Chapter 17
4/5
17 A Price to Pay
17 A Price to Pay
“Haha. Thanks to Ms. Nolan, this shop managed to move so much merchandise today. We should really give you a round of applause,” William said, his tone thick with sarcasm and veiled fury by the time he reached the end.
His voice had a sharp edge, and the air around him crackled with hostility.
Sandy flinched visibly.
Just then, William motioned for the saleswoman from earlier to come over.
The woman approached, pale as a sheet and trembling from head to toe.
“As of today, you’re laid off. Don’t expect to see a dime of your paycheck this month,” William said coldly.
The saleswoman’s knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor in shock.
William’s voice grew colder, laced with a quiet rage. You just helped an outsider frame a customer. That’s a crime. I’ll be reporting the incident to the police. As for what kind of punishment you’ll face, that’s no longer our company’s concern.”
The woman froze .
All she’d wanted was to make some extra cash on the side, and now she had thrown away her entire future .
Shame and anger burned in her chest. She turned to Sandy with desperation.
“Ms. Nolan, you’re going to abandon me? I did what I did because of you! See where it got me?”
Sandy’s face darkened; she argued, “What your company chooses to do is none of my business. Stop making up stories.”
After tossing those words out, she glanced anxiously at William, clearly shaken.
“You better handle your people,” she added curtly.
As the Nolans‘ heiress, Sandy had never been afraid of anyone.
But it was said the owner behind Serafine Atelier was no ordinary figure–and not someone
1/5
17 A Price to Pay
she could afford to cross.
+10 Free Coins
Now that she’d lost both dignity and money, she felt utterly defeated. Without looking back, she turned and stormed off.
The disgraced saleswoman remained on the floor, crying out in frustration and despair.
The police arrived soon after. No matter how loudly she screamed or how desperately she begged, William didn’t flinch.
He even handed over the surveillance footage to assist the investigation.
At the very least, the charge would be defamation.
But if the police dug deeper, it could be ruled as fraud.
With the matter handled, William turned his attention to the staff packing up the items for restocking.
“Leave them,” he said, stopping the workers. T’ll deliver them myself.”
The Nolans weren’t a family to mess with.
Especially now–Oscar and Eric were both awake. A shake –up within the family was likely on the horizon.
William intended to test the waters himself.
Meanwhile, Sandy stormed out of Serafine Atelier, fuming with every step.
She was a Nolan. Despite only sharing a father, she was a blood relative of Eric.
So what if Alice had a pretty face?
At the end of the day, she was just some small–town girl with good looks.
And her brother actually chose her over his own sister? He didn’t care about her situation at all. How was she supposed to accept that
Just then, she bumped into her best friend, Kayla Lawrence–the heiress of the Lawrences, Just then, she bumped into h who happened to be shopping at the same mall. Kayla walked over the moment she saw her.
Sensing Sandy’s sour mood, Kayla asked what had happened.
2/5
17 A Price to Pay
After hearing the full story, her brows furrowed. “Sounds like Eric’s sending a message- making an example out of you.”
Sandy paused, realization dawning on her. “You mean… he wanted my mom to pay? Wanted to bleed her dry on purpose?”
Kayla nodded and said grimly, “That’s what it looks like to me. You’d better be prepared. That’s not a small amount of money we’re talking about.”
After all, hundreds of millions were at stake.
Sandy’s eyes flashed with a cold glint.
After everything that happened at Serafine Atelier, Alice had lost all interest in shopping.
She wandered aimlessly for a bit, then decided to head home.
“Stanley took the day off,” Eric finally said once they stepped outside the mall.
Alice snorted coldly and asked, “So what? You want me to be your chauffeur now?”
Eric replied calmly, “You’re also free to take the bus or the subway.”
Alice was rendered speechless.
Driving him around wasn’t entirely out of the question.
But she was hungry, and getting home sooner sounded like a much better idea.
So, wordlessly, she helped him into the car, folded up the wheelchair, and stowed it in the trunk. Then she started driving.
The traffic was heavy from the hospital to the mall. Once they got past the stretch, they’d hit the expressway.
Naturally, Alice pressed the gas pedal.
Suddenly, she noticed something was off with the car.
Eric hadn’t driven in a while, but before his illness, he’d been a racing enthusiast. He was extremely in tune with cars–he didn’t need her to say a word.
3/5
17 A Price to Pay
His brows crinkled, and he said, “Something’s wrong with the car .”
Alice kept her eyes on the road, both hands gripping the wheel.
“It’s not just a cut brake pad. The damage is worse than that.”
+10 Free Coins
She could feel it–cach of the four tires had sustained varying degrees of damage, and controlling the steering was already a nightmare.
Eric’s frown deepened.
The gas tank’s been tampered with, too.”
And then–Bang!
The car slammed into a stone guardrail.
The passenger–side door crumpled inward with the impact. Eric let out a muffled. clearly in pain.
Alice whipped her head toward him, her voice shaking.
“Eric?!”
But Eric remained unnervingly calm, no panic in his expression.
grunt,
His already–pale face now carried a trace of something sharper–something dangerous.
“I’m fine. Just focus on driving.”
His voice didn’t waver in the slightest. It was as if they weren’t seconds away from a fatal crash but just riding a theme park ride.
At this time of day, the expressway wasn’t too busy, but she still had to keep alert–one wrong -move could trigger a chain–reaction accident.