Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Upon hearing this, Joanne White frantically covered Lucy White’s mouth. "Stop talking! What if someone hears you?"

Even though the presidential suite had two floors and they were on the first while the Simmons family was staying on the second, Joanne White was still worried the walls had ears.

Lucy White pried Joanne White’s hand away and said in a hushed voice, "So now you’re scared? Why weren’t you scared when you went to Mr. Simmons’s room earlier? Don’t you know Mrs. Simmons could be back any minute? What on earth is wrong with you?!"

Just moments before, Lucy White had seen Joanne White furtively sneak into Bernard Simmons’s room, all by herself.

’A mistress and her patron’s father, alone in a room together... it’s just too bizarre! Especially with Joanne’s expression back then. She looked so guilty, there’s no way it was for anything innocent!’

Lucy White was terrified that Joanne White, in a moment of foolishness, might do something irreversible.

Joanne White sighed. She pulled Lucy White by the hand to sit on the edge of the bed and whispered, "It’s really not what you think!"

Joanne White then told Lucy White the whole story.

"I got a call at noon... The woman on the other end said she knew a lot about me."

"She said she knew about my past with Austin Hale... She also knew that I used to hit on a lot of married men, and that I once drove one of their wives to miscarry from rage... And she knew I’d slandered people and liked to instigate online pile-ons..."

"She told me to keep it from the rest of the Simmons family and secretly pass a message to Zane Simmons’s father..."

"She said if I didn’t cooperate, she would expose everything I’ve done. She’d make sure everyone in our social circle knew my story, and I would never be able to marry Zane Simmons."

Lucy White’s frown deepened as she listened. She quickly asked, "So, you did what she said?"

Joanne White bit her lower lip and nodded slightly. "I didn’t have a choice..." she said softly. "If she exposed all that, my chances would be completely ruined..."

’The Simmons family might accept a daughter-in-law from a humble background, but they would never accept one who was also vicious and had a sordid past!’

Lucy White fell silent for a moment before asking, "What was the message she had you deliver to Mr. Simmons?"

Joanne White thought for a moment before answering, "She wanted me to tell Mr. Simmons that she knows Elaine Hughes, the youngest daughter of the Hughes family of scholars, was the one who got away when he was young, and that she could help set them up. In return, once it was done, Mr. Simmons would have to get her a place in The Metropolis Residences and arrange for some food and supplies for the winter."

Hearing this, Lucy White felt her vision go black.

She clutched Joanne White’s hand desperately. "Sis! How could you be so foolish!"

Lucy was starting to wonder if the old saying about "pregnancy brain" lasting for years was true, for Joanne to actually agree to something like this!

"Aren’t you basically pimping for Mr. Simmons?! What kind of father would let a woman who acts as his pimp become his daughter-in-law? How could you agree to do something like that?!"

"Besides, if Mrs. Simmons ever found out, have you even thought about the consequences?! Why would she ever allow a woman who pimps for her husband to marry her son?!"

’And if Zane Simmons found out... The consequences would be unimaginable!’

As Joanne White listened to her sister, her right eyelid twitched violently.

But she suppressed the intense unease in her heart and tried to console herself. "What do you know? Mr. Simmons has always been a playboy. I was just helping him out; he won’t get worked up over something like this... Besides, when I told him about it, he seemed very happy. He even kept praising me for being so understanding."

The thought of Paige Walsh made Joanne White shudder inwardly, but she still gritted her teeth and said, "Mrs. Simmons... Mr. Simmons won’t let her find out! Besides... he and Mrs. Simmons don’t get along anyway... It’ll probably be fine..."

’Joanne felt that Bernard Simmons was pretty open-minded. He wouldn’t care about this sort of thing.’

’Besides, from her secret observations over the past few days, Joanne could tell there was absolutely no affection between Bernard Simmons and his wife. Their relationship could best be described as being sick of the sight of each other.’

’Joanne figured that by setting Bernard Simmons up with the woman he loved, he would surely remember this favor.’

Watching her sister, Lucy White felt a massive headache coming on.

’She was even starting to wonder, was that old saying about pregnancy brain really true?’

But what was done was done. Lucy couldn’t travel back in time to stop her sister. All she could do was clutch her head and start preparing for the worst...

******

Meanwhile, after hanging up the phone, Sylvia Lancaster couldn’t suppress a cold sneer.

’This version of Joanne White,’ she thought, ’is far more foolish than the one from my past life.’

’And she still dreams of becoming Mrs. Shepherd?’

’In her dreams!’

’I have no idea how Joanne White became Zane Simmons’s mistress in this life. After all, things were different in my last one...’

Sylvia Lancaster had known Joanne White in her previous life.

In her past life, Joanne White had been Austin Hale’s wife, and Austin Hale had been Flynn Adler’s trusted right-hand man.

Because of the connection between Flynn Adler and Austin Hale, Joanne White had always tried to curry favor with Sylvia Lancaster, and the two of them would get together from time to time.

That was how Sylvia knew so much about her.

After arriving in this world, Sylvia had been scrolling through her phone and saw in the chat history of a group for rich heirs that Zane Simmons’s mistress, Joanne White, had given him a son.

Sylvia filed that information away. Once her plan began to form, the first thing she did was find Joanne White to act as a go-between to connect her with Bernard Simmons.

Sylvia’s plan was to sacrifice Elaine Hughes in exchange for a new shelter and supplies from Bernard Simmons.

Sylvia still remembered how, in her past life, the Lancaster family had returned to their prime thanks to the stream in her pocket dimension. To recognize their contribution to curing the pandemic, the government held a special awards ceremony. Every member of the Lancaster family went onstage to accept the commendation—everyone except Melody Summers.

At the time, Bernard Simmons had been in the audience, and as he watched Elaine Hughes give her speech on stage, his gaze was filled with tenderness.

Later, when reporters were interviewing the audience, Bernard Simmons announced in front of all the media that Elaine Hughes was The Lover he could never have in his youth. He congratulated her on raising such excellent children and achieving so much.

Robert Lancaster had been jealous about that for a long time.

In private, Elaine Hughes, half-annoyed and half-embarrassed, had told Sylvia about her past with Bernard Simmons.

Elaine Hughes said that her family and the Simmons family were old acquaintances. Bernard Simmons had pursued her relentlessly, but she found him too frivolous and not someone she could entrust her life to, so she chose the more stable Robert Lancaster instead.

Returning to the present, Sylvia Lancaster listened to Robert Lancaster’s wails coming from upstairs. ’Bernard Simmons really hasn’t let me down,’ she thought.

’It seems that even after years have passed, when ’The Lover’ is no longer young—when she’s become leftover rice—a man will still want a taste, just to make up for the regrets of his youth.’

’This way, I can get a shelter and supplies for free, move out of this place, and get my revenge on Elaine Hughes. Two birds with one stone.’

At this thought, Sylvia Lancaster looked out the window and muttered, "Mother... since you have the heart to treat me this way, don’t blame me for retaliating..."

’Sylvia recalled how Elaine Hughes had been constantly calling her "the bitch born of a mistress." She’d love to see if, once Elaine herself became Bernard Simmons’s mistress, she would still look down on the very type of woman she so despised...’