Chapter 6

A child?

More like a tiny monster.

Audrey released Ian and let him wriggle free. Then she wiped her hands and said coldly, “He lost a piece of jewelry of mine worth twenty million.”

The moment she said that, Liam’s brows twitched.

How was that possible?

Audrey was only an adopted daughter. Where would she get a piece of jewelry worth twenty million?

Julie could not help laughing. “Audrey, are you talking about the necklace in that silver box? Ian did throw it into the trash after he finished playing with it. But honestly, from the way it looked, I thought it was something worth maybe ten dollars online. Besides, as far as I know, you don’t even have twenty million in savings. How could you possibly afford jewelry that expensive?”

She paused, then tugged at Liam’s arm in a coy little gesture.

“Or was it a gift Liam bought for you?”

“No.”

Liam denied it without hesitation.

Over the years, he had rarely bought Audrey any gifts. The Jensen family would not give her much spending money either.

She was just an adopted girl. How could she possibly have that kind of money?

She was clearly making things up.

His gaze fell on Audrey’s delicate, striking face. Thinking of how obedient and sensible she had been all these years, he rarely softened enough to give her an out.

“Enough. I know you don’t like Julie and Ian, so you’re deliberately making things difficult for them. But don’t use such a ridiculous excuse. This matter...”

Before he could finish, Audrey cut him off coldly.

“That necklace is called the Crimson Moon Heart. Because of its value, the owner’s name is registered with the Jewelry Association at the time of purchase. Also, there are security cameras here. Whether it’s really the Crimson Moon Heart or not, we’ll know once someone from the Jewelry Association comes to appraise it.”

Without waiting for either of them to react, Audrey contacted the Jewelry Association herself.

After reviewing the security footage and verifying the records, a member of the association looked at Audrey respectfully.

“Ms. Jensen is indeed the registered collector of the Crimson Moon Heart. The necklace shown in the footage is also confirmed to be the Crimson Moon Heart.”

Julie looked utterly disbelieving. “Impossible. How could she afford jewelry worth tens of millions? Did she hire you people to fool us?”

“Be careful what you say,” the man said, immediately displeased. “Every member of our Jewelry Association carries proper credentials. We specialize in jewelry appraisal and collection authentication. You failed to supervise her child properly, which resulted in the loss of the Crimson Moon Heart. As members of the association, we’re deeply saddened by this as well.”

He glanced at Julie with disgust.

The Crimson Moon Heart was such a precious collector’s item, and she had actually let a child play with it.

Now she even had the nerve to call them scammers?

Julie’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Liam, however, knew that the Jewelry Association’s members were all respected designers and experts in the industry. They were not people he could afford to offend.

“That isn’t what Julie meant,” he quickly said, smoothing things over. “She was just surprised.”

After Liam pacified the association members and saw them out, Audrey finally looked at Julie and said casually, “Now that it’s been confirmed that the necklace was the Crimson Moon Heart, how does Ms. Sanders plan to handle this?”

Julie had not expected the necklace to really be worth twenty million. She bit her lower lip.

“Audrey, Ian didn’t do it on purpose. He’s only a child. Besides, if you had stored it properly, he wouldn’t have lost it in the first place.”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault that he touched my things without permission?”

Audrey’s voice was filled with sarcasm.

She said calmly, “I can let other things slide, but the Crimson Moon Heart is part of my collection. Since it’s been lost, you’ll have to pay for it.”