Chapter 77

Chapter 77

"I have no idea, I really don't know anything about this!"

Ellie immediately put on a hurt, innocent look. "I never even opened the box when I got the watch. I thought it was fine. I'm so sorry, I had no idea it was broken."

She started tearing up as she spoke. "I'm sorry. Maybe it was already like this when I got it at the auction. I didn't check it carefully. Charlotte, you're not going to blame me, are you?"

Within seconds, Ellie had tears streaming down her face.

Charlotte watched her little performance in silence.

All that talk about it being broken at the auction was nonsense. Ellie had done this on purpose.

The watch's hour hand ran on a mechanical movement. There was no way it would just stop on its own unless someone had tampered with it.

But Ellie looked so genuinely innocent that David and Helen both figured she couldn't have meant any harm.

Helen took Charlotte's arm and tried to calm her down. "It's okay, babe, don't worry. I'll have your dad find someone to fix it."

David chimed in too. "I know plenty of people who run watch companies. They'll definitely be able to fix it. Ellie probably didn't mean for this to happen. It must have been something on the auction house's end."

Charlotte said nothing.

Her parents really did care about her, but they were completely blind to what was right in front of them. How could they not see that Ellie was up to something?

Whatever.

Ellie had probably been putting on this same act in front of them for years. She'd gotten too good at it.

Getting them to see who Ellie really was wasn't going to happen overnight.

Seeing Charlotte go quiet, Ellie carefully stepped closer. "Don't stress. I know this watch means a lot to you. I'd like to help get it fixed. I know an incredibly skilled watchmaker. He could come take a look."

Charlotte let out a soft scoff. "Oh, interesting. I didn't even know whether the watch ran on a battery or a mechanical movement, but you already figured that out and know exactly which kind of specialist to call."

Helen's brow furrowed slightly at that, and she gave Ellie a questioning look.

Ellie's expression shifted for just a moment before she quickly recovered. "I just know a little about watches, that's all. Isn't fixing the watch what matters right now? That part isn't important."

Charlotte looked at her blankly. "So who's this specialist you're talking about?"

Ellie's eyes lit up at that, and there was a hint of smugness in her voice. "Logan Lewis. He trained under Ella Garcia, the top mechanical watchmaker in the field. She's also his aunt. He's very well known in these circles. If he handles it, it'll definitely get fixed."

She'd dropped that name on purpose, just to make sure Charlotte knew she had connections.

So what if Charlotte was the adopted daughter?

Over the years, Ellie had built up far more contacts than Charlotte ever had.

Charlotte stared at Ellie for a couple of seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"Ella, you said?"

Ellie blinked. "Yeah. You've heard of her? She's incredibly famous. The best in mechanical watchmaking."

Charlotte didn't bother responding. She just pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

The call connected quickly. A middle-aged woman's voice came through.

"Hey, Charlotte? What's up? You don't usually call out of the blue."

Charlotte put it on speaker and said calmly, "Ms. Garcia, the antique watch my grandfather bought from you has stopped running. Let me send you a photo. Could you take a look?"

Ellie froze the moment she heard that.

Ms. Garcia?

No way. Was that actually Ella?

The watch came from Ella?

On the other end of the line, Ella laughed. "Why don't you just mail the watch over and I'll fix it for you."

"No need to go through all that trouble. I'll handle it myself."

As Charlotte spoke, she held up her phone and took a photo of the watch to send to Ella.

Ellie craned her neck and caught a glimpse of the contact name on the screen before it disappeared.

Ella.

Two simple letters. The color drained from Ellie's face, and all her smugness vanished instantly.

Logan's own teacher.

She'd been so pleased with herself just moments ago, thinking she'd gotten one over on Charlotte again. She'd managed to damage the watch and embarrass her, and on top of that, she'd gotten to show off her connections.

But she hadn't expected this. Charlotte actually knew someone even better connected than her. She knew the woman who had taught Ellie's own contact everything he knew.

How was that possible?

Charlotte had grown up pushed to the sidelines in the Smith family. Where had she gotten access to someone like that?

This was someone even Ellie, a daughter of the Bliss Group, had never been able to reach. And yet Charlotte had managed it somehow.

Ellie stood there with a stiff expression, seething inside and completely baffled, while forcing herself to look perfectly calm.

Charlotte caught a glimpse of her sour face and paid it no mind. She just followed Ella's instructions over the phone and started working on the watch, step by step.

"Charlotte, start by opening the caseback and checking the movement."

Following Ella's guidance, Charlotte worked through the internal structure with steady, precise movements.

She picked things up fast. She didn't need long explanations. A few words were all it took for her to understand exactly what Ella meant.

"Looking at the photo you sent, someone's been at the gears. The movement is very delicate. If someone without the right skills forces it open, it'll seize up, and of course the hands will stop."

Ella's voice came through the speaker clearly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Charlotte looked up and met Ellie's eyes.

Ellie swallowed nervously and took a small step back.

"I really didn't know," she said quietly. "This has nothing to do with me."

Helen glanced over at Ellie with a look of doubt creeping in.

Antique pieces from auction houses were always handled with extreme care. Professionals would never let a watch worth tens of millions get damaged. And if the hands had already stopped before the auction, any decent staff member would have flagged it beforehand out of respect for the buyer.

Ellie hadn't even glanced at the watch, and yet it had ended up damaged. That was a hard story to swallow.

While Helen was still turning all of this over in her mind, Charlotte had already finished repairing the watch with Ella's guidance.

Her movements were quick and sure. In under ten minutes, the hands were moving again.

Charlotte snapped the caseback shut and watched the hands of her grandfather's watch turn once more. The corners of her mouth softened into a small smile.

On the other end of the line, Ella laughed warmly. "You fixed that so fast. You're almost as good as my student Logan at this point. I said it back when I was teaching him — you have more natural talent for this than he does. When you came to ask me about your grandfather's watch, I was already thinking about taking you on as a student. Why did you turn me down?"

Ellie's eyes went wide.

Charlotte had actually been offered a place as Ella's student? What had she done to deserve being compared to Logan? Logan was a world-renowned master watchmaker.

Charlotte's voice was unusually warm. "Thank you, Aunt Ella. Let me take you to dinner sometime. You've really helped me out today."

"You're welcome! I'll be waiting dinner with you. "

The call ended. Charlotte carefully put the watch away, then turned to look at Ellie.