"Hello." Barbara Sutton smiled, "I’m Hailey Hale, you can call me Assistant Hale, I specialize in mid-shoot jewelry maintenance."
"Mid-shoot maintenance?" Renee was new, hearing the term for the first time.
Barbara also noticed how inexperienced she was, so she didn’t feel guilty at all, "Yes, look, your neck is all sweaty. To not affect the next shoot, please take off your jewelry for maintenance."
Hearing that she had to take it off, Renee couldn’t help but be wary. Such valuable accessories, how could they be casually removed?
Logically, the person who wears them should be the one to take them off.
But Barbara held out a handkerchief with both hands, "Aren’t you going to the bathroom? I’ll wipe your sweat here, this is a special handkerchief, it’ll be ready by the time you come out."
"..." Renee was half-convinced.
Barbara maintained a calm exterior, "I’m an employee of The Kingston Group, what’s with you? The next scene is starting soon."
"Hi, Assistant Sutton!"
Both turned towards the voice, a female assistant walked toward them with a smile, "The lounge has a lot of fruit plates, go try some."
"Okay." Barbara responded calmly and watched her enter the bathroom.
Barbara turned her gaze back to Renee, "Quick, take them off, you can put them back on after you come out of the bathroom, too many people in the lounge could be troublesome."
Renee knew the man outside the door was waiting and didn’t want to waste any time.
So, she removed the earrings and placed them in Barbara’s handkerchief, then the necklace and ring, and finally took off the bracelet.
Barbara pretended to wipe them, looking as if she didn’t want to waste a second.
Renee saw how dedicated she seemed, and her doubts melted away, replaced by a bit of gratitude, and she walked toward the bathroom with relief.
Still so young, how could a naïve girl like a blank slate expect the jewelry had been swapped? This update is available on novel-fire.net
Coming out from the bathroom, Barbara put the jewelry back on her.
"Thank you." Renee was genuinely grateful, smiling sweetly, her voice gentle and soft.
"You’re welcome, it’s my job, it’s what I should do." Barbara smiled back at her, "Let’s go."
As they went out, Barbara deliberately quickened her pace, indeed she saw the man waiting to put the jewelry on her at the door.
Barbara didn’t stop, she went to the lounge. As long as they weren’t exposed before the ship docked, the matter would be considered a success.
But she knew very well that the truth would eventually come out, The Kingston Group couldn’t be kept in the dark forever.
So...Barbara planned to make a run for it.
She didn’t want to be under Monica Usher’s control all the time, the earrings and necklace were worth two million to settle the score.
The commercial shoot went very smoothly.
Only the director noticed something was off, why did the jewelry in the second scene not shine like the first? He thought it was due to the lighting and didn’t worry too much about it, after all, who could have thought they’d been swapped?
After getting off the cruise, Barbara took a taxi to the previously arranged café.
Monica Usher sat in the corner sipping coffee alone, and upon seeing Barbara’s expression, knew it was done.
"Very good." She praised her, "I told President Ingram, come work at my company as my assistant."
"Can he protect me?" Barbara asked her, "What I did today will be exposed eventually, it’s still a crime."
"Then I’m the mastermind, the blame will definitely be on me." Monica seemed completely unconcerned, "Take out the stuff and let me see."
Barbara took the earrings and necklace out of her bag, "I couldn’t get the bracelet and ring, the earrings and necklace fell to the ground, and amidst the commotion, I swapped them. You know, so many people were watching."
"..." Monica stared at her without blinking, as if trying to verify the truth of her words.