Chapter 4

Adrian froze, frowning.

“What’s so funny? You’re finished, and you still think this is amusing?”

“I’m laughing,” I said, the smile fading from my face, “because you’re pathetic.”

I met his gaze calmly.

“Two women are playing you from start to finish, and you’re still standing here acting like some righteous judge. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?”

“What nonsense,”

Victoria cut in sharply.

“The evidence is right there, and you’re still trying to argue your way out of it? Clearly, you won’t stop until you’re forced to. Mr. Collins, call the police.”

“Wait.”

I raised a hand, stopping him just as he reached for his phone.

My gaze swept across the room before settling on him.

“Mr. Collins. You’ve been managing this mall for five years, haven’t you?”

He blinked, caught off guard, but nodded anyway.

“Yes… just over five years. Why?”

“Five years is a long time.”

I picked up the brooch and turned it slowly between my fingers, my tone light.

“Then you should know who the majority shareholder of Grand Arcadia Mall is.”

His expression shifted. Subtly, but unmistakably.

Victoria snapped, impatient. “Stop stalling. Saying random things won’t save you.”

I ignored her.

“This brooch,” I continued, “is an imitation of Cartier’s limited-edition ‘Heart of the Ocean’ from last fall. Only three were made worldwide. Each one has its own anti-counterfeit marker, and a unique microchip code.”

A bead of sweat slid down Mr. Collins’s temple.

“As the manager of the most exclusive mall in Silverbrook, I’m sure you’re far more familiar with luxury authentication than I am.”

He stared at the brooch. Then at me.

Said nothing.

Adrian frowned, sensing something was off, but still unwilling to question himself.

“Claire Bennett, what are you trying to prove? Real or fake doesn’t matter. It was found on you.”

“Doesn’t matter?”

I let out a short laugh and dropped the brooch onto the table with a sharp click.

“Mr. Collins, why don’t you explain? The real ‘Heart of the Ocean’ should have a laser-engraved serial number inside the clasp. And at the base of the gemstone, there’s a microchip so small you’d need at least a twenty-times magnifier to see it.”

With every word, his face grew paler.

Lily’s expression cracked, panic creeping through the carefully maintained innocence. She turned toward Victoria, but even Victoria looked uncertain now.

I straightened slowly.

The restraint I had been holding back finally slipped.

I was no longer the woman they thought they could humiliate.

I was a Bennett.

I met Mr. Collins’s eyes directly.

“I’m giving you one chance. Use the mall’s professional equipment. Authenticate it properly.

“Then pull the full surveillance footage, from the moment I walked into the café until now. Every second.”

I paused.

Then delivered the final blow.

“Oh, and one more thing.

“My name is Claire Bennett.

“This mall was a gift from my father on my twentieth birthday.”

I let the silence settle.

Then, calmly:

“Mr. Collins… on your boss’s own property, do you really think anyone would dare frame her as a thief?”