Chapter 3 It Really Is Nathaniel’s Handwork!

Alicia didn’t know how to react. She had only spent a few months in Dew City, but she knew enough that most people had no respect.

Her husband, however, didn’t seem like one of those people, so she simply concluded he was in a bad mood after everything she had just told him about her family.

‘‘Hey, what are you doing? This is the Nathaniel Red who I’ve been waiting for the entire day. Don’t screw this up.’’ She whispered through clenched teeth, nudging him repeatedly to keep him at bay.

Derek thinned his lips and said nothing. He only married this woman because of his grandparents, and they had agreed not to be actively involved in each other’s lives unless it was absolutely necessary.

But Nathaniel was the Hayne family’s jeweler, and he only rose to fame after making a piece for his grandmother.

‘‘Don’t just keep quiet, apologize to Mr. Red.’’ she nudged him again when he stopped talking.

“That is not necessary, ma’am!’’ Nathaniel Red almost jumped out of his skin when he heard her.

It was only yesterday that news of Derek getting married was introduced to the general public.

The man had kept his wife out of the public eye, so everyone had the same thought about her; she was not only the luckiest woman in Dew City, she was also the most powerful in the entire country.

He looked down at her ring finger, and when he saw it was bare, he immediately broke out in cold sweat.

He was the Hayne family’s jeweler, and just because she came to his company to get a custom ring from him using her maiden name, his people had blindly turned her away.

‘‘Mr. Red, I know you only take a select few orders every year, but this was sudden and I really need a custom piece from you in the next three days.’’

Nathaniel misinterpreted this custom piece to be a wedding ring and nodded fervently.

‘‘You’re too kind, Mrs. Hayne. I will deliver something like nothing you’ve ever seen before in the next three days. I have to go now. It was nice meeting you, ma’am.’’ He bowed politely to her and raced back to his car.

Alicia waited until he left before she scrunched up her nose and turned to Derek. ‘‘I don’t know who made him happy enough to make him call me Mrs. Hayne, but I’m grateful.’’

‘‘Works for me too,’’ he nodded.

‘‘Let’s do this often,’’ she mumbled after a few seconds, and he nodded. He got a call at that moment and bade her farewell.

In the blink of an eye, three days went by in a flash.

The evening of the deadline, Olivia brought home a shiny new guest.

Shiny in the sense that she was a trophy to be carried around for the next few weeks.

‘‘My granddaughter has never mentioned that she plays golf with a member of the Hayne family. It’s a pleasure to have you in my home, Miss Hayne.’’

‘‘Please, Mrs. Hodge, Giovanni is just fine.’’ A brunette who sat beside Olivia at the dinner table smiled brightly at her.

Olivia’s face stretched into a genuine smile. She didn’t only have a Hayne under her roof, but her granddaughter was also close with this one. She couldn’t ask for more.

‘‘Then I must also insist that you call me Andrea.’’

’‘Alicia, you’ve been insanely quiet. Does it offend you that Olivia is friends with Giovanni Hayne?”

It was Marcus, but even if he spoke out of turn, it was a question in both Andrea and Olivia’s mind.

Alicia, who was refreshing her call log, paused and looked up. But before she could say anything, Olivia drew a wine glass to her lips and snorted.

‘‘Alicia sees us as stupid children, so she thinks we’ll believe her lies about meeting Mr. Red if she constantly looks at her phone and pretends she’s expecting a package from him.’’

’‘When you say Mr. Red, do you mean Nathaniel?” Giovanni couldn’t help chiming in, and Olivia fervently nodded, relieved that she took the bait.

‘‘Alicia returned three nights ago claiming she met Mr. Red and he promised to make and deliver a custom piece for her.’’

‘‘That is not only ridiculous, it’s also a blatant lie. I’ve known Nathaniel all my life, and not once has he ever made and delivered a piece in three days.

Even my grandparents have to wait at least three months to get a piece from him. I know, as he’s my Hayne family’s contracted jeweler.

Eight months ago, I had him do a work for me, and since then I share my location whenever I go anywhere just in case he finishes and wants to deliver at a bad time.” Giovanni snorted.

‘‘You will have to forgive her. Alicia grew up in the countryside for twenty-three years, so despite everything I’ve done to teach her proper etiquette, she’s still nothing but a bum who lies with every breath she takes.’’ Andrea looked at Alicia with disappointment.

‘‘Madam, there’s a package here, but it’s not addressed to anyone,’’ she was still talking when the butler walked in with a delivery man holding a neatly wrapped gift.

‘‘Grandmother, your piece has arrived.’’ Alicia exhaled happily and got up to sign for the delivery.

Everybody watched as she carefully unwrapped the gift.

Inside it was a small box. When she opened it, everyone sucked in a deep breath at the contents it contained.

Even Andrea couldn’t help herself when she saw the opulent necklace and ring embedded stylishly next to each other.

Alicia wasn’t caught up in it and walked toward Andrea with it. “Grandmother, I got you not one but two pieces from Mr. Red. Can I join in the race to regain my inheritance now?”

Screech.

Olivia pushed her chair backward and got to her feet, stalking toward Alicia.

She grabbed the box and tossed it to the floor, hissing, “I knew you were thick-skinned, but I didn’t think you were this shameless!

If it was this easy to get a piece from Mr. Red, everyone would have a piece from him. You clearly ordered these from a site online, how dare you chalk it up to grandma like it’s some priceless thing?!”

Alicia was getting tired of this. She understood that they thought she couldn’t pull it off, but she kept quiet until now, hoping the doubting would end once the piece was delivered.

But Olivia was still pointing fingers and irritating her, so she deadpanned. “How else do you want me to say I got the ring and necklace custom-made from Mr. Red?”

“We will find a jeweler who will come in to appraise that this really came from Mr. Red.” Olivia snapped, pointing a finger at her nose.

The words had barely left her mouth when they heard Giovanni’s surprised voice. “It really is Nathaniel’s handwork!”