Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The lie had already slipped out, so Thomas had no choice but to see it through to the end.

He pushed down the panic rising in his chest and put on a self-righteous front, deliberately raising his voice, as if whoever spoke louder must be in the right.

He looked at Charlotte, who stood before him with an unreadable expression, and sneered.

"Besides, this footage could've been edited by you, or shot from a misleading angle on purpose. She was just curious, took a quick look, and put everything back where she found it."

"What exactly are you trying to pull, framing things to make it look suspicious?"

Charlotte watched their clumsy performance and laughed inwardly.

"Misleading angle? Why don't you ask your daughter what she was doing sneaking in there in the middle of the night? Was she really just there to look at the collection?"

That single comeback left Thomas completely speechless. An awkward silence spread through the room.

"Since Stella said she put everything back, then she put it back. Charlotte, you can't just accuse my daughter of stealing based on one piece of footage. That's way out of line."

Thomas pressed on stubbornly.

Stella hid behind him, her back already soaked in cold sweat. Seeing Thomas refuse to back down, she quickly nodded along with what he said.

"Yeah, you're being totally unreasonable. Are you trying to set me up?"

"I didn't keep anything. I didn't give anything away. Charlotte, you're making things up."

Charlotte watched the two of them play off each other, clearly trying to bury the whole thing.

She didn't interrupt. She let them say everything they wanted to say, then stood there with her arms crossed, a flicker of contempt in her eyes.

"In that case, let's all go to the Smith Villa together and see exactly what's missing."

"You said yourself you don't trust the footage. Fine. Then let's go check in person."

The moment she said it, Stella's face went pale. She instinctively grabbed the hem of her father's jacket.

"Since you've already claimed everything is back in its place, let's go to the Smith Villa right now, in front of the entire Smith family, and do a full count. If anything's off — missing or added — it'll be obvious. And we'll find out once and for all who's lying, won't we?"

Thomas caught his breath, then shot back through gritted teeth.

"You've got some nerve. Why drag the whole Smith family into something this small? And besides, you're not part of the Smith family anymore. What gives you the right?"

"If you want to do a count, you need our agreement. Today doesn't work. I don't have time today. When I'm free, I'll let you know."

He was stalling on purpose — buying time to hire someone to make replicas and fill in the gaps.

Just thinking about how much money that was going to cost made Thomas furious, but with Charlotte standing right there, he couldn't turn around and tear into Stella.

"A few days? Thomas, do you really think I don't know what you're planning? What, you need time to find someone to make fakes and swap them in?"

This time Charlotte didn't stay quiet. She dropped her arms to her sides. Her sharp gaze cut straight through him like a blade.

"I know exactly what you're up to. Drop it — or I'm calling the police right now and reporting Stella for theft."

"Stella, I'm telling you straight — if you have any sense at all, you'll tell me right now where those things went. If they've left the country, there's no getting them back."

She stepped past Thomas and fixed her gaze on Stella, who was still hiding behind him, speaking each word slowly and deliberately.

"This is your last chance. Are you going to talk or not?"

Caught red-handed, Thomas's face flushed deep red. He was furious and flustered, but he couldn't find a single word to fire back. All he could do was breathe hard and glare at Charlotte.

Behind him, Stella was trembling at Charlotte's words, her head hung low, not daring to meet Charlotte's eyes.

After a long moment, she spoke.

"I... I put it back. I did put it back. Why would I lie? Besides, those things belonged to my grandfather. I'm... I'm not that far gone."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and the guilt was written all over her face.

Thomas turned and shot her a look of pure disappointment, then turned back to Charlotte, still refusing to give an inch.

"What exactly do you want from us? Nothing we say is ever good enough for you. What — do you want me to drop dead in front of you?"

Charlotte parted her lips calmly.

"Go ahead then. Drop dead right here. If your body actually ends up in front of me, I'll act like none of this ever happened. How does that sound to you?"

Thomas clutched his chest, his breathing ragged, nearly passing out from rage.

He had lived most of his life without anyone ever speaking to him like this, without anyone ever hitting back this hard. He was beside himself with fury.

"You — you —"

Stella was so shaken by Charlotte's words that she buried her head even lower, gripping Thomas's sleeve with both hands, not daring to breathe.

It was only now, too late, that she fully grasped what she'd done — let greed lead her into a disaster. And since she'd personally handed those gems over to someone with serious connections, there was no chance of getting them back.

All she could do was hold the lie together. There was no other way out.

Charlotte's expression didn't change. She looked completely unbothered by Thomas's near-collapse, her voice still cold and flat.

"I've made everything very clear. I've explained it more than enough. You're the ones choosing to play dumb, stall, and put on a show in front of me. That's not going to get you anywhere."

"I'm giving you two options. Either we go to the Smith Villa right now and do a full count of the estate in front of the rest of the Smith family — if nothing's wrong, I'll apologize to you publicly — or, if things really are missing, I'll contact the police and the custodial authority immediately and let them handle it as theft."

Thomas couldn't manage a single word in response. He just stood there clutching his chest, his face cycling from red to pale like a mood ring.

"Max."

Charlotte had already lost patience with the two of them. She turned to the man standing behind her.

"Take them to the Smith Villa. Now."

She had made the threat perfectly clear: refuse to cooperate, and she'd call the police on the spot.

Thomas still clung to a sliver of hope — maybe Stella had just moved things around, maybe nothing had actually been taken.

He turned that thought over in his mind, then glanced back at Stella. All the defiance she'd shown earlier was gone. She was drenched in sweat, her lips quivering, her eyes full of fear.

One look was all it took. Whatever hope Thomas had left vanished completely.

This was a matter of pride. He refused to back down — but he had nowhere left to go.