilocked /iithe /iibalcony /idoor earlieri. /i

“Oh?” Sloane turned to her. “You saw me, huh? Where exactly did you see me?”

“I… I was…” Samantha’s words faltered. If she admitted she saw Sloane inside the bar, that would mean ishe /ihad been inside too. “I was outside, at the entrance to Eastgate Lounge.”

Sloane let out a shortugh. “Eastgate Lounge is huge. And that means I went to the bar because… what? You felt it in your gut?”

Her eyes gleamed as she mimicked Samantha’s usual coy tone. “Are you saying the Besnard family and the rk family are the ‘shady people?”

“What?” Marshall’s expression shifted immediately: “The Besnard family and the rk family?

Both were long–established aristocratic houses in Stonebridge. Not quite on par with the Hawthornes–but far above the Rivers‘ side branch. Definitely not

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Chapter 37 Marshall the Opportunist

families they could afford to offend.

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Samantha’s heart sank. This was bad. In the past, Sloane would’ve flown into a rage the moment her parents didn’t believe her. She never got this far into a confrontation. But now? Sloane had changed. And she was harder to handle than

ever.

Sloane met her sister’s eyes and enunciated clearly, “Jill and Cameron were with me tonight. Don’t tell me you didn’t see them. Or are ithey /ithe ones you’re calling ‘shady‘?”

Marshall instantly turned to Samantha, voice sharp. “Is that true?”

Samantha froze. She hadn’t expected it toe to this. She was used to Sloane storming off long before it got this far. Caught off guard, under Marshall’s withering re, she could only stammer, “I… I didn’t get a good look…”

That was all Marshall needed to hear. As much as he spoiled Samantha, that only went as far as the Rivers family’s interests weren’t at risk.

“You didn’t see clearly, and yet youe here ndering your sister?” he barked. “You’re grounded until the semester starts. Reflect in your room.”

“I…” Under his furious gaze, Samantha didn’t dare talk back. “Yes, sir.”

Sloane watched her clenched fists at her sides, her nails probably digging bloody crescents into her palms by now.

Turning back to Sloane, Marshall’s tone softened for the first time that evening. “Sloane, you’re a daughter of the Rivers family, And if the Rivers family thrives, so will your future. You should work on building stronger ties with Jill and Carneron, understand?”

Sickening. Sloane sneered inwardly. Of course Marshall would turn on a dime. With his opportunistic nature, he wouldn’t dare waste a chance totch onto elite families like theirs

I’m tired” Sloane tossed the words out and walked off without another nce

Bark in her room, she pulled out her phone and made a call “Lena, go to the Rivers family’s main house tomorrow‘

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Chapter 37 Marshall the Opportunist

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The next morning, Lena arrived bearing a custom–made dress as a gift–and met with thedy of the Rivers family’s main household.

Mon,

Chapter 38: The Scandal Snowballs