Laurenâs body stiffened, and she looked at Jordan with a dumbfounded expression. âAn act? What do you mean by that?â
Jordan humphed coldly and asked, âWhat do I mean? Trust you to have the cheek to ask me what I mean.â
âYou knew since a long time ago that Victoria got abducted by the Howards and her current whereabouts. Otherwise, how can you be certain that sheâs completely fine and how do you know so much about her?â
âVictoria was abducted by the Howards!â
Lauren looked at Jordan with an innocent expression on her face. âJordan, trust me, I really donât know where Victoria is, and I donât know if she was abducted by my family or not, but I believe m grandfather and brother wonât lie to me.â
âBelieve you? Why should I believe you when youâre a Howard?â Jordan snapped hostilely.
Laurenâs beauty was way too perfect, and she was completely flawless, just like Hailey.
Most of the gorgeous women whom Jordan knew were liars, so he somewhat assumed that Lauren was one too.
He thought Lauren was just better at hiding it.
Lauren defended herself and in a moment of panic, she grabbed Jordanâs sleeve and said, âJordan, I know youâre very worried about Victoria but I really donât know where she is now. Why would I lie to you?â
Jordan shook Lauren off and said, âWhy? Well, because you want to marry me and be the daughter-in-law of the Steeles! The Howards have always coveted our familyâs international connections, and once you marry me, the Howards will be invincible locally and abroad!â
Lauren was feeling really awkward, and of course, she wouldnât admit to it. âI donât want to marry youâŠâ
Jordan said coldly, âYou should know best whether you want to or not! Lauren Howard, I can tell you clearly today that Victoria Clarke is the only person I will marry, so donât even think about becoming my woman! I wonât consider letting you be my mistress either!â
Lauren immediately looked ashamed when she heard those words, which were the most humiliating thing she had ever heard in her life!
She was the most beautiful woman in DC who had countless suitors. Yet, Jordan was lashing out at her and telling her he wouldnât even consider making her his mistress!
Lauren was really hurt by Jordan.
However, she was still very prideful, so she continued to deny, âJordan Steele, I donât fancy you either. You hurt me four years ago. Why would I fall in love with a man who raped me?â
Jordan might have been fooled by her words a month ago.
However, some time ago, he had clearly heard Lauren telling Victoria that she was in love with him.
Hence, Jordan was even more certain that Lauren was now lying!
Jordan was even more certain that Lauren was the one who abducted Victoria.
Jordan said, âHow would I know? Many women like being submissive in bed. Maybe youâre one of them.â
In a moment of anxiousness and eagerness to find Victoria, Jordan began to be unrestrained with his words.
Smack!
Upon hearing his words, Lauren could no longer hold herself back. She raised her arm and gave Jordan a tight slap on his face!
At the same time, Lauren immediately burst into tears aggrievedly.
When the tears appeared on Laurenâs delicate face, they seemed to glisten like diamonds.
The teary-eyed Lauren looked really pitiful, and her eyes seemed to be able to talk. Jordan had never seen such a pretty pair of eyes before!
Lauren cried and said, âJordan, you canât insult me like that! After I came out of that tiny dark room and returned to the US four years ago, I slipped into depression for several months and lost a lot of weight. I weighed only about 40 kilograms then. Iâm not as cheap as you made me out to be!â
âJordan, youâve really hurt me with those words! I hate you!â
After saying that, Lauren dashed out with tears in her eyes.
LaurenâŠâ
Seeing how sad Lauren was, Jordan felt an urge to call out to her and chase after her to stop her for a second.
For some reason, Jordan felt Lauren had become much more genuine after slapping him.
The more magnanimous she was about forgiving him for the past, the more strange he found her behavior to be.
On the contrary, Jordan would be much more at ease if Lauren detested himâŠ
At this moment, Jordan also felt that he had been too harsh just now.
In fact, with Jordanâs ability to read micro-expressions, he should have long been able to tell that Lauren was completely clueless about Victoriaâs whereabouts.
Even if Victoria was really captured by the Howards, Lauren definitely didnât know about it.
However, Jordan cared too much about Victoria because he had almost lost her before.
He had just snatched her back from Russell and yet, he was going to lose her again in two days. Inevitably, he would lose control of his emotions.
Lauren walked out from the courtyard and drove to Martinâs residence in her Jeep.
âMissy, whatâs wrong?â
When she came to the living room, an old man in his sixties couldnât help but ask with concern when he noticed she seemed to have just cried.
The elderly man was the Howardsâ butler who had watched Lauren and her siblings grow up.
âButler Joe, is my grandfather in the room? I have something to see him for.â
Lauren wiped her tears with a piece of tissue paper.
The butler said, âMr. Howard is in the study right now. Please take a seat and get some rest while I make you some tea.â
At this moment, in Martinâs study.
âSir, we found a person whoâs suspected to be Jamie Steele yesterday. He seems to have come to DC!â
A young man reported to Martin.
Martin squinted and exclaimed, âHow brazen of Jamie Steele to come to DC, despite knowing that I wonât let him off!â
The young man said, âDid he especially rush here to support Jordan because he knows that weâre going to deal with him today? Could it be that he was the one controlling the UFO-shaped aircraft today?â
However, Martin shook his head and said, âThe UFO-shaped aircraft was clearly part of Jordanâs plan, which he devised when he left DC last time. It has nothing to do with Jamie.â
âJamie Steele might not really care about whether Jordanâs dead or alive either!â
The young man asked in puzzlement, âWhy? Arenât Jamie and Jordan Steele brothers?â
Martin humphed coldly and said, âJamie Steele is ten thousand times more cunning than Jordan. Jordon may be courageous and resourceful, but heâs very honest, and he has a great personality. He has never done anything overboard before.â
âHowever, Jamie is different. Heâs a devil who must be secretly plotting something by controlling this.â
âIâve thought about it carefully during this period of time. Why did he set Jordan up with Lauren and make us hate Jordan?â
âItâs likely that he just wants to use us to get rid of Jordan!â
The young man was completely astounded. âJamie Steele⊠wants to use us to kill his younger brother? What a ruthless guy!â