Chapter 142
Charlotte looked up in shock, but her expression changed the next moment. "Alexander, you suspect I stole the brooch?"
Alexander's face was cold. "Isn't it true?"
"Before you came, the brooch was fine. But as soon as you arrived, it disappeared."
As soon as Alexander said this, there was an uproar all around.
"No way? Charlotte looks decent enough, but she actually steals?"
"She's Mrs. Forbes, how could she do something so stupid?"
"Are you dumb? Mr. Forbes himself is accusing her. How could it be false?"
Hearing the discussions around her and looking at Alexander's self-righteous face, Charlotte's heart turned cold as ice. "Alexander, you say I stole the brooch. Do you have proof?"
Charlotte's question reminded the others.
"Right, even if he's Mr. Forbes, he still needs evidence, doesn't he?"
"Exactly, you can't just accuse someone without proof. That's too unfair."
"Right, you need evidence to catch a thief."
Hearing everyone speak up for Charlotte, Alexander remained unmoved.
He looked quietly at Charlotte and narrowed his eyes. "Even at this point, you still won't admit it?"
"Charlotte, I'm really disappointed in you."
Looking at Alexander's pretentious act, Charlotte felt the past seven years had been a complete joke.
But did he think he could frame her with just a few words? Alexander was dreaming!
As Charlotte's fingers gradually clenched, Sabrina finally emerged from behind Alexander with red-rimmed eyes.
"Alexander, how can you say that about Charlotte? The brooch couldn't have been stolen by her."
Then, with a pale face, Sabrina turned to Charlotte. "Charlotte, I know you've always treasured the things Lynn left behind, so if you picked it up somewhere—no, if you saw it somewhere, please let me know."
"Because this gemstone brooch was borrowed from someone else, and I promised to return it after the exhibition."
Seeing Sabrina still being so careful with Charlotte, Alexander couldn't stand it and pulled her back to his side.
"Sabrina, even now you're still defending her? She's not worth it."
Charlotte sneered inwardly.
Anyone with eyes could see that Sabrina's so-called defense was just further confirming Charlotte's guilt.
Yet Alexander was blind and foolish enough to believe it.
Though he wasn't always blind and foolish.
He only became this way when it came to Sabrina.
And now, people misled by Sabrina's words believed it too.
"Charlotte is too much. How can she bully people like this?"
"She really only has a pretty face, but her heart is evil."
"Exactly! Just hand it over already. Ms. Spencer is about to cry."
Facing everyone's mocking looks, Charlotte slowly raised her head. "If Sabrina wants to cry, what does that have to do with me?"
"Did I hit her or scold her?"
Looking at Charlotte's cold eyes, everyone felt an inexplicable chill and swallowed back what they were about to say.
And the delicate Sabrina swayed on the spot, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Fortunately, Alexander was quick to catch her.
"Sabrina, are you okay?"
Sabrina hesitated, but finally shook her head with a pale face. "I'm fine. Don't blame Charlotte."
Alexander gritted his teeth.
He turned around, his eyes red, staring straight at Charlotte. "Charlotte, you've gone too far!"
Charlotte glanced at Alexander's hand still on Sabrina's waist and raised an eyebrow mockingly, "Too far? I just stated a fact. Is that wrong too?"
"Charlotte." Sabrina lifted herself from Alexander's shoulder at this moment.
She looked at Charlotte with tears in her eyes, appearing even more sincere. "I know you don't like me, and you don't like Lynn's things being in my hands."
"But you must believe me—if the brooch were mine, I would definitely give it to you unconditionally like before."
"But it's borrowed."
At this point, her throat seemed to choke up.
She sniffed, her eyes full of plea. "So this time, you can't keep making mistakes."
"If you do, you'll ruin yourself."
Sabrina's performance successfully fooled everyone present.
Alexander comforted her gently with eyes full of pity.
Others pointed at Charlotte, even sarcastically urging her to hand over the brooch.
Watching this scene, Charlotte was so angry she laughed.
She looked at Sabrina with a half-smile. "Why stop the act now?"
Sabrina's pupils contracted, as if deeply hurt by Charlotte's words. "Charlotte, I genuinely care about you. How can you say that about me?"
Charlotte's expression was frosty. "Genuinely care about me?"
"Weren't you just telling Alexander not to wrongly accuse me, saying the brooch definitely wasn't stolen by me?"
"How come now you're saying it's my fault and telling me to hand over the brooch?"
Charlotte deliberately frowned. "Why do you keep changing your story?"
Sabrina's face turned pale.
And Alexander, who had been by her side, also frowned slightly.
Sabrina noticed and her expression worsened.
She secretly grasped Alexander's hand, her voice trembling. "Alexander, am I too stupid? I said the wrong thing in my panic."
"But I really meant well for Charlotte."
Seeing the tears in Sabrina's eyes, Alexander softened. "It's okay. She's the one who's wrong."
Watching their tender exchange, Charlotte couldn't help but sneer. 'Alexander, you're really wrapped around Sabrina's finger,' she thought.
But fortunately, in two more days she could be completely done with this terrible man!
Meanwhile, the smarter people had been enlightened by Charlotte's words and began to side with her.
But Charlotte didn't want to waste any more time with these awful people.
She beckoned to the security captain nearby, asking him to pull up the surveillance footage.
Seeing this, others also caught on.
Once the surveillance was reviewed, the truth would be clear immediately.
But why could Charlotte think of something that Alexander, the CEO of the Forbes Group, somehow didn't?
Hearing the discussions, Alexander's face, which had just softened, darkened again.
Earlier, Sabrina had come to him in a panic, saying the borrowed gemstone brooch had been stolen!
Feeling sorry for Sabrina's distress and angry that someone dared to steal on the Forbes Group's turf, he was about to call the police, but Sabrina stopped him.
She said the invited guests were all distinguished figures in River City, and calling the police would embarrass everyone—it would be better to handle it privately.
Then she mentioned Charlotte with a worried expression, carefully suggesting that maybe Charlotte had impulsively taken the brooch to get back Lynn's work.
He was furious at the time, and thinking of Charlotte's recent behavior, in a moment of anger, he immediately decided Charlotte had stolen the brooch!
Now thinking carefully, it seemed Sabrina had been leading him to trouble Charlotte all along.
Alexander slowly turned his head and looked down at the fragile Sabrina beside him.