Chapter 4

Thoroughly aggrieved and heartbroken, I cried till I was overcome by exhaustion and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, the sky wasn't even fully bright yet when a loud banging on my front door woke me up.

Upon opening the door, I was dumbfounded to see the entire Yarrow family crowding my doorstep. Even some of the other relatives had come and were blocking the way.

The commotion had also woken our neighbors, who poked their heads out to see what was going on.

When Joana saw me, she immediately sat on the floor and began smacking her thigh while yelling tearfully, "Everyone, come see! It was her! She visited our home yesterday, and the moment she left, I realized that my gold bangle, my heavy 50-gram gold bangle, was gone!"

That had the neighbors erupting in whispers and shooting me furtive glances.

"She looks like such a respectable young woman, so why would she do something like that…"

"She visited their home and stole that lady's bangle?"

Now that she had a crowd of onlookers, Joana intensified her wailing, "Everyone, I just wanted her to help pick up a stool yesterday, and she immediately threw a temper tantrum and scowled at me so ferociously! Kindhearted as I am, I was originally planning on apologizing to her afterwards, but who would've thought she would be so wicked as to steal my bangle while I wasn't looking!"

Pointing a finger at me, she demanded unreasonably, "Hurry up and hand over the bangle! If you can't, then pay me back the market price of six thousand dollars!"

I was already annoyed at being woken up by the noise, so as I retreated inside to shut the door, I snapped back, "I stole your bangle? That lousy piece of jewelry isn't even worth my interest! Forget about six thousand dollars—I'm not even going to pay you a single cent! Now, get the hell off my doorstep! Immediately!

"If you continue to slander and falsely accuse me of something I didn't do, I'm calling the police. Then, I'm going to tell everyone just what you all did yesterday so that everyone can see your true colors!"

Upon hearing that, she immediately slumped to the floor and acted like she was about to faint. "Oh! You're threatening an old lady like me! My head is spinning… I think my blood pressure's spiking again…"

At that moment, my parents rushed out of the house and stood in front of me protectively.

Dad's expression was stony as he roared, "Do none of you have any shame? Yesterday, your whole family ganged up on my daughter and refused to even let her eat anything! Now, you actually dare to come to her doorstep and accuse her of stealing your bangle? I'm calling the police if you won't stop this nonsense!"

Not only was Joana unfazed by that threat, but she grew even bolder and turned to our neighbors.

"Everyone, come be the judge for us! This woman came to our house yesterday and extorted my son by demanding that he pay her 25 thousand dollars! When we refused, she immediately threw a fit! Then, she stole my bangle, yet she has the nerve to turn the tables on me? Fine, call the police! This will be the perfect opportunity for her to face justice for her actions!

"Either she returns the bangle to me right now, or she pays me back 30 thousand dollars, interest included! And I won't accept a cent less! Otherwise, I'm going to utterly ruin her reputation and have her thrown behind bars!"

The Yarrow family relatives chimed in eagerly, spitting all sorts of filth at me while they dragged my name through the mud.

Incensed at this, my parents called the police.

In no time, the police arrived, and once they had gotten a feel for the situation, they began their investigation by searching me.

A female officer stepped forward and opened my purse. She rifled through it for a few seconds before pausing and pulling out a gold bangle.

My mind went blank when I saw that, and I whipped my head around to look at Anthony.

A hint of panic flashed through his eyes before he guiltily turned his face away.

Joana's eyes lit up at the sight of the bangle. She instantly started shrieking, her voice shrill and dripping with smugness, "That's it! That's my bangle! I told you that she stole it!"

Then, she turned to me. "With such concrete evidence as proof, what else do you have to say for yourself? You have two options right now. Either you compensate me 250 thousand dollars for the psychological stress, or I'm suing you for theft and throwing you in prison!"

Trembling with fury, Dad immediately called his lawyer.

The moment the lawyer entered the house, the first thing he did was approach Dad and say respectfully, "Mr. Lance, here is the list of items you've prepared for Ms. Lance as her wedding gift, including one million dollars in cash, a single-story villa worth five million dollars in the city center, and many businesses and other real estate. All of them have been transferred under her name."

This time, it was the Yarrows who were dumbfounded.