Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Fortunately, she had been Alexander's girlfriend. Though it hadn't lasted long, Alexander was the kind of man who didn't mind spending money.

In less than a month, he had given her gifts worth several million dollars, plus allowance money totaling over a million.
Before leaving the country, Elodie sold everything she could, even her used clothes.
She wasn’t short on money, and on top of that, she had received this box from Mason.Even if it was hard to open, she was sure whatever was inside would be worth a fortune—far more than all the cash she had on her now.

The thought alone made her estatic.

After midnight, Elodie came back drunk.

Living alone was great—she could stay out as late as she wanted without restrictions.
Unlike before at the Hall house, if she wasn't home by nine at night, Mason would keep calling her.

And when she did get home, he would scold her. He was way too controlling.

Now she was so drunk she could barely walk straight, but when she got back to the hotel, everything was quiet. No one was nagging in her ear.

Elodie tossed her bag aside, kicked off her heels, and collapsed onto the soft bed.
A moment later, she forced her hazy eyes open. She needed to get this box open soon.

At the bar tonight, she'd thrown money around on some male model, burning through over a million dollars in just one hour.

At this rate, no amount of money would last long.

If she couldn’t get what was inside the box soon, she would blow through everything she had.
Through her drunken haze, Elodie pushed herself up from the bed, pulled the box out of her suitcase, and fiddled with it for a while. She was close to losing her patience.

She had lost count of how many times she had tried to open it.She had tried password after password, over and over, and not one seemed to be the right one.

Besides the electronic lock, the box also had a heavy padlock on it. She had no idea what the lock was made of.

Elodie had tried cutting it with wire cutters, but she couldn't even leave a scratch.

It was so strange.

The box rattled in her hands, grating on her nerves.

"What kind of stupid box is this!"

All at once, Elodie snapped. She jumped up, grabbed the box, and slammed it hard on the floor.

The box bounced twice, then rolled into a corner.

Still not satisfied, she snatched it up again and slammed it down several more times.

Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking sound.

Elodie froze in place.
This box, solid as iron, had actually cracked after being slammed so many times.

She stared in shock, suddenly half sober.

She quickly rubbed her eyes and rushed over to pick it up.

She wasn't seeing things—there really was a crack.

Good. So good.

Elodie's heart leaped with joy. She lifted the box high again and brought it crashing down onto the floor.

A heavy thud.

The box finally gave way, breaking apart, its contents spilling out.

A flash of greed passed through Elodie's eyes as she pounced on it.

But when she picked something up and looked at it, her smile froze on her face.

In her hand was a handkerchief with yellowed edges and frayed threads. Clearly an old item, at least twenty or thirty years old.

On the floor beside it lay a yellowed notebook and a fountain pen, scattered all over the place.

The pen had long since run out of ink. The nib was broken, the little metal ball was gone, and the cartridge was obviously empty.

No matter how hard Elodie had shaken it earlier, not a single drop of ink had come out.

What was going on?

Elodie stared in disbelief.

Where were the valuable things? Where were the jewelry and accessories? How could it be just this pile of junk?
This handkerchief, this pen, this notebook—together they wouldn't sell for ten dollars.

Just like that, her dream of getting rich had vanished.

"No! No, this can't be right. This can't be right!"

Elodie suddenly screamed like a madwoman, frantically picking up the pieces of the shattered box and trying desperately to put them back together.
But aside from the things already on the floor, there was nothing else.

She still refused to give up. She bent down and searched the floor again and again, even looking under the bed, hoping to find something more.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Such a large box, and it had contained only these three things.Not a single thing more.

If Stella had been here and seen this scene, she wouldn't have known whether to laugh or cry.

These three items were her mother's belongings.

Mason and his wife had loved each other deeply, but unfortunately, Stella's mother passed away when Stella was still very young.

Mason had been so devastated that he fell ill and was bedridden for half a year before he finally recovered.

From then on, he kept the things Stella's mother had left behind in this box as a keepsake, holding it carefully and looking through it whenever he could.

As for the password to the box, it was the date he and Stella's mother first met.

Not only did Elodie not know this, but Stella also might not have been able to guess it.

To Mason, these were priceless treasures.

His wife was gone, leaving behind only a child who looked remarkably like her, and these three items. Nothing else.

Over the years, Mason had looked at them again and again, especially the handkerchief, which to him seemed to still carry his wife's scent.

The reason he hadn't let Stella and Elodie touch the box was that he was afraid they might accidentally break it, and he would lose the last trace of his wife.

He never imagined that this simple decision would cause such a huge misunderstanding for Elodie and, through a chain of events, would ultimately cost her her life.

"How can this be! Impossible. I don't accept this, I don't accept this!"

Elodie was still losing her mind, yanking out several strands of her own hair, looking completely deranged.

She had gone to the bar that night wearing very heavy, flashy makeup. Now, because of her rage, her makeup was smeared, and her expression twisted.

At first glance, someone who didn't know her might have thought she was something straight out of a horror movie.

Elodie's mental state completely collapsed.

Forget this pile of junk—even a gold ring or a simple silver hairpin would have been something.

Old items from decades ago, as long as they were well-crafted and well-preserved, could still sell for some money today.

She had heard Mason say that Stella's mother's family had been very wealthy. Could they really have left nothing behind?

That was also why Elodie had been so sure there were treasures in the box.

But she had never expected life to play such a cruel joke on her.

After her breakdown, Elodie quickly realized a very serious problem.

Because she had been certain there would be good stuff in the box, she had been spending these past few days wildly, without the slightest restraint.

Now she had burned through almost all her money, with only a little left.

And the box hadn't contained the treasure she had expected. So what was she supposed to do next?