Chapter 20
Rachel alidn’t pay any attention to them. She simply walked up to the crystal sculpture, glanced at it briefly, and then said. “Giving a gift is about
“My Nunez, if you’d learned that sooner, maylie Grandpa would have looked an you a little differently.”
Callie was left sprechiless, unalide to respond.
Hachel, seemingly oblivious to the stunned looks around her, continued, “Besides. I’m not even sure the crystal sculpture you gave is genuine.
“Do you really think Girandpa’s so
pa’s se olid atud senile that he cant tell
ifference? You bring hirm a fake, and still expect him to like it!”
A wave of surprise swept through the crowd. They thought, Wait, the crystal sculpture is fake?“
It didn’t take long before Larrie Fox, who had just been defending Callic, rearted first. She scoffed, “Rachel, I know your background isn’t exactly impressive, bu don’t talk nonsense.
was at the Beusesan auction where this crystal sculpture was sold. It was bought for 30 million dollars!
Rachel turned her head with a faint smile. “It looks pretty convincing, but I’m certain it’s a replica. The sculpture is real, but it’s definitely not that valuable *
“You” Lomie stepped forward, her voice dripping with disdain. “You’re just talking nonsense because you’re jealous. You can’t afford such an expensive gili, so now you’re trying to tear down others?
The room filled with murmurs of disbelief, Eyes of contempt and suspicion were now fixed on Rachel.
But Rachel ignored them all, her gaze briefly landing on Callic, who was glaring at her from behind.
She gave a slight, almost imperceptible smile, then, without a word, walked straight over to the crystal sculpture. With one swift motion, she shoved it to the ground with a loud crash
“Rachel, what are you doing?”
“Rachel Are you out of your mind!
The onlookers, who had been silently watching, were now up on their feet in shock
“Hachel,” Callir gasped, her heart in her throat. But then she quickly
y put on
on a face full of hurt and disappointment, her voice trembling
“If you don’t like how I’m trying to please Grandpa, you don’t have to go this far and destroy the gift I worked so hard to pick out. How could you do this Callie asked.
“Exactly, you’re just jealous, someone muttered.
“Of course, a person with no manneri
(180 manners can’t stand to see someone else do well”
“She must’ve been raised without any discipline. Now she’s just lashing out in frustration.”
Willa and Lorrie joined in, their eyes burning with disdain as they glared at
at Rachel
Callie reached out and grabbed the sleeve of George, silently pleading with him to do something, to stand up for her.
But George was watching Rachel with a calm, almost disdainful expression. He had a strange feeling that Rachel wasn’t finished. He placed his hand gently over Callar’s, signaling her to stay quiet,
Callie froze, her frustration building as she felt helpless.
Finally, Itar
Itathellet out a sarcastic laugh, her voice dripping with mockery. “Jealous because the can buy fake goods What a joke“
Rachel kicked the shattered pieces aside, then raised her voice, “Take a good look, everyone. This crystal sculpture is an ancient artifact. The Cradisimanshop ma’t particularly refined, but because it’s an old piece from Ruchull, it fetched a high price–30 million dollars at auction.
“But here’s the thing this s
specific crystal sculpture has a layer of gold leaf inside. You can’t see it from the outside, but under the right light, it appears, Tell me, though, where’s the gold leaf in this one?”
With a cold sneer, she stepped on the broken pieces, her face full of disdain, as though the sculpture beneath her foot was nothing more than trash. The crowd stared in disbelief, some starting to whisper among themselves.
(is what she’s saying true! There’s really nothing insider“
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647 PM ₫ D
Chapter 20
“Yeah, it definitely looks like a fake
“Don’t just believe her because of her appearance. Just because she says it has gold leaf doesn’t mean it actually does.
Callie stood frozen, her mind in a whirlwind of confusion. This sculpture was something her family had worked hard to get for her. She knew it was expensive, but the specifies! She had no idea. She thought, But how can Rachel know all this?”
With a mix of anger and sarcasm, Callie finally spoke, “This crystal sculpture was a carefully chosen gift for Grandpa. Do you really think a few made–up words from you are enough to ruin it?
“Rachel you might have destroyed this sculpture, but you will give me an explanation”
Rachel tilted her head, her chin raised defiantly. “If you don’t believe me, feel free to get it appraised. If it turns out to be real, I’ll pay you ten times
The crowd thought. Ten times! That’s 300 million dollars.
Callie sneered, “Fine, but don’t say you don’t have the money when you can’t pay up.”
Without hesitation, Callie called for an appraiser to come over.
Everyone held their breath as they watched the appraiser work. After a moment, he frowned and looked up. “This is definitely a fake.”
“What?” Callie’s heart sank as she stared at the broken pieces on the floor. The room erupted in shocked murmurs.
“Who would we thought Rachel was right?”
“But how did she know!”
Everyone had always thought of Rachel as someone who wouldn’t know anything about fine art. It seemed impossible that she could be right. Yet, the way she had acted–to confident and certain–was hard to ignore.
Kachel had known all along it was a fake. The real crystal sculpture was in the Sarratt family.
Her older brother, Deon Sarratt, was the mysterious buyer at the auction. He was passionate about these kinds of artifacts and, once he bought something, he never intended to sell it.
So when she saw this sculpture here, the only conclusion was that it had to be a replica
Seeing Callie stunned into silence, Rachel let out another scoffing laugh.
“Alright, Grandpa, don’t be upset. I can see Ms. Nunez had good intentions. She was just trying to find something valuable for you in a rush, but unfortunately, she was deceived. Since she meant well, I think we can forgive her this time,” Rachel said.
Her tone sounded eerily familiar. It was the same si
sweet, honeyed voice Callie had always used to cover her own sharpness.
But it wasn’t just that–Rachel had slapped Callie across the face with the truth and then twisted the knife with that final sentence. Callie thought, When has Rachel become so skilled at this?
Sigmund, who had been silent this entire time, finally snorted. “Enough already. You can’t even tell the real from the fake, and now you’re saying Rachel doesn’t understand anything You’re really a mood killer.
Callie felt like the air had been knocked out of her. She turned to George, her expression pleading for help.
George saw her distressed look and stepped in, wrapping his arm around Callie’s shoulders. “Alright, Callie was deceived. Let’s just leave it at that, okay? There’s no need to pile on
Rachel scoffed. She thought, Oh, now you’re playing the hero! When I was the one being trampled on earlier, where were you?
George shot her a sharp look. For some reason, the sight of her cold, dismissive expression made him feel frustrated, like she didn’t care at all about his opinion.
He ti
