Chapter 139: Turn Defeat into Victory
Thea froze completely, clearly not expecting Ava to keep pushing.
Thea forced a smile, her face darkening. "That's not necessary. Maybe it's in my room. I'll go look for it myself. No need to trouble you, Ava. Weren't you about to leave? Let me see you out."
Ava smiled sweetly and turned to look at Joshua, whose expression was far from pleasant. "Are we in a hurry to leave?"
Joshua looked down at her. "No rush."
"See, Joshua's not in a hurry, so naturally I'm not either. When you help someone, you help them all the way. Of course we need to help you find it."
Thea had no idea Ava could be so "kind-hearted."
She felt increasingly uneasy, her instincts telling her they shouldn't keep searching and should just end this now.
"Really, it's not necessary. The Ellis Villa is so big, finding one necklace is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's too much trouble for you." Thea stood her ground and continued, "I'm not feeling well. I need to go rest."
After speaking, Thea reached out to take back her bag from the servant.
"Ms. Ellis." Ava called out to Thea again.
Thea's hand trembled, and her bag fell straight to the ground.
Seeing that she'd startled Thea, Ava smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, Ms. Ellis. I didn't mean to scare you."
With that, Ava bent down herself to pick up the bag for Thea.
Thea's bag had no zipper, and quite a few things fell out—lipstick, cosmetics, her phone, and a sapphire necklace hanging halfway out!
Thea's hand shook violently, her face turning extremely ugly.
"Isn't that the sapphire necklace? Why is it in Ms. Ellis's bag?"
"What's going on here?"
"Right, wasn't it supposed to be missing? How is it in her own bag?"
The necklace was in Thea's bag.
Ava picked up the necklace, stood up calmly, and looked at Thea. "Ms. Ellis, is this the necklace you lost?"
Thea's face looked terrible. What was happening? How could it be in her own bag? She had clearly put it in Ava's bag. How could it have ended up back in hers?
What on earth was going on?
Thea looked completely shocked.
"Ms. Ellis?"
"After all this fuss, it was in her own bag the whole time. What is this? Some kind of game?"
"Exactly. Ms. Ellis, this is a bit much, isn't it? It's in your own bag, but you insisted it was in Ms. Davis's bag."
"Ms. Davis has been wrongly accused so badly."
"Ms. Ellis, you should apologize to Ms. Davis. She's been wrongly accused terribly."
Thea's fingers trembled. She looked up at Ava, whose lips still curved in a slight smile.
From the beginning, Ava had been calm and collected, as if controlling the entire situation. So she had known all along that the necklace wasn't in her bag.
Then when did she put the necklace in Thea's bag? Thea thought carefully through the details—it could only have been at the bedroom door when Ava came close to her.
So she had seen through everything from the start. She'd just been playing along!
Damn Ava. She'd been too careless.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Thea said, "I... I must have put it in my bag and forgotten about it."
"I see." Ava looked at her and said calmly, "If I remember correctly, your servant just said she put the necklace back in the room before the party started.
Ms. Ellis, you were in the ballroom hosting guests after the party started, right? If I'm not mistaken, Ms. Ellis, you only went back to the room once with me. That was your only chance to put the necklace in your bag, correct?
You and I left the room half an hour ago. Not counting the time you just spent arguing with me, just looking at the time from when you put the necklace in your bag, to when I finished changing and came out, to when you stopped me after we went downstairs—that's less than ten minutes. So in just ten minutes, Ms. Ellis completely forgot that she put the necklace in her own bag?"
Ava laughed coldly. "As a doctor, I sincerely suggest Ms. Ellis go see a neurologist to check if you have amnesia."
Everyone turned to look at Thea.
Thea's face looked terrible, and she took a step back.
Thinking it through, everyone understood the little scheme behind it all.
Thea had gone back to the room with Ava and put her own necklace in her own bag. She couldn't possibly have forgotten in such a short time, so she was framing Ava for theft.
Why would she frame Ava?
Ava had no grudge against her, right?
No, wait—Ava was the woman by Joshua's side, and everyone knew Thea liked Joshua.
So Thea framed Ava because of Joshua.
Now it all made sense.
"This is ridiculous. The thief crying thief. Ms. Ellis, you're really something."
"Who would have thought? She treated us all like fools."
Thea looked up at Ava, feeling ice cold all over. The constant mocking voices around her left her utterly humiliated.
Ava stared at her with a raised eyebrow and a smile, her expression full of mockery and coldness. She didn't say anything more, as if she really had just been trying to help find the necklace.
Ava turned to look at Joshua. "Since Ms. Ellis's matter is resolved, let's go home. If Finn and Cleo don't see us soon, they'll probably start making a fuss."
"Okay."
Joshua didn't spare anyone else another glance. His arm naturally wrapped around Ava as they left the ballroom.
Hayden had naturally seen through everything that happened today. He glanced at Thea with a faint look, laughed a couple times, and followed Joshua and Ava out.
Thea clenched her fists tightly. The whispers around her and the constant stares made her feel utterly humiliated.
The elevator doors slowly opened. Joshua pulled Ava into the elevator. Seeing the doors about to close, Hayden quickly ran over. "Hey, Joshua, I'm not in the elevator yet!"
Joshua had absolutely no intention of waiting for Hayden.
Hayden watched the elevator doors close decisively and mercilessly, completely speechless.
"Why didn't you wait for Hayden?"
Ava hadn't missed Hayden's helpless and pitiful expression just now.
Joshua's deep eyes fixed on her face, his low, husky voice responding lightly, "He's in the way."
"In the way? In the way of what?" Ava blinked and asked him.
Joshua's long fingers gently traced across her smooth face. Staring at her lips, he smiled. "What do you think?"
Ava immediately understood what he meant. Her eyes flashed, and she quickly tried to dodge.
But it was too late. Joshua's lips had already sealed over hers.
Ava's body trembled hard. She wanted to push Joshua away, but they were boyfriend and girlfriend now—this was completely normal behavior.
Still, Ava's body tensed up, her heart racing wildly.
"Open your mouth."
Not being rejected, Joshua grew bolder, his voice even carrying a hint of laughter.
An arm wrapped forcefully around her waist. He leaned down further, deepening the kiss. His tongue pushed past her teeth without hesitation, hooking her tongue, utterly passionate.