Chapter 4

I stared blankly at Ian in disbelief. This necklace was an emerald necklace treasured by my mother when she was alive. After her passing, I gave it to my sister. When I failed to put together the money for our wedding, my sister tried to sell it to help me raise the money, but I managed to stop her every time. Now that she was gone, the necklace was the only thing left behind by my sister.

"No." I held onto the necklace determinedly.

Lucy looked at me pitifully when I rejected Ian's suggestions. "You must really hate me if you refuse to let go of your necklace. Since you can't accept me in your life, there is no point for me to stay here and upset you. I'm an adult now, and I can move out of the Cabello family tomorrow. I don't want to be the cause of trouble between you and Ian."

I stared angrily at her. "Stop the act. I wasn't the one who broke the necklace. Why should I be the one to compensate?"

Ian got anxious. "Don't go!" He quickly grabbed Lucy to stop her from leaving, and turned to deal a backhanded slap at me. I held my hand to my face and tasted the blood in my mouth, and I looked at Ian as if he were a total stranger to me. Ian was taken aback as he looked at his hand in disbelief. Pain and regret flashed in his eyes, and he quickly came to me, wanting to check my wound.

However, Lucy suddenly called out in pain, and he paused in his footsteps. Ian's face fell once more. "Why is it so difficult to get you to apologize, Hailey? You love your sister a lot, don't you? Why must you force Lucy away? Isn't she considered your sister too?”

"If your sister is unhappy about auctioning your necklace away, she can have the broken pink diamond necklace. She should consider herself lucky because it's worth more." With that, he removed the necklace from my neck. "The auction begins right now."

The guests looked at each other. A Cabello family member caught the look in Lucy's eyes, and he burst out laughing. "How much is a lousy necklace like that worth? I'll start the bid with two dollars!"

Muffled malicious laughter echoed instantly in the event hall. Ian gave Lucy an indulging look and allowed this to continue after playfully berating her as being 'cheeky'. He knew very well what this necklace meant to my sister and me, but his attitude had encouraged everyone to follow suit.

"Two dollars seems too much for the necklace. I'm bidding one dollar fifty cents, and not a cent more."

"I wouldn't want rubbish like that even if you paid me to have it."

The insulting bids crushed my dignity over and over. This only came to an end when Lucy smiled happily and said, "Since everyone finds the necklace worthless, I'll bid one hundred for it and give it back to Hailey. If she treasures the necklace so much, it won't be right of me to take it from her."

Ian looked at Lucy proudly as he handed the necklace to her. "You've always been an understanding person, Lucy."

Lucy took the necklace from him and came over to me, looking like she was about to give me the necklace, but when her hand reached out, it 'accidentally' slipped from her hand.

Crack.

The emeralds on the necklace were smashed to pieces. Lucy picked up the necklace and handed it to me while saying softly, "Oh no! It's cracked! I'm so sorry, Hailey. Not only did you fail to save your sister's life, but you also can't even protect the last thing she left for you."

I looked at the broken necklace and could no longer hold back my tears as I burst out crying. It hurt Ian to see me this way, and he quickly came over to me to pat my back and comfort me. "All right. Don't cry. It's just an accident. Lucy didn't do it on purpose. I'll buy a new one just like that for you, okay?"

All I did was look at him coolly with an empty heart that felt nothing for his words. I left right away, as I planned to grab my luggage and leave the country. However, when I got home, a fire broke out. I tried to escape, but every door and window had been sealed tight. I could hear the sarcastic voices of several men outside the door. "Stop trying to escape. Just wait patiently for your death. It serves you right for offending Principessa Lucy."

I turned cold right away. This was Lucy's doing! She wanted me dead! I tried my best to send out a message for help, but I slowly lost consciousness amid the thick smoke.

Ian was feeling unsettled at the memory of how Hailey had looked at him, and he ordered his subordinates, "Arrange for Hailey's company to win a contract that's enough for her to put together the money she needs. It's about time we have our wedding."

After the party ended, Ian rushed to Hailey's home. He saw several men leaving the area in a hurry the moment he parked his car.

Boom!

There was a deafening explosion, and Hailey's house burned to ashes right in front of him.