The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 389

Having been thoroughly poisoned by Tallulah's endless rants, the Maddox sisters despised Winona.

*She preaches about independence and cutting ties with Yulen,* Shirley thought bitterly, *yet here she is, blowing his money on luxury VIP experiences. What a complete hypocrite.*

Hearing them throw around the word "homewrecker," Winona immediately connected the dots. They had to be Tallulah's friends or relatives.

She let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Who exactly is the homewrecker here? Did Tallulah tell you that? She certainly has a lot of nerve."

Shirley and Lily, who constantly benefited from Tallulah's wealth, were fiercely loyal to her. Seeing Winona stubbornly deny the accusations only fueled their rage, and they began hurling even uglier insults.

The commotion quickly drew the attention of a nearby staff member. Since Winona had arrived with Stefan—a highly valued VIP—the attendant treated her and Greta with the utmost respect.

Noticing the blatant favoritism, Shirley and Lily were furious. *This mistress is only allowed in here because she's leeching off Yulen's money!* they fumed internally. *We are the actual family of the real Mrs. Locke, and we're being treated like trash!*

Just as Shirley was about to demand to speak to a manager, the attendant turned to them with a polite, practiced smile. "Excuse me, ladies. Could you please present your membership cards or provide your member ID numbers?"

Shirley gritted her teeth but rattled off the number.

The attendant tapped it into his handheld device, checked the screen, and offered a tight smile. "I see. You hold a basic tier membership, which only grants access to the second-floor rink. If you'd like to skate here on the third floor, you'll need to upgrade your account."

Upgrading would cost a flat fee of ten thousand dollars. Since the sisters were only here to leech off their cousin's perks, there was no way they were dropping that kind of money. Utterly humiliated, they turned and slunk back down the stairs.

The attendant quickly turned back to Winona. "Ms. Jowett, are you and Greta alright? Were either of you hurt?"

Winona shook her head. "We're fine. Thank you for handling that."

"It's my pleasure. If you don't need anything else, I'll return to my post. Enjoy your time on the ice."

Winona and Greta skated for a little while longer before Stefan returned, holding bottles of water and fresh juice.

Noticing the lingering gloom on Greta's face, Stefan looked at Winona. "What happened?"

"Just a minor run-in with some rude people," Winona smiled, brushing it off. "It's all sorted out."

Shirley had carried a massive crush on Zack for a while, but because she was a year older than him, she had always been too embarrassed to make the first move. Running into him here felt like destiny, and she was determined not to let this chance slip away.

She knew she was pretty and considered herself sweet-natured. If she could lock Zack down now, she would be perfectly positioned to enjoy the lavish lifestyle his inevitable promotions would bring.

Lily, however, couldn't believe her sister was fawning over him. "Shirley, his background is so basic! Even if he's a genius in the lab, it's going to take him years to climb the corporate ladder. Do you really want to struggle with him for a decade? Just ask our uncle to set you up with someone who's already rich!"

"If Uncle wanted to set us up, he would have done it by now," Shirley scoffed. "You see how much they actually care about us. Besides, look at Tallulah—she married into massive wealth, and her life is a stressful mess.

"Zack is a total golden ticket. Do you know how many single women at the Institute have their eyes on him? When I started working there last year, a senior researcher tried to ask me out. I turned him down, and guess what? A few months later, he published a massive breakthrough, got a double promotion, bought a luxury house and a nice car, and married another girl from the lab.

"Zack is ten times more brilliant than that guy. His future is limitless. If I get with him now, I won't have to suffer for a single second."

Lily rolled her eyes. "No matter how high a researcher's salary gets, he's still just a corporate employee..."

"You are so clueless," Shirley snapped. "These guys are highly nurtured, elite-level geniuses. They aren't standard desk jockeys. Someone at Zack's level is already clearing over a million a year between his base salary and project bonuses. For core talent like him, the second he drops a major patent, his net worth will skyrocket overnight. You think he's 'basic'? If I don't snatch him up right now, some other girl will."