Chapter 4

Jayson froze when he saw me laughing. He frowned and asked, "What are you laughing at? How can you still laugh when you've been backed into a corner?"

"I'm laughing at how pitiful you are," I said, turning solemn again as I calmly met his angry gaze. "Jayson Simpson, you've been thoroughly fooled by these two women, and yet, you still think that you're playing the role of a fair judge.

"Don't you think that you're the one acting like a clown after all?"

"What nonsense are you spewing?" Sophia shrieked, interrupting me. "We have the evidence. And you're still trying to fight back? You won’t admit it until the bitter end, will you?

"Mr. Curran! Call the police at once!"

"Hold on," I said, raising a hand to stop Jeff, who was about to retrieve his phone.

I slowly swept my gaze around the people in the lounge and finally fixed my eyes on Jeff, who had been playing the peacemaker the entire time.

"Mr. Curran, I think you've been working here in Chevy International Mall for five years. Am I right?"

Jeff paused for a bit. He didn't know why I had suddenly brought that up. However, he nodded on instinct and replied, "Yes. I've been here for at least five years. But why are you asking this?"

"Five years is quite a long time."

I then picked up the sapphire brooch on the table and fiddled with it between my fingers, looking at him with a half-smile.

"Then, you must know who the largest shareholder of Chevy International Mall is, don't you?"

Jeff's expression changed slightly, his eyes twinkling in response.

Sophia urged impatiently, "What's the point of you trying to drag things out like this? Don't you dare think that saying a bunch of weird things like that will get you off the hook. I'm telling you, nobody can save you now. Nobody!"

I ignored Sophia's screams and fixed my gaze on Jeff.

"This brooch is a replica of the limited-edition 'Heart of the Sea' in Cartier's fall collection last year. There are only three such brooches in the world, and each brooch has a unique mark and a separate microchip embedded to prevent any counterfeits.

"Mr. Curran, as the highest-level manager of the most luxurious shopping center in Cloudville, I'm sure that you must also be more professional than me when it comes to differentiating a real luxury item from a fake one. Am I right?"

My words made Jeff break out in cold sweat once again.

He looked at the brooch in my hand, then at my eyes that looked like they had seen through everything. His lips moved, but he wasn't able to get a single word out.

Jayson sensed something amiss. However, he refused to think that he might be wrong and hollered at me, "Cheryl! What tricks are you up to this time? You can't fake evidence. The brooch was found in your belongings. That's concrete proof in itself!"

"Concrete proof?"

I scoffed coldly and slammed the brooch on the table with a loud, clear bang.

"Mr. Curran, would you like to tell them that the real 'Heart of the Sea' has a unique serial number laser-engraved into the inside folds of the clasp in the back?

"And would you also like to tell them that the real brooch has a tiny microchip embedded in the facets of the gemstone that can only be seen if magnified by 20 times?"

Jeff's face turned increasingly paler with every word I said.

Even Crystal's initially smug face began showing hints of panic.

She turned to Sophia helplessly, but she realized that Sophia was looking at me in shock.

I straightened up, finally revealing the presence I had been suppressing for a long time and allowing myself to relax.

Now, I was no longer the woman they misunderstood, humiliated, and described as being poor and down on my luck. I was Cheryl Richmond once again, the true heiress of the Richmond family.

My eyes pierced into Jeff as I said, "Now, I am giving you a chance to use the most professional and advanced apparatus to determine the authenticity of this brooch.

"And then, I want you to retrieve the surveillance camera footage at the cafe from the moment I walked into it. Make sure that you don't miss a single second of it."

After pausing for a while, I then revealed the most shocking news that immediately sent the entire lounge room into a dead silence.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cheryl Richmond. My dad gave this mall to me on my 20th birthday.

"Mr. Curran, do you think that your boss should be accused as a thief on your own territory?"