Chapter 171
As soon as Charlotte said this, the room exploded!
"So she's Mrs. Forbes? No wonder she has such great presence."
"This is my first time seeing Mrs. Forbes in person. I remember seven years ago when she married into the Forbes Family, the wedding was kept extremely low-key. I heard they just had a simple dinner with close friends and family. After the marriage, Mrs. Forbes rarely went out, so not many people have actually seen her."
"Mr. Forbes really knows how to keep things under wraps. If I married such a beautiful wife, I'd want to bring her everywhere with me."
"You don't know the whole story, do you? A few days ago, that museum incident was all over the news."
"So you're saying this Ms. Spencer is the woman from that museum incident?"
"The position, surname, and background all match up. It's probably her."
"Now I get it. That's why she insisted on giving that previous bracelet to Mrs. Forbes. She obviously wanted to keep the store's treasure for herself, waiting until she takes over to claim it."
"I really don't understand—Mrs. Forbes is clearly more beautiful than her."
A woman who looked like a society lady couldn't help but sigh, "Men always like to cheat."
Hearing this, the men nearby quickly rushed to defend themselves.
But none of this stopped everyone from casting scornful looks at Alexander and Sabrina.
Sabrina bit her lip, her eyes red, her delicate body swaying as if about to collapse.
This time, Sarah beside her didn't immediately step forward to support her. The woman she had just humiliated was actually Mrs. Forbes!
It's over, everything's ruined!
Alexander narrowed his eyes, taking a long look at the calm-faced woman.
Was this what Charlotte really wanted all along?
How much longer was she going to keep this up?
Did she have to completely tear things apart before she'd stop?
Just then he heard a cry of alarm beside him: "Ms. Spencer, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"
Alexander jerked in surprise, only to see Sabrina being supported by Sarah, showing a sad, pale smile, looking pitiful, as if she'd been wrongly accused.
She bowed deeply toward Charlotte: "Charlotte, I'm sorry. I made you misunderstand."
Then she turned to the crowd, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek: "Actually, everyone has misunderstood. The reason Mr. Forbes held the exhibition for me and bought these collectibles was all for the Forbes Group's future development."
"Also, Mr. Forbes and I have a completely innocent boss-employee relationship. I, Sabrina, graduated from Aurora College with honors. I've won countless design competition awards abroad, so I'm already excellent enough on my own—I don't need to depend on any man."
"As for Mr. Forbes's care for me, it's only because I have some health issues, so he shows me a bit more concern."
With that, she bowed deeply again: "Please, everyone, don't misunderstand the relationship between Mr. Forbes and me."
Though Sabrina was apologizing, her eyes were red and tears kept welling up, as if she'd suffered a great injustice.
Alexander's heart clenched. He stepped forward and was about to reach out, but remembering something, he finally pulled his hand back.
Charlotte quietly watched this scene, a cold smile on her lips.
Sabrina's acting skills were truly exceptional. No wonder she always used to lose to her.
At this moment, seeing Sabrina's performance, some people began to hesitate.
"She looks pretty pitiful. Maybe we really did wrongly accuse her?"
"Right, she's about to cry. Maybe it really just a misunderstanding."
The socialite, however, curled her lip dismissively: "What do you know? Crying all the time—that's typical mistress behavior."
Hearing this, Jenna beside Charlotte secretly gave the lady a thumbs up: "Ma'am, you've got great judgment!"
The lady raised an eyebrow at Jenna, clearly having found a kindred spirit.
Charlotte finally made her move.
She laughed lightly: "Since Ms. Spencer and Mr. Forbes have a purely innocent relationship, then this bracelet shouldn't have anything to do with the Forbes Group's development, right?"
"Ms. Spencer, why don't you pay for the bracelet first? Then prove your innocence with Mr. Forbes."
Sabrina bit her lip, looking at Charlotte in disbelief.
But she quickly thought of something, and with red eyes, stubbornly lifted her chin. "Fine, I'll pay for the bracelet myself!"
"Charlotte, as a fellow woman, I hope you can be more independent too, and not always rely on men and spend their money."
With that, she resolutely looked away, pulled out a card from her bag, and calmly handed it to the store manager: "Please, swipe this."
Charlotte's sharp eyes immediately spotted the problem: "Wait, that black card belongs to my husband."
"Ms. Spencer, is this what you call innocence?"
Sabrina's delicate face turned pale.
She panicked for a moment, frantically fumbling through her bag, and pulled out another card. "Sorry, I grabbed the wrong one. This card is mine."
"Mr. Forbes's card was temporarily left with me for company business."
Despite Sabrina's repeated explanations, however, from everyone's expressions, it was clear few people believed her anymore.
The store manager quietly handed the black card back to Alexander and accepted Sabrina's card.
[Transaction successful. Amount: 23.88 million.]
The store manager respectfully handed the card back to Sabrina. "Ms. Spencer, please keep your card safe."
Holding the bank card, Sabrina's knuckles turned white.
The money inside came from selling everything her father had left her, plus what she had gradually received from Alexander over the past six months—and now it was nearly gone.
But at least, based on what Alexander had previously bought for her, it was worth at least a hundred million.
Charlotte, that free nanny, still couldn't compare to her.
Thinking of this, her heart, which had been aching like needle pricks, felt slightly better.
She turned to Charlotte and smiled faintly. "Charlotte, I've already paid. Now it's your turn."