Chapter 3

Jeff stood in front of Sophia, sweating profusely and standing so straight that his posture was almost obsequious.

"Please don't be mad, Mrs. Simpson. The mall will investigate the matter and give you a satisfactory explanation for this.

"Would you like to call the police? Or—"

"The police?"

Sophia scoffed coldly and set down her teacup before glancing at me. "Handing her to the police would be going too easy on her. If she gets a criminal record, my son will also be dragged into the matter.

"People will judge him for having dated a thief in the past. And the Simpsons will not allow that to happen."

She paused for a while, not bothering to hide the evil glint in her eyes.

"Search her. I will expose her to the world and make them see how filthy and lowly this pathetic liar really is!"

Search me? That would be massively humiliating. An uneasy look appeared on Jeff's face at once.

"Mrs. Simpson, we can't do that. We don't have the right to search her—"

Sophia interrupted him at once. "Mr. Curran, do I need to remind you how much business the Simpsons have been giving Chevy International Mall?

"If you continue defending this thief today, then I will hold you accountable for all the consequences later."

Sophia's words immediately caused Jeff to break out in a cold sweat.

He stopped hesitating and turned to me, saying professionally, "Miss, kindly cooperate with us so that we can prove your innocence. Otherwise, I'm afraid that we will have to get the police involved in this."

I glanced coldly at everyone in the room—at Sophia's arrogance, Crystal's smugness, Jayson's indifference, and Jeff's sycophancy.

"Sure," I said calmly. "I'll cooperate."

I walked up to the coffee table in the middle of the lounge room and began taking everything out of my limited-edition Birkin bag, laying them on the table one by one under everyone's scrutiny.

Those things included my wallet, my keys, my phone, a lipstick, and a pack of wet wipes.

I laid out everyone on the table, as simply as it could be.

Sophia frowned. She began rummaging through my purse in dissatisfaction, even pinching through the inner lining to see if anything was hidden in there, but she couldn't find anything.

"That's impossible!" Sophia screamed. "You must have hidden it in your clothes!"

She then glared daggers at my pockets.

I was wearing a tailored Chanel outer jacket. I ignored the greedy gazes of the security guards on me and looked at Sophia and Crystal's smug expressions instead, my lips curling into a smirk.

"Are you really that interested in it?"

I then slowly reached into the coat pockets under everyone's gaze. They held their breaths and watched.

When I pulled my hand out again, a dazzling sapphire brooch appeared in the middle of my palm.

The dark blue sapphire sparkled coldly and brilliantly under the lights.

"Ah. There it is," Crystal said, breaking the silence. However, she suddenly realized that she said the wrong thing and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes then turned red as she exclaimed, "Cheryl! You… How could you really…"

Sophia's face lit up with glee. She then pointed at me and screamed at Jeff, "See that? We caught her red-handed! I was right! This woman is a thief!"

Jeff sighed in relief and gave the security guards a look.

The two guards then stepped forward, caging me in from both sides so I couldn't run away.

The people in the lounge room were all looking at me with looks of disdain, sarcasm, and schadenfreude.

Jayson wouldn't stop glaring at me. The last hint of doubt had vanished in his eyes.

He stepped up to me and spoke in a judgmental and condescending tone. "I gave you a chance, Cheryl. Now, you've just been caught red-handed. What else do you have to say for yourself?"

He then shot me a look of disgust.

"Why? Why did you have to do this? Just because Mom didn't agree to let us date each other? Or was it because you got jealous of Crystal? Is this how you get revenge on me, by stooping to such lowly methods like this?

"You've completely disappointed me."

I looked at Jayson's handsome yet stupid face and suddenly laughed out loud.

The last of my feelings for him were completely snuffed out at that moment.

My laughter reverberated in the quiet VIP lounge room, sounding out of place and even piercing to the ears.