Chapter 129 Chapter 129
Hailey’s POV
I stood there in shocked silence, watching as my mother agreed to stay and prove her innocence.
This wasn’t how I thought this was going to go.
I’d been so certain that Sophia was lying, that this was all some elaborate scheme to frame me or my mother. That the necklace would turn up in one of our bags, conveniently “planted” there by Sophia to make us look guilty.
But the search had turned up nothing. Our bags were clean. My room was clean. And now Vincent was claiming he’d seen my mother walking past Sophia’s room late last night.
The whole situation had completely spiraled out of my hands.
The sapphire was truly missing.
Really, truly missing. And I was beginning to feel like maybe Sophia really wasn’t just throwing baseless accusations around. Maybe someone had genuinely stolen it.
But I still hated her. Still couldn’t stand the sight of her swollen, bloody face looking at me with such vindictive satisfaction.
“We search the entire house,” Damien ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. “Every room. Every closet. Every drawer. Coordinate a complete sweep. That necklace is somewhere in this house and we’re going to find it.”
The sweep lasted for hours.
I watched as guards went through every bedroom, every bathroom, every common area. They checked under furniture, inside vents, behind paintings. They were thorough to the point of being invasive, pulling apart rooms and putting them back together.
But the necklace didn’t turn up.
As the search continued with no results, I noticed Benita watching Vincent with suspicion.
Finally, she spoke up. “Vincent, how exactly did you know that Barbara was snooping around Sophia’s room? You said you saw her walking past late at night. Why were you even awake? Why were you in that hallway?”
It was a good question. One I should have thought to ask myself.
Vincent didn’t seem bothered by the inquiry. “I was scouting the area,” he said calmly. “Part of my security routine. I do regular patrols of the house at night, checking for any vulnerabilities or suspicious activity.”
“At what time?” Benita pressed.
“Around two in the morning,” Vincent said. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to make myself useful.”
“And you just happened to see Barbara?” Benita asked skeptically.
“Yes,” Vincent confirmed. “She was walking down the hallway near Sophia’s room. Moving quietly, like she didn’t want to wake anyone. I found it odd but didn’t think much of it at the time.”
All eyes turned to my mother again, waiting for her to explain, to defend herself, to say something.
But Barbara remained stubbornly silent, her face unreadable.
“Mom,” I said quietly, moving closer to her. “You need to say something. You need to tell them what you were doing.”
“I don’t need to explain myself to these people,” Barbara said, her voice hard.
“Yes, you do,” I insisted. “They think you stole a ten million dollar necklace. If you don’t defend yourself, they’re going to assume you’re guilty.”
Barbara looked at me for a long moment, then said, “I want to speak to you. In private.”
Damien started to protest, but I held up my hand.
“Give us five minutes,” I said. “Please. Just let me talk to my mother alone.”
Damien looked like he wanted to refuse, but finally nodded.
The moment we were alone, I turned to my mother.
“Mom, what the hell is going on? Did you take the necklace?”
“No,” Barbara said firmly, meeting my eyes. “I swear to you, Hailey, I didn’t take anything from Sophia’s room.”
“Then what were you doing there?” I demanded. “Vincent says he saw you walking past her room at two in the morning. Were you?”
Barbara hesitated, then sighed. “Yes. I was near her room.”
My heart sank. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to talk to her,” Barbara admitted, her voice dropping lower. “To Sophia. I wanted to knock on her door and try to have a conversation with her.”
I stared at my mother in disbelief. “Why would you want to talk to Sophia? She’s been nothing but horrible to me!”
“That’s exactly why,” Barbara said. “Hailey, you’re going to be living in this house, raising your baby here. And Sophia is Damien’s daughter. She’s going to be part of your life whether you like it or not. The hostility between you two, it’s not sustainable. It’s not healthy.”
“So you were going to… what? Ask her to be nice to me?” I said incredulously.
“I was going to try to get her to stop treating you like trash,” Barbara said. “To actually see the good person that you are instead of viewing you as some threat or replacement for her mother.”
I felt tears stinging my eyes. “Mom…”
“But I pulled back after a gentle knock,” Barbara continued. “I stood outside her door, raised my hand to knock, then changed my mind. It was late. She was probably asleep. And honestly, I lost my nerve. So I walked away without ever going inside.”
“Did you see the necklace?” I asked. “On her nightstand or anywhere?”
“I wasn’t even aware that there was a ten million dollar necklace on her neck or in her room,” Barbara said firmly. “I had no idea about any jewelry. I just wanted to talk to her about you, about trying to find some common ground.”
She grabbed my hands, looking at me with desperate sincerity.
“I swear to you, Hailey. On everything I hold sacred. On your father’s memory. On your unborn child. I did not take that necklace. I don’t have it. I’ve never even seen it.”
I looked into my mother’s eyes and saw nothing but truth there.
“I believe you,” I said quietly.
“Thank you,” Barbara breathed, relief flooding her face. “Thank you for believing me.”
“But the others won’t,” I said. “Sophia certainly won’t. And Damien… I don’t know what he thinks.”
“Then you need to stand up for me,” Barbara said. “You need to tell them that you believe I’m innocent. That your mother isn’t a thief.”
“I will,” I promised. “I’ll make them understand.”