Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Who Are You Calling a Thief?
However, Hailey shook her head again.
"It’s not that I refuse to help you look for it, but there really is nothing like what you said in the house. I can’t conjure up something that doesn’t exist, can I?"
Ashley was about to speak when Mark stepped forward and spoke first—
"Miss Shaw, are you sure that the gift we bought for Young Master Quincy at The Apex is here?"
His words were meant to ascertain whether Ashley was intentionally causing trouble or if she had genuinely lost the gift intended for Xavier Quincy.
If it were the former, he would mediate the situation and apologize to Ashley once more on Hailey’s behalf.
But if it were the latter, he would surely help Ashley find that gift.
After all, Mr. Prescott Jr. was the one who paid for it. If it was lost here, he wouldn’t be able to evade responsibility.
Ashley nodded.
"I’m sure. Mark, I know what you’re insinuating, but I can assure you, it’s not what you think. Absolutely not."
Mark felt a twinge in his heart; she had indeed lost the brooch worth millions.
And... judging by Miss Shaw’s reaction, there’s a high chance the brooch is with Hailey.
Thinking of this, Mark looked at Hailey with a serious expression.
"Hailey, seriously think about it, have you seen that VanCleef & Arpels brooch?"
Hailey noticed the unprecedented gravity in Mark’s expression, even when she suggested that he sponsor Ashley, her cousin’s face didn’t look this bad.
A sense of foreboding welled up in her heart.
Could the brooch they were talking about be more expensive than she imagined?
What if the brooch was worth tens of thousands, then what?
How could she compensate for it? She had already destroyed, thrown away, or flushed it down the drain. Damn it, why did it have to be now?
If only Ashley had come to claim it sooner, she wouldn’t have even unwrapped that brooch.
Could they have deliberately used the brooch to frame her?
Thinking of this, Hailey was a little angry: "I already said I haven’t seen it! Miss Shaw, you lost something and came to my house looking for it, what’s that supposed to mean? Even if it really was lost in our house, fine, but I haven’t even seen it, so what do you want me to think?"
Hailey had already decided, no matter what they said, she wouldn’t admit to it.
After all, she already threw away the broken brooch into the garbage, nobody would dig through a trash can for something worth tens of thousands, right?
Thinking of this, Hailey felt a bit relieved that she was annoyed with Ashley at the time and tore the packaging bag.
Now the packaging from The Apex is just a few pieces of shredded paper.
Kevin saw his daughter say this, and he too became annoyed.
"Miss Shaw, you should look in your own place if you’ve lost something. What does it mean to come searching in our home? You did come over, but our living room is only so big. The item you mentioned, I haven’t seen it. Our household doesn’t welcome you, so you should leave."
Ariana had tolerated Ashley’s words for a long time.
Now hearing Kevin say they weren’t welcome, she couldn’t suppress herself any longer and pulled Ashley behind her, standing in front of her.
"Uncle Hayes, we only came back to look because we were almost certain the gift was ’lost’ here. You should let us go in and search. What if we really find it? If you help us find it, then there won’t be any issue. But if you refuse to even let us look, then the situation takes on a different nature, wouldn’t you say?"
Ariana was only able to assert the gift was "lost here" through sheer self-restraint.
However, Kevin’s face turned even uglier after hearing her words.
"Ariana, I always thought you were a good kid, but what do you mean by this now? Are you suggesting our family stole your friend’s things?"
Hailey chimed in: "Do you know this is called slander? If you don’t leave, we can sue you!"
"You..."
Ariana was about to explode when Jade Coleman came out of the kitchen.
"Ariana? Why did you come back?"
As soon as she spoke, Jade sensed something off with the atmosphere and quickly asked Kevin: "Mr. Hayes, what’s going on? Why does everyone look so upset?"
Kevin, with a dark face, said: "You ask your wonderful daughter what good deeds she’s done?"
"What happened?" Jade asked Ariana sternly, having sensed Kevin’s temper rising.
Ashley, worried about Ariana clashing with her mom, quickly spoke up before Ariana could: "It’s like this, Auntie, I accidentally left something here, so I came with Ariana to ask if you’ve seen my item."
Just as Jade was about to speak, Hailey let out a cold laugh and said: "Mrs. Coleman, they weren’t saying that before you came. The two of them were practically implying that we stole their stuff!"
"Hailey!" Mark scolded, frowning: "Miss Shaw didn’t mean it like that, don’t say that."
Hailey gave Mark no face at all.
"Cousin, you always side with outsiders, but are you even planning to side with them in this too? For your job, would you even go as far as to falsely accuse your own cousin?"
Mark opened his mouth, unsure of what to say for a moment.
He initially suspected Hailey might have taken Miss Shaw’s brooch, but now seeing Hailey so confidently outraged, more so than Ashley and Ariana, he began to doubt whether Ashley had remembered correctly and perhaps the item lost was somewhere else?
Jade tried to calmly speak to Hailey: "Hailey, don’t be upset, this must be a misunderstanding."
Then, she coldly turned to Ariana: "Ariana, why don’t you take your friend and look in your own home or along the way back? There’s nothing here that you’re looking for."
Ariana was taken aback, then her anger turned into a smile.
Ashley intended to stop Ariana, so things wouldn’t get too ugly, but it was too late.
Ariana already broke free from Ashley’s grip, pushed past Mark and Kevin blocking her way, and walked up to Hailey.
Just as Ashley thought Ariana was going to make a move, she stopped a half-step away from Hailey, her round eyes sharp as they fixed on Hailey.
With a cold laugh, she spoke word by word: "Hailey, stop pretending! We’ve been giving you face, but do you not want it?"
Hailey’s face darkened: "Is this how you should speak to me? Do you have any basic manners or decency?"
Ariana’s face showed even more mockery.
"Then tell me, what kind of attitude should I have toward a thief? Should I treat a thief as an honored guest?"
Hailey’s face changed drastically: "Who are you calling a thief!"
"Obviously you, who else!"
Seeing the two about to get into a fight, Jade tried to intervene before Kevin could erupt in anger and hurriedly rushed over to pull Ariana away.