Talia handed her handbag to Vivian Coleman with a cheerful smile, "Here, go ahead and search it."
Seeing Talia’s openness, Vivian was momentarily stunned.
Did Talia discover the bracelet and remove it beforehand?
She suspiciously raised her eyes to look over, and Talia had a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
That smile was indescribably strange.
The bag was handed over.
She felt like Talia had dug a big pit for her, just waiting for her to jump in.
She was still thinking.
Eleanor Madison snatched Talia’s bag, unzipped it, and dumped everything inside all at once.
The Van Cleef & Arpels blue agate bracelet fell out of the bag and hit the floor.
Eleanor picked up the bracelet and questioned harshly, "You still say you didn’t steal it? What is this? I bet this Chanel bag of yours is stolen too?"
An uproar spread around them.
Vivian saw the necklace fall out of Talia’s bag and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
This handbag had gaps on both sides of the zipper, where she had slipped the bracelet in earlier.
Luckily, Talia hadn’t noticed.
Vivian was just about to press her advantage when suddenly the crowd formed a path.
"Steal what?" Oscar Sterling walked out from the crowd, frowning slightly.
Someone dared to steal something from The Sterling Family?
Do they have a death wish?
"Mr. Sterling, it’s her!" Vivian pointed angrily at Talia, "She stole my bracelet, you have to stand up for me!"
Oscar followed Vivian’s pointing finger and locked eyes with Talia.
Talia’s eyes curved as she waved at Oscar, "Hi, cousin."
Instantly, the whispers among the crowd vanished.
Long drawn-out silence.
Talia was the first to break this eerie stillness.
She pointed at the blue agate bracelet in Eleanor’s hand, feigning a troubled expression, "Cousin, they say I stole that necklace and even searched my bag in public. Can you tell me if I would even fancy such worthless garbage?" The rightful source is N0velFire.ɴet
Vivian’s face turned pale, her body stiffening. She took two bewildered steps back, staring at Talia in disbelief, "You... you’re Mr. Sterling’s cousin?"
Ethan Grant, following behind Oscar, was momentarily blank; the gift box in his hand fell to the ground, the Pink Diamond Necklace tumbling out and hitting the floor.
Having heard with his own ears Talia calling Oscar cousin, Ethan almost lost all capacity to think in an instant. His blood felt frozen, his vision darkened, almost rendering him unable to stand.
Talia spoke to Oscar again, but Ethan couldn’t hear it anymore. It was as if all sound had disappeared; he experienced a momentary deafness.
Eleanor too wore a look of disbelief, "Impossible! This can’t be! How could you be Mr. Sterling’s cousin? You’re clearly the maid’s daughter!"
Talia sat on the sofa, crossing her legs and resting her chin on one hand, looking at Eleanor with a broad smile, "Sorry to disappoint you."
It was only then that Oscar realized the person they accused of stealing was Talia!
His expression darkened, his voice carrying an intimidating chill, "Who are you people? How dare you come into my house and slander my sister for theft; have you had enough of living?"
"It’s not like that... Mr. Sterling, please... let me explain... I just..." Vivian stammered.
Before she could finish her sentence, Oscar interrupted impatiently, "Get out!"
He’d only been away for a short while, and already his sister was bullied.
And right in his own home.
Just then, Adrian Jennings arrived late.
"What’s going on?" The man sensed the wrong atmosphere and asked, frowning.
In front of everyone, Oscar gestured to Talia and loudly introduced, "This is my cousin, the daughter of The Rhodes Family, Talia Rhodes. My sister just returned to Oakhaven a few days ago. I organized this party today to welcome her home."
Saying that, Oscar’s piercing gaze swept over Eleanor and Vivian, "I have no idea what kind of trash sneaked in here to slander my sister for theft."
Oscar gave a glance to the bodyguards, who instantly understood, striding over to roughly grab Eleanor and Vivian, dragging them to the door and tossing them out.
Not until Eleanor and Vivian were thrown out did Ethan regain his senses, stammering to Talia, "I... you... you’re Mr. Sterling’s cousin?"
"What else?" Talia looked at him with amusement.
Ethan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes reddening, a bitter feeling gnawing at his heart.
His lips trembled, "Why? Why did you never tell me your identity in these three years?"
"I wanted to tell you a long time ago, that time I mentioned taking you home was to introduce you to my family, but you refused to go."
Her voice was calm, without a ripple, as if she no longer cared at all.
Hearing this, Ethan painfully closed his eyes, "If you had said earlier that you were the daughter of The Rhodes Family in Oakhaven, how could I have refused to return with you?"
Oscar now fully understood, the man before him, Ethan, was Talia’s ex-boyfriend.
It seemed, during their relationship, Talia had hidden her identity, and Ethan, looking down on her as a common girl without a background, had done many things to hurt her.
Oscar instinctively glanced at Adrian, whose face held a foreboding pressure, lowering the surrounding air pressure by a few degrees.
Hearing Talia’s words, Ethan’s heart twisted hard, the pain almost suffocating him, "Talia, if you had told me earlier who you were, we might already be married by now, and we would be so happy."
Talia just watched Ethan quietly, her eyes devoid of any emotion, serene as if she were a mere bystander.
"Have you forgotten, Ethan? You once said you could never marry me. Your mother, Eleanor, once humiliated me, saying that a girl like me was unworthy of marrying into The Grant Family."
The hurtful words were like a boomerang, striking Ethan squarely in the forehead now.
His eyes were reddened, his voice almost choking, "Talia, before, the gap between us was due to family background differences. Now that this gap is gone, there’s nothing left to keep us apart."
As he spoke, he tried to step forward, reaching for Talia’s hand in excitement.
But Adrian kicked him harshly to the ground, his black shoe ruthlessly grinding against Ethan’s face.
Adrian was shrouded in gloom, cold light flashing in his deep black eyes, and his words exuded a ruthless threat, "I told you if you dared touch her again, I’d destroy you."
Ethan gave up struggling.
At this moment, he lay quietly on the ground like a dead fish, allowing Adrian’s shoe to press against his face.
He turned his head, gazing at Talia in despair, the pain spreading through his entire being, making him wish for death.
At that moment, he realized how laughably foolish he had been.
Scenes played out in his mind like a slideshow, every frame from their passionate times now felt like a sharp blade, cutting his heart to shreds.
He knew he had been terribly wrong.
Refusing to return home with her, letting his mother unabashedly humiliate her, flaunting his relationship with Vivian openly, promising in front of Vivian that he would never marry her, fooling around with Vivian disregarding Talia’s feelings...
Everything he did only pushed his Talia further away.
He and Talia could have had a good ending.