Chapter 144
Angela held up her shoulder bag triumphantly. "Everyone come search it, the brooch must be hidden in her bag."
Looking at that face that once seemed so innocent, Charlotte's eyes filled with disappointment.
"Open it! Open it!"
"Yeah, hurry up and open it! Show her the evidence."
"She still won't admit it? Now she'll regret it."
With everyone urging her on, Angela triumphantly raised the bag high above her head.
"Wait."
Suddenly, a lazy voice spoke up.
Then Landon's tall, distinguished figure appeared before everyone.
Why was he here too?
Landon was a well-known figure in River City, and everyone recognized him immediately.
Charlotte, who had been on guard, felt inexplicably relieved when she saw him.
Only Sabrina quietly cursed to herself.
She had specifically asked Alexander and learned that Landon had declined the invitation, which was why she dared to plan all this.
But unexpectedly, he had come anyway.
Still, the plan was designed so perfectly that even Landon's presence wouldn't matter.
With this thought, Sabrina took a deep breath, straightened up, and walked forward with Alexander.
"Landon."
"Mr. Forbes, welcome."
Unexpectedly, Landon ignored them both completely, walking straight past them toward Charlotte.
"Are you okay?"
Those few simple words somehow made Charlotte want to cry.
But she held back, looking up with a slight smile. "I'm fine."
Seeing the smile on Charlotte's face, Landon secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had rushed over as soon as his assistant called during his video conference. Fortunately, he wasn't too late.
"Landon, you can't keep favoring Charlotte..."
Seeing Alexander following close behind, Landon interrupted him bluntly, "She's fine."
Landon didn't bother with him and strode over to the shocked Angela, slowly extending his hand. "Give me back the bag."
Meeting Landon's cold gaze, Angela shuddered.
The next moment, she instinctively glanced somewhere.
After getting the signal, she quickly pulled the bag behind her back and shook her head at Landon. "Mr. Landon Forbes, this is evidence. I can't give it to you."
"Evidence?" Landon laughed coldly. "Are you a police officer or a judge?"
Angela froze: "I'm Ms. Sabrina Spencer's assistant."
Landon stared at her, his gaze sharp as a knife. "Then what gives you the right to search Charlotte's bag?"
Angela trembled.
Seeing things going badly, Sabrina quickly pulled Alexander forward.
"Mr. Landon Forbes, we're actually doing this to clear Charlotte's name."
"After all, with so many people watching, if we don't get to the bottom of this, Charlotte's reputation will be completely ruined."
Landon narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping coldly over Sabrina before finally settling on Alexander.
"Is that what you think too?"
Alexander shivered inwardly, that oppressive feeling from childhood seeming to return.
He licked his lips and said hoarsely, "We're doing this for Charlotte's good."
Landon's lips curved in an ambiguous smile. He turned to Charlotte, his eyes encouraging, "Charlotte, what do you think?"
Charlotte glanced at the bag Angela was clutching tightly. "Searching is fine."
A flash of surprise crossed Landon's eyes.
But Sabrina breathed a sigh of relief.
After taking in everyone's reactions, Charlotte slowly pointed at Angela. "However, if we're searching, we search her too!"
Angela's whole body shook, and she spoke out abruptly, "Why? I didn't steal anything."
Charlotte stepped forward, her smile failing to reach her eyes. "I also said I didn't steal anything, so why do you get to search my bag?"
Having never seen Charlotte with such a sharp look, Angela panicked a little and instinctively looked toward Sabrina again.
This time, Sabrina quickly walked over to Charlotte. "Charlotte's right. Why only search her bag? If we're searching, we search both of them together."
"Angela, you're not trying to frame Charlotte, are you?"
Angela shook her head frantically. "Ms. Spencer, I'm innocent."
"She's Mrs. Forbes—I wouldn't dare frame her."
Angela bit her lip, as if making a decision: "But to prove my innocence, go ahead and search."
Sabrina looked away. "Alright..."
"Wait a minute." Charlotte suddenly interrupted.
Sabrina concealed the mockery in her eyes. "Charlotte, are you backing out?"
Charlotte's lips curved in a cold smile. "This search can't be for nothing."
"If the item is found in my bag, I'll apologize to you publicly!"
"If not, then you and Angela will apologize to me publicly!"
Angela hesitated—she hadn't expected searching a bag to be this complicated.
Someone in the crowd egged them on. "That's only fair, isn't it? You can't have all the advantages."
Sabrina shot Angela a glare and was the first to respond, "Fine, we'll do as Charlotte says."
"If we find it, Charlotte can just give a simple apology. If we don't, Angela and I will slap ourselves and apologize."
Sabrina's words immediately drew praise, with people commending her for being not only young and accomplished but also generous and charismatic.
After humbly thanking everyone for their praise, Sabrina smiled at Charlotte. "Charlotte, shall we begin?"
"Yes, let's start with mine." Charlotte glanced at her coolly.
"Alright."
Where no one could see, Sabrina's face twisted into a triumphant, sinister smile.
Staff members quickly brought over a table as instructed.
Angela confidently unzipped Charlotte's bag and held it high.
Instantly, the contents spilled out onto the table.
But there was no gemstone brooch.
The onlookers immediately stirred.
"What gemstone brooch? There's nothing there at all."
"If you ask me, that staff member must have been mistaken."
"Mrs. Forbes had to endure this humiliation—if it were me, I'd never let them off!"
Angela's face went pale, and the bag dropped from her hand onto the table.
Sabrina shot her a dissatisfied glare. "Angela, how dare you frame Charlotte? Tell us, what's really going on here?"
Angela's legs went weak, and she stumbled back two steps, muttering to herself like she'd gone mad, "Impossible, I saw it with my own eyes. I couldn't have been wrong!"
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something.
The next moment, she grabbed the bag and looked inside.