All the people present were pale with fear, staring wide-eyed at this crazy woman. Did she even know what she was saying?
How could someone like Victor, who was wealthy and influential, do such a thing?
Everyone thought Sophia was insane. Jessica was even more annoyed, and she scolded Sophia loudly, "You are talking nonsense! What is Victor's identity? He has a wealth of over a hundred billion dollars, what does he want that he can't have? A ring? Victor doesn't care at all, so how could he stoop to stealing?"
"But Mr. Hastings did say there was no ring in my bag just now. Since there isn't, it must have fallen from his hand," Sophia defiantly lifted her chin.
There was no doubt that this was a trap set by Jessica, and Victor was Jessica's fiancé. Although Sophia didn't steal anything, Jessica must have prepared many excuses. Therefore, in such a situation, Sophia could only involve Victor to protect herself, otherwise she might be falsely accused of being a thief.
Since she didn't do it, why should she endure this humiliation?
Therefore, all responsibility fell on Victor. It's because of Victor's lack of strict family traditions, allowing his fiancée to misbehave.
The expressions on everyone's faces varied. Linda, who lost something, didn't look good at the moment because she knew that Victor would never do such a thing.
Linda said, "Since the ring has been found, let's just forget about it."
Mary saw that Linda had no intention of pursuing the matter and became anxious. "How can we just forget about it? I clearly saw that she stole it. Now we have witnesses and evidence, it must be her."
Jessica scolded Mary in a low voice and said, "Enough, stop talking. Sophia is Mr. Hastings' assistant, so she definitely couldn't have done such a thing."
"But she's just an ordinary assistant, yet she's wearing a necklace worth tens of thousands of dollars. How could Sophia have so much money? If it's not stolen by her, then who?" Mary's eyes turned red with grievances, and her voice was audible to everyone.
Both Victor and Sophia were suspects, but one was the renowned founder of Aadelha Group, and the other was a newly appointed assistant!
The invited guests also thought that Mary's argument made a lot of sense, so they said to Victor, "Mr. Hastings, your assistant probably didn't do it on purpose. Let her apologize to Mrs. Murphy, and we'll let this matter go."
"Yes, even though Mrs. Murphy is generous and doesn't pursue it, Sophia, as a guest, came here and such a thing happened. She must apologize."
"The necklace she wears around her neck might also be stolen by her. Mr. Hastings, a wise person like you wouldn't protect a thief, right?"
The discussions from the crowd were continuous, and they all pointed fingers at Sophia.
Victor had handsome features. A cold smile slowly appeared at the corner of his gorgeous lips, and his deep eyes were unexpectedly icy. "So, according to you all, just because she can afford a necklace worth tens of thousands of dollars, she's a thief?"
"We're just suspicious. How can an assistant afford to buy such an expensive thing?" Amy disdainfully glanced at Sophia.
Victor's voice became even colder. "I gave her the necklace."
After he finished speaking, everyone present showed expressions of astonishment!
Victor gave Sophia a necklace worth several hundred thousand dollars? My goodness, were their ears deaf? How could this be possible?
Jessica's face instantly turned pale. She couldn't believe it and said, "Victor, even though Sophia is your assistant, you don't need to explain for her. How could you possibly give her such an expensive necklace? Mrs. Murphy said she won't pursue it. As long as Sophia apologizes, everyone will not make things difficult for her."
Under the hostile gazes of everyone, Sophia looked at Victor with clear eyes and remained silent.
Mary didn't expect Sophia to be so stubborn and urged, "Ms. Johnson, please admit it quickly. Mrs. Murphy has already agreed not to pursue it. Don't deny it anymore."
"Yeah! Look at what Victor is doing? Could it be that he would lie in public for a thief like you?" Amy joined in with sarcasm.
Victor became serious, with an aggressive gaze that exuded immense pressure. The sudden cold air that burst out from him made everyone around him instantly silent. Everyone was scared and didn't understand why Victor was angry.
They were just accusing an ordinary assistant. Wasn't what they said correct?
Victor looked sharply at Mary, slightly parting his thin lips and asked, "Did you say the ring was inside the bag?"
Mary was terrified by his cold voice and tremblingly glanced at Jessica.
Jessica scolded unhappily, "What are you looking at me for? Just truthfully say what you saw."
Mary gathered her courage. "Yes, I saw Sophia put the ring into her bag with my own eyes."
Victor said, "I checked, and there's nothing valuable in the bag, so Sophia didn't steal anything." He paused and continued, "Let's just say that I stole it."
"How is this possible? You weren't even in the side courtyard just now. It must be Sophia who took it." Jessica didn't expect him to voluntarily confess to protect Sophia from this accusation. She almost went crazy with jealousy. She stepped forward and stared angrily at Sophia. "You thief, apologize quickly."
Sophia lightly laughed, showing no intention of apologizing. "Mr. Hastings already said he stole it. Why are you forcing me, the victim, to apologize? Those who don't know might think that you have a grudge against me and purposely framed me."
Jessica, whose thoughts had been exposed, blushed guiltily and her voice became flustered. "You're talking nonsense. We have no conflicts. Why would I frame you?"
"Then shut up," Sophia casually said.
Jessica froze. This bitch actually dared to tell her to shut up! Did she want to defy her?
Incensed, Jessica's face contorted and her careful facade couldn't help but burst at this moment!
Victor glanced at David.
David quickly walked up and said to Linda, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Murphy. To show our apology, the Aadelha Group can give one percent of the profits from the project in the Higffe Area as a gift to the Murphy Group."
Linda shook her head and said to Victor, "It's just a ring, Mr. Hastings. You don't need to mind. It's my own carelessness. Let's just leave it at that. I have something else to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
Linda had a reputation in Woerek and knew she could mess with anyone in Woerek, but she absolutely couldn't mess with Victor. If she took Victor's money, it would mean admitting that he had stolen her ring. However, how could someone as arrogant and regal as Victor be interested in her things?
Linda wasn't stupid enough to do that, so she apologized and left.
No one expected Victor to defend Sophia in front of so many people. At this point, it would be really excessive to continue accusing Sophia.
It wasn't worth it to offend the president of Aadelha Group over an assistant!
Other people also found excuses to leave, and soon the only people left in the courtyard were the Johnson family and Victor.
Jessica couldn't maintain her smile anymore and clenched her fists, wishing she could crush Sophia!