Chapter 48
Ava calmly curved her lips, her eyes shifting to Sarah with a hint of mockery.
That night, when she put the ring back, her intention was to expose Sarah's true colors in front of William, to let him see what kind of person he'd fallen for—someone who'd hire people to kill her own sister out of jealousy.
Let's see if her pure and innocent act could still hold up in front of William.
She'd been struggling to find the right opportunity, and Sarah had just delivered herself right to the door.
Sarah felt her scalp tingle under that look, suddenly too guilty to meet her eyes.
"Officer, I took the item. I took it with Ms. Brown's permission, though she probably won't admit it now."
Ava's words set the office buzzing again after barely a minute of silence.
"How is that possible? You're saying Ms. Brown deliberately set you up? Who would use their own mother's belongings for something like that?"
"We trust Ms. Brown's character. Ms. Brown has no grudge against you—why would she do this to you? What would she gain from it?"
"Sticky fingers, and now trying to shift the blame after stealing someone's stuff."
Ava ignored these people for now.
"Officer, that necklace isn't Ms. Sarah's property. It's my mother's belonging, and as far as I know, Ms. Brown's mother is still alive, so there's no question of it being a belonging from a deceased person."
Sarah was getting uncomfortable. She looked up at the room full of people eager for gossip, now wanting to pull the police and Ava into a conference room to talk.
Police investigations rely on evidence, not on who talks more or sounds more reasonable.
"Ms. Davis, you say this item belonged to your mother. Can you prove it?"
Ava pulled out the necklace from her bag and opened her phone's photo album, which contained many pictures of her mother.
"Officer, look, this is my mother. This necklace was something she always wore. She never took it off while she was alive. When I was sorting through her belongings, I discovered that only this necklace was missing. I don't know how it ended up in Ms. Sarah's hands."
Beyond explaining that the necklace was her mother's belonging, her words raised another point of suspicion.
The police zoomed in on the photos and compared them with the necklace, confirming they were identical.
"Ms. Davis, this necklace is indeed identical to the one your mother wore. However, manufacturers mass-produce this type of jewelry—it shouldn't be one-of-a-kind. This doesn't prove it's the exact one from around your mother's neck."
Sarah straightened her back a bit more.
The room fell quiet again.
Ava licked her lips and lowered her eyelids, silent for a moment.
"Officer, I also had a valuable item go missing. By coincidence, I found it in Ms. Sarah's drawer the day before yesterday. Could you investigate that as well?"
Sarah sucked in a sharp breath, silently sensing she wouldn't come out of this well. She was the one who called the police, yet the accused seemed more confident than she was.
The two officers looked righteous in their uniforms, naturally commanding respect.
"You can tell us what it is."
Ava pressed her red lips together. "My wedding ring is in her drawer."
Sarah's heart sank, feeling both embarrassed and angry, her voice several decibels higher than usual.
"Officer, she's talking nonsense."
She opened the drawer to find the ring box actually lying inside. She clearly remembered putting it in her bedside table at home—she had no idea when it got moved to the office.
"Officer, this ring was given to me by my boyfriend when he proposed."
At this moment, Ava was frighteningly calm.
"You say the ring is yours—can you even wear it? If it's an engagement ring from your boyfriend, he would've bought the right size. Why don't you put it on your ring finger in front of everyone?"
Sarah was stumped. She didn't dare—she knew clearly that the ring was at least two sizes too small for her. She could only fit it on her pinky finger.
Her face turned the color of liver.
The gossip crowd started discussing again.
"I believe Ms. Brown. Why would the future Mrs. Morgan of the Morgan Group steal a ring from you? That's absolutely ridiculous."
"She must be mistaken. Someone with Ms. Brown's status stealing her ring? Too funny."
The ring was now in the police officer's hands.
"How about this—you both claim this ring is yours. Why don't you each explain what proves it's yours?"
Ava appeared very generous at this moment. "Why don't we let Ms. Brown go first?"
Sarah cleared her throat, appearing calm on the surface but panicking inside.
"This ring was designed by Ms. Lolly three years ago, a wedding ring with only three pairs worldwide. My boyfriend paid a fortune for it. Not many people in Emerald City can afford it. You all know my boyfriend—you should be able to judge for yourselves."
Ava smiled. This counts as evidence?
Sarah was used to being powerful in the company, probably given confidence by William. Those people were willing to kiss up to her.
"Of course, we believe Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown's boyfriend is our CEO. Besides him, who else in Emerald City could buy a wedding ring limited to three pairs worldwide?"
"In terms of wealth, no one compares to our Mr. Morgan."
"Ava, just admit it. You just stole a necklace—return it and that's that. Once you leave this building today, everyone will forget about it in three to five months. If you keep falsely accusing Ms. Brown and this blows up, it won't be good for you."
"Bullying kind Ms. Brown like this—Mr. Morgan won't let you off. Someone, go get Mr. Morgan. His girlfriend is being bullied like this—even I, a bystander, can't stand it."
The police were getting confused. This innocent-looking woman full of lies was the future Mrs. Morgan of the Morgan Group? Then the Morgan Group's boss had poor judgment. The young lady accused of theft, on the other hand, was composed and reasonable, with the bearing of someone from a wealthy family.
Ava let out a cold laugh. "Officer, it's my turn to speak now. This ring has my initials engraved on it. Everyone can get a magnifying glass to look."
Everyone froze in place—this was a complete plot twist. They'd already prepared their words, ready to crush this thief who didn't know her place.
Everyone was curious whether what she said was true—whether the ring really had her initials on it.
The police officer said, "Can someone find a magnifying glass?"
The commotion was too big, and soon the news reached the CEO's office.
James rushed into the CEO's office, out of breath.
"Mr. Morgan, the design department is about to break into a fight."
William wasn't interested in office gossip, but hearing it was about the design department, he had an uneasy feeling.
"Be more specific."
James glanced at his boss's expression and said everything in one breath.
"Mr. Morgan, Miss Brown says Mrs. Ava Morgan stole something from her and called the police. During questioning, the police discovered Mrs. Ava Morgan's wedding ring in Miss Brown's drawer."
William's expression changed drastically at the mention of the wedding ring. A few days ago, when she said the ring was lost, he hadn't believed her.
Those two women were causing such a scene in the office that even the police were called. He dropped the documents in his hands and instructed James to contain the news and shut the employees up.
He arrived at the design department, where a group of people were busy looking for a magnifying glass.
His presence was overwhelmingly powerful. The chaotic office atmosphere immediately became silent, like someone had hit pause. No one dared speak anymore, or even walk around.
"Officer, could you come to my office to discuss this in detail?"
The whole room didn't dare make a sound.
"Let's talk right here. Today's incident has blown up so big, I need to get justice in front of my colleagues. Everyone should see clearly who the thief really is. We still have to work in the same office in the future. This thief must be exposed; otherwise, who would dare leave anything at their desk?"
After Ava finished this long speech, everyone broke out in a cold sweat for her. She actually dared to speak so boldly in front of William—she must have some serious guts.
William lifted his eyes and scanned the room, his voice cold. "You all leave first."
The onlookers immediately held their breath and walked out, afraid of making one wrong step and getting punished by William.
The huge office was left with only the two police officers and three people with unclear relationships.
William took the ring from the police officer's hand and slipped it onto Ava's ring finger.
The cool sensation slid from her fingertip to the base of her finger. Ava was momentarily dazed. This was the first time he'd put a ring on her finger.
"Officer, no need to investigate further. This ring belongs to my wife."