Not A Small Town Girl (Danielle and David) novel Chapter 75

Chapter 75

"You better know it," Vivian replied, satisfied.

Danielle couldn’t help but blush at all the praise from her parents. Her cheeks turned pink, and she suddenly felt a little shy under their loving gaze.

Audrey stood at the top of the stairs, listening to her parents and Joseph lavish praise on Danielle. A sharp wave of jealousy washed over her, and she had to fight the urge to storm down and rip Danielle apart right then and there.

Why did Danielle get to intern at Darling Group, having to flatter Joseph and beg for his approval, while Audrey got nothing?

Danielle hadn’t done a single thing to deserve such treatment. Their father had casually allowed Danielle to pick any subsidiary she wanted, while Audrey was treated like just another employee at the company. And Joseph? He didn’t treat her any differently from anyone else. It was like she wasn’t even his sister.

Her eyes welled up as she clenched her fists so tightly that her nails bit into her palms.

The meal in the dining room had come to an end.

"Danielle, let’s go to the study," Joseph said, sensing that his sister had something important to talk about.

"Why don’t you and Mom and Dad come too?"

Danielle suggested. She thought it would be better if her parents knew what was going on, especially since the Dixon family was likely going to come knocking afterward. It’d be better for everyone if they were prepared.

"Alright," Joseph agreed.

Audrey overheard their plans and quickly slipped away to hide. In the study, Joseph, Howard, and Vivian sat down, wondering what Danielle had to say.

"Joseph, about the banquet, the investigation is over. It turns out Sienna was involved in what happened," Danielle began, her voice steady but serious.

"What investigation? What happened with Sienna?" Vivian asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. She didn’t understand what Danielle meant.

"At the banquet that year, Joseph was drugged... the next morning, he woke up to find himself with Sienna. But there’s more to the story than that," Danielle explained, treading carefully around what was obviously a personal matter for Joseph.

"So, that’s why you suddenly started seeing that girl from the Dixon family?" Vivian asked, still piecing things together.

"Danielle, what do you mean by ’more complicated’? Is someone trying to hurt Joseph?" Howard and Vivian exchanged puzzled glances.

"I’ve got a video I fixed up for you to watch."

Danielle pulled out her phone and projected the footage she had managed to recover earlier that day.

Outside the study, Audrey was pressing her ear to the door, trying to catch every word. But the thick walls made it impossible to hear anything.

She thought, ’What secret is Danielle about to reveal? Why does she need to bring Mom and Dad and Joseph into the study to talk about it privately?

’Is she talking behind my back? Badmouthing me? Of course, that made sense-Danielle is from a small village, so it isn’t surprising that she is so petty.’

Inside the study, the three of them watched the video in shocked silence. Joseph’s face darkened, his anger practically radiating from him as if he wanted to rip everything apart.

Sienna had been a master manipulator. She’d even tried to emotionally blackmail him at the office that day, pressuring him into marriage. All along, she’d been lying to him. If it weren’t for Danielle finding and restoring this video, he might have ended up marrying that poisonous woman.

As he watched, all the guilt he’d carried for years- feeling pressured by Sienna’s constant moral guilt trips-began to make sense. It had all been part of her plan.

At the same time, a weight lifted off his shoulders. It wasn’t Sienna who had been manipulating him.

The sight of the small figure in the video almost made him feel grateful.

"Hmph." Vivian gave him a playful side-eye.

"I swear, I’ll love you for the rest of my life. You’re my queen, and whatever you say goes," Howard said, pulling her close and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"What are you doing? The kids are right there."

Vivian had been teasing him, but she never expected him to be so bold in front of their son and daughter.

Danielle thought, ’Am I in the wrong scene here? Weren’t we supposed to be talking about Joseph? Why are Mom and Dad acting like this...

Joseph thought, ’This is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.’

Vivian’s face flushed slightly as she noticed their kids watching. She felt a little embarrassed and muttered, "It’s all your fault."

"It’s my fault," Howard said with a soft smile, seeing that his wife was embarrassed. His eyes were full of affection. "Ahem, ahem. So, Joseph, what’s your plan now?"

"First, we need to figure out if the Dixon family is involved, or if this is Ruby and Sienna’s scheme-or maybe just Sienna on her own. "Sienna came to my office today and proposed marriage. If Danielle hadn’t come through with the video, we might be in a very different situation..." Joseph’s words trailed off, but everyone knew exactly what he meant.

"Finding out if the Dixon family’s involved isn’t hard. We just need to see where they stand- whether they’re trying to use this to force Joseph into marriage," Danielle said, her voice cool and collected.

"If anyone tries to manipulate my son, I won’t let them get away with it," Vivian said fiercely, her anger bubbling up.

"Joseph, do you need me to track down Ruby’s address?" Danielle offered, her tone thoughtful.

"No need," Joseph replied coldly, his eyes distant, his thoughts elsewhere.