<b>Chapter </b><b>209 </b>
Ruth <b>felt </b>extremely uneasy and spoke in <b>a </b>deliberately gentle tone, “Sheary, you wanted to see me? What’s the matter?”
<b>Now</b>, she was practically groveling before Shermaine, desperate to win her favor.
She was just terrified Shermaine would dislike her and mess with her.
Shermaine said coolly, “There were rumors online recently that I cheated on Joshua, which caused a bit of a stir. I’ve already tracked down the <b>culprit </b>Handle it for me<b>.”</b>”
Ruth immediately perked up–was Shermaine trying to make peace with her? Eagerly, she asked, “Who did it?”
<b>“</b><b>It </b>was Natalie.”
Ruth’s eyes lit up when she heard it was Natalie–she’d long disliked that woman, and now was her chance for payback. She eximed, <b>“</b>That scheming bitch! Don’t worry, Sheary. Just give me the evidence and I’ll make sure she pays for this.”
“Mm.” Shermaine handed the photos to Ruth without ceremony.
Done, she pocketed her phone.
Roy asked, “Come on, Mdy, I could totally handle this for you! Why wouldn’t you
<b>let </b>
me?” He got ten million followers!
“No need,” Shermaine replied coolly. After all, she could handle the revenge on her own–she didn’t need anyone’s help. Clearly, she had her own ns for doing things this way.
Roy was clueless.
But Joshua knew exactly why Shermaine had gone to Ruth. His girl could be downright scheming–she wanted to let the wife and the mistress tear each other apart, then swoop in and kill two birds with one stone.
With the photos in hand, Ruth wasted no time calling up reporters. Jameson’s affair was already an open secret in the industry, though few dared to openly discuss the Jean family’s business.
Jameson had always shielded Natalie from public scrutiny, but now <b>as </b>Jameson’s legal wife, she was stepping in<b>, </b>things were about to get a lot more
interesting.
Moreover, Ruth had five million followers. When she saw the online mockery of Natalie, she broke her silence and posted: “How dare that homewrecker’s bastard son even think he canpare to my daughter, Shermaine?
“Worse still, that shameless bitch actually snapped photos of my daughter having dinner with Trance and sent them to the paparazzi<b>, </b>trying to stir up <b>a </b>cheating scandal with Joshua.
“But everyone knows my daughter and Joshua’s love is unshakab
-the rumors copsed on their own. That gold–digging whore makes me <b>sick</b><b>!</b><b>” </b>
Ruth’s socialite friends, all on good terms with her, swiftly reposted the news across their feeds. With the troll army she hired, Natalie’s name was dragged through the mud and trending at the top in no time.
Unaware of the brewing storm, Natalie flung her phone aside in frustration and went to take an afternoon nap.
After his n fell through, Jason stormed off and vanished without a trace–no one had any idea where he’d gone.
Natalie’s friends frantically called her, but she was sound asleep and missed all the calls.
As for Jameson, Ross deliberately suppressed the news. So even though he was at the office, exposed by Ruth and was now a top trending scandal.
<b>no </b>one dared to tell him that his mistress <b>had </b><b>been </b><b>publicly </b>
<b>1/3 </b>
Chapter <b>209 </b>
<b>By </b>the time Jameson finally <b>found </b>out, the scandal <b>had </b><b>been </b>trending for <b>two </b>folf hours with tens of thousands ofmunad
Natalle was jotted <b>awake </b><b>by </b>the relentless doorbell. Still groggy, she stumbled <b>to </b>the door–only to be drenched <b>by </b><b>a </b>bucket <b>of </b>paint i <b>face</b>. <b>Completely </b>unprepared<b>, </b><b>she </b>shrieked in shock.
The person outside yelled furiously<b>, </b>“You shameless homewreckerl Who do you think you are<b>, </b>trying to y the mistress? And you even have the re <b>to </b>brag about your sen to the reporters? Gold–digging fox spirit–disgusting trash!”
<b>Natalie</b>, never one to take things lying down, exploded in rage, “You bitch! Just wait till I find out who you are–I’ll kill you!”
“Oh yeah? I’ll be waiting<b>!</b>” she sneered.
And just like that, they bolted.
Furious and covered in paint from head to toe, Natalie scrambled to the bathroom to wash it off.
After struggling for over an hour to clean up the mess, she finally picked up her phone–only to find it flooded with missed calls from her friends. <b>That </b>was when it hit her: Ruth had set her up.
Although Jameson had the trending topic removed to suppress the heat, the scandal had already exploded. Rumors kept surfacing endlessly, <b>circting </b>across major forums and video tforms.
For a while, Natalie became the target <b>of </b>public outrage, and even dragged Jason into the mess.
Jameson called to console her. “Nat, I’ve had someone take down the trending topic. For now<b>, </b>you’d better stay off the inte<b>.</b>”
“Got it, Jameson.”
Jameson asked, “And about that scandal between Shermaine and Joshua–was it you who leaked those photos to the reporters?<b>” </b>
“It wasn’t me,” Natalie said, sounding wronged. “I only sent the photos <b>to </b><b>a </b>friend. I never imagined she’d turn around and sell them to the press.”
“It’s fine–even if it was you, I don’t really care. Just don’t be so reckless next time. Joshua <b>isn’t </b>someone you want to mess with. Look <b>at </b>ck River Company–they’ve called in all kinds of reinforcements, and they’re still in deep trouble,” Jameson said, his tone casual.
Truth be told, he actually enjoyed watching others target Shermaine or Joshua, but unless it caused real harm, half–hearted attempts were pointless <b>to </b>
him.
“Yeah, got it,” Natalie replied. After hanging up, a ruthless glint shed in her eyes. “I have to secure the position of Mrs. Jean as soon as possible<b>—</b>the longer I wait, the more risks there are.”
After the team–building event, night had fallen by the time Shermaine returned to Riverswood Vi.
With Joshua away, the mansion felt eerily empty and deste.
Janice was already nning <b>a </b>grand celebration for her tomorrow–after all, bing Basterel’s top science scorer deserved to be celebrated with great fanfare and let everyone know.
So after Shermaine got home, she didn’t do much–just got ready for bed and went to sleep.
Late at night, tree shadows swayed as a Bentley pulled up to the gate.
Returningte from his business trip, Joshua keyed in the code, slipped inside, and quietly set his briefcase down<b>. </b>Treading <b>lightly </b><b>towa </b>he saw Shermaine lying fast asleep.
All week on his business trip, every spare moment was filled with thoughts of Shermaine.
<b>bedroom</b>,
Joshua sat on the edge of the bed, leaned down, and pressed <b>a </b>gentle kiss to her lips–so soft and sweetly scented that he <b>couldn’t </b>help <b>himself </b><b>and </b><b>gave </b>them <b>a </b>light nibble.
??
Life <b>did </b>he know, <b>Shenmaine</b>, <b>ever </b><b>perceptive</b><b>, </b>had <b>already </b>sensed his retum<b>. </b>She <b>opened </b>her eyes and slipped her stars, aroural his pos
Joshua’s <b>Adam’s </b><b>apple </b><b>bobbed</b><b>. </b>The next moment<b>, </b>he captured her <b>lips</b><b>, </b>deepening the kiss with urgent passion.
<b>The </b>moment his <b>lips </b>met <b>Shermaine’s</b>, an overwhelming unge consumed him to hold her so close she’d be <b>part </b>of his <b>very </b><b>soul</b><b>, </b>to love her vi every <b>fiber </b>of his being<b>. </b>
<b>His </b>breathing grew ragged as his lips trailed from Shermaine’s ear down to the hollow of her corbone.
Beneath the thin, fuzzy nket, his palm traced along her waist with a slow, upward drift.
Joshua murmured in <b>a </b>husky voice, “Sheary, is your period over?”
AD